Home / Component / Nvidia: AMD remains a strong competitor

Nvidia: AMD remains a strong competitor

Chief executive officer of Nvidia Corp. said last week that Advanced Micro Devices has always been a serious rival for his company and remains a tough competitor today. However, Nvidia believes that its new business approach greatly helps it to avoid competing directly with other suppliers.

“[AMD has] been a strong competitor for as long as I can remember, and they remain a strong competitor,” said Jen-Hsun Huang, chief executive officer of Nvidia, at the company’s conference call with investors and financial analysts. “It is just that our strategy is very different now. We used to be much more of a component supplier, competing directly with other component suppliers, but increasingly, we are really a differentiated platform supplier. The software investments that we have made over the years really, really increasingly define our product.”

nvidia_geforce_gtx_titan_z_huang

Products like Nvidia Quadro, Nvidia Tesla and Nvidia Grid are based on similar graphics processors that power GeForce graphics cards. However, thanks to state-of-the-art software, they gain exclusive capabilities and can be sold with huge profit margins. While AMD competes against Nvidia on the market of graphics cards for PCs and workstations, the company’s position on the markets of high-performance computing and datacenters are rather weak.

“When we think about our products and our platforms, it is really about the differentiated value that we have built on top of our GPUs, number one; and number two, I think the deep integration with the large ecosystems around the world, to the point where other companies' capabilities are really glommed onto this platform, making this platform more valuable to customers,” said Mr. Huang.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: When it comes to hardware, AMD can really compete against Nvidia very well with its powerful desktop GPUs. Unfortunately, when it comes to software and eco-systems, Nvidia is considerably ahead and it is unlikely that AMD will catch up with Nvidia any time soon.

Become a Patron!

Check Also

First AMD UDNA GPUs expected in 2026

AMD's unreleased UDNA GPU architecture is back in the news, with a fresh leak suggesting …

50 comments

  1. Really?! Excuse me when I laugh. Nv’s ‘software platform’ is Cuda and its viability exists exclusively on Nv’s ability to provide superior workstation/server products; at proprietary deals. AMD’s are neutral.
    Hung-less has to try and talk-up other aspects of his business because his expensive adventures in mobiles have collapsed around his ears, and his oem business is in tatters….. the server business is going great for hung-less and he’d better hang-on-to-it and hope amd can’t provide better products… if they do… all the feeble car-wins for doodads won’t save his ass.

  2. Hardly.. AMD may have some sick hardware… But all that gets wasted with there Inability to code Drivers that Work.. AMD Video cards will never be competitor as long as they keep releases badly coded drivers .

  3. Shahnewaz Ahmed

    Yeah, right.
    Software: Omega drivers. End of the story.
    Eco-system: Mantle. Enough said.
    CUDA: They got OpenCL.
    I don’t know what actual meaningful software and ecosystem advantages that you’re talking about. Don’t come to me with PhysX Gameworks, and GeForce Experience stuffs, please. Real software advantages that sets Nvidia apart (not value adds), if you want to discuss.

  4. U MEAN THE ONLY ONE! XD

  5. The graphics leadership on the server front has already started to be dented by AMD’s Firepro graphics as HP has started using them in their top line server offerings. The real sea change will take place with the acknowledgment by Su that they are working on an APU using HBM for server applications. It seems logical that an APU will be a cheaper alternative to a $5,000+ discrete graphics card. Time will tell. Should Intel stop subsidizing NV to the tune of $250 million a year it won’t take NV long to implode. Certainly if there cash flow starts deteriorating H2 of this year due to being the second place GPU vendor for the better part of a year once AMD rolls out there new graphics offerings in less than a month.

  6. Not unexpected and not all that surprising. It’s a conference call. Huang has a choice between the ping pong ball trick or top up everyone’s kool aid.

  7. Maybe is just you.

  8. DX12 will close the gap between those two companies in games. In other areas we will have to see if OpenCL can become a serious alternative to CUDA in the future.

  9. DX12 will just add more features and better use of cards… Wont help AMD write better drivers…

    There was a time when ATI was the top dog with 4xxx Cards back in Xp/Vista days. And 90% of vista BSOD were due to Nvidia shotty drivers…

    Ever since AMD bought out ATI they seem to have replaced the entire Driver/coding team and said fk it….

    Nv sure learn’t a hell of a lot after nearly going under with Vista and there attitude towards driver coding and now the sole reason to buy Nv Cards is based on there quality of drivers now . And not just Windows, But Linux and Unix (OSX) drivers are far superior then AMD’s

  10. Wrong. If you have a look at Anandtech’s article running the latest 3DMark test for comparing APIs, you will see that AMD have a serious problem with DX11 multithreding. They are at the same level with Nvidia at singlethreading DX11, at the same level or better at DX12 and at about half the performance of multithreding DX11.
    http://www.anandtech.com/show/9112/exploring-dx12-3dmark-api-overhead-feature-test/3

    Also, as with Mantle, in the case of DX12, part of the optimization passes to the creators of the games, so AMD, Nvidia and Intel will have an easier life in the future with their drivers. Even Imagination could enter the market in a few years not having to optimize for every game in their drivers like they would have to do with DX11.

    I personally own both Nvidia and AMD cards. In the past the primary card was changing. It was either a 9800GX, a HD4890, a 9800GX2, a 550Ti, a 560Ti, or an HD6850 not in that particularly order. Now I am using a HD7850 and a couple GT 620. I had almost the same problems with drivers from Nvidia or AMD and I really really laugh when an installation of Nvidia drivers on a system where AMD drivers are already installed, usually means problems with the AMD drivers after. Typical Nvidia arrogance. So I always install Nvidia drivers first and AMD drivers latter.

  11. AMD is now at joke level. Old power hungry GPU, broken drivers, half-baked ‘standards’ like Mantle, FreeSync, TreesFX. CPU – symbolic marketshare and performance. All of this decorated with delays and tons of slideware. AMD is 5x smaller than NV, and 100x smaller than Intel. NV CEO is sarcastic or just exhibiting mercy, caling AMD as ‘competitor’.

  12. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

  13. I had my fair share of both

    ATI Rage, TNT 2,9200, x700, x1200, nV 8600GT (SLI), 8800gts (SLI), gtx 260 (SLI), ATI 5770 HD (CF 3x), NV 560ti448core, GTX 650Ti with Boost and now gtx 760.

    before XP days , 3dFX w/ Glide support.
    during xp days ati all the way, during vista it was NV, then back to ati due to NV driver issues on vista, .. ever since AMD bought out ATI and with constant driver crashing ect I switched back to NV and looks like I’ll be staying there for the foreseeable future

  14. This is all rhetoric before the 300 series releases.

    Who wouldn’t be nervous when the high end 300 series will be the only V-R compatible card at the end of this year early next when HTC and Oculus release their brands along with other massive features such as near half size PCB’s and massive power gains.

    I notice a shot at AMD drivers and Nvidia are right to say theirs are perfect and fine tuned for their products to allow for increased profit margins.

    However this is under DX11 and current Windows.

    If it holds that titles run better when run through Windows 10 ala Project Cars and the expected further improvements their multiple A-Syncs shaders being to the table and further HSA implementations bring, Nvidia has a right to be worried.

    …Hence three shots at rhetoric this week already.

    So you spent a fortune on software development and that is a great thing.

    But times change and that software advantage and as such Massive profit margin will start to reduce as Nvidia are gonna have to start putting raw power back into the hearts of their GPU’s with they have lacked as they were not required until now. This help with power efficiency and profit margins

  15. Have you seen the difference between Project cars under windows 8 and windows 10? Both under DX11?

  16. Have you seen the difference between Project cars under windows 8 and windows 10? Both under DX11??

  17. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, every time people talk about this bullshit, without know why gtx 900 series power consumption IS LOW, you know TITAN X, 980, 970 have 99% double precision disabled, and amd don’t do this bullshit on gpus? and 100x smaller than nvidia? ok gg fanboy, i want remember you, AMD IS MORE BIG THAN NVIDIA, little fanboy or for sure you are not informer, AMD not have only GPU MARKET, have another market section, CPU DIVISION, and naturally go tell, amd cpu is sucks, and why FX8350 beat on 4K RESOLUTION with GTX 980/780, beat I7 4770K, and in some games, i7 4930k is go better, and fx8350 in other is go better, i TALK 4K, not 1080p man 😉 http://www.tweaktown.com/tweakipedia/56/amd-fx-8350-powering-gtx-780-sli-vs-gtx-980-sli-at-4k/index.html

    http://www.tweaktown.com/tweakipedia/58/core-i7-4770k-vs-amd-fx-8350-with-gtx-980-vs-gtx-780-sli-at-4k/index.html

    and OPSSSSSSSSSSSS, why R9 290X BEAT amd DESTROY on 3D MARK DX12 BENCHMARK? tell me how is possible? ahahha little kid, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnnODzUY_Gg this video is made from MAINGEAR PC, and they sold out more pc with nvidia and intel than amd, and they do this bench, ahahah poor kid, and gtx 900/titan x series don’t suppoert FULL DX12, SUPPORT ONLY UNTIL TIER 2, and ahhaha all GCN GPUS, GCN 1.0-1.1-1.2 SOME GPUS support UNTIL TIER 2, another until TIER 3, and sorry man, yes r9 390x is out before titan x and 980, but support better memory, better features with DX12, and etc etc, you needed stay shut up, and before tell almost BULLSHIT you tell here, amd is now joke? YOU ARE A JOKE, and nvidia IS A BIG JOKE, they lied from 970 specs, play DIRTY when go put on games their software, the worstest software i ever see in 16 years iìm on pc, and pc gaming, and never do more worst than amd, you remember when nvidia broken lot gpus BECAUSE WHQL DRIVER LOCK GPU FAN, and go change BIOS and OVERHEATING protection DON’T WORK, and you gpu go blowout? i think you don’t remember that, and is not happening 1 time, IS HAPPENING 3-4 TIMES, and when i have GTX 8800 ULTRA (850€) and GTX 280(RMA FROM 8800 ULTRA) both from EVGA , broken for these drivers, and lot artifacts etc etc, TODAY IS A BULLSHIT NVIDIA DRIVERS IS MORE BETTER THAN AMD DRIVER, i have amd FROM 6 YEARS, for 4 years i use my love old and naturally I SELL TO MY FRIEND, HD 6850, NO ONE PROBLEM, no BSOD, COIL WHINE etc etc, same with R9 270X i use not, no one problem, and you tell mantle is broken, TELL ME WHEN NVIDIA DO ONE LOW-LEVEL CONSOLE API AND PUT ON PC? WHERE and WHEN? they can’t do, because they are not have sufficient knowledge, and we want remember HOW MANY NVIDIA GPUS is MORE MORE MORE power hungry and hot than amd gpus? uhhhhhhhhhh GTX6800 GTX 8800-200-400-500, is sufficient for you this is? i think YES, i HATE , absolutly HATE this people how you, people talk about without know something, talk about because this people (YOU), listening and read lot of bullshit writed from fanboys groups on facebook or in other sites 😉

  18. you mean DX12 with Windows 10 Build 10074

    Windows 10 Build 10074 Sports DX12 and all GTX 600,700, 800M, & 900 are DX12 Supported and GTX 900 are DX12 Featured,

    and yes I have ran PCars on Win10 build 10074 with DX12 low level hardware access, The thing with Win10 Builds is that they have MANDATORY debugging turned on and there is no way to disable it, Ever thing that happens in Win10 runs through a debugger… this is one of the main reason why Tech builds, preview builds of ALL windows run extremely slower then RTM builds… With RTM (retail) builds debuggers are disabled by default.

  19. Dude, what the fuck, learn to write before commenting on articles! My brain hurts from deciphering!

  20. pierpaolo perri

    And Intel with Knights Landing, this year, will become also a strong competitor in HPC sector…

  21. If you bought a gaming PC and you are concerned about “power hungry” GPU’s then I don’t think you should be PC gaming….

  22. If I knew you where going to throw me that long list with cards more than 15 years old, I would have started with SiS 6326. I had over 50 cards in my life if not more thanks for the fact that I had a stock house of a big retail store close to me. It was fun buying a GeForce 4200 for half the retail price because it was missing a cable from the box. Unfortunately those beautiful years are history. I played with CF, SLI, PhysX hybrid setups. I gave a SHORT list of my latest cards, just to show that I do have experience from both camps. I didn’t wanted to play it an expert, in case you misunderstood.

  23. You’re definitely exaggerating more than a little bit. I’ve used the same Radeon 7970 Ghz ed card for the last 3+ years trouble free. I can count on one hand with 3 fingers missing the number of times my drivers crashed. The two times that it did crash was when I was playing around with Afterburner after I first got the card.

    Still runs most everything at decent fps on high to ultra settings. Considering getting a second for crossfire since you can get them for less than $200 now sometimes.

    It’s either that or get a r9 295×2 for $600, or wait to see the price points for the r9 390x. The 7970/280x is getting long in the tooth, but I haven’t decided what I’m going to do yet.

  24. Retief Pretorius Boshoff

    this is draw calls does not benchmark the gpu……. genius

  25. Retief Pretorius Boshoff

    You just said nvidia cards aren’t powerful? lol
    Let me educate you a bit the gtx 980 and 970 were restructured after their manufacturing foundry could not manufacture on the 20 nm process.
    So in spite of having that draw back they redesigned to 28nm.

    First of second the reason why the 980 and 970 is so strong is because of their implementation of memory compression.

    In example even though the 980 only has a 256 bit bus its still much stronger than the R9 290x

    As a matter of fact the the GTX 970 competes with the R9 290x

    Everyone is soo hyped about the R9 390x because it will have hbm.

    So what back in 2012 nvidia already planned to go over to hbm, 3d stacked hbm actually which will be much more powerful. architecture will be called pascal.

    I would buy the 390x but just bought the 970 in december so can wait another 6 to 9 months for pascal.

    In regards to your yabering about dx12
    Memory compression is a dx12 feature.
    The implementation of dx12 lies in the fact that it can handle a lot more objects on a screen than dx11.
    Which means we will see fuller worlds much more detailed etc, also with 4k doing the rounds Microsoft has focused on making it easier for current hardware to meet the demand of high resolution displays.
    For example windows 10 will support up to 8k resolution.
    Believe me i am just as psyched about the next gen apu’s from amd because they can work in tandem with any gpu another feature implemented by Microsoft.

    Also saying i would love to see what memory compression does on a 4096 i/o bit bus

    im not a fan boy and yet i am.

    I am a fan of tech have been always will be.

  26. Drivers problems…?
    I could never understand how is it possible that I NEVER had any issues with AMD drivers while using ATi/AMD gpus for more than 10 years straight starting with the Radeon 9700..
    Oh wait, could it be that i’m quite pedantic with the order I install drivers and what software I install on my gaming pc?… Could be, yeah……

    And as far as power consumption is concerned, mate, really, do you think that nVidia gpus save you thousands of dollars/pounds/euros cause they consume less power?
    We’re talking about MAYBE £30 per year. maybe!!!!

    I could never understand how people focus on numbers served by websites and not clearly see the facts.

    And as for the standards, if it wasn’t for Mantle, (probably) we wouldn’t talk about DirectX12 and multithreading in games. On the other hand, Freesync can save you almost £100 since it’s royalties free.

    The good thing is that every opinion is welcome if it’s stated properly.

    Now, let me see you thanking AMD for having (as much as can be) competing products so the prices remain low and YOU can go and buy Intel and nVidia products.
    This is called competition!

    Cheers !!!

  27. failed comprehension there boy.
    Where did I say they are not powerful?
    Typical NVidia mafia troll putting words in peoples mouth.
    You lot will never change
    6-9 months for Pascal?
    Dream on.
    AMD have exclusive rights to HBM for 12 months.
    By that time the masses will have already invested in V-R without Nvidia being in the game

  28. Retief Pretorius Boshoff

    quote unquote (But times change and that software advantage and as such Massive profit
    margin will start to reduce as Nvidia are gonna have to start putting
    raw power back into the hearts of their GPU’s)

  29. Steven De Bondt

    Fair enough, but with Gigantic brainless hordes of gamers all buying titans for no particular reason, Huang gets to take as many shots as he likes at the industry.

    The fact is, he can horribly fail just for fun and still get away with it. Which is, basically, what happened with the 970 debacle. It was a big demonstration of a fully-functional Nvidia Reality Distortion Device (NRDD)

  30. You d1psh1t.
    You comprehension is awful
    Saying more power has to be put in does not mean the same as they are not as powerful already
    Go back to school with your Nvidia mafia b@llshit.
    Tw@t

  31. Nvidia’s software differentiation is not stopping AMD from gaining market share in pro graphics. AMD is now up to 25% from 15% market share in pro graphics. The next 18 – 24 months are going to be a good opportunity for AMD to leverage their time to market advantage with HBM and gain market share back in desktop AIB and notebooks. Just as AMD did with GDDR5 in the HD 4870 and the first to market with an entire HD 5000 series GDDR5 based product stack AMD will use their experience as a co-inventor of HBM to transition quickly to HBM across the product stack in 2016. Nvidia has no experience with HBM and faces growing pains just as they did with their first GDDR5 flagship product GF100 aka GTX 480.

  32. Steven De Bondt

    If it were to be true, then why do you sound more frustrated than happy?

  33. Steven De Bondt

    Well Nvidia has always been known for waiting around while AMD always took the first shot at new technologies. Which is kind of funny when you read about people amd is “old hardware”

    But both have their benificial factors. While AMD can get away with showing the newest tech first, Nvidia can start implementing it at a lower cost, somewhat later down the road; while it also is more mature.

  34. Retief Pretorius Boshoff

    Ooohh wow heres the hardcore nasty fan boy in you coming out now is it not?

    but i can see why

    I have 3d vision
    cuda capable apps
    nvidia physx

    You know what I am sure you convince yourself everyday that your pc is amazing.
    I would never go through that much effort because i know mine is.

    Then again I am not stuck with being a fan boy.
    I just prefer performance….
    And don’t need to swear at people due to an inferiority complex

  35. Retief Pretorius Boshoff

    yup pc gaming not oven gaming 😛

  36. Yes I’m inferior, thanks for your pathetic attempt at belittling me.
    Enjoy waiting a year and a half for Pascal

  37. Retief Pretorius Boshoff

    Wow we are sensitive…
    I said you have that complex i did not state that you are inferior
    Sorry that you feel that way though and I wont wait that long.

    By the way have urged nvidia for years to use a bigger bit bus… aka not a fan boy

    By the way swearing at people in public is belittling fyi

  38. Enjoy Pascal in 18 months while everybody else owns the best.
    Pr1ck

  39. Retief Pretorius Boshoff

    I take my words back you are a loser.
    See how it works is usually when a person fails to win an intellectual argument they revert to rudimentary words and then obviously violence.
    This in turn shows not only the immense gap between our our intellects but also shows just what a pathetic low IQ, inferiority complex and thus inferior creature you are.
    And the best words you can come up with is swearing wow astonishing.

    AMD fan boy aka idiot

  40. And that’s your response to eleven words and a number.
    Go home to your boyfriend I’m sure he can silence your anger and pain with a well placed jab..is what you are.
    Eighteen Months that’s how long it will take for Nvidia to have an answer. I know you cant take it.
    Go home to your boyfriend I’m sure he can silence your anger and pain with a well placed jab where the sun don’t shine.

  41. Retief Pretorius Boshoff

    Nope not just 11 words just a swearing piece of low life.

    Go cry with your mommy and your boyfriend I like girls though sorry sadist girly idiot

  42. Faggot tw@t Huang sex lover.
    What more you got d1psh1t?
    Why don’t you come to the UK so I can smash your face in???
    No, I said your fac in not your back door.
    f@ggot

  43. Retief Pretorius Boshoff

    So its true then you have mommy issues shame.

    You know what big mouth lets see what the future holds.

    in the meantime enjoy your permanent mental f@cktardation

  44. Believe this is you love too; gods knows I sure you want to justify whatever nv purchases – but to correct one thing;

    amd/nv revenue stream is almost identical. nv’s market-cap is about 5x amd’s. There is a very important difference between these metrics – one is how much investors can fuckaround, the other is financial viability in the realworld.

  45. He meant the AMD Win 8 vs 10 comparison where AMD’s 10 DX11 drivers kick 8’s butt

  46. Umm, AMD have been working on HBM for 7 years http://www.pcworld.com/article/2919217/confirmed-amds-next-gen-radeon-graphics-will-use-high-bandwidth-memory.html Nvidia’s stacked memory was HMC for Volta both delayed http://semiaccurate.com/2013/05/20/nvidias-volta-gpu-raises-serious-red-flags-for-the-company/

  47. Everyone keep saying things about who’s better than not, well the reality is every card/design has pros and cons offered. To simplify, just get a hardware that gets the job splendidly done, without spending too much on features that you don’t really need. IMO, a hardware that focuses on a task is better than a fully-packaged one that puts a strain on each component.

  48. dude… I have so many amd igps and discrete cards, never have I ever had a pure driver issue unless it was the mantle beta driver with bf4… If the game is a good game and the psu is sufficiently powerful and you have no overheating issues on the mb you should not run into problems. But this is true for any computer components… I haven’t seen an nvidia pure driver error in a while likewise the bf4/mantle bugs were the only instance I have observed problems with amd/ati also in quite a while. Games are full of bugs and most have serious performance bugs and memory leaks and nvidia and amd do whatever they can to contain them as much as possible but ultimately it is the problem of the game developer, they need to test their games against all hw & drivers and make sure it works, sitting back and saying hey we did all we can amd/nvidia should optimize drivers for this is just plane crazy, there are really very very few instances where the driver is truly at fault. AMD has a big compiler problem in that it can’t fully utilize the power of the chip but that is something for another day.

  49. ^ This

    But to be fair adequate cooling resolves the problem and AMD don’t give two toots about TDP just performance [inb4 NFUDIA IZ BETTUR] 😛

  50. does the creators of gpus ever play games till they end the story of the game themselves or they’re too busy making new gpus and for their business? just wondering :3