Transistor count alone really doesn't tell a useful picture. The GP102 (as used in the 1080 Ti) has 48% more transistors than the 980 Ti's GPU and, depending on the game and resolution, it's as much as 100% faster. The likes of the RTX 2060, which has 18% fewer transistors than the 980 Ti is notably faster than it and it has those not-so-useful features too.