[Ars] Nvidia or AMD: Who makes the best budget graphics card?

[whm1974]

AMD has some really nice cheap graphics cards out right now. Especially on newegg. I can't comprehend why anyone would buy a 1060 on newegg when there are 480s that are so much cheaper there.

Linux gaming. While AMD has done very good improvements to their Linux drivers, they still have a while to go before they are suitable for replacing Nvidia.

 

[caswow]

there is no linux gaming.

 

[whm1974]

there is no linux gaming.

Since I'm playing games using Linux only buying games from Steam, I beg to differ. And there are more games being released for Linux lately as well.

 

[bearxor]

Not with a overclocked AMD cpu, that's the point.

But I think the whole point is that if someone is looking at these graphics cards it's a fair bet to say they're on a budget or upgrading a OEM machine. The example of someone pairing one of these cards with an extreme overclock system is going to, very likely, be extremely rare.

It's very possible to pair one of these cards in an OEM machine with a 300w-ish power supply with no issues.

 

[OatisCampbell]

In conclusion, in the U.S., for most consumers that aren't PCB length constrained, AMD offers better purchases in the $130-$250 desktop dGPU market segments, a huge part of the market, and yet market share doesn't reflect this at all.

"Man I Really wish I had some of the stuff Nvidia sheep are smoking."
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/916373-pc/74215879?page=0

Here are the problems with AMD's market share:

How many PC gamers did not have a card capable of 1080p gaming when the Polaris parts launched?

AMD competes with themselves with PS4 Pros for 1080p gaming.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...053&cm_re=gtx_1060_6gb-_-14-137-053-_-Product

A person can get 6gb 1060s for $229, which if you're a computer gamer theoretically shouldn't make you grab your heart and start yelling "Daaaaam* you!!!" at the sky. The 1060 is arguably faster at DX11 (game dependent) and people buying $200 video cards probably aren't doing so with an eye toward reducing their already low fps by going DX12 for what that offers these days.

Until Vega launches, this is AMDs problem:

Their market consists of guys who are willing to buy a slower card for the price of a new game staying in their pocket. How many PC gamers budget is that tight? Even my teenage son makes the cost of a 1060 every paycheck at his highly part time job.

470s and 480s are the value king but they still have the problems of competition and most people had a 1080p card already.