How Nvidia Won and AMD Lost the GPU War

[Freddie1980]

Have a mid range pc and keep patching it up when something breaks, I love my games on the pc but very often I tend to turn my PS4 on instead these days.

The problem is though these days a mid range video card costs about the same as a mid range PC did 7 years ago. I'm so glad that my interest in pc technology thesetdays is purely curiosity and not driven by the need for better performance in the latest games.

 

[Darujhistan]

I quite enjoy looking at the 2080 page on OCUK and seeing basically all of them at 10+ stock

I can see why the 2080ti is selling because it is the best you can get and for all the people for which money is no object they will just buy that.

Who is buying the 2080's though? It is an odd price point. I don't think Nvidia have thought it through much. If you can stomach paying ~£800 for a graphics card you can likely just shell out a few hundred more for the best (2080Ti). £800 is already obscene for what it is so why would you not just get the best that is on offer?

I dunno, there's a lot of difference between £800 and £1300+, my limit is probably £400ish, it wouldn't matter what I could get for £600, I still wouldn't spend £600. I think going over a grand for a GPU is probably a psychological no-no for some. If I earned 250K a year I still wouldn't buy a £1300 GPU. To me, that's way beyond sense and reason. To others, spending £1300 on a GPU while earning 30K a year is a no-brainer. I think NV are just going to keep pushing the envelope as far as they can, there's no reason for them to decrease GPU prices and they're not going to.

 

[Jono8]

I dunno, there's a lot of difference between £800 and £1300+

Just looked on the Nvidia site and they sell the 2080 for £750 and the 2080Ti for £1100 so I am not so sure the difference would put off someone who has the money to spend £750 on a graphics card. It probably might for some but the more Nvidia up the prices the more they start only appealing to a certain demographic of people/people of certain wealth. I mean if it carries on like this XX80 cards will be starting at ~£1000 next year and that just prices a HUGE amount of customers out.

 

[WantoN]

It’s sad that greed is killing this industry, and to see so many enthusiasts considering leaving it. I did myself for a while, during the height of the xbox360

It’s nice to know that AMD would still do ok if everyone moved to console, as their CPU’s are awesome for productivity and they’re prolific in the console space.

I would hope that Nvidia took a big hit, because if were honest it’s them that’s made pc gamers unhappy. GPUs are our most short lived components after all.

 

[Darujhistan]

Just looked on the Nvidia site and they sell the 2080 for £750 and the 2080Ti for £1100 so I am not so sure the difference would put off someone who has the money to spend £750 on a graphics card. It probably might for some but the more Nvidia up the prices the more they start only appealing to a certain demographic of people/people of certain wealth. I mean if it carries on like this XX80 cards will be starting at ~£1000 next year and that just prices a HUGE amount of customers out.

I just looked on here at a few on the first page, the cheap ones are £1100. Maybe it's just me, whatever the product or service is, there's a limit to what i'll pay, irrespective of whether I can afford it or not, whether that's a GPU, a new fence, or a meal out. I just won't pay more than the value I assign to it.

 

[WantoN]

I just looked on here at a few on the first page, the cheap ones are £1100. Maybe it's just me, whatever the product or service is, there's a limit to what i'll pay, irrespective of whether I can afford it or not, whether that's a GPU, a new fence, or a meal out. I just won't pay more than the value I assign to it.

I agree entirely. I also don’t want to contribute to companies taking the mick out of the consumer. The only reason a product is priced high is because they get away with it.

 

[Darujhistan]

I agree entirely. I also don’t want to contribute to companies taking the mick out of the consumer. The only reason a product is priced high is because they get away with it.

And they'll continue to do it until people stop playing ball, any other assessment is pure fantasy. If they thought they could have sold just as many at £1500 they'd have priced them at £1500. The cost/performance increase ratio is absolutely chronic right now. That said, I'm not critical of anyone who spends £1300 on a GPU, they just value GPU's differently to me. But, the drift of the thread is more and more gamers, who i'll generalise as mostly 30s plus (i'm 47) and who have a reasonable amount of disposable income have had enough and are looking at xbox's instead. I'm guessing that gamers now in their teens and twenties (and those yet to come) brought up on xbx and 4K TV aren't going to start building gaming PC's costing anything from 1K to 2.5K.

After building systems since the 90s, I got as far as filling a basket at over 2K, money set aside, and thought 'really?'...and just bought a 580 for £260 instead.

 

[WantoN]

And they'll continue to do it until people stop playing ball, any other assessment is pure fantasy. If they thought they could have sold just as many at £1500 they'd have priced them at £1500. The cost/performance increase ratio is absolutely chronic right now. That said, I'm not critical of anyone who spends £1300 on a GPU, they just value GPU's differently to me. But, the drift of the thread is more and more gamers, who i'll generalise as mostly 30s plus (i'm 47) and who have a reasonable amount of disposable income have had enough and are looking at xbox's instead. I'm guessing that gamers now in their teens and twenties (and those yet to come) brought up on xbx and 4K TV aren't going to start building gaming PC's costing anything from 1K to 2.5K.

After building systems since the 90s, I got as far as filling a basket at over 2K, money set aside, and thought 'really?'...and just bought a 580 for £260 instead.

We have an almost identical take on this, I’m 34 but I’ve been building computers since I was a very small kid, at that time with the guidance of my Dad. It was my first hobby and remains my favourite, and since I’ve become ill and can’t continue with sport and exercise, I love it even more.

I had the same situation as you; I had planned to get the new ti and a 4K HDR Fald G-Sync monitor. The cost would have been around £3,500, and to me that represents incredibly poor value. Like you I don’t judge those who consider the value good enough to purchase, but there is no way I can contribute to the situation. So I decided to take a different path.

I’m doing a whole project, mostly bought right here on the MM, ensuring that none of my money goes directly towards companies who’re gouging prices and damaging the industry (imo). I set the budget at what I would have spent on just the monitor and gpu, and ultimately purchased everything for considerably less.

I’m delighted with what I’ve got for the money, and once I’ve sold my old hardware not only can I contribute further by giving someone else an upgrade path like mine that doesn’t fill the pockets of companies like NV and Intel, but my overall outlay won’t be much more than just the graphics card.

I’ll probably post my build in the project log, it might even inspire someone else to do the same. Like you say @Darujhistan, until people stop playing ball, this will only get worse.

It makes me really sad to think that generations will miss out on years of joy and learning similar to what I’ve enjoyed feith my own pc hobby, and instead are turning to consoles and MacBooks. But who can blame them? Over the months I’ve put a lot of baskets together just like you, and I can’t see the value in it. And if we can’t, how could someone with half our disposable cash do any better? It’s a real shame.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Like a lot of enthusiasts who use this forum, I could comfortably afford to lay out the cost of a 2080ti. However, I just can't get enthusiast about it at all. I'm not even reading up on the benefits of the new technology like Raytracing...I have absolute zero interest in it.

It may sound a bit daft, but I think Nvidia have raised the ceiling to the point where I think I'd now be a little bit embarrassed to own an RTX card. Not so much buyer's remorse, more like being left feeling financially violated.

 

[Zeed]

I love delusional people Saying NV have not won ahything with 1200 pound GPUs...
News Flash
Nvidia is selling cards at those prices CAUSE THEY WON.
If one wants to buy High end Gpu let me chack what he can get from Slowest to fastest:
Vega 64 480 = 1080 480
2070 500
1080ti 650
2080 750
2080ti 1260
Prices quyick search with bit better cooler than stock
Only left V64 on list cause AMD fanboys would have whined its not on list and if someone is not bothered about downsides and got FS monitor its ok

Only one that Trully lost are US customers.
Situation would have looked TOTALLY different if V64 delivered like it was expected aka 1080Ti performance not 1080 dont You agree ??

 

[Panos]

I love delusional people Saying NV have not won ahything with 1200 pound GPUs...
News Flash
Nvidia is selling cards at those prices CAUSE THEY WON.
If one wants to buy High end Gpu let me chack what he can get from Slowest to fastest:
Vega 64 480 = 1080 480
2070 500
1080ti 650
2080 750
2080ti 1260
Prices quyick search with bit better cooler than stock
Only left V64 on list cause AMD fanboys would have whined its not on list and if someone is not bothered about downsides and got FS monitor its ok

Only one that Trully lost are US customers.
Situation would have looked TOTALLY different if V64 delivered like it was expected aka 1080Ti performance not 1080 dont You agree ??

And we the consumers lost, not AMD. But what else to explain to someone like yourself? Pointless waste of time.

 

[offitmassive]

I love delusional people Saying NV have not won ahything with 1200 pound GPUs...
Slowest to fastest:
Vega 64 480 = 1080 480
2070 500
1080ti 650
2080 750
2080ti 1260

Wrong ... the vega64 has beaten the 1080ti in forza 7, close in Doom for 2/3 of the price. Beats the 1080 in like 90% of games so beats the 2070 every day of the week and twice on Sunday..and close to the 2080 in some games. Do your homework son

Wrong ... the vega64 has beaten the 1080ti in forza 7, close in Doom for 2/3 of the price. Beats the 1080 in like 90% of games so beats the 2070 every day of the week and twice on Sunday..and close to the 2080 in some games. Do your homework son

Damn i mean the Vega 56 is close to the 1080 now... have a look!

 

[Rezident]

I haven't bought an Nvidia card since the 8800gtx, and even then I would have gotten an Ultra if it wasn't such a shameless rip off.

I don't mind splashing out on a good card every few years but Nvidia is just bad value. Always bad value, they're like Apple. AMD always seems to be better value. And since AMD plays everything at 1440p fine, there is no need to pay 30% or whatever extra for 10% extra performance, for me. But I guess some people just have to show off those white earphones, psychologists call it signalling theory.

Freesync is another added bonus, gsync is yet another shameless rip off. If some people want to pay 30% extra for Apple or Nvidia, it's a free world but I'll keep the premium for me, it adds up over time, or even just in the case of one card now!

Also the whole closed garden ecosystem thing is just plain bad for consumers, I will never support that lark if I have any choice in the matter.

 

[Rezident]

Damn i mean the Vega 56 is close to the 1080 now... have a look!

Oh yes, and AMD cards get faster over time whereas Nvidia and Apple know that if their products mysteriously slow down, their loyal subjects will just buy the new one! Planned obsolescence is the official term. I call it something else but it would have to be edited out with asterisks.

 

[Nasher]

Wrong ... the vega64 has beaten the 1080ti in forza 7, close in Doom for 2/3 of the price. Beats the 1080 in like 90% of games so beats the 2070 every day of the week and twice on Sunday..and close to the 2080 in some games. Do your homework son

The previous gen Nvidia GPUs are getting cleaned up by AMD cards in more and more recent games. Rx480/580 beating the 980ti is just lol, a card costing literally less than half the price.

The whole "fine wine" thing for AMD is false. It's not that AMD is making more improvements as time goes by, they are simply keeping old cards up to date for new games. While Nvidia ignore old cards as soon as new ones get released.

 

[rolypolyman]

Three and a half years ago I thought long and hard about a graphics card purchase. I normally buy mid range as I didn't want to spend too much but I had saved more than usual and decided, against my better judgement, to buy a 980Ti @ £539.99, probably £200-£250 more than I normally would. I felt really guilty about it but what a card! Sadly as time passed the subsequent cards have risen in price too ridiculous levels. Really the 1080Ti has, in my opinion, been the only worthy upgrade, but the price was too much so I waited and now, well its too late now as the prices of this latest 20** series is..............you all know. So I will wait and see what happens in the next year as I dont see a viable replacement for my 980Ti. The 1080Ti is too old now to spend £500-£600+ on and I just feel the Amd cards are also too old to invest in. Am I wrong in my thinking, is the vega 56 at £350 a big enough jump from my 980Ti as I would like to go back to Amd and stick it to Nvidia. Any thoughts guys?

 

[queamin]

Stick with your 980ti and wait for 7nm cards.


post screwed up

 

[offitmassive]

Oh yes, and AMD cards get faster over time whereas Nvidia and Apple know that if their products mysteriously slow down, their loyal subjects will just buy the new one! Planned obsolescence is the official term. I call it something else but it would have to be edited out with asterisks.

Exactly!

Three and a half years ago I thought long and hard about a graphics card purchase. I normally buy mid range as I didn't want to spend too much but I had saved more than usual and decided, against my better judgement, to buy a 980Ti @ £539.99, probably £200-£250 more than I normally would. I felt really guilty about it but what a card! Sadly as time passed the subsequent cards have risen in price too ridiculous levels. Really the 1080Ti has, in my opinion, been the only worthy upgrade, but the price was too much so I waited and now, well its too late now as the prices of this latest 20** series is..............you all know. So I will wait and see what happens in the next year as I dont see a viable replacement for my 980Ti. The 1080Ti is too old now to spend £500-£600+ on and I just feel the Amd cards are also too old to invest in. Am I wrong in my thinking, is the vega 56 at £350 a big enough jump from my 980Ti as I would like to go back to Amd and stick it to Nvidia. Any thoughts guys?

No keep your 980Ti.. its only a gnats c*ck short of the 1070, which again is just a little slower than the vega 56. You'll be disappointed and feel short changed.

 

[Davedree]

Vega 56 wouldn't be worth it coming from a 980ti. Apart from looking at 2nd hand, then Keep what you have until Amd or Nvidia provide a viable alternative.

 

[offitmassive]

Three and a half years ago I thought long and hard about a graphics card purchase. I normally buy mid range as I didn't want to spend too much but I had saved more than usual and decided, against my better judgement, to buy a 980Ti @ £539.99, probably £200-£250 more than I normally would. I felt really guilty about it but what a card! Sadly as time passed the subsequent cards have risen in price too ridiculous levels. Really the 1080Ti has, in my opinion, been the only worthy upgrade, but the price was too much so I waited and now, well its too late now as the prices of this latest 20** series is..............you all know. So I will wait and see what happens in the next year as I dont see a viable replacement for my 980Ti. The 1080Ti is too old now to spend £500-£600+ on and I just feel the Amd cards are also too old to invest in. Am I wrong in my thinking, is the vega 56 at £350 a big enough jump from my 980Ti as I would like to go back to Amd and stick it to Nvidia. Any thoughts guys?

But then... i recently thought ** Fully Star out all swearing **you Nvidia" sold my 1080Ti ...just to buy something from AMD , which im trying to do now.. I need to boost my post count by 20 to get free P&P