Samsung 980 vs 970 EVO Plus: Which one to buy?
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Both Samsung 980 and 970 Evo Plus are very popular SSDs offered by Samsung. The Samsung 980 comes in M.2 Form Factor and PCIe® Gen 3.0 x4, NVMe™ 1.4 interface. Whereas the 970 Evo Plus has PCIe® Gen 3.0 x 4, NVMe™ 1.3 interface, and M.2 Form Factor.
The 980 comes in the Entry-Level Budget NVMe category and the 970 Evo Plus in the Consumer NVMe category. However, the prices of both are going to be almost similar. So, it is very easy to get confused while choosing the best one for you.
The 970 Evo Plus promises a sequential read speed of up to 3500/3000 MB/s and the 980 can reach up to 3500/3000 MB/s.
Even after having a lot of similarities, there are still numerous things to consider before you make your decision. One of them is that 980 doesn’t have a DRAM. With that said, let’s dive into the actual comparison and see which one should you go with.
Related Comparison: Samsung 980 Pro vs Samsung 970 EVO Plus (1TB)
1. Theoretical Specifications (Comparison)
First of all, let’s compare the basic specifications disclosed by the company regarding its products.
| Specification | SAMSUNG 980 | SAMSUNG 970 EVO Plus |
|---|---|---|
| Theoretical Read Speed (Max.) | 3,500 MB/s | 3,500 MB/s |
| Theoretical Write Speed (Max.) | 3,000 MB/s | 3,300 MB/s |
| Random Read (4K, QD32) (Max.) | 500,000 IOPS | 600,000 IOPS |
| Random Write (4K, QD32) (Max.) | 480,000 IOPS | 550,000 IOPS |
| Form Factor/Interface | M. 2 (2280)/PCIe® Gen 3.0 x4, NVMe™ 1.4 |
M.2 (2280)/PCIe Gen 3.0 x 4, NVMe 1.3 |
| MTBF (Reliability) | 1.5 Million Hours | 1.5 Million Hours |
| Warranty | 5 Years | 5 Years |
| T.R.I.M. | Supported | Supported |
| S.M.A.R.T. | Supported | Supported |
| Encryption | AES 256-bit Encryption | AES 256-bit Encryption |
| Availability | Check Price | Check Price |
With this table, you can see that both SAMSUNG 980 and SAMSUNG 970 EVO Plus have almost similar features.
Now, let’s compare the actual benchmark scores.
All in all, the total difference in data read/write speed between the Samsung 970 EVO Plus and Samsung 980 is a maximum of 300 MB/s in sequential write speed.
The total difference in random data read/write speed (IOPS) between the Samsung 970 EVO Plus and Samsung 980 is up to 100,000 IOPS in random read speed and up to 70,000 IOPS in random write speed.
2. Synthetic Benchmark Scores (Comparison)
The benchmarks were done under a specific environment on only 1TB variants of both products. I have used a laptop with an i5 12600K processor with 4200MHz816GB RAM. The motherboard is MSI Pro Z690-A DDR5. The results may vary depending on the specs of your system and the total SSD storage space filled.
PCMark 10 Scores
PCMark 10 is one of the most popular benchmark software especially used by professionals. The quick system drive benchmark test is a smaller test utilizing smaller tests with softer real-world traces.
This test is actually made for the drives which can’t handle the heavy load of Full System Drive Benchmark. The Full System Drive Benchmark, on the other hand, is full of heavy real-world traces from various popular applications. I have done both these tests and the comparison is as follows.
Anvil Storage Utilities
Anvil’s Storage Utilities is our next benchmark software with a pretty simple interface. It runs all the tests automatically and gives you a final score. A higher number means better performance. It runs a wide array of tests including Seq 4MB, 4K, 4K QD4, 4K QD16, 32K, and 128K, in both read and write formats
CrystalDiskMark SEQ. 1GiB Q32T1
CrystalDismMark is another simple-to-use storage benchmark software. It is generally used to run sequential and random system tests using different file sizes. The default sequential read/write test is 1M at Q8T1 and Q1T1. The default random read/write test is 4KB at Q32T1 and Q1T1. You can easily change these test types along with the total test file size.
CrystalDiskMark Random 1GiB Q1T1
-+
AS SSD Benchmark Scores
AS SSD is another very popular storage benchmarking software. It again runs some random tests to test sequential and random performance. You can set the test size from 1GB to 10GB. It will give you a score that can be helpful to compare the performance of two different SSDs.
3. Industry Reputation
Both of these SSDs are highly recognized in the computer storage market. But, if we compare, the 970 Evo Plus has a better reputation because of its faster speed and great durability. Whether you check anywhere, you will find that the 970 Evo Plus has a huge fanbase. With this, you can say that the 970 Evo Plus is a better companion.
Another thing that contributes to the 970 Evo Plus’s huge recognition is the Phoenix controller. However, the 980 also has a perfectly configured Samsung Pablo controller.
Samsung 980 is less reputed because it is a dram-less SSD. It is often called the younger brother of 980 Pro.
But, if you look at all the DRAM-less NVMe SSDs, the Samsung 980 is rated as the best among all.
On the other hand, the Samsung 970 EVO Plus is like a versatile NVMe that suits all users. It has DRAM, SLC Cache, a good controller, and enough TBW. These balanced features make the Samsung 970 EVO Plus a much more compelling option.
4. OS and Software Opening Times
Let’s see how well these SSDs do when it comes to opening Windows OS and some other games as well as software. Again, we are using the same PC configurations that were used in the synthetic benchmark tests.
| OS/Software | Samsung 980 | Samsung 970 EVO Plus |
|---|---|---|
| Windows 10 (Intel i5 8th Gen) | Ready to use in 18 Seconds | Ready to use in 14 Seconds |
| Google Chrome | Within 4 Seconds | Within 3 Seconds |
| Adobe Photoshop | ~21 Seconds | ~15 Seconds |
| Fortnite | ~42 Seconds | ~29 Seconds |
| Tomb Raider | ~25 Seconds | ~19 Seconds |
Again, there is not a very huge performance difference when we look at their practical performance.
Both are great in terms of random data processing. Hence, they can contribute to a huge reduction in the software and OS loading times.
Note: The game loading time is actually the time taken by these SSDs to come up with the first screen after loading.
5. TBW (Terabyte Written) and MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure)
Terabyte written is a great parameter to see how long your SSD will last under any circumstances. Let’s compare both of them below.
| Samsung 980 | TBW | Samsung 970 Evo Plus | TBW |
|---|---|---|---|
| 250 GB | 150 | 250 GB | 150 |
| 500 GB | 300 | 500 GB | 300 |
| 1 TB | 600 | 1 TB | 600 |
| – | – | 2 TB | 1,200 |
There is no difference between the TBW limits of both SSDs.
The 970 Evo Plus has a 2TB variant and that’s why it has given more TBW limits.
| Samsung 980 | Samsung 970 EVO Plus | |
|---|---|---|
| Mean Time Between Failure | 1.5 Million Hours | 1.5 Million Hours |
As the name suggests, MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) is a number given by the manufacturers to provide us with an idea of how long an SSD is going to last during its operation. This number is generally given in hours. Both of our NVMes are standing at the same number. So, there is no point in comparison
6. Technical Specifications (Comparison)
Both SSDs are using the same Samsung V-NAND 3-bit MLC. But, the 970 Evo Plus has 96(92) layers of NAND whereas the 980 has 128 layers.
Again, the Samsung 980 is a DRAM-Less SSD but it uses the HMB (Host Memory Buffer) and SLC for caching purposes.
But, the 970 Evo Plus has its own low-power DDR4 SDRAM for caching.
The configurations of 970 Evo Plus’s Phoenix controller are Penta-core, 8-ch, 8-CE/ch. Whereas, the 980 has the Pablo controller with four channels.
| Technical Specification | Samsung 980 | Samsung 970 EVO Plus |
|---|---|---|
| NAND Flash Type | Samsung V6 V-NAND (TLC) | Samsung V-NAND (TLC) |
| NAND Flash Layers | 128 | 96(92) |
| Controller | Samsung Pablo Controller | Samsung Phoenix Controller |
| Controller Configurations | Not Specified | Penta-Core, 8-Channels |
| DRAM | No DRAM | DDR4 DRAM |
| Write Cache | SLC Write Cache | SLC Write Cache |
| Heatsink Option | Not Available | Not Available |
T. R.I.M. |
Available | Available |
| S.M.A.R.T. | Available | Available |
| Encryption | AES 256-bit Encryption | AES 256-bit Encryption |
| Website | Samsung 980 | Samsung 970 EVO Plus |
7. Price (Comparison)
Let’s see how much difference is there between the both when we compare the prices. I am going to pick the prices from the official sources. However, the prices may vary at any time. I would suggest you check live prices before making the decision.
Check Price on Amazon
Check Price on Amazon
Samsung 980 is surely an affordable option to choose between these both. So, if the price is your only consideration, you can simply go for the 980.
Otherwise, read my honest opinion about this comparison.
Which one should you buy? My Recommendation!
If you are looking for consistent performance under heavy loads, I would suggest buying the 970 EVO Plus for sure. Another reason is that it has its own DRAM which 980 doesn’t have. However, the TBW, Warranty Period, NAND, and various other things are similar in both.
According to the benchmarks, Samsung 980 is a better-performing SSD. So, if you want higher read/write speeds, Samsung 980 can give you better results.
The 980 has a better and bigger SLC cache but the 970 EVO Plus is much more refined at the same time. So, if you ask me to choose between these both, I would surely go for the 970 EVO Plus because it has a better reputation and its own DRAM as well.
Buy Samsung 970 EVO Plus
I hope this Samsung 980 vs Samsung 970 EVO Plus comparison will help you pick the right SSD. If you have any other questions, please use the comment section to share your feedback.
Thanks for reading!
Also Read: List of Best SSDs to Upgrade your laptop (NVMe/SATA)
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Samsung 970 EVO Plus better than Samsung 980?
Samsung 980 is a DRAM-Less SSD and Samsung 970 EVO Plus has its own DRAM. DRAM is used for mapping the data tables and keeping a record of it. It makes the retrieval process easy and efficient. So, the 980 uses HMB (Host Memory Buffer) for cache means it uses the system RAM in place of DRAM. But, Samsung 970 EVO plus has its own DRAM. This makes the 970 EVO Plus clearly better than the Samsung 980. There are other reasons as well. But, this one is the biggest one.
Is there any reason to buy Samsung 980?
Well, you may think what is the reason to choose Samsung 980 when it doesn’t have a DRAM? But, keep a thing in mind that the Samsung 980 comes with the fastest NAND Flash that Samsung has to offer to its consumer. The lack of DRAM may cause some issues when you are working with random data.
Otherwise, the Samsung 980 is going to compete with any popular NVMe out there.
Why Samsung 980 is cheap and why company launched it?
Yes. Samsung 980 is one of the cheapest Gen 3 NVMe SSDs out there. It is cheap because it is developed to target the budget NVMe segment. This might be the reason it lacks the DRAM. Actually, it is the first NVMe ever launched by Samsung without a DRAM. So, it is clear that it is going to be cheaper.
Is Samsung 980 good for gaming?
Definitely. Running games through your SSD is not very storage-intensive work. Even if you are playing the latest titles, any SSD is more than enough to run it. The problem arises when you have a very powerful system but the storage starts to bottleneck the performance. But, even if you are combining the Samsung 980 with very powerful systems, you will hardly see any bottleneck issues.
Is Samsung 970 EVO Plus good for gaming?
Samsung 970 EVO Plus is one of the top-rated and best SSDs you can buy for gaming laptops and desktops.
It is even considered the best SSD for consoles.
Other Great NVMe Options to choose from!
| Image | Model | Features and Specs | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crucial P5 | Capacity: 250GB – 2TB Interface: PCIe 3.0 Speed: 3400/3000 MB/s Endurance: 1200 TBW |
Check Price! | |
| Kingston A2000 | Capacity: 250GB – 1TB Interface: PCIe 3.0 Speed: 2200/2000 MB/s Endurance: 600 TBW |
Check Price! |
Nvidia unveils its all-new GeForce GTX 980 and GTX 970 graphics processors
Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang loves a spectacle.
So while you’re reading this sentence, the GPU-manufacturer’s founder is regaling thousands of gamers at a 24-hour gaming event the company is sponsoring in Los Angeles with the announcement of Nvidia’s latest graphics processor, code-named “Big Maxwell.”
Despite Nvidia’s draconian efforts to prevent a recurrence of the leaks that presaged the announcement of its Shield Tablet, details of the new GPUs have been dripping into the Interwebs for several weeks. Here’s the official information: The new GPU will initially be available in two SKUs, the $329 GeForce GTX 970 and the $549 GeForce GTX 980. The GTX 970 has 1664 processor cores running at a base frequency of 1050MHz (boost clock of 1178MHz), while the beefier GTX 980 has 2048 cores running at 1126MHz (boost clock of 1216MHz). The GTX 970 and the GTX 980 both have a 256-bit interface to 4GB of GDDR5 memory running at an effective speed of 7Gbps.
“Big Maxwell” is an appropriate code name for Nvidia’s latest graphics processor.
The mounting brackets on cards following Nvidia’s reference design will have one dual-link DVI connector, three DisplayPort 1.2 interfaces, and one HDMI 2.0 port. HDMI 2.0 support is particularly important because it supports 4K resolution at a refresh rate of 60Hz (the older HDMI 1.4b standard is limited to a refresh rate of just 30Hz, which is fine for movies, but terrible for games).
Four new features
In addition to making games run faster—the key promise behind every new GPU—Nvidia announced four new features that promise to make games look more realistic: Dynamic Super Resolution, Multi-Frame-Sampled Anti-aliasing (MFAA), Voxel Global Illumination, and VR Direct. Here’s a brief overview of those technologies.
Finally, a video card with HDMI 2.0, so it can drive a 4K display at a refresh rate of 60Hz.
Dynamic Super Resolution, according to Nvidia, enables the new GPUs to deliver 4K-quality graphics on a 1080p display. The processor effectively renders 4K resolution in the GPU’s frame buffer, and then applies a Gaussian filter to downsample the image to 1080p when it’s output to the monitor.
This promises to increase visual fidelity without taking a hit in frame rate. The feature is enabled by default in Nvidia’s GeForce Experience utility, and the end user may increase the resolution as high as 5K if desired. Scott Herkelman, general manager of Nvidia’s GeForce business unit, demoed the effect for me at a briefing on Tuesday, and it is impressive.
Nvidia provided this screenshot to show the capabilities of its Dynamic Super Resolution. Note the image quality of the grasses in this scene.
Aliasing describes the visual distortion that occurs when a GPU renders an image. In the most common examples, non-square images can have jagged edges, and moire can spoil the detail in intricate patterns. Anti-aliasing, obviously, is a means of coping with this phenomenon, and multi-sample anti-aliasing (MSAA) is the most effective technique.
MSAA works by having the GPU sample multiple locations of each pixel in a scene, and then fully rendering and combining those pixels in the image that’s ultimately rendered on the display.
In 4X MSAA, four samples of each pixel are taken. For all its effectiveness, MSAA is very computationally expensive and can significantly reduce frame rate when it’s enabled in a game.
Nvidia’s Multi-Frame Anti-aliasing (MFAA) functions in a similar fashion, but it samples pixels over two frames while rotating the pixels. The technique, according to Nvidia, delivers results that are very similar to MSAA without the performance hit that MSAA exacts. Herkelman says MFAA is up to 30 percent faster than MSAA.
Voxel Global Illumination (VXGI) is the third big improvement to be found in the GeForce GTX 970 and -980. Briefly, it’s a new lighting technique that promises to deliver much better image quality without requiring a significant performance hit. As Herkelman explained it, a voxel (a portmanteau for volumetric pixel) stores information about the light in a rendered environment.
Games designed to run on previous-generation GPUs depend on what Herkelman described as “hand-placed lights.
” A few light sources in a game environment are placed in fixed locations, so the manner in which the light behaves and its impact on the environment is predetermined in the game’s programming code. That’s part of the reason why only certain objects in a game can be destroyed, the programmer must hard code the manner in which the light and shadows will be rendered on those objects.
These images demonstrate the capabilities of Nvidia’s new lighting technology. The image on the right is a NASA photograph of the first Apollo moon landing. The image on the left was rendered by Nvidia’s GeForce GTX graphics processor.
VXGI enables programmers to place dynamic light sources in a game’s environment. Objects in the game can be assigned properties that determine how they’ll reflect or absorb the light cast upon them. With this technology, the game programmer can simply place light sources, and those lights will react dynamically to any changes in the environment. In the rendered image of the Apollo moon landing, above, Herkelman changed viewpoints by moving the camera all around the scene, and the lighting changed accordingly.
The way objects reflected or absorbed light changed dynamically, and cast shadows moved in relation to the point of view.
Oculus Rift support
Nvidia’s VR Direct technology is intended to benefit upcoming virtual reality headsets such as the Oculus Rift. This bundle of features is designed to reduce latency, allow headsets to take full advantage of Nvidia’s dual-GPU SLI technology, and improve stereo-vision support. Herkelman demoed a new space-combat game for me Tuesday, and it looked leagues better than anything I saw over the course of Nvidia’s 3D Vision initiative.
Like the original Maxwell architecture Nvidia announced in February, these new GPUs adopt power-savings tricks originally developed by Nvidia’s Tegra CPU team. Where a GeForce GTX 680 card with 2GB of memory has a thermal design power (TDP) rating of 195 watts, and a GeForce GTX 780 with 3GB of memory has a TDP of 250 watts, the TDP for the GeForce GTX 980 with 4GB is just 165 watts.
Like its smaller cousin, “Big Maxwell” is incredibly power efficient.
Despite the lower power consumption, Nvidia says the GTX 980 will deliver 5 teraflops of single-precision compute performance, compared to 3- and 4TFLOPs for the GTX 680 and -780, respectively (a teraflop is one trillion floating-point operations per second). The new GTX 970, meanwhile, has a TDP of 145 watts and delivers 4TFLOPs of compute performance. Thanks to the lower TDPs, reference-design cards will have two 6-pin power connectors to supplement the power the cards draw from the PCIe bus.
In the wake of this product launch, Nvidia is discontinuing its GeForce GTX 780Ti, GTX 780, and GTX 770. The suggested retail price for basic boards based on its GeForce GTX 760 has been reduced to $219.
Update: This article was updated to correctly report the video outputs on Nvidia reference-design cards. The source of the incorrect information came from a presentation provided by Nvidia, but I should have noticed that it didn’t match the photograph of the card.
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 vs Nvidia GeForce GTX 980: What is the difference?
smartphonesvideo cardswireless headphonesprocessors
47points
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
45points
Nvidia GeForce GTX 980
€ 9 0014 161
€ 127
Gigabyte Mini-ITX
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€ 161
€ 127
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54 facts in comparison
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
Nvidia GeForce GTX 980
Why is Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 better than Nvidia GeForce GTX 980?
- 17W below TDP?
148W vs 165W - 63°C vs 81°C
- 4°C lower GPU idle temperature?
28°C vs 32°C
Why Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 better than Nvidia GeForce GTX 970?
- GPU frequency 76MHz higher?
1126MHz vs 1050MHz - 1.
2 TFLOPS over FLOPS?
4.6 TFLOPS vs 3.4 TFLOPS - 4.8 GPixel/s higher pixel rate?
72.1 GPixel/s vs 67.3 GPixel/s - 35 GTexels/s higher number of textured pixels? more stream processors?
2048 vs 1664 - 24 more texture units (TMUs)?
128 vs 104
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
vs
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650
Nvidia GeForce GTX 980
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AMD Radeon RX 580
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
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Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050
Nvidia GeForce GTX 980
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Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
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Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060
Nvidia GeForce GTX 980
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XFX HD 6950 XXX 1GB 9000 3
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
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AMD Radeon RX 580
Nvidia GeForce Manli GeForce GTX 1650
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
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Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Laptop
Nvidia GeForce GTX 980
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Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
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Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060
Nvidia GeForce GTX 980
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Nvidia GeForce MX150
90 002 Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
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Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1050 Ti
Nvidia GeForce GTX 980
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XFX HD 6950 XXX 2GB
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
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Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop
Nvidia GeForce GTX 9 80
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Palit GeForce GTX 1650 StormX Plus
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
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AMD Radeon RX Vega 8
Nvidia GeForce GTX 980
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9 0002 Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Laptop
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
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AMD Radeon RX 570
Nvidia GeForce GTX 980
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XFX Radeon RX 590 Fatboy
Price Comparison
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
Buy used:
€50
| Product | Store | Price | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
MSI NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 D6 Ventus XS. ..MSI NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 D6 Ventus XS OC Grafikkarte ‘4GB GDDR6, 1620MHz |
€161 | ||||
| Zotac GeForce GT 1030 Grafikkarte (NVIDI…Zotac GeForce GT 1030 Grafikkarte (NVIDIA GT 1030, 2GB GDDR5, 64bit, Base-Takt 1227 MHz / Boost-Takt 1468 MHz, 6 GHz) | €85 | ||||
| ASUS Cerberus-GTX1050TI-O4G Gaming Grafi…ASUS Cerberus-GTX1050TI-O4G Gaming Grafikkarte (Nvidia, PCIe 3.0, 4GB GDDR5 Speicher, DVI, HDMI, Display Port) | MSI GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER VENTUS XS OC | €221 | |||
| Product | Shop | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| EVGA GeForce GTX 980 TI ACX 2.0 + Grafik…EVGA GeForce GTX 980 TI ACX 2.0 + Grafikkarte | €909 | ||
User reviews
Overall rating
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
4 User reviews
Nvidia GeForce GTX 980
0 User reviews
Nvidia GeForce GTX 980
0.
0 /10
0 User reviews
Features
Value for money 90 003
7.5 /10
4 votes
No reviews yet
Games
8.3 /10
4 votes
No reviews yet
Performance
90 002 7.8 /10
4 votes
No reviews yet
Quiet operation
5.8 /10
4 votes
No reviews yet
9000 2
Reliability
8.8 /10
4 votes
No reviews yet
Performance
GPU clock speed
1050MHz
1126MHz
The graphics processing unit (GPU) has a higher clock speed.
Turbo GPU
1178MHz
1216MHz
When the GPU is running below its limits, it can jump to a higher clock speed to increase performance.
pixel rate
67.3 GPixel/s
72.1 GPixel/s
The number of pixels that can be displayed on the screen every second.
FLOPS
3.4 TFLOPS
4.6 TFLOPS
FLOPS is a measure of GPU processing power.
texture size
109 GTexels/s
144 GTexels/s
Number of textured pixels that can be displayed on the screen every second.
GPU memory speed
1753MHz
1753MHz
Memory speed is one aspect that determines memory bandwidth.
Shading patterns
Shading units (or stream processors) are small processors in a graphics card that are responsible for processing various aspects of an image.
texture units (TMUs)
TMUs take texture units and map them to the geometric layout of the 3D scene. More TMUs generally means texture information is processed faster.
ROPs
ROPs are responsible for some of the final steps of the rendering process, such as writing the final pixel data to memory and for performing other tasks such as anti-aliasing to improve the appearance of graphics.
Memory
effective memory speed
7012MHz
7012MHz
The effective memory clock rate is calculated from the size and data transfer rate of the memory.
A higher clock speed can give better performance in games and other applications.
maximum memory bandwidth
224GB/s
224GB/s
This is the maximum rate at which data can be read from or stored in memory.
VRAM (video RAM) is the dedicated memory of the graphics card. More VRAM usually allows you to run games at higher settings, especially for things like texture resolution.
versions of GDDR memory
Later versions of GDDR memory offer improvements such as higher data transfer rates, which improves performance.
memory bus width
256bit
256bit
A wider memory bus means it can carry more data per cycle. This is an important factor in memory performance, and therefore the overall performance of the graphics card.
Supports memory troubleshooting code
✖Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
✖Nvidia GeForce GTX 980
Memory troubleshooting code can detect and repair data corruption. It is used when necessary to avoid distortion, such as in scientific computing or when starting a server.
Features
DirectX version
DirectX is used in games with a new version that supports better graphics.
OpenGL version
The newer version of OpenGL, the better graphics quality in games.
version of OpenCL
Some applications use OpenCL to use the power of the graphics processing unit (GPU) for non-graphical computing. Newer versions are more functional and better quality.
Supports multi-monitor technology
✔Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
✔Nvidia GeForce GTX 980
The video card has the ability to connect multiple displays. This allows you to set up multiple monitors at the same time to create a more immersive gaming experience, such as a wider field of view.
GPU temperature at boot
Lower boot temperature means the card generates less heat and the cooling system works better.
supports ray tracing
✖Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
✖Nvidia GeForce GTX 980
Ray tracing is an advanced light rendering technique that provides more realistic lighting, shadows and reflections in games.
Supports 3D
✔Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
✔Nvidia GeForce GTX 980
Allows you to view in 3D (if you have a 3D screen and glasses).
supports DLSS
✖Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
✖Nvidia GeForce GTX 980
DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) is an AI based scaling technology. This allows the graphics card to render games at lower resolutions and upscale them to higher resolutions with near-native visual quality and improved performance. DLSS is only available in some games.
AMD SAM / Intel Resizable BAR
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Nvidia GeForce GTX 970)
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Nvidia GeForce GTX 980)
AMD Smart Access Memory (SAM) and Intel Resizable BAR are two technologies that allow the processor to access the graphics card faster, which can improve performance. This requires a compatible motherboard, graphics card, and processor.
Ports
has HDMI output
✔Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
✔Nvidia GeForce GTX 980
Devices with HDMI or mini HDMI ports can stream HD video and audio to the connected display.
HDMI connectors
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Nvidia GeForce GTX 980)
More HDMI connectors allow you to connect multiple devices at the same time, such as game consoles and TVs.
HDMI version
HDMI 2.0
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Nvidia GeForce GTX 980)
Newer versions of HDMI support higher bandwidth for higher resolutions and frame rates.
DisplayPort outputs
Allows connection to a display using DisplayPort.
USB-C ports
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Nvidia GeForce GTX 970)
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Nvidia GeForce GTX 980)
With more USB-C ports, you can connect more devices/peripherals.
DVI outputs
Allows connection to a display using DVI.
mini DisplayPort outputs
Allows connection to a display using mini DisplayPort.
Price comparison
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
Buy used:
€50
| Product | Store | Price | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
MSI NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 D6 Ventus XS. ..MSI NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 D6 Ventus XS OC Grafikkarte ‘4GB GDDR6, 1620MHz |
€161 | ||||
| Zotac GeForce GT 1030 Grafikkarte (NVIDI…Zotac GeForce GT 1030 Grafikkarte (NVIDIA GT 1030, 2GB GDDR5, 64bit, Base-Takt 1227 MHz / Boost-Takt 1468 MHz, 6 GHz) | €85 | ||||
| ASUS Cerberus-GTX1050TI-O4G Gaming Grafi…ASUS Cerberus-GTX1050TI-O4G Gaming Grafikkarte (Nvidia, PCIe 3.0, 4GB GDDR5 Speicher, DVI, HDMI, Display Port) | MSI GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER VENTUS XS OC | €221 | |||
| Product | Shop | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| EVGA GeForce GTX 980 TI ACX 2.0 + Grafik…EVGA GeForce GTX 980 TI ACX 2.0 + Grafikkarte | €909 | ||
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Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 vs Nvidia GeForce GTX 970: What is the difference?
40 points
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980
47 points
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
€ 127
€ 161
€ 127 9 0014
Gigabyte Mini-ITX
Comparison winner
€ 161
vs
54 facts in comparison
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
Why is Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 better than Nvidia GeForce GTX 970?
- GPU frequency 77MHz higher?
1127MHz vs 1050MHz - 1.22 TFLOPS above FLOPS?
4.62 TFLOPS vs 3.4 TFLOPS - 4.8 GPixel/s higher pixel rate?
72.1 GPixel/s vs 67.3 GPixel/s - 35.3 GTexels/s higher number of textured pixels? more stream processors?
2048 vs 1664 - 24 more texture units (TMUs)?
128 vs 104
Why is Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 better than Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980?
- 17W below TDP?
148W vs 165W - 16mm narrower? Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980
vs
AMD Radeon RX 580
Nvidia GeForce GTX 9 70
vs
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980
vs
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
vs
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 90 003
vs
AMD Radeon RX 590
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
vs
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980
vs
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
vs
AMD Radeon RX 580
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980
vs
AMD Radeon RX 470
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
vs
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Laptop
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980
vs
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti
Nvidia GeForce Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980
vs
MSI Radeon RX 570 Gaming X
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
vs
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1050 Ti
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980
vs
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 GDDR6
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
vs 9 0003
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980
vs
MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Armor OC
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
vs
AMD Radeon RX Vega 8
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
vs
AMD Radeon RX 570
Price Comparison
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980
Buy Used:
€77
Product Store 90 Price
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660 Grafikkarte (6. 
..Gigabyte Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Gaming OC (…Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Gaming OC (…Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Gaming OC (12 GB GDDR6X/PCI Express 4.0/2640MHz/ 21000MHz), Schwarz 9Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4060 TI Eagle OC 8G…Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4060 TI Eagle OC 8GB Grafikkarte – 8GB GDDR6 18Gbps 128bit, PCI-E 4.0, 2X DisplayPort 1.4, 2X HDMI 2.1 a, NVIDIA DLSS 3, unterstützt 4K, Ada Lovelace Arch, GV-N406TEAGLE OC. — 8GD €459 Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
Buy used:
€50
9024 8
Product 9MSI NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 D6 Ventus XS…MSI NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 D6 Ventus XS OC Grafikkarte ‘4GB GDDR6, 162 0MHz, 128-bit, PCI Express x16 Gen3, DisplayPort, HDMI, DVI-D, Dual Fan Cooling System’
€161 Zotac GeForce GT 1030 Grafikkarte (NVIDIA GT 1030, 2GB GDDR5, 64bit, Base-Takt 1227 MHz / Boost-Takt 1468 MHz, 6 GHz) €85 ASUS Cerberus-GTX1050TI-O4G Gaming Grafi. 
..ASUS Cerberus-GTX1050TI-O4G Gaming Grafikkarte (Nvidia, PCIe 3.0, 4GB GDDR5 Speicher, DVI, HDMI, Display Port) MSI GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER VENTUS XS OC €221 903 00
User Reviews
Overall Rating
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980
0 User Reviews
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980
0.0 /10
0 User reviews
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
4 User reviews
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
8.8 /10
4 User reviews
Features
Value for money
No reviews yet
7.5 /10
4 votes no calls yet
9
Performance
No reviews yet
7.8 /10
4 votes
Quiet operation
No reviews yet
5.8 / No reviews yet 48 Performance
GPU clock speed
1127MHz
1050MHz
The graphics processing unit (GPU) has a higher clock speed.
turbo GPU
1216MHz
1178MHz
When the GPU is running below its limits, it can jump to a higher clock speed to increase performance.
pixel rate
72.1 GPixel/s
67.3 GPixel/s
The number of pixels that can be displayed on the screen every second.
FLOPS
4.62 TFLOPS
3.4 TFLOPS
FLOPS is a measure of GPU processing power.
texture size
144.3 GTexels/s
109 GTexels/s
Number of textured pixels that can be displayed on the screen every second.
GPU memory speed
1753MHz
1753MHz
Memory speed is one aspect that determines memory bandwidth.
Shading patterns
Shading units (or stream processors) are small processors in a graphics card that are responsible for processing various aspects of an image.
texture units (TMUs)
TMUs take texture units and map them to the geometric layout of the 3D scene. More TMUs generally means texture information is processed faster.
ROPs
ROPs are responsible for some of the final steps of the rendering process, such as writing the final pixel data to memory and for performing other tasks such as anti-aliasing to improve the appearance of graphics.
Memory
effective memory speed
7012MHz
7012MHz
The effective memory clock rate is calculated from the size and data transfer rate of the memory. A higher clock speed can give better performance in games and other applications.
maximum memory bandwidth
224.4GB/s
224GB/s
This is the maximum rate at which data can be read from or stored in memory.
VRAM (video RAM) is the dedicated memory of the graphics card. More VRAM usually allows you to run games at higher settings, especially for things like texture resolution.
versions of GDDR memory
Later versions of GDDR memory offer improvements such as higher data transfer rates, which improves performance.
memory bus width
256bit
256bit
A wider memory bus means it can carry more data per cycle.
This is an important factor in memory performance, and therefore the overall performance of the graphics card. Supports memory debug code
✖Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980
✖Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
Memory debug code can detect and repair data corruption. It is used when necessary to avoid distortion, such as in scientific computing or when starting a server.
Features
DirectX version
DirectX is used in games with a new version that supports better graphics.
OpenGL version
The newer version of OpenGL, the better graphics quality in games.
version of OpenCL
Some applications use OpenCL to use the power of the graphics processing unit (GPU) for non-graphical computing. Newer versions are more functional and better quality.
Supports multi-monitor technology
✔Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980
✔Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
The video card has the ability to connect multiple displays. This allows you to set up multiple monitors at the same time to create a more immersive gaming experience, such as a wider field of view.
GPU temperature at boot
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980)
Lower boot temperature means the card generates less heat and the cooling system works better.
supports ray tracing
✖Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980
✖Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
Ray tracing is an advanced light rendering technique that provides more realistic lighting, shadows and reflections in games.
Supports 3D
✔Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980
✔Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
Allows you to view in 3D (if you have a 3D screen and glasses).
supports DLSS
✖Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980
✖Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) is an AI based scaling technology. This allows the graphics card to render games at lower resolutions and upscale them to higher resolutions with near-native visual quality and improved performance. DLSS is only available in some games.
AMD SAM / Intel Resizable BAR
Unknown.
Help us offer a price. (Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980) Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Nvidia GeForce GTX 970)
AMD Smart Access Memory (SAM) and Intel Resizable BAR are two technologies that allow the processor to have faster access to the graphics card, which can improve performance. This requires a compatible motherboard, graphics card, and processor.
Ports
has HDMI output
✔Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980
✔Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
Devices with HDMI or mini HDMI ports can stream HD video and audio to the connected display.
HDMI connectors
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980)
More HDMI connectors allow you to connect multiple devices at the same time, such as game consoles and TVs.
HDMI version
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980)
HDMI 2.0
New versions of HDMI support higher bandwidth, resulting in higher resolutions and frame rates.
DisplayPort outputs
Allows connection to a display using DisplayPort.
USB-C ports
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980)
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Nvidia GeForce GTX 970)
With more USB-C ports, you can connect more devices/peripherals.
DVI outputs
Allows connection to a display using DVI.
mini DisplayPort outputs
Allows connection to a display using mini DisplayPort.
Price comparison
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980
Buy used:
€77
Product Store Price Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660 Grafikkarte (6…Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660 Grafikkarte (6 GB, GDDR5) € Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Gaming OC (…Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Gaming OC (12GB GDDR6X/PCI Express 4.0/2640MHz/21000MHz), Schwarz 902 61 €876 Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4060 TI Eagle OC 8G…Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4060 TI Eagle OC 8GB Grafikkarte – 8GB GDDR6 18Gbps 128bit, PCI-E 4. 