Amd vs nvidia: the best cheap graphics card

Mid-range graphics cards are the most popular and the best-selling because they offer the best ratio between money invested and benefits obtained. Both AMD and Nvidia have excellent options, so choosing a model is not easy, either within the same brand or compared to its great rival. AMD vs Nvidia: the best cheap graphics card

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AMD vs Nvidia, battle in the mid-range

With the launch of AMD Polaris architectures and the simpler Nvidia Pascal models we have seen a breakthrough in performance within the mid-range, the new cards are very capable of handling the latest games at 1080p resolutions and even 1440p and levels high detail. AMD's proposals for this range are the Radeon RX 480, RX 470 and RX 460. From Nvidia we have the GeForce GTX 1060, GTX 1050 Ti and GTX 1050 models.

The following table summarizes the main characteristics of each card

	RX 480	RX 470	RX 460	GTX 1060	GTX 1050 TI	GTX 1050
SHADOWS	2, 304	2, 048	896	1, 280	768	640
TEXTURING UNITS	144	128	56	80	48	40
RASTERING UNITS	32	32	16	48	32	32
BASE FREQUENCY	1, 120MHz	926MHz	1, 090MHz	1.506MHz	1, 290MHz	1, 354MHz
TURBO FREQUENCY	1, 266MHz	1, 206MHz	1, 200MHz	1, 708MHz	1, 392MHz	1, 455MHz
MEMORY BUS	256-bit	256-bit	128-bit	192-bit	128-bit	128-bit
MEMORY FREQUENCY	8GHz	6.6GHz	7GHz	7GHz	7GHz	7GHz
BANDWIDTH	256GB / s	211.2GB / s	112GB / s	192GB / s	112GB / s	112GB / s
AMOUNT OF MEMORY	8GB GDDR5	4GB GDDR5	4GB GDDR5	6GB GDDR5	4GB GDDR5	2GB GDDR5
TDP	150W	120W	75W	120W	75W	75W
PRICE	$ 240	$ 180	$ 130	$ 250	$ 140	$ 110

AMD vs Nvidia: Benchmarks at 1080p and 1440p

To analyze the performance of AMD vs Nvidia cards, an extensive test bench with a multitude of games in DX 11 and DX 12 has been used in addition to 1080p and 1440p resolutions. 4K resolution has been excluded because it is too demanding for cards that are not technically prepared for it.

SYSTEM CONFIGURATION
YOU	Windows 10
CPU	Intel Core i7-5930K, 6-core @ 4.5GHz
RAM	32GB Corsair DDR4 @ 3, 000MHz
HDD	512GB Samsung SM951 M.2 PCI-e 3.0 SSD, 500GB Samsung Evo SSD
BASE PLATE	ASUS X99 Deluxe USB 3.1
SOURCE FEED	Corsair HX1200i
REFRIGERATION	Corsair H110i GT

If we look at energy efficiency, the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti stands out among all the cards for its excellent performance and the possibility of operating without any auxiliary power connector, which shows that Nvidia is currently intractable in terms of energy efficiency.. The only AMD card that can work without a connector is the Radeon RX 460 whose performance is far inferior to Nvidia's solution.

However, if what we want is to obtain the maximum return for every euro invested, there is no doubt that the Radeon RX 470 is the best option, this card is the second most powerful card available with the Polaris architecture, only behind the Radeon RX 480., and is capable of reaching 60 FPS in most games. Its power consumption is also very tight with a TDP of only 120W so it is very efficient and will take care of your electricity bill.

Finally, it stands out that the Radeon RX 480 has had a great improvement of 25% since the launch of the card to the market, an improvement that is due to much more refined drivers and that make it a more interesting option than the GeForce GTX 1060. Once again it is shown that AMD is the queen in the economic range although the competition is already getting tighter and tighter.

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AMD vs Nvidia: final words and conclusion

Gigabyte GV-N1060WF2OC - NVIDIA G-Force GTX 1060 Windforce 2 OC graphics card (6GB, GDDR5, PCI-E 3.0, DVI-D, HDMI, DP), black color Integrated with 6GB memory, GDDR5 192-bit; Supports displays up to 8K at 60 Hz; Video input: DisplayPort, DVI-D, HDMI EUR 358.10 MSI Radeon RX 480 GAMING X 8G Graphics card, 8GB GDDR5 (256-bit), PCI Express x16 3.0 Cooling Twin Frozr VI; 8 GB of GDDR5 memory; 8 GB of GDDR5 memory; Rear "Backplate" reinforcement for greater robustness Asus STRIX-RX470-O4G-GAMING - Graphics card (Strix, 4 GB, AMD Radeon RX 470, GDDR5, PCI Express 3.0, 8000 MHz, 7680 x 4320 resolution) Accelerated clock at 1250 MHz in Gaming mode and DirectCU II with Wing-Blade fans; 4 GB 6600 MHz GDDR5 memory, 256-bit 159.99 EUR Gigabyte geforce gtx 1050 ti oc 4g gv-n105toc-4gd - Graphics Card Integrated with 4 GB memory, GDDR5 128 bits; Supports displays up to 8K at 60 Hz; Video input: DisplayPort, DVI-D, HDMI EUR 154.90 MSI GeForce GTX 1050 2G OC - Graphics card (cooling optimized, 2 GB GDDR5 memory) Gamestream to NVIDIA SHIELD Sapphire Radeon RX 460 2G D5 OC Single Fan 2 GB GDDR5 - Card Graphics (Radeon RX 460, 2 GB, GDDR5, 128 bit, 3840 x 2160 Pixels, PCI Express 3.0) Output: 1 x DVI-D, 1 x HDMI 2.0b and 1 x DisplayPort 1.4

Both AMD and Nvidia have done an excellent job on their cheapest cards, the two manufacturers providing us with great options for all users and all pockets. Nvidia continues to lead in energy efficiency but if what you are looking for is the best value for money AMD is still the best option.

Source: arstechnica