Disassembly Video Cards for PC: NVIDIA Vs AMD
The hardest part of building a PC is choosing parts, especially when it seems like everyone else has an opinion. And there is no war more prevalent than NVIDIA snobs against AMD fans. What’s really going on with these two companies and which card should you get?
Today’s Sunday Showdown will be a little different. Instead of directly comparing the two graphics cards, we’ll talk a little about the companies that make them, where each manufacturer wins and loses, and how to choose the right card for you.
Price-performance ratio always changes
First, a little real talk: You can’t trust whoever tells you that one of these companies “sucks.” Both of these make for unambiguously great graphics cards for PC gaming, and you should consider both in your next build.
By far the most important factor in choosing a graphics card is value for money. How well does it play against other cards in the same price range? Neither company wins consistently in terms of price / performance, although at the time of this writing, AMD cards have been priced very well. But this changes frequently and can even change from map to map.
So once you’ve decided on your budget, pick a few cards from each company that fit your price range and start looking for benchmarks. Anandtech has a good performance testing tool that will show you how each card performs in different games (pay close attention to the games you actually play!). You will likely find that one of them is consistently better for the price. Tom’s Hardware also regularly publishes guides on the current crop of cards and which ones are best for your hard-earned money, so I recommend checking that out as well.
Each has its own exclusive technologies
Price for performance is by far the most important trait you choose, however there are other secondary ways that NVIDIA and AMD are trying to differentiate themselves from each other.
NVIDIA has several well-known exclusive technologies such as PhysX that are not found in many games, but they provide additional physical effects. In some cases, AMD has equivalent technologies, but NVIDIA often comes first. NVIDIA was the first to release G-Sync monitors, for example, which adapt the monitor’s refresh rate to the game to avoid annoying screen tearing . AMD Freesync technology is very similar, but didn’t appear until G-Sync hit the market. Freesync is more open in nature, however, which means that compatible monitors will be cheaper and (hopefully) more plentiful.
You might also want to consider NVIDIA Shadowplay, which records your games to video, or AMD GVR, which isn’t as powerful but serves the same purpose (and came out a little later). NVIDIA cards can also stream games to Shield devices , which is pretty cool if you want to play on a portable device.
Of course, NVIDIA is not always the first to come onto the scene with new technologies – AMD introduced its TressFX hair physics before NVIDIA HairWorks, and it actually works better. But NVIDIA has a reputation for pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, especially when it comes to big, marketable features, while AMD gains the edge by making its features more “open”.
Scandal after scandal
Of course, no flaming war would be complete without scandals in the press and unfounded accusations from gamers. For example, NVIDIA and AMD recently had a falling out over their hair technologies. AMD TressFX (which actually came out first) creates very realistic hair, but it performs better on AMD cards. NVIDIA HairWorks does something similar, but performs much better on NVIDIA cards than on AMD. So much so that after the release of The Witcher 3, AMD accused NVIDIA of deliberately damaging their cards. The two companies fired at each other for a while, the players took sides , and the battle is still ongoing.
And this is just one example. AMD consistently has a bad reputation for unreliable drivers and overheating of cards. NVIDIA users were upset when they found out that some of the GTX 970’s RAM runs at slower speeds than the rest . Many users are expressing disappointment with AMD cards, which are simply “rebranding” of previous generations. And current NVIDIA cards won’t be able to take advantage of some of the upcoming DirectX 12 features AMD will provide, leading people to blame NVIDIA for planned obsolescence.
You can see how fiery wars can get pretty hot.
Very few of these scandals are as straightforward as one side might imagine. They may contain useful information, but be careful with the people who use them to point out the fact that AMD is “not innovating” or NVIDIA is “anti-consumer”. And beware of people who make great predictions of the future based on one benchmark or one marketing campaign. You never know what the future will bring.
Buy what suits you
When building a PC, we advise you to seek advice from experienced developers. But when it comes to graphics cards, be prepared for some serious brand wars and don’t let the opinions of others disprove your own research.
First of all, see which cards are best for your budget. If you require any exclusive technology (perhaps you have an NVIDIA Shield or a Freesync-but-not-G-sync compatible monitor), that may also influence your decision. And when it comes to scandals … well, feel free to follow the news, but if things seem too big, buy a card that has proven itself in tests and prices. Brand loyalty won’t get far .