Up For Debate - Which Graphics Card Manufacturer Do you Prefer in 2018, AMD or Nvidia?

Written by Jon Sutton on Fri, Jul 13, 2018 12:30 PM

It’s a debate more well-worn than Gandhi's flip flops but a lot’s changed in recent months and years. Nvidia has, well, made a few less-than-popular decisions in terms of consumers and its partners. Anecdotally, it feels as if the events of this year have done Nvidia more harm than good, although there’s a world of difference between consumers voicing on displeasure and actively acting upon that displeasure.

For some, it doesn’t matter one jot what Nvidia does - if they make the best graphics cards then that’s what they’ll be buying. Others will have taken a stance though. In our poll on the Nvidia GeForce Partner Program back in March, a handful of the GD community did say they will be switching to AMD as a result of what was deemed to be anti-consumer practice. The vast majority weren’t too bothered though, claiming they’d buy which makes the best GPUs.

So here we are, on the cusp of new a graphics card generation. AMD has built up plenty of goodwill in the CPU market with Ryzen but it feels as if progress with GPUs has been a heck of a lot slower. Vega was a late answer to Pascal, while the Radeon RX 500 series was an incremental upgradeable. Nevertheless, the RX 500 series provides a solid alternative to GeForce, even if the prices this year have been totally out of whack.

However, both Nvidia and AMD have big plans for the next 12 months. After a relatively static two years for the GPU market, it’s going to be a busy, busy time for upgrades. Hardware fans have been waiting a long time for a chance to upgrade, and both Nvidia and AMD have new generations of graphics cards waiting in the wings. Nvidia will assuredly hit the market first with Turing, so AMD fans are going to have to exude patience.

So looking both forwards and backward, which graphics card company do you trust more right now? Are you intending to go Nvidia or AMD for your next GPU? Get voting in the poll below!

Which GPU manufacturer do you trust more?

Which graphics card brand do you intend to buy next?

Our favourite comments:

I'm fair bit biased towards the red side in terms of trust, that's something I can't deny. I take what AMD says more truthfully than what Nvidia says, but they're still big massive companies and I will never trust a company based on what they say alone. Which one do I plan to buy next? The one that offers better performance per money spent depending on how much money I have.

TheEmperor96

Dont trust one more than the other. Assuming things stay as they are, with amd cards moderately to obscenely more expensive than nvidia, the latter would get my money for a new build. Also, amd was super late with their higher end cards before, why would I want to wait more than one year to buy a more expensive card? Not hating on amd, just asking them to step up their game like they did w/ryzen

penoys

Performance wise, it has to be Nvidia.

But I personally prefer AMD, I just hope they release faster GPUs soon.

dadada4

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05:43 Jul-16-2018

Nvidia: Better Driver Support and Optimisation.

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14:23 Jul-14-2018

You switched out the place of the manufacturers in the second graph, cheeky :D

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10:56 Jul-14-2018

if i have to trust one of them it would be AMD because of the driver support and the more consumer friendly approach plus that if i buy their best card at the moment i know very good they won't be releasing an even for better for let's say less/same price after some time (i'm referring to gtx 1080 then titan xp

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10:57 Jul-14-2018

then 1080 ti and then titan x with small p approach)

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10:54 Jul-14-2018

as of now, gtx 10 series is the most appreciated but in my opinion vega cards have a lot of unexpressed potential. i mean if you compare vega 64 and gtx 1080 on paper the amd cards clearly has the numbers on its side, but nvidia driver support and optimisation manages to fill and overpass this difference

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09:37 Jul-14-2018

AMD offers a bit better value in their mid range cards, but their top tier ones suffer from poorly optimized driver software. I guess it all depends on consumer needs.


As far as I understand things, for me it will be something like this :


Professional/Enthusiast use = Nvidia
Mid/Mainstream Use = AMD

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11:25 Jul-14-2018

As a professional artist working in 3D graphics and graphic design - you're spot on. Nvidia is the way to go. Which boggles my mind a bit as to why Apple keep plopping underpowered AMD cards in their systems... Must be licensing and profit margins (apple likes high profit margins), because Microsoft Surface line is all on Nvidia exclusively.

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15:38 Jul-14-2018

Because NVidia provided Apple with ****ty-faulty chips.
So they went to AMD.

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17:24 Jul-14-2018

I recall Louis Rossman talk about something that went wrong with old macbooks that had Nvidia chips, but I don't remember whether it was something from Nvidia's side or just apple's usual crappy electronic engineering and overheating parts. My guess is the latter, since there was not a single macbook yet without a major fault with it.

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19:27 Jul-14-2018

I remember that video as well and also - can't put my finger on what was the real reason :D


Could be either though. Nvidia has made some bad chips in the past..

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09:29 Jul-14-2018

Been a pure AMD user. After 2 years. I gave up. With so many problems with driver updates and overheating issues. I bought a new computer with a GTX GPU. And ever since. Have no problems or whatsoever when it comes to gaming.

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09:16 Jul-14-2018

i have lost faith in AMD. Whether or not their graphics cards are better is one issue, but the horrendous drivers they provide, which are riddled with bugs, some (as the most recent driver 18.5.1 and 18.6.1) have shown, they can cause video failure due to improper configuration, with the only viable solution being to clean uninstall then roll back to the last working driver


I will be switching to Nvidia

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11:27 Jul-14-2018

I do remember f*cking around with drivers back when I was an ATI/AMD user, but when I finally had the money to switch to Nvidia - no such problems.

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10:15 Jul-19-2018

My honest experience with AMD has been relatively good, ATi wasn't that great but a lot has changed since then. Also check this out:
http://www.game-debate.com/news/25428/nvidia-drivers-have-over-2-times-failure-rate-of-amd-drivers-according-to-3rd-party-analysis


Does no one remember the two drivers that actually killed Nvidia GPU's or the more recent GTX 1060 driver that bricked windows?

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09:16 Jul-14-2018

The only reason I trust nvidia more, is because they always have something good on the high end for me, while usually AMD promises a lot and in the end "only" comes up with a product that is a bit worse and therefor quite a bit cheaper, which is also good but not what I'm looking for.
As for what I wanna buy next I chose AMD hoping they got something for the very high end with the next gen.

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08:40 Jul-14-2018

Amd may be the goody-goody-two-shoes here signalling the virtues, but Nvidia is where my money goes because virtues won't make up for performance.

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09:17 Jul-14-2018

Same here, but if they had something to really compete or even outperform nvidias typical xx80(ti) card I'll be right there getting it over nvidias.

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11:22 Jul-14-2018

True for most gaming needs (where gameworks are not used, that is). My problem is also that I'm a digital artist and only a fraction of the software I use supports OpenCL while CUDA is supported as the primary compute technology. So even if AMD came out with an equally good card - I'd still have to stay with Nvidia. Some say it's because software devs are shills to Nvidia, but independent devs that me and other artists talked to always have the same thing to say - CUDA is easier, faster and more stable. So I guess that makes sense.

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07:41 Jul-14-2018

I sold my 1070 recently, since I moved to another country for a while and came to a conclusion - I am not the hardcore gamer I used to be, so that was too much horsepower for me.


I can get by with a lower tier card and that's where the RX580 comes in.


I hate NVidia practices, so when I come back, I'll be rocking an RX580 or and AMD equivalent at that time :)

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05:53 Jul-14-2018

AMD fine for 1080/1440p gameplay at a decent price and obviously for mining (which I don't do). Anything above those resolutions and nVidia has it pegged. Vega was a massive disappointment. AMD, get off your arses because I want my next rig to be AMD right through, but 4K? YOU CAN DO IT!

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05:30 Jul-14-2018

If you are only for high end cards then go for nvidia, if not probably AMD, i mean the rx 580 beats the 1060 in some games and it has less fps fluctuation and also slightly more vram to more futureproofing than the gtxz 1060 6gb, anyways i wouldnt be changing my GPU till i find a game i can´t run even at low setting at 1080p @ 30 fps avg and by that time i would need to upgrade my whole system, ahh decisions.

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09:34 Jul-14-2018

But what about the drivers? Surely you know that AMD has driver issues.

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05:26 Jul-14-2018

"trust" hmmmm, that's kindof a loaded question if you ask me... These are businesses, their primary goal is to generate huge piles of cash and go home rich.
In terms of ethical business practices, I do believe AMD stands out from Nvidia, but they're not without some controversy either.
Which do I intend to buy next? That entirely depends on pricing, when at retail, I do believe AMD offers a bit more for the money to the comparable Nvidia card, however, also the most inflated price from crypto.

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00:01 Jul-14-2018

They're both bad in their own right. Nvidia more so then AMD.


AMD NEEDS to step up their game in the GPU market for competition. And for their products to be successful. No more rebrands to.


But Nvidia has done so much shady stuff to try to overtake everything. And we suffer from that. They have done countless anti-consumer actions and this is unacceptable.


Intel won't do any better. Let's be real here.

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22:30 Jul-13-2018

Personally I don't trust neither, AMD is currently on better side, but still, they are no saints either. Personally I just go with one who gives me best bang for buck. Which due to AMD cards being overpriced is currently nVidia. As for future, I have GTX1070, it is plenty for 1080p, so I will likely not upgrade soon.

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22:33 Jul-13-2018

Though it still is brute strength on AMD side and more driver optimizations on nVidia, of which I kind of prefer latter. AMD got better, but they aren't there yet. Also whole AMD issue with GameWorks,after so much time of it existing, AMD did nothing but reduce tessellation on driver level, which is fine for quick fix.

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22:34 Jul-13-2018

But in the long run, it is time to stop playing victim and do something AMD. Many of GameWorks features are out for years. Time to deal with that and not run away. Also I would love to see AMD talking more with developers, something nVidia does a lot, which is why GW get implemented as much as they do.

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22:36 Jul-13-2018

Still, that is my personal opinion. Also we desperately need AMD to start competing again. RX580 is good when priced properly. But Vega is no competition at all. Expensive, hot and consuming ton of power, it really shows architecture was pushed too hard. We need Navi to do something good in that department.

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22:38 Jul-13-2018

Since if they don't. nVidia has very little reason to give us more than refreshes, just like Intel did before Ryzen. There are rumors of next nVidia cards only being refresh and not proper new thing. And they don't have to do more. It is not like there is competition they need to beat.

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22:25 Jul-13-2018

I own a 1080ti so what do you think???

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09:31 Jul-14-2018

Quite enlightening I must say..

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21:49 Jul-13-2018

Which gpu manufacturer you trust more? - amd.
which graphics card brand do you intend to buy next? - probably nvidia :(

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00:56 Jul-14-2018

My thoughts exactly.

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21:00 Jul-13-2018

Again, the divide and conquer is strong in this one... not gonna play this, im out!

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20:29 Jul-13-2018

Despite the controversial stuff they've done I still prefer Nvidia GPUs.

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20:08 Jul-13-2018

I prefer none, both suck... duopolies are almost as bad as monopolies... almost... -_-


Otherwise the next GPU I will buy I want to have the performance of a gtx 1080 and whichever one gives the better price for it I will get.

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Can They Run... |

Xeon E3-1245 v3 Radeon RX 580 XFX GTS Black 8GB 16GB
| 60FPS, Medium, 1080p
Ryzen 5 4600H 6-Core 3.0GHz GeForce GTX 1650 16GB
| 60FPS, Medium, 1080p
Ryzen 5 3600 6-Core 3.6GHz GeForce GTX 1070 Asus ROG Strix Gaming OC 8GB Edition 16GB
| 60FPS, Ultra, 1080p
Ryzen 5 5600X 6-Core 3.7GHz GeForce RTX 3070 Gigabyte Eagle OC 8GB 16GB
0% No [1 votes]
Ryzen 5 2600X 6-Core 3.6GHz GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB 16GB
Core i7-7700K 4-Core 4.2GHz GeForce GTX 970 EVGA SSC ACX 2.0 4GB Edition 32GB
0% No [1 votes]
| 60FPS, Medium, 1080p
Core i5-9400 6-Core 2.9GHz GeForce RTX 2060 Super Palit Dual 8GB 16GB
0% No [1 votes]
| 30FPS, Medium, 1080p
Core i5-4690 3.5GHz GeForce GTX 1650 EVGA SC Ultra Gaming 4GB 16GB
0% No [3 votes]
Core i5-4690 3.5GHz GeForce GTX 1650 EVGA SC Ultra Gaming 4GB 16GB
0% No [2 votes]
| 30FPS, Low, 720p
Core i7-4702MQ 4-Core 2.2GHz GeForce GT 750M 8GB
100% Yes [1 votes]
| 60FPS, High, 1080p
Core i7-2600 4-Core 3.40GHz Radeon RX 580 8GB 16GB
100% Yes [1 votes]
| 60FPS, Low, 1080p
Core i5-7300HQ 4-Core 2.5GHz GeForce GTX 1050 16GB
| 60FPS, Low, 1080p
Core i5-7300HQ 4-Core 2.5GHz GeForce GTX 1050 16GB
| 30FPS, Medium, 720p
Ryzen R5 1600 Radeon RX 580 8GB 16GB
100% Yes [1 votes]
Core i5-9500 6-Core 3.0GHz UHD Graphics 630 8GB
| 60FPS, High, 1080p
Core i5-4670 3.4GHz GeForce GTX 1650 16GB
| 60FPS, High, 1080p
Ryzen 5 5600H 6-Core 3.3GHz GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile 8GB
| 60FPS, Ultra, 1440p
Ryzen 7 5800X 8-Core 3.8GHz GeForce RTX 3070 Asus Dual OC 8GB 16GB
0% No [1 votes]
| 30FPS, Medium, 720p
FX-8350 Radeon R9 380 8GB
| 60FPS, High, 1440p
Ryzen 7 3700X 8-Core 3.6GHz Radeon RX 6750 XT 32GB
100% Yes [1 votes]