10 Aug 2021 - Graphics card reviewed

This GeForce GTX 980MX 8GB graphics card is considered budget with poor modern game performance when playing anything more demanding than indie game requirements.

This card meets game requirements up to DirectX 12.

How well will the GeForce GTX 980MX 8GB run 2021 games? We will take a look at the biggest releases and frames per second analysis on Ultra graphics settings. The GeForce GTX 980MX 8GB can run the recommended graphics system requirements for 308 games today, of the top 1000 most demanding.

With 1080p being the most common gaming resolution at the moment we explored how well the GeForce GTX 980MX 8GB can run Days Gone at 1080p and saw it return playable frame rates at the following graphics settings - Low: 98 FPS, Medium: 77 FPS, High: 52 FPS and Ultra: 37 FPS. For performance contrast we can see that Forza Horizon 5 is predicted to return a weak 19 FPS at Ultra 1080p.

Moving screen sizes up to 1440p we ran Days Gone on the GeForce GTX 980MX 8GB to see that it got a playable set of frame rates. Here are the low to ultra results at 1440p - L: 75FPS, M: 59FPS, H: 40FPS, U: 28FPS. Another popular game to investigate at 1440p with this card was Forza Horizon 5 which we predicted will be weak in performance netting an Ultra FPS of 14 FPS. Finally we then took a look at Star Citizen where its predicted Ultra 1440p Frame rates were playable at 31 FPS. After a look at the popular games running at 1440p with the GeForce GTX 980MX 8GB, this is in need of some graphics adjustments to get some stability, which means its not an ideal gaming resolution for this GPU.

How many years will the GeForce GTX 980MX 8GB graphics card play newly released games and how long until you should consider upgrading the GeForce GTX 980MX 8GB in your PC? This GeForce GTX 980MX 8GB card has 12 to 18 months of latest AAA game play left in it before upgrading should be considered

Whats a good PC graphics upgrade for the GeForce GTX 980MX 8GB? A good upgrade choice for this graphics card today would be the 20 Series GeForce RTX 2070 Super Max-Q. For comparison of the 1000 most demanding games around today this suggested upgrade is 64% better and can meet 824 of their recommended requirements.