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. But the GeForce GTX 980 Ti is the better value, undercutting it by $25 USD for the performance you get.
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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 GeForce GTX 980 Ti currently lists from $115 USD, $25 USD less than the Radeon RX 6500 XT at $140 USD. Despite being slower, the GeForce GTX 980 Ti offers the better performance-per-dollar (~10% better value), so budget-focused buyers should weigh it carefully. The GeForce GTX 980 Ti is trading below its $649 USD MSRP — a genuine deal. The Radeon RX 6500 XT is trading below its $200 USD MSRP — a genuine deal.
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?
Choose the Radeon RX 6500 XT if you want the most performance and can absorb the higher price. If you're optimizing for value, the GeForce GTX 980 Ti stretches your money further for only slightly lower performance.