{"id":22561,"date":"2023-04-15T10:14:58","date_gmt":"2023-04-15T08:14:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/g100.us\/?p=22561"},"modified":"2023-05-29T10:46:02","modified_gmt":"2023-05-29T08:46:02","slug":"are-amd-graphics-cards-good","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/g100.us\/are-amd-graphics-cards-good\/","title":{"rendered":"Are AMD Graphics Cards Any Good? [Workloads Explored]"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_39 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">TABLE OF CONTENTS<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-66844fc69a7f9\" class=\"cssicon\"><span style=\"display: flex;align-items: center;width: 35px;height: 30px;justify-content: center;direction:ltr;\"><svg style=\"fill: #7f11e0;color:#7f11e0\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\" \/><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #7f11e0;color:#7f11e0\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\" \/><\/svg><\/span><\/label><label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-66844fc69a7f9\" class=\"cssiconcheckbox\">1<\/label><input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-66844fc69a7f9\" checked><nav><ul class=\"ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 \"><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/are-amd-graphics-cards-good\/#What_are_AMD_Graphics_Cards_Criticized_For\" title=\"What are AMD Graphics Cards Criticized For?\">What are AMD Graphics Cards Criticized For?<\/a><ul class=\"ez-toc-list-level-3\"><li class=\"ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/are-amd-graphics-cards-good\/#Weak_Real-Time_Ray-Tracing_Support\" title=\"Weak Real-Time Ray-Tracing Support\">Weak Real-Time Ray-Tracing Support<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/are-amd-graphics-cards-good\/#Few_or_No_GPUs_In_The_Highest_Tiers_of_Generational_Performance_compared_to_Nvidia\" title=\"Few or No GPUs In The Highest Tiers of Generational Performance (compared to Nvidia)\">Few or No GPUs In The Highest Tiers of Generational Performance (compared to Nvidia)<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/are-amd-graphics-cards-good\/#Locked_Out_of_Pro_Software_Reliant_on_CUDA_Acceleration\" title=\"Locked Out of Pro Software Reliant on CUDA Acceleration\">Locked Out of Pro Software Reliant on CUDA Acceleration<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/are-amd-graphics-cards-good\/#Where_Do_AMD_Graphics_Cards_Excel\" title=\"Where Do AMD Graphics Cards Excel?\">Where Do AMD Graphics Cards Excel?<\/a><ul class=\"ez-toc-list-level-3\"><li class=\"ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/are-amd-graphics-cards-good\/#Performance_Per_Dollar_In_Applicable_Workloads\" title=\"Performance Per Dollar In Applicable Workloads\">Performance Per Dollar In Applicable Workloads<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/are-amd-graphics-cards-good\/#Gaming_Performance_at_Resolutions_Under_4K\" title=\"Gaming Performance at Resolutions Under 4K\">Gaming Performance at Resolutions Under 4K<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/are-amd-graphics-cards-good\/#AMD-Friendly_Productivity_Workloads\" title=\"AMD-Friendly Productivity Workloads\">AMD-Friendly Productivity Workloads<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/are-amd-graphics-cards-good\/#Power_Consumption_Thinner_GPUs\" title=\"Power Consumption &amp; Thinner GPUs\">Power Consumption &amp; Thinner GPUs<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/are-amd-graphics-cards-good\/#Are_AMD_GPUs_any_good_Conclusion\" title=\"Are AMD GPUs any good? Conclusion.\">Are AMD GPUs any good? Conclusion.<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/are-amd-graphics-cards-good\/#FAQ\" title=\"FAQ\">FAQ<\/a><ul class=\"ez-toc-list-level-3\"><li class=\"ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/are-amd-graphics-cards-good\/#Are_AMD_Pro_GPUs_Any_Better_Than_AMD_Consumer_GPUs\" title=\"Are AMD Pro GPUs Any Better Than AMD Consumer GPUs?\">Are AMD Pro GPUs Any Better Than AMD Consumer GPUs?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-13\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/are-amd-graphics-cards-good\/#Who_Will_Be_Best_Served_By_an_AMD_GPU\" title=\"Who Will Be Best Served By an AMD GPU?\">Who Will Be Best Served By an AMD GPU?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-14\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/are-amd-graphics-cards-good\/#Are_AMD_APUs_Any_Good\" title=\"Are AMD APUs Any Good?\">Are AMD APUs Any Good?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-15\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/are-amd-graphics-cards-good\/#When_Should_You_Definitely_Go_With_Nvidia\" title=\"When Should You Definitely Go With Nvidia?\">When Should You Definitely Go With Nvidia?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-16\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/are-amd-graphics-cards-good\/#Over_to_You\" title=\"Over to You\">Over to You<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><strong>Are AMD graphics cards actually any good? <\/strong>If so, what makes them stand out from their competition, and if <em>not<\/em>, what makes an article like this necessary for us to write to begin with?<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_are_AMD_Graphics_Cards_Criticized_For\"><\/span>What are AMD Graphics Cards Criticized For?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Weak_Real-Time_Ray-Tracing_Support\"><\/span>Weak Real-Time Ray-Tracing Support<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong>One of the most overt downsides of AMD graphics cards, especially for the consumer and gaming market, is their weak real-time ray-tracing support.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Not only did AMD lag generations behind Nvidia in actually implementing real-time ray-tracing hardware, but even after a few iterations the performance of AMD\u2019s ray-tracing tech simply does not compare to Nvidia\u2019s.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_22568\" style=\"width: 1776px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22568\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22568\" src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/AMD-and-Nvidia-GPU.jpg\" alt=\"AMD and Nvidia GPU\" width=\"1776\" height=\"818\" srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/AMD-and-Nvidia-GPU.jpg 1776w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/AMD-and-Nvidia-GPU-300x138.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/AMD-and-Nvidia-GPU-1024x472.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/AMD-and-Nvidia-GPU-768x354.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/AMD-and-Nvidia-GPU-1536x707.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1776px) 100vw, 1776px\"><\/noscript><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22568\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22568 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201776%20818%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"AMD and Nvidia GPU\" width=\"1776\" height=\"818\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201776%20818%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 1776w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1776px) 100vw, 1776px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/AMD-and-Nvidia-GPU.jpg 1776w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/AMD-and-Nvidia-GPU-300x138.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/AMD-and-Nvidia-GPU-1024x472.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/AMD-and-Nvidia-GPU-768x354.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/AMD-and-Nvidia-GPU-1536x707.jpg 1536w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/AMD-and-Nvidia-GPU.jpg\"><p id=\"caption-attachment-22568\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image Credit: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amd.com\/en\/graphics\/radeon-rx-graphics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AMD<\/a> &amp; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nvidia.com\/en-us\/geforce\/graphics-cards\/40-series\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nvidia<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p>If you\u2019re playing games that push real-time ray-tracing as a key part of their presentation or are a 3D animator who can put ray-tracing hardware to use in tools like GPU render engines, an AMD GPU will fall short compared to Nvidia's strong competition.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Few_or_No_GPUs_In_The_Highest_Tiers_of_Generational_Performance_compared_to_Nvidia\"><\/span>Few or No GPUs In The Highest Tiers of Generational Performance (compared to Nvidia)<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Another unfortunate knock against Team Red is<strong> a lack of competition on the highest end of graphics performance each generation<\/strong>...however, there\u2019s some nuance to this point that shouldn\u2019t be boiled down to \u201cAMD bad\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>While it\u2019s true that Nvidia tends to push the cutting edge of each generation in a way that AMD doesn\u2019t, AMD GPUs are also generally <em>much<\/em> better in terms of pricing for performance, so long as your workloads support them properly.<\/p>\n<p>And the highest tier of Nvidia GPUs are certainly priced to line Nvidia's pockets.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Locked_Out_of_Pro_Software_Reliant_on_CUDA_Acceleration\"><\/span>Locked Out of Pro Software Reliant on CUDA Acceleration<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Unfortunately, there\u2019s a bit of an elephant in the room that I can\u2019t ignore for the sake of this article.<\/strong> That elephant is named \u201cCUDA\u201d and &#8220;OptiX&#8221;, and the last time it was seen in a room with AMD executives, the resulting bloodshed was incalculable.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_22569\" style=\"width: 2048px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22569\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22569\" src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/Nvidia-CUDA-Cores-vs-AMD-Stream-Processors.jpg\" alt=\"Nvidia CUDA Cores vs AMD Stream Processors\" width=\"2048\" height=\"912\" srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/Nvidia-CUDA-Cores-vs-AMD-Stream-Processors.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/Nvidia-CUDA-Cores-vs-AMD-Stream-Processors-300x134.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/Nvidia-CUDA-Cores-vs-AMD-Stream-Processors-1024x456.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/Nvidia-CUDA-Cores-vs-AMD-Stream-Processors-768x342.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/Nvidia-CUDA-Cores-vs-AMD-Stream-Processors-1536x684.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/noscript><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22569\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22569 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%20912%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"Nvidia CUDA Cores vs AMD Stream Processors\" width=\"2048\" height=\"912\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%20912%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/Nvidia-CUDA-Cores-vs-AMD-Stream-Processors.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/Nvidia-CUDA-Cores-vs-AMD-Stream-Processors-300x134.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/Nvidia-CUDA-Cores-vs-AMD-Stream-Processors-1024x456.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/Nvidia-CUDA-Cores-vs-AMD-Stream-Processors-768x342.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/Nvidia-CUDA-Cores-vs-AMD-Stream-Processors-1536x684.jpg 1536w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/Nvidia-CUDA-Cores-vs-AMD-Stream-Processors.jpg\"><p id=\"caption-attachment-22569\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image Credit: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amd.com\/en\/graphics\/radeon-rx-graphics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AMD<\/a> &amp; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nvidia.com\/en-us\/geforce\/graphics-cards\/40-series\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nvidia<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p>I say all this to mean that <a href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/nvidia-geforce-vs-amd-radeon-gpus\/\">AMD GPUs don\u2019t support CUDA, and in fact the majority of pro-facing apps that support GPU acceleration <em>rely<\/em> on CUDA<\/a> to do the job.<\/p>\n<p>CUDA cores are pretty much parallel processing cores that are exclusive to Nvidia graphics cards. <strong>This is <em>not<\/em> a minor advantage, though.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>CUDA and its ecosystem of CUDA-reliant applications all serve to keep Nvidia on top of the pro graphics space, where they\u2019re likely to stay for some time.<\/p>\n<p>This isn't necessarily due to inferior hardware in AMD's side per-se (AMD GPUs have a CUDA-Core pendant called Stream Processors after all), but often just an unfortunate outcome of tools catering to, supporting and developing for Nvidia hardware first, AMD second. AMD hardware in many games, render engines and content-creation tools are therefore only implemented partly, and as an afterthought.<\/p>\n<p>After all, Nvidia's market share has been a lot larger than AMD's for years and years, and it makes sense for developers to optimize their tools for the hardware most people are using. This, of course, makes it difficult for AMD to get a foothold in the industry, as they have to convince both consumers to buy their hardware and, after market share tips in their favor, for developers to also optimize for AMD hardware.<\/p>\n<p>We're hoping this will change with <a href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/amd-radeon-pro-w7900-w7800-review\/\">AMD's HIP technology<\/a> that'll make it easier to port CUDA \/ OptiX (Nvidia) optimized Applications to more fully utilize AMD Hardware.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s talk about when you <em>can<\/em> make good use of an AMD graphics card.<\/p>\n<p>Even if the battle against Nvidia is a difficult one, it\u2019s one worth waging, for the health of the consumer GPU market. But...only if AMD GPUs can actually suit your workload.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Where_Do_AMD_Graphics_Cards_Excel\"><\/span>Where Do AMD Graphics Cards Excel?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Performance_Per_Dollar_In_Applicable_Workloads\"><\/span>Performance Per Dollar In Applicable Workloads<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong> First, let\u2019s talk about \u201cperformance per dollar\u201d. This ever-important metric is often lost in tech media coverage, including my own here at G100<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Tech is never solely about the latest and greatest in technologies supported. Buying PC hardware is more like buying shoes for functionality than for aesthetics, even if what you\u2019re doing on your PC <em>is<\/em> working on aesthetics!<\/p>\n<p><strong>While I\u2019m going to focus on the positives, it\u2019s important to note that AMD\u2019s built-in GPU codecs are overall weak compared to both Nvidia\u2019s and Intel\u2019s<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>This isn\u2019t for any format support-related reasons- rather<strong>, Nvidia GPU and Intel CPU onboard media encoders are simply better at lower bitrates than AMD\u2019s encoder is<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>In other words,<strong> if your main issue with an AMD graphics card is media encoder related...you may just be able to turn up the bitrate on the AMD render to reach parity with other encoders<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_22570\" style=\"width: 1572px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22570\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22570\" src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/Radeon-RX-7000-Dual-Media-Engine-with-AV1.jpg\" alt=\"Radeon RX 7000 Dual Media Engine with AV1\" width=\"1572\" height=\"558\" srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/Radeon-RX-7000-Dual-Media-Engine-with-AV1.jpg 1572w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/Radeon-RX-7000-Dual-Media-Engine-with-AV1-300x106.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/Radeon-RX-7000-Dual-Media-Engine-with-AV1-1024x363.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/Radeon-RX-7000-Dual-Media-Engine-with-AV1-768x273.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/Radeon-RX-7000-Dual-Media-Engine-with-AV1-1536x545.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1572px) 100vw, 1572px\"><\/noscript><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22570\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22570 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201572%20558%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"Radeon RX 7000 Dual Media Engine with AV1\" width=\"1572\" height=\"558\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201572%20558%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 1572w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1572px) 100vw, 1572px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/Radeon-RX-7000-Dual-Media-Engine-with-AV1.jpg 1572w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/Radeon-RX-7000-Dual-Media-Engine-with-AV1-300x106.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/Radeon-RX-7000-Dual-Media-Engine-with-AV1-1024x363.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/Radeon-RX-7000-Dual-Media-Engine-with-AV1-768x273.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/Radeon-RX-7000-Dual-Media-Engine-with-AV1-1536x545.jpg 1536w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/Radeon-RX-7000-Dual-Media-Engine-with-AV1.jpg\"><p id=\"caption-attachment-22570\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image Credit: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amd.com\/en\/technologies\/rdna\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AMD<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p>However, if you\u2019re live-streaming, this also means a higher-quality AMD GPU-encoded stream <em>may<\/em> require a higher upload speed than one run on an Intel or Nvidia encoder.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Granted, live-streams and <em>most<\/em> web-hosted video will end up compressed in some form or another anyway...<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Gaming_Performance_at_Resolutions_Under_4K\"><\/span>Gaming Performance at Resolutions Under 4K<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Another area where AMD excels is in gaming performance at resolutions under 4K<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_22571\" style=\"width: 1134px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22571\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22571\" src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/AMD-FSR.jpg\" alt=\"AMD FSR\" width=\"1134\" height=\"646\" srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/AMD-FSR.jpg 1134w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/AMD-FSR-300x171.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/AMD-FSR-1024x583.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/AMD-FSR-768x438.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1134px) 100vw, 1134px\"><\/noscript><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22571\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22571 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201134%20646%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"AMD FSR\" width=\"1134\" height=\"646\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201134%20646%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 1134w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1134px) 100vw, 1134px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/AMD-FSR.jpg 1134w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/AMD-FSR-300x171.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/AMD-FSR-1024x583.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/AMD-FSR-768x438.jpg 768w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/AMD-FSR.jpg\"><p id=\"caption-attachment-22571\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image Credit: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amd.com\/en\/technologies\/fidelityfx-super-resolution\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AMD<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p>While Nvidia may have a slight edge in overall gaming performance at 4K (especially when taking technologies like DLSS into account), 1080p and 1440p are still incredibly popular mainstream resolutions for gaming.<\/p>\n<p><strong>AMD being more price-competitive at these resolutions across the board<\/strong>, especially with their own image scaling taken into account, <strong>shouldn\u2019t be forgotten.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>In my current gaming experience. Two killer app current features for gaming are \u201cglobal illumination\u201d and \u201clocal dimming\u201d.<\/strong> Global illumination can be simulated through either SSGI or RTGI (Screen Space <strong>or <\/strong>Ray-Traced) and is <strong>best shown through advanced local dimming<\/strong> solutions.<\/p>\n<p>Some displays, like <strong>OLED displays, have great local dimming built-in<\/strong>, while TN or <strong>IPS panels need to use HDR certifications and high brightness settings<\/strong> to target a Wide Color Gamut viewing experience. It might look <em>grayer<\/em> than you expect even after calibrating for good colors in SDR, though.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"AMD-Friendly_Productivity_Workloads\"><\/span>AMD-Friendly Productivity Workloads<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong>So, what productivity workloads are most friendly to an AMD graphics card?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-22572\" src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/AMD-GPU-Workloads.jpg\" alt=\"AMD GPU Workloads\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/AMD-GPU-Workloads.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/AMD-GPU-Workloads-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/AMD-GPU-Workloads-1024x540.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/AMD-GPU-Workloads-768x405.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/AMD-GPU-Workloads-1536x810.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-22572 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%201080%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"AMD GPU Workloads\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%201080%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/AMD-GPU-Workloads.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/AMD-GPU-Workloads-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/AMD-GPU-Workloads-1024x540.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/AMD-GPU-Workloads-768x405.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/AMD-GPU-Workloads-1536x810.jpg 1536w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2023\/05\/AMD-GPU-Workloads.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ll break it down into the following bullet points:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Game Streaming<\/strong> - Besides being generally favorable on gaming performance before bringing AI or ray-tracing into the equation, AMD also has an astonishingly efficient and easy-to-use streaming suite of its own. Compared to using OBS or variations when I had my 5600 XT and RX 580<em>, <\/em><strong><em>I<\/em> found that AMD\u2019s game streaming suite was shockingly functional and worked more seamlessly for the streams I ran than on my prior, trusty GTX 760.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>High Bitrate GPU Encoding<\/strong> - While it\u2019s true that Nvidia and Intel alike tend to have better GPU encoders with more up-to-date codecs than with AMD cards, this doesn\u2019t mean that AMD encoders aren\u2019t worth using. You just need to be willing to manually adjust your bitrate and other factors beyond what you may expect compared to Nvidia.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Any Application With Good OpenCL or HIP Support (Especially GIMP, Blender or other Open Source Software) <\/strong>- Let\u2019s face it. If we\u2019re out here trying to participate in The Game, we don\u2019t always end up with the shiniest CUDA accelerator. <strong>Fortunately, OpenCL <em>does<\/em> still have mainstream support, and its support in the Open Source community essentially makes it one of the great <em>de facto<\/em> raw compute standards. <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Power_Consumption_Thinner_GPUs\"><\/span>Power Consumption &amp; Thinner GPUs<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>A key area of progression for AMD lately is actually in power consumption!<\/p>\n<p><strong>While AMD used to be notoriously heftier, hotter, and less power-efficient than Nvidia, that\u2019s actually changed in recent years.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>These days, AMD GPUs trend pretty efficiently in power consumption, whereas Nvidia increasingly pushes thermal design and power limits to the extreme to push the performance envelope generation-by-generation. And thanks to lower power draw, you also get thinner GPUs on the high-end compared to Nvidia's offerings.<\/p>\n<p>And: Even if you\u2019re rooting for AMD to take back the lead, you have to admit that Nvidia\u2019s doing some necessary work by always pushing the envelope.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Are_AMD_GPUs_any_good_Conclusion\"><\/span>Are AMD GPUs any good? Conclusion.<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>So, are AMD GPUs any good? Yes, they certainly are.<\/p>\n<p>They're a technological marvel almost on par with Nvidia's offerings, but do fall short in application\/developer support, which make them a bad pick for workloads that are just better optimized for CUDA\/OptiX and, hence, Nvidia GPUs.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"FAQ\"><\/span>FAQ<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Are_AMD_Pro_GPUs_Any_Better_Than_AMD_Consumer_GPUs\"><\/span>Are AMD Pro GPUs Any Better Than AMD Consumer GPUs?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>In terms of the pros and cons listed above, not particularly!<\/p>\n<p><strong>This isn\u2019t an AMD-specific knock, though, as Nvidia Pro GPUs face a similar issue when solely considering performance-per-dollar.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11819\" src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2021\/04\/support.jpg\" alt=\"Vendor GPU Support\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2021\/04\/support.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2021\/04\/support-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2021\/04\/support-1024x540.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2021\/04\/support-768x405.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2021\/04\/support-1536x810.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11819 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%201080%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"Vendor GPU Support\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%201080%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2021\/04\/support.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2021\/04\/support-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2021\/04\/support-1024x540.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2021\/04\/support-768x405.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2021\/04\/support-1536x810.jpg 1536w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2021\/04\/support.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>In general, unless your workload is incredibly specific or you\u2019re working at such an enterprise scale where the price difference doesn\u2019t matter, you\u2019ll <a href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/pro-vs-consumer-gpus\/\">usually be better served by a consumer GPU<\/a> than a \u201cpro\u201d GPU.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Who_Will_Be_Best_Served_By_an_AMD_GPU\"><\/span>Who Will Be Best Served By an AMD GPU?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong>If I had to quickly sum up who AMD GPUs are for, I\u2019d probably narrow it down into the following audiences:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Gamers on a <strong>budget.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Gamers who want to maximize performance-per-dollar and <strong>don\u2019t<\/strong> care about ray-tracing<\/li>\n<li>Professionals using <strong>OpenCL-friendly<\/strong> software.<\/li>\n<li>Professionals using Linux, or otherwise <strong>used to high-end software tweaking<\/strong> that may occasionally prove necessary with an AMD GPU.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Are_AMD_APUs_Any_Good\"><\/span>Are AMD APUs Any Good?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Absolutely!<\/strong> If you\u2019re on a tight budget and just need <em>some<\/em> kind of graphical horsepower in your machine until you can afford a discrete GPU, an AMD APU is probably one of your best options.<\/p>\n<p>However, a video editor certainly has a compelling reason to go with an Intel CPU w\/ iGPU instead, <a href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/how-to-choose-a-cpu-for-video-editing\/\">as covered by Petar in his extended guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"When_Should_You_Definitely_Go_With_Nvidia\"><\/span>When Should You Definitely Go With Nvidia?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Finally, let\u2019s just make sure that my AMD apologism isn\u2019t mistaken for fanboyism.<\/p>\n<p>AMD and Nvidia are both very prominent parts of the GPU market, and both serve an important purpose within it for consumers and manufacturers alike.<\/p>\n<p>However, no matter how much you like AMD, <strong>there are times when you simply must acknowledge Nvidia as the better option. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>I\u2019d say these times are<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>When your application is built or optimized for CUDA acceleration (most apps reliant on CUDA will either perform suboptimally on AMD OpenCL or simply not run at all).<\/li>\n<li>When you\u2019re dedicated to <em>today<\/em>\u2019s best real-time ray-tracing and AI-driven image processing, especially as a gamer.<\/li>\n<li>When you have the money to overlook Nvidia\u2019s pricing, or lack the patience to deal with lacking AMD support for Your workload.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Over_to_You\"><\/span>Over to You<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>And that\u2019s it!<\/p>\n<p>I covered the big question of AMD GPUs and made the best defense I could with the tools available to me, kinda like what you\u2019ll probably have to get used to doing no matter What path you pick for making the most out of your PC.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Have any questions about AMD GPUs? Let us know in the <a href=\"#comments\">comment<\/a> section down below or head over to <a href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/forum\/\">our forum<\/a> and ask away!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Are AMD graphics cards actually any good? If so, what makes them stand out from their competition, and if not, what makes an article like this necessary for us to write to begin with? What are AMD Graphics Cards Criticized For? Weak Real-Time Ray-Tracing Support One of the most overt downsides of AMD graphics cards,...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2339,"featured_media":22562,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[74],"tags":[116,313,118],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22561"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2339"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22561"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22561\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22679,"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22561\/revisions\/22679"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}