GPU Comparison
Select up to 2 GPUs to analyze their pricing, performance, and specifications side-by-side.
On raw speed the Radeon RX 6500 XT comes out noticeably faster — about 11% ahead of the GeForce GTX 980 Ti. It also wins on performance-per-dollar, making it the cleaner choice when you can afford it.
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Radeon RX 6500 XT vs GeForce GTX 980 Ti: In-Depth Breakdown
Performance: Radeon RX 6500 XT vs GeForce GTX 980 Ti
The Radeon RX 6500 XT is noticeably faster, around 11% ahead of the GeForce GTX 980 Ti. Both cards sit in the same broad class, well suited to entry-level 1080p.
Price & Value
The Radeon RX 6500 XT currently lists from $527, $1,153 less than the GeForce GTX 980 Ti at $1,680. Because it's both faster and competitively priced, the Radeon RX 6500 XT wins on performance-per-dollar by about 254%. The Radeon RX 6500 XT still sits about $327 above its $200 MSRP. The GeForce GTX 980 Ti still sits about $1,031 above its $649 MSRP.
Power & Efficiency
At 113W against 250W, the Radeon RX 6500 XT is both the lower-power and the more efficient card, making it the easier build to cool and power.
VRAM & Future-Proofing
The GeForce GTX 980 Ti carries 6GB versus 4GB on the Radeon RX 6500 XT. The extra 2GB helps at 4K, with high-resolution texture packs, and for content-creation or local-AI workloads that exhaust smaller buffers.
Generation & Longevity
The Radeon RX 6500 XT is roughly 7 years newer than the GeForce GTX 980 Ti, so it generally benefits from a more modern architecture and longer driver-support runway.
Features & Ecosystem
Beyond raw numbers, the Radeon RX 6500 XT brings AMD FSR upscaling and strong rasterization value, while the GeForce GTX 980 Ti offers NVIDIA DLSS upscaling/frame generation and stronger ray tracing. If you lean on upscaling or ray tracing, that ecosystem difference can matter as much as the frame-rate gap.
Which should you buy: Radeon RX 6500 XT or GeForce GTX 980 Ti?
the Radeon RX 6500 XT is the all-round winner here — it's faster and the better value, so buy it if it fits your budget. Only consider the GeForce GTX 980 Ti if you find it at a steep discount.