13 specifications

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980

On paper, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 has more shading units. Specifications describe what each card is designed to do; how much of that either one holds under continuous load is a separate question.

10 specifications · 3 with a higher side

Full specifications

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970

NVIDIA · GeForce GTX 900 · Desktop

Full specifications

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980

NVIDIA · GeForce GTX 900 · Desktop

Compute

Architecture

Maxwell

Shading units

1,664

2,048

Base clock

1050 MHz

1126 MHz

Boost clock

1178 MHz

1216 MHz

Memory

4 GB

Memory type

GDDR5

Memory bus

256-bit

Power and platform

TDP

145 W

165 W

Process

Not verified

Launched

2014-09-18

A check marks the higher figure only on rows where higher is unambiguously better. Rows without one are not ties; they are specifications where “better” has no meaning.

Reading the table

What the difference means.

The same architecture

Both are Maxwell cards from NVIDIA, so their figures can be read against each other directly, and the features are the same on both. The differences in the table are the whole difference.

Video memory

Both carry 4 GB, so neither has the advantage where memory is the limit: high resolutions, heavy textures and local AI models fill both at the same point.

Shading units

The GTX 980 has 2,048 shading units against 1,664, 23 percent more of the same kind of core. Within one architecture that is the clearest single guide to how much more work the chip can do, provided it is given the power and cooling to use them.

Board power

The GTX 980 draws up to 165 W against 145 W. That is heat the case has to exhaust and current the power supply has to deliver: allow a supply of about 550 W for the GTX 980 with a typical processor, and check the card's power connectors against the supply's. A card that cannot shed its heat does not fail. It lowers its clocks after a few minutes, which is the frame rate that falls the longer you play.

Which to pick, on paper

A small case or a modest power supply: GTX 970; 145 W against 165 W: less heat, fewer power connectors, quieter fans.

What no table says

How much of its speed a graphics card keeps after the first minute depends on the cooling and the power limit of the machine it is in. If you own one of these, measure it: the test is free and runs in this browser.

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Questions

Is the GTX 970 better than the GTX 980?: By need, on the specifications: a small case or a modest power supply: the GTX 970. They share an architecture, so the table is a fair guide. Frame rates depend on the game and its settings, and how much speed either card keeps after ten minutes depends on its cooling, which is what a sustained test measures.
What power supply does the GTX 980 need?: Allow about 550 W with a typical processor, and make sure the supply has the power connectors the card uses. The GTX 970 at 145 W is easier on both.
Do the GTX 970 and the GTX 980 have the same features?: Yes. Both are Maxwell designs from NVIDIA, so they share the same generation of video encoders and decoders, upscaling and driver support. What separates them is in the table: how much of the chip each one has, and how much power it is given.

More comparisons

Every figure on this table is a design target. None of it is a measurement.

Nothing above describes how a graphics card behaves twenty minutes into a sustained workload, which is where two chips with nearly identical specifications routinely diverge. A boost clock is a ceiling the vendor permits, not a rate the chip sustains, and whether it holds depends on the cooling, the case, the power profile and the room. None of those appear on a specification sheet.

We deliberately do not reduce these figures to a single score. A composite invented from specifications would look authoritative and measure nothing, and choosing the weights would be choosing the winner.

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