NVIDIA
vs AMD – Which Graphics Cards Are Best In 2020?
·
JANUARY 25-2K20
by :ershad s
Few arguments can get as
heated among the gaming community as this one can: the eternal battle between
the two dominant GPU manufacturers, Nvidia and AMD.
But like most arguments,
there can be a lot of bias regarding this topic. So, is one necessarily better
than the other from an objective standpoint?
1.
Performance and Pricing
Naturally, the first
thing that comes to mind whenever GPUs come up is performance. What do the
benchmark scores look like? How many frames-per-second can it push? Can it
run Crysis at medium-high?
Well, we simply cannot
generalize on this subject since performance varies greatly from model to
model, and with Nvidia and AMD, it feels like a race in a zig-zag pattern, at
least in the low-end and the mid-range.
Namely, the two giants
are at fairly even odds when it comes to the more affordable solutions, though
more often than not, AMD tends to have the upper hand here. Their graphics
cards almost always offer better value for your money, as they can constitute a
significant step up in terms of performance all the while barely costing more
than what Nvidia is offering. What’s more, sometimes they not only perform
better but are cheaper as well.
However, past the
“mid-range” i.e. after we go past the $250-$350 price range, things become a
little different. From then on, AMD has virtually no foothold (apart from the
two Vega GPUs which are hardly cost-effective) and Nvidia has a monopoly when
it comes to the high-end GPUs. As such, the prices get quite a bit higher but
the overall performance does, too.
For now, the only viable
new AMD GPUs are their RX 500-series graphics cards which consistently offer
more bang for your buck than competing Nvidia models do. The beefier cards such
as the RX 580 and the RX 590 are actually quite competent even in QHD, but if
we’re talking about some serious QHD performance or 4K gaming, Nvidia is still
the only way to go, although the overall situation might change in the near
future with the upcoming releases of AMD’s Navi cards and Nvidia’s mid-range
Turing models.
Hardware
There is simply no denying that Nvidia uses
technology that is more advanced overall. Their GPUs tend to perform better at
computing tasks, they generate less heat, and they consume less power.
AMD cards, on the other hand, make up for
what they lack in the processing department by increasing the memory bandwidth
on their lower-priced models. Still, they use more power and are notorious for
how hot they can get.
However, this gap has been closing more and
more as years go by, so the differences in terms of all of the abovementioned
factors are currently marginal at best. AMD’s Polaris lineup includes mainly
14nm GPUs, as well as a single 12nm model, while Nvidia’s latest Turing models are
all 12nm GPUs. AMD’s upcoming Navi microarchitecture will reportedly be using a
7nm fabrication process, and if that ends up being true, it will be interesting
to see how Nvidia handles the new competition.
CUDA
Cores vs Stream Processors
The two above technologies are used by
Nvidia and AMD respectively, and they are both simply GPU cores. So, while they
are essentially the same thing, neither is inherently better than the other and
no concrete performance estimates can be drawn from comparing the number of
CUDA cores with the number of Stream processors in two GPUs.
In the end, it’s all about software
optimization. As such, the only area where you’ll see a noticeable difference
in performance is when certain proprietary technologies come into play, such as
Nvidia PhysX or Nvidia HairWorks.
Software
Good, well-optimized software can spell a
world of difference for any piece of hardware, something that a certain company
has aptly demonstrated time and time again. For the graphics card, there are
the drivers and the control panel to consider.
There is not much to say about the drivers
themselves, as both Nvidia and AMD release new and stable drivers frequently. If
we had to be nitpicky, we’d have to say that Nvidia does have a slightly better
track record in terms of stability and consistency.
As for the control panels, we have the
Nvidia Control Panel and the AMD Control Center. You will immediately notice
that the Nvidia Control Panel looks quite dated – as a matter of fact, it still
looks like it’s running on the long-discontinued Windows XP. AMD’s Control
Center, on the other hand, looks a whole lot better, boasting a clean and
modern design, complete with some eye candy in the form of background blur
effects.
As for the actual functionality, the two
are largely on even terms, barring the features that are unique to each
company’s GPUs. Speaking of which…
Features
In this section, we will be taking a closer
look at the several features that are specific to either Nvidia or AMD GPUs and
see how they fare when pitted against one another.
Recording
and Streaming – Nvidia Shadowplay vs AMD ReLive
As you probably know, you will inevitably
take an FPS hit when recording or streaming your gaming session. So, unless you
are willing to invest in a decent capture card, your
best bet for keeping a stable framerate would be using the software that comes
with your GPU drivers. That would be Shadowplay and ReLive for Nvidia and AMD respectively.
You can see the exact recording and
streaming data over at GamersNexus. As evident from the table shown in the
linked article, Shadowplay seems to have the upper hand in terms of video
quality when it comes to both recording and streaming, as it supports higher
bitrates. Other than that, they are on fairly even terms, as they can both only
record and stream at either 30 or 60 FPS.
Vertical
Synchronization Substitute – Nvidia Gsync vs AMD FreeSync
While V-Sync is great for 60Hz monitors, it
simply won’t do once the refresh rates get higher. Namely, V-Sync prevents
screen tearing by imposing a cap on the number of frames that the GPU dishes
out, certain problems arise when we go beyond 60 Hz. For one, there is the FPS
cap itself, but stuttering and input lag are big problems that you definitely
don’t want to deal with if you’ve invested in a 144Hz or a 240Hz monitor.
Now, Nvidia and AMD have both come up with
their own hardware-reliant adaptive sync alternatives. With adaptive sync, the
refresh rate of the monitor is adapted to the
framerate, so the two are always in sync, there is no screen tearing, and there
is no input lag. However, there’s a downside to everything, and FreeSync and
G-Sync are no exception.
First of all, FreeSync is
only compatible with AMD graphics cards and G-Sync is only compatible with Nvidia
graphics cards. However, these two technologies aren’t reliant solely on the
GPU but also on the monitor.
Now, in order to be compatible with either
of these technologies, a monitor needs a built-in scaler module. When it comes
to G-Sync, these are proprietary Nvidia modules, so because the OEMs have to
pay licensing fees to Nvidia to implement this technology, G-Sync monitors tend
to be on the pricey side. AMD takes a more liberal approach, as FreeSync can
work with any third-party scaler module. As such, it can be found in monitors
at virtually any price point.
But of course, Nvidia’s strict control
ensures that G-Sync is properly implemented in every G-Sync monitor, and it
goes beyond mere adaptive sync – it adds other handy features such as motion
blur reduction, the elimination of ghosting, etc. In contrast, the
implementation of FreeSync isn’t always flawless, and many FreeSync monitors
only support this technology in a framerate range that’s specified by the
manufacturer.
With all of that in mind, FreeSync is
obviously the better choice for those on a tighter budget, although G-Sync is
objectively superior if we take the pricing out of the equation.
Conclusion
So, with all things considered, which is
better, Nvidia or AMD?
The answer is – neither. In truth, it all comes down to your
requirements and your budget, as both the Nvidia and the AMD graphics cards are
great at what they do.
The bottom line is, AMD is still a better
choice for low-end and mid-range gaming setups, as it has been for a while now.
Radeon cards simply present much better value for your money in this range. On
the other hand, if you are ambitious and aiming for high framerates in QHD or
even 4K, then Nvidia is the only real choice
.
But of course, as already mentioned in the
article, things might very well change soon.
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NVIDIA
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AMD
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