Kepler, SLI, Crossfire, CUDA, OpenCL, Eyefinity, 3D Vision Surround, GeForce, Radeon…these confusing terms could mean nothing to you; or as so, so many of you are dyed-in-the-wool hardcore Pc gamers, they could well define your existence. Back in 2006, CPU maker AMD snapped up ATi, taking over the brand, setting it up for greatness – while Nvidia is responsible for ushering in the GPU age with its GeForce 256.
It’s been a game of one-upmanship between the two companies since the days of the Nvidia’s Riva TNT and AT’s Rage – but they’ve each settled in to a niche. AMD’s goal is to offer you the most bang for your buck instead of ultimate performance. This comes, sometimes, at a cost; AMD’s driver support is perhaps a little slower than the competition. Nvidia, on the other hand, aims for the bleeding edge, with great driver support – but you’ll pay through your nostrils for their top end products.
The question is…which do you favour?
(Ps: Don’t feel left out, consolites; Microsoft’s Xbox 360 is ATi/AMD powered, while the PlayStation3 runs off Nvidia graphics hardware)
Last Updated: July 20, 2012