ComputersEquipment

Which video card is better: NVIDIA or AMD? Are there alternatives?

When choosing a modern discrete graphics accelerator for a stationary computer, a dilemma arises as to which product to choose from: NVidia or AMD? Only these two companies occupy a dominant position in the niche of discrete graphics cards, and, in fact, they do not currently have a real alternative. It is the model range of adapters of these two manufacturers that will be devoted to this material.

Types of graphics adapters

By the way of execution, video cards can be integrated and discrete. In the first case, the video adapter is either part of the chipset on the motherboard, or is on the silicon base of the central processing unit. The first performance to date is obsolete and in new computers is rare. But the second option now occupies a dominant position in the segment of entry-level computing systems. As a rule, such video subsystems have sufficiently low speed, which is sufficient only for the implementation of the most simple tasks.

Also in this part of the video card market there is no choice between NVidia or AMD because the first one does not make CPUs and it can not initially have integrated graphics adapters. The dominant position in this case is the AMD company, and Intel competes with it. The discrete video accelerator is a separate board, which is installed in the expansion slot of the motherboard. Conventionally, such computer components are divided into three levels:

  • Decisions of entry level.
  • Adapters of the middle class.
  • Premium Graphics Accelerators.

It is in this niche is direct competition between manufacturers, and here the question: "What video card to choose: NVidia or AMD?" - is as relevant as possible.

What are the manufacturers of graphics accelerators for today?

In fact, there are 4 companies present in the list of video chip manufacturers: AMD, NVidia, Intel and Matrox. The first of these, as noted earlier, is capable of manufacturing both integrated adapters and discrete ones. The only caveat: it does not have premium-level adapters that are able to compete on an equal footing with NVidia's flagships.

The second company produces discrete accelerators. And in the range of its products there are both entry-level adapters, video accelerators of average and even premium level. The cost of the latter can reach 1000 dollars. In turn, "Intel" specializes in integrated accelerators, which most often can be found only in office systems or multimedia stations.

Also, the capabilities of such accelerators can be enough to run some toys on minimal settings. Until recently, Matrox manufactured video cards based on its chips. But the difficult economic situation and the minimum demand forced it to use the solutions of a direct competitor - AMD.

Distribution of products by segment

Distribution of video cards of the three leading manufacturers by market segments is given in the table below. The company Matrox is absent for the reason that it refused the production of its video chips and uses semiconductor AMD solutions for this purpose.

The distribution of video accelerators by the niches of the main manufacturers is shown in the table.

Market niche

AMD Radeon

NVidia GeForce

Intel HD Graphics

Integrated graphics cards

R7 240, R7 250

-

610, 620 and 630

Budget Adapters

RX 460, RX 470

1050, 1050 Ti

-

Accelerators of average level

RX 480

1060, 1070

-

Premium video accelerators

-

1080, 1080 Ti

-

Virtually in all segments of the graphics accelerator market, in addition to the most productive solutions, there are adapters AMD Radeon. NVidia, in turn, can offer a video accelerator in any segment of the video subsystem market, in addition to integrated solutions. "Intel" boasts the availability of only integrated video accelerators.

Therefore, to observe competition between AMD Radeon vs NVidia it is possible only in niches of budget adapters and accelerators of middle class.

Integrated graphics cards

As noted earlier, Intel and AMD are competing in the segment of integrated accelerators. Therefore, there is no choice between AMD Radeon or NVidia GeForce in this case. The list of proposals "Intel" in this case is represented by three models of the HD Graphics series with the indices 610, 620 and 630.

The higher the model number, the higher the speed. Therefore, the 610 and 620 are perfect for office PCs and various multimedia stations. But the model 630 can already play some games. Only with minimal settings.

The key factor that limits the performance of such video subsystems is the memory subsystem. Such video adapters use the RAM of a personal computer. It has microchips running at low frequencies, and this has a very negative effect on performance.

The second leading manufacturer of integrated graphics cards is AMD. Its accelerators are built into A-series chips. They belong to the Radeon series and are labeled R7 250 or R7 240. Essentially, these are trimmed modifications of budget video accelerators. Productivity at them above, than at the competing company. But the main problem, as in the previous case, is the low speed of the memory subsystem.

Until recently, in this segment of the market could be chosen video card NVidia or AMD. But now the first of them was forced to abandon the release of such products for the reason that the adapter was transferred from the set of system logic to the CPA. Well and manufacture of such production NVidia is not engaged and has been compelled to exclude such decisions from the modeling number.

Adapters for entry level

The only part of the graphics adapter market, where the choice is most acute between AMD or NVidia. The model range of the first company is represented by the solutions RX460 and RX470. Their technical characteristics are given in the table below.

The characteristics of the RX460 and RX470 are shown in the table.

Parameter name

RX460

RX470

GPU type

Polaris 11

Polaris 10 Pro

Technology

14 nm

Stream processors, pcs.

896

2048

Blocks TMU, pcs.

48

128

ROP blocks, pcs.

16

32

Frequencies, MHz

1090-1200

926-1206

Memory capacity of GDDR5, GB

2/4

4/8

Memory bus, bit

128

256

RAM frequency, MHz

7000

6600

Thermal package, W

75

120

Their direct competitors are 1050 and 1050 Ti, respectively. Their specifications are shown in the table below.

Specifications for 1050 and 1050 Ti adapters

Parameter

1050

1050Ti

GPU

GP107

Technology, nm

14

Number of stream processors, pcs.

640

768

TMU, pcs.

40

48

ROP, pcs.

32

32

Frequency range, MHz

1354/1455

1290/1392

RAM GDDR5, GB

2

4

Memory frequency, MHz

7008

Power consumption, W

75

75

Now let's compare the previously mentioned AMD Vs NVidia solutions in real tests. In 3DMark, accelerator strengths in points are distributed as follows:

  1. RX470-9207.
  2. 1050Ti - 7078.
  3. 1050 - 6489.
  4. RX460-5263.

In the game Thief at a resolution of 1920X1080 and high quality of the image we get such results in fps:

  1. RX470-69.
  2. 1050Ti - 52.
  3. 1050 - 48.
  4. RX460-39.

In Metro: Last Light in the same mode and identical quality results:

  1. RX470-39.
  2. 1050Ti - 31.
  3. 1050 - 28.
  4. RX460 - 20.

The above results indicate that the RX460 in this case is an unconditional outsider. The cost is the lowest, but the performance is also adequate. On average, 10-15 percent in tests, it is ahead of 1050. Moreover, this GPU has 2 times the volume of the video buffer. A faster performance of 10 percent has 1050Ti.

Well, the absolute leader in this niche turned out RX470. This adapter has the highest cost, but its performance is at the appropriate level. If the budget allows, then the RX470 is the optimal choice for this niche of graphics solutions.

Accelerators of the middle class

Cardinally the situation in the middle segment changes when comparing AMD vs NVidia. In this case, the second company offers products with improved performance and improved specifications.

The key factor is that NVidia video accelerators in this price category support virtual reality technology (they even have the VR Ready label), and the AMD solution is devoid of such an important feature. The specifications of the RX480 are shown in the table below.

Specifications RX480

Parameter name

RX480

GPU model

Polaris 10 HT

Process technology, nm

14

Frequency formula, MHz

1120/1266

RAM size GDDR5, GB

8

Frequency of the video buffer, MHz

8000MHz

Shader blocks, pcs.

2304

ROP, pcs.

32

TMU, pcs.

144

RAM bus width, bit

256

Power consumption, W

150

NVidia currently has 2 adapters for the middle-class solution segment - 1060 and 1070. Their main technical parameters are shown in the table below.

Parameters 1060 and 1070

Parameter name

1060

1070

GPU

GP06

GP104

Production technology, nm

16

Frequency values, MHz

1506/1708

1503/1683

Video buffer standard GDDR5, GB

3/6

4/8

Memory frequency, MHz

8000

Shader processing units, pcs.

1280

1920

ROP, pcs.

64

48

TMU, pcs.

80

120

The size of the RAM interface, bit

256

192

TDP, W

120

150

The comparison between AMD Radeon vs NVidia GeForce in this niche indicates a significant advantage of the second company's products. And this is evident not only in terms of technical characteristics, but also in test results. For example, in the game Battlefield 4, these adapters in the resolution of 2560X1440 and with ultra-high settings produce as many fps:

  1. 1070 - 50-63.
  2. 1060 - 47-60.
  3. RX480-34-44.

The ideal ratio of software and hardware in NVidia products in this case does not leave any chances for AMD's leading adapter.

Slightly changes the alignment of forces in the game Batman: Arkham Khight. In this case, the resolution of the image remains the same, and its quality is high. As a result, video accelerators gave such values in fps:

  1. 1070 - 59-91.
  2. RX480-43-65.
  3. 1060 - 40-64.

Leading AMD solution slightly bypasses the junior representative of this family in the person of 1060, but still loses hopelessly behind 1070. The explanation for this result is the following: in 1060 only 6 Gb, and this toy requires 8 GB already.

As a result, a system random access memory operates, which operates at significantly lower frequencies, and this reduces the performance of the video subsystem. Another failure is obtained when testing the RX480 in the game DIRT. The resolution in this case corresponds to "2K", and the settings are maximum. As a result, we get the following number of fps:

  1. 1070 - 67-79.
  2. 1060-48-58.
  3. RX480-36-47.

Again, more advanced architecture and optimized software in this case, again, all put in their places. Worthy answer RX480 can give out in the game Total War: Warhammer. In this game, the picture was displayed in 1080p format with the maximum quality. As a result, we got such results by the number of frames per second:

  1. RX480-49-55.
  2. 1070 - 45-51.
  3. 1060-442-46.

In this case, the game is well optimized for API Vulkan from AMD and it is its products that, due to this, show impressive results. But nevertheless, NVidia's products are preferable in this niche, and when assembling a PC of this level it is better to choose it.

The most productive solutions

In the niche of the most productive graphics accelerators with the highest level of performance today, there is no choice between AMD or NVidia because the first company does not have such adapters now.

But the second manufacturer has two premium accelerators at once - 1080 and 1080 Ti. As in the two mid-range models, they support VR technology. Also, these solutions function well in 4K mode.

The presence of such a component in the PC for today allows its owner not to think about the speed of the video subsystem for the reason that any actual task on such hardware is not very difficult.

In this case, it is necessary to mark the video buffer separately. The type of memory in this case is GDDR5X. Its chips operate at 10 GHz in the case of 1080 and 11 GHz in 1080Ti. The amount of RAM in the first adapter is 8 GB, and in the second - 11 GB. Only these parameters do not leave any chances to competing solutions and on performance of NVidia products allow to outstrip any AMD adapter.

The situation with the software

An important component of any modern graphics subsystem is the driver. It is on how much the latest version of the latter is installed, and the final level of computer performance depends. Initially, developers are not fully optimized software packages.

In the future, the product provided to users is tested and shortcomings and errors are identified, which are gradually corrected and corrected. Also, manufacturers take into account the software, which at this time appears on sale. This includes toys, graphic packages, and software for designing various kinds of systems. Hardware, along with a set of drivers, is optimized for such programs. And only after that an updated program for managing the graphics adapter appears on the official website of the manufacturer.

Catalyst - the so-called software for implementing the AMD graphics adapter, which includes the AMD driver. NVidia calls its own package of similar software System Tools. It is important to keep track of updates and regularly install them. This will avoid possible problems when installing a new software and in some cases will increase the speed of existing software.

Possible alternatives

Only two alternative options are for those who do not want to buy the products of the two leading companies and do not want to think about what is best, AMD or NVidia. One of them is the use of integrated solutions of Intel. This approach is justified only in cases where the computer will solve the simplest tasks. If the requirements to the graphic subsystem of the electronic computing subsystem go beyond these limits, then it is inadmissible to use such a solution.

The second possible alternative are the accelerators of the Canadian company Matrox. But recently this company refused to develop its own graphics processors and began using already semiconductor AMD chips. Also such products are used only in those cases when it is necessary to display information on several monitors, which can be connected up to 9 pieces.

Development prospects

Within the framework of this material only current accelerators of manufacturers were considered. But there are still stocks and obsolete versions of graphics accelerators, starting with the NVidia GeForce GTX 660.

AMD in this case is represented by adapters of series R9 370 or R9 280. But such solutions are no longer relevant, and it is unacceptable to use them when building a new computer. The level of performance is much lower, and the power consumption is too high.

NVidia Company recently introduced accelerators of the 10XX series, and so far its new developments are not advertised. In fact, she is waiting for the answer of her opponent. In May 2017, AMD will introduce the RX 5XX series video cards, which will duplicate its current products. The difference will be only in increased frequencies and a new production process.

Also during 2017 AMD plans to update the line of video cards and introduce absolutely new products of the Vega series. After that, the question of relative what is better than AMD or NVidia, will arise with new strength.

Results

If there is a choice between NVidia or AMD, then the decisions of the first company will be preferable. Most of them support the technology of virtual reality and at a comparable cost have a higher speed.

In this list, the RX 470 is kept apart. This accelerator belongs to the entry-level solutions and bypasses competing solutions in terms of speed. If you plan to build a budget or office computer, then from the position of the graphics subsystem AMD chips are preferable.

In the case of the priority of higher speed of the processor part, it is better to choose Intel products.

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