GeForce GTX 980 Ti vs Radeon RX 6500 XT
On raw speed the GeForce GTX 980 Ti comes out significantly faster — about 25% ahead of the Radeon RX 6500 XT. But the Radeon RX 6500 XT is the better value, undercutting it by $10,751 SEK for the performance you get.
Market Value Leader
Only verified data for Radeon RX 6500 XT is available. Benchmarks for other models are currently being processed.
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GeForce GTX 980 Ti vs Radeon RX 6500 XT: In-Depth Breakdown
Performance: GeForce GTX 980 Ti vs Radeon RX 6500 XT
The GeForce GTX 980 Ti is significantly faster, around 25% ahead of the Radeon RX 6500 XT. Both cards sit in the same broad class, well suited to entry-level 1080p.
Price & Value
The Radeon RX 6500 XT currently lists from $2,638 SEK, $10,751 SEK less than the GeForce GTX 980 Ti at $13,389 SEK. Despite being slower, the Radeon RX 6500 XT offers the better performance-per-dollar (~306% better value), so budget-focused buyers should weigh it carefully. The Radeon RX 6500 XT still sits about $2,438 SEK above its $200 SEK MSRP. The GeForce GTX 980 Ti still sits about $12,740 SEK above its $649 SEK 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. Its more modern RDNA 2 architecture on a TSMC N6 process is part of why it does more with each watt.
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 (RDNA 2 vs Maxwell), so it generally benefits from a more modern architecture and longer driver-support runway.
Features & Ecosystem
Beyond raw numbers, the GeForce GTX 980 Ti brings NVIDIA DLSS upscaling/frame generation and stronger ray tracing, while the Radeon RX 6500 XT offers AMD FSR upscaling and strong rasterization value. If you lean on upscaling or ray tracing, that ecosystem difference can matter as much as the frame-rate gap.
Which should you buy: GeForce GTX 980 Ti or Radeon RX 6500 XT?
Choose the GeForce GTX 980 Ti if you want the most performance and can absorb the higher price. If you're optimizing for value, the Radeon RX 6500 XT stretches your money further for only slightly lower performance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the GeForce GTX 980 Ti better than the Radeon RX 6500 XT?
Which is better for 4K gaming, the GeForce GTX 980 Ti or the Radeon RX 6500 XT?
Is the GeForce GTX 980 Ti worth the extra $10,751 SEK over the Radeon RX 6500 XT?
Does the GeForce GTX 980 Ti have enough VRAM advantage to matter?
Which should you buy: GeForce GTX 980 Ti or Radeon RX 6500 XT?
Technical Specifications Comparison
Architecture & Cores
| Specification | GeForce GTX 980 Ti | Radeon RX 6500 XT |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Maxwell | RDNA 2 |
| Process Node | TSMC 28nm | TSMC N6 |
| CUDA Cores (CUDA Cores / Stream Processors) | 2,816✓ | 1,024 |
| Ray Tracing Cores | — | 16 |
Clock Speeds
| Specification | GeForce GTX 980 Ti | Radeon RX 6500 XT |
|---|---|---|
| Base Clock | 1,000 MHz | 2,310 MHz✓ |
| Boost Clock | 1,075 MHz | 2,815 MHz✓ |
Memory
| Specification | GeForce GTX 980 Ti | Radeon RX 6500 XT |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM Capacity | 6 GB✓ | 4 GB |
| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR6 |
| Memory Bus | 384-bit✓ | 64-bit |
| Memory Speed | 7 Gbps | 18 Gbps✓ |
| Bandwidth | 336.5 GB/s✓ | 144 GB/s |
Connectivity & Power
| Specification | GeForce GTX 980 Ti | Radeon RX 6500 XT |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x4 |
| TDP | 250 W | 113 W✓ |
| Power Connectors | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin | 1x 6-pin |
| Released | Jun 2015 | Jan 2022 |