GeForce GTX 980 Ti vs Radeon RX 580
Performance-wise the GeForce GTX 980 Ti is out front, dramatically faster, roughly 67% up on the Radeon RX 580. It is also the stronger value pick here, so it's the easy recommendation if your budget allows.
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GeForce GTX 980 Ti vs Radeon RX 580: In-Depth Breakdown
Performance: GeForce GTX 980 Ti vs Radeon RX 580
The GeForce GTX 980 Ti is dramatically faster, around 67% ahead of the Radeon RX 580. Both cards sit in the same broad class, well suited to entry-level 1080p.
Price & Value
Right now the Radeon RX 580 starts at $110 USD against $125 USD for the GeForce GTX 980 Ti. Because it's both faster and competitively priced, the GeForce GTX 980 Ti wins on performance-per-dollar by about 47%. The Radeon RX 580 is trading below its $229 USD MSRP — a genuine deal. The GeForce GTX 980 Ti is trading below its $649 USD MSRP — a genuine deal.
Power & Efficiency
The Radeon RX 580 is the lighter draw at 185W against the GeForce GTX 980 Ti's 250W, making it the easier card to power and cool. The GeForce GTX 980 Ti draws more in absolute terms but squeezes out more performance per watt, so budget for a beefier PSU if you go that route.
VRAM & Future-Proofing
The Radeon RX 580's 8GB (vs 6GB on the GeForce GTX 980 Ti) gives it more room for 4K textures and memory-hungry creative or AI workloads.
Generation & Longevity
The Radeon RX 580 is roughly 2 years newer than the GeForce GTX 980 Ti (GCN 4.0 (Polaris) 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 580 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 580?
The GeForce GTX 980 Ti is the all-round winner here — it's faster and the better value, so buy it if it fits your budget. Only consider the Radeon RX 580 if you find it at a steep discount.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the GeForce GTX 980 Ti better than the Radeon RX 580?
Which is better for 4K gaming, the GeForce GTX 980 Ti or the Radeon RX 580?
Is the GeForce GTX 980 Ti worth the extra $15 USD over the Radeon RX 580?
Does the Radeon RX 580 have enough VRAM advantage to matter?
Which should you buy: GeForce GTX 980 Ti or Radeon RX 580?
Technical Specifications Comparison
Architecture & Cores
| Specification | GeForce GTX 980 Ti | Radeon RX 580 |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Maxwell | GCN 4.0 (Polaris) |
| Process Node | TSMC 28nm | GloFo 14nm |
| CUDA Cores (CUDA Cores / Stream Processors) | 2,816✓ | 2,304 |
Clock Speeds
| Specification | GeForce GTX 980 Ti | Radeon RX 580 |
|---|---|---|
| Base Clock | 1,000 MHz | 1,257 MHz✓ |
| Boost Clock | 1,075 MHz | 1,340 MHz✓ |
Memory
| Specification | GeForce GTX 980 Ti | Radeon RX 580 |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM Capacity | 6 GB | 8 GB✓ |
| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR5 |
| Memory Bus | 384-bit✓ | 256-bit |
| Memory Speed | 7 Gbps | 8 Gbps✓ |
| Bandwidth | 336.5 GB/s✓ | 256 GB/s |
Connectivity & Power
| Specification | GeForce GTX 980 Ti | Radeon RX 580 |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |
| TDP | 250 W | 185 W✓ |
| Power Connectors | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin | 1x 8-pin |
| Released | Jun 2015 | Apr 2017 |
