We’ve told you before that Nvidia has a firm death grip on the GPU market, an area where AMD is struggling to breathe. Nvidia holds 76% of the market share and – with AMD’s hesitance to push its R9 300 series of cards out of the gate – it’s a situation that’s just going to worsen for the American semiconductor peddlar. A new graph, by Beyond3D user dbz shows just how bad the situation for AMD is.
Collated from aggregated yearly reports, the graph shows the market share between the battling GPU makers over the past decade or so, littered with information on the releases of specific cards. It shows how Nvidia started pissing away consumer sentiment with its frankly awful FX series of cards, leading AMD to actually grab a larger chunk of the market later on with its X800 Pro – one of the best value for money cards at the time. It came in $100 less than Nvidia’s card, offering very nearly the same performance.
(Click to open in a new window)
Nvidia’s market share picked up again with the release of its 7800, and has since remained ahead of AMDs – where it now holds a staggering 76% of the overall GPU business. At this point there’s very little AMD can do to fight back. While its R9 300 series of cards may stop the bleeding for a bit, it won’t be enough to help the company claw back a significant amount of market share.
Looking at graphs like these, it makes sense why game makers would buy in to implementing NVidia-exclusive technologies for their games.
AMD’s been a bit too quiet with regards to its new cards, though it’s looking increasingly likely that – beyond the high end enthusiast cards – they’re little more than a series of rebrands. AMD just doesn’t have the R&D budget, unfortunately. The company as a whole is doing poorly – a situations that’s not at all been helped by its recent withdraw from the high-density servers market. It’s an area that’s largely failed – and came at great cost to the company. They bought up high density server company, SeaMicro, for $334 million; money that’s essentially been thrown away.
Their withdrawal has, of course, affected stock price with AMD’s stocks dropping nearly 10% since they announced their exit from the market.
[interaction id=”5514e4517fdf079b4e129ff3″]Last Updated: April 20, 2015
Admiral Chief asked for this
April 20, 2015 at 11:04
Cool, so hopefully cheaper AMD parts huehuehue
Mark Treloar
April 20, 2015 at 13:20
Rumor has it that Samsung is sniffing around. If its true it will probably end up more expensive.
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Hiebly
April 21, 2015 at 09:20
Nope. AMD can’t afford to cut the prices of their GPUs. They’re in a real catch-22. They need to cut their prices to make their GPUs competitive against Nvidia’s current offerings, but they can’t afford to cut their prices without taking a loss. AMD is really in the gutter right now… I’m not even joking, they might go under within the next few years.
Blood Emperor Trevor
April 20, 2015 at 11:06
I had an X800XL, that card rocked so hard. It was 512mb when most people were still using 256mb cards. Only reason I had to replace it was because of DX shader model support.
ReaperOfSquirrels
April 20, 2015 at 11:09
The Asus X800XL Platinum came in a box the size of a PC case… was an epic card though.
ReaperOfSquirrels
April 20, 2015 at 11:08
lol @ “I’m still team Voodoo”.
I’m a Team Red guy, mostly because of cost. I can get a pretty high end M/B, Processor, GPU and Ram for about R8000… yet the Intel/Nvidia equivalent is R11000. (going on CPU Cores, GPU [ram and bits])
Blood Emperor Trevor
April 20, 2015 at 11:21
Now imagine the world without Red Team, that Blue/Green price would jump to R22000… a fact those team members conveniently forget.
Mexor
April 20, 2015 at 19:57
AMD’s IP isn’t going to disappear. So one could just as easily argue that without Team Red a Team Orange could appear which actually is competitive with Team Blue and Team Green. Besides, buying something you don’t want to try to avoid having to buy uncompetitive products is simply voluntarily taking on the situation you are trying to avoid.
CrasH
April 20, 2015 at 12:09
Yea, seeing people still remember Voodoo is awesome. My friend was Voodoo and i was Riva TNT2.
Few driver tweaks and on par FPS in Quake 2…
Best part of the Voodoo comment… is team green bough 3DFX long ago so they are now one and the same… SLI is why nvidia bought voodoo but either way one in the same now.
ReaperOfSquirrels
April 20, 2015 at 12:26
Yeah, I had a TNT2 as well, don’t think I ever had a Voodoo card.
Axon1988
April 20, 2015 at 13:23
I find this strange… really strange. I seem to live in a different world, the most money I’ve spent on my PC all together in the last 3 years was: R1000 for i7 2600, R500 for 8GB DDR3 1600 memory, R1200 ASrock z77 motherboard, R500 Coolermaster SIlent Pro M 600W, R1250 Nvidia GTX570 and then old harddrives that were lying around in our office. I bought all this second hand mind you, the motherboard and memory were brand new back then.
So that’s R5050…
I would never buy a CPU new, as they are quite robust little chips. Motherboards I am a bit more iffy about, they those cpu pins get damaged too easily. In any case, for a poor bastard like me this is about the only option I have really. It’s a fun hobby though!
ReaperOfSquirrels
April 20, 2015 at 14:55
Look at the pricing again now. I wasn’t even looking top of the range with those prices I put there.
You can still upgrade for that price, but you might not even be able to run big games on minimum.
I’d really love to upgrade my PC, a CPU upgrade would do me wonders, but I can’t get CPU’s for my board anymore.
Axon1988
April 20, 2015 at 14:59
Second hand is the answer here old sport! I bet you have a 1366 board, there are many second hand chips doing the rounds for cheap.
Uberutang
April 20, 2015 at 11:09
The way it is meant to be played!
Kikmi
April 20, 2015 at 11:10
Sorry I can’t hear you over all that Mantle and Tress FX not being used in games ever. #TeamGreen
ReaperOfSquirrels
April 20, 2015 at 11:20
http://rs1img.memecdn.com/wait-good-point_fb_1144675.jpg
James Anderton
April 20, 2015 at 11:23
Aren’t they abandoning Mantle for DX12? I mean kudos for them for pushing Microsoft to finally get off their asses and make some needed updates, but Mantle was short lived.
Edit: Saw #TeamGreen. duh!
Kikmi
April 20, 2015 at 11:27
Stabby comment is stabby. I don’t think to that degree no, its just hard for a GPU manufacturer to dictate software API’s when its clear the’re trying to monopolise a market. IT doesn’t work that way. They took a chance and by all intents it worked somewhat but adoption rate was abysmal due to team green still holding the bulk of the market. DX12 did have some hands in it getting completely binned but I think they saw their mistake ages ago.
James Anderton
April 20, 2015 at 11:20
I’ve owned cards from both sides over the past, oh, 15 years or so. Currently team Green and have no inclination or interest in going back to AMD, which is a problem. We NEED them to be competitive to push NVIDIA to innovate and not just iterate their cards.
My (conspiracy) theory is that NVIDIA was pissed off at the console crowd not wanting to use their tech in the current gen consoles (they are AMD based) and are on a mission to destroy them, by any and all means necessary.
It’s not looking good for team Red. Not at all.
Kikmi
April 20, 2015 at 11:25
PS4 got its physx & AGEA processors by nvidia what do you mean they weren’t playing ball? AFAIK NV said they’re more interested in mobile/shield and SoC.
James Anderton
April 20, 2015 at 11:28
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_4_technical_specifications
Not documented there. I’m pretty sure it would be. But show me another source and I’m willing to believe 🙂
Kikmi
April 20, 2015 at 11:32
Here’s something straight off of nvidia http://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-announces-physx-and-apex-support-for-sony-computer-entertainment-s-playstation-4
James Anderton
April 20, 2015 at 11:37
That’s SDK support. No where does it say they provided HARDWARE (processors).
“NVIDIA PhysX and APEX technologies are designed to run on a variety of CPU architectures”
Geoffrey Tim
April 20, 2015 at 11:40
Yeah, it’s software support. If it was hardware the PS4 version of Borderlands 2 wouldn’t be so kak.
Greylingad
April 20, 2015 at 11:41
Bwaaaaahaaaahaaa!!!
Kikmi
April 20, 2015 at 11:43
Oh seriously? Well that explains the lack of any hardware reports, my bad then
Kikmi
April 20, 2015 at 11:42
I can’t tell you, but what I can tell you is that on at least MKX/TLOU/Injustice/Infamous/The Order all have and run fairly in depth physx protocols on everything from gas to environmental gravity and wind, all far too high in processing power to be handled by a traditional x86 CPU and I’ve only ever seen comparable performance from a CUDA capable process. The thing is its likely to be an embedded chipset custom built to Sony’s specification which might explain its absence on technical reports. More than that I’m sure a simple tweet to their ZA twitter account should get you the answers you’re looking for.
James Anderton
April 20, 2015 at 11:53
Pretty sure it doesn’t. And you have yet to prove to me it does.
Even phones have documentation showing Nvidia hardware inclusions. It escapes me that Sony would somehow try to ‘hide’ the fact that a major gaming brand would supply hardware for their device.
Kikmi
April 20, 2015 at 13:12
As mentioned I was mistaken
James Anderton
April 20, 2015 at 13:22
Don’t sweat it. I sometimes leave my Disqus comment window open for longer than I should (“get back to work!”), didn’t see your edit until long after I posted.
Kikmi
April 20, 2015 at 13:30
Np!
Jonah Cash
April 20, 2015 at 11:20
I am still a noob at this, but I am loving the rig you all helped me to buy! This thing runs anything and everything like it is nothing.
Ryanza
April 20, 2015 at 11:52
Wait for The Witcher 3 and see.
Ryanza
April 20, 2015 at 11:39
I’m still waiting for the new AMD cards. AMD needs to hurry the fuck. The Witcher 3 is coming. And even though I said I will be using The Witcher 3 to see what I need to upgrade. The other day I was thinking about that GTX 980. Which is very bad for AMD. I wouldn’t be able to wait long after The Witcher 3.
Don’t Support DRM. Don’t Support GameWorks.
geel slang
April 20, 2015 at 13:38
Buy a Nvidia card and get The Witcher 3 for free!
Ryanza
April 20, 2015 at 14:27
I don’t need The Witcher 3 for free. I need The Witcher 3 for PC at retail to be DRM-FREE. And that is what CDPR is giving me. So I will be buying The Witcher 3 at retail for PC.
geel slang
April 20, 2015 at 14:35
So if you buy a 980 and get a free voucher you would still buy the game at retail?
Ryanza
April 20, 2015 at 14:39
I will first wait for AMD to release their cards and wait for the test results. What do I care about a free voucher.
geel slang
April 20, 2015 at 15:11
“What do I care about a free voucher.” lol, ok then.
Anyway, bad news, AMD is not releasing a new card before the May 19. Hope you current card has enough ooomph to handle it.
Ryanza
April 20, 2015 at 16:32
Yes I know that AMD will not be releasing new cards before May 19th. And yes my current card will play The Witcher 3.
Andy Bee
April 20, 2015 at 12:01
i had a 4850 , still have my hd 6850 ans using a hd7870 now , but iam saving for a 3.5gb 970 , stop giving crap sorftware with my drivers amd
Lord Chaos
April 20, 2015 at 12:05
I’m fine with them taking their time. Probably just making sure their 4GB cards aren’t 3.5…
CrasH
April 20, 2015 at 12:13
Yea… when you realise your adopted after turning 21 and telling the world your father is the best in the world and then you get angry at him for not telling you sooner…
That’s the 3.5gb argument… benched, tested and running great… but now you know that there is a flaw and it is a shame that, that is all people can see.
you have the full right to be… does not change the fact that the numbers are still the same and was still kicking team red in the balls…
Greylingad
April 20, 2015 at 12:11
I’ve had many cards, from both AMD and Nvidia, my first Nvidia card was a 4200 ti I then moved to a X1900 then Geforce 9800GT then a HD3870 then a 4870 and then a 5870, I then moved to a GTX 580 and have quite recently moved to the GTX 970. All of these cards were excellent, other than having to struggle with AMD’s drivers, I had no issues with any of them, with the Nvidia cards I also didn’t have any issues, but the reason I’m back on Nvidia, well, Nvidia focuses on creating cards that make everything look awesome, while doing it quickly, whereas AMD has always been rushed, Frames frames frames frames all the way… Yes, one could argue that the Green cards are more expensive, but I’ve always seen it as, you get what you pay for… I enjoy gaming, that’s why I invest in moderately expensive cards, the more detailed the experience, the better…
WeAllBleedRed
April 20, 2015 at 12:22
Both sides have had their share of issues. I’ve got 2 EVGA Titan’s in sli which have given me nothing but grief. Jacob over @ evga continues to feed me non-released beta drivers in an attempt to fix my woes. Frame rate issues plague the new Titan in SLI in newer titles like GTA .Yet my 295×2 is less powerful… it still leads in fps in most titles when compared to my titan rig in sli. It’s clearly a driver issue I know … my point is … neither team has perfect drivers or hardware. It all boils down to the color choice.
Greylingad
April 20, 2015 at 12:39
Gee wizz! In all honesty though, I’ve never liked the EVGA brand, I might sound like a fool though, but I’d rather pay the extra bit for an MSI configuration or maybe even ASUS, it’s a trust in specific brand thing, other people will probably tell you to stay away from these, but I’ve never had issues with these cards, as far as the SLI config goes… How many reserve banks do you need to rob for owning a config like that? I’m glad the 295’s are at least performing beyond expectation though!
Matthew Holliday
April 20, 2015 at 12:52
Titans are hit and miss though.
overpriced and overpowered, the cause as many problems as they solve.
James Anderton
April 20, 2015 at 12:26
Team Green: GeForce2 MX, GeForce FX 5200, GeForce 8800 GT, GeForce GTX 560 Ti (current card, upgrading to GTX 970 soon™)
Team Red: Rage 128 Pro, Radeon 9800 SE, Radeon HD 4890
Looking at this list, looks like I got some good milage out of my cards.
Greylingad
April 20, 2015 at 12:48
Hehehe, the billions I’ve spent on cards…. your list brings a tear to my eyes, the nostalgia….
Matthew Holliday
April 20, 2015 at 12:50
Nvidia 5700, nvidia 8600gt, Radeon 5770, nvidia 550ti, AMD 7850, AMD R9-270 and finally an nvidia 970.
None of the AMD cards in my list really stood out for me. the 7850 was great, but i waited too long to get it. the 5770 had a fantastic lifespan, playing games on low graphics up till CoD Ghosts, but it never really impressed me, not even on its own generations games.
it used to be that AMD cards gave you a great price:performance ratio, nowadays, that ratio has lost balance. they perform well enough on the current series of games, but then a new gen of cards/games comes out and they cant compete, while the nvidia cards really age well.
Greylingad
April 20, 2015 at 12:59
That’s the thing though, back then, the only AMD cards that actually performed were the ones that you paid top dollar for, if you dared to step one card lower than the top of the line, you might as well just have used a toaster as a GPU… But the GTX 970… just amazing, yes people can mock it for the 3.5 instead of 4GB of RAM, it still kicks more ass than anything else, especially price wise…
Matthew Holliday
April 20, 2015 at 13:02
yeah sorta, but back then the top of the line AMD cards were a fair bit cheaper than the equivilent nvidia card.
but yes. the 970 is a monster. the performance increase i got on it over my dual R9-270s is ridiculous.
Greylingad
April 20, 2015 at 13:06
Yep, the price difference between the 5870 and the GTX 480 card back then was almost R1500, which made it an easy decision at first, but then I actually spent some time looking at the 480 and I was sold on the next gen 580, which lasted until November last year actually….
Matthew Holliday
April 20, 2015 at 13:08
yeah, and going further back, the AMD 4850 was a monster of a card, costing around the same as an nvidia 8600gt, but massively outperforming it.
Geoffrey Tim
April 20, 2015 at 13:16
I think you might be quite right. While AMD still has a *reputation* of offering “more bang for your buck,* I think reality of it these days is quite different. Plus, Nvidia’s tech (most notably Physx) makes an appreciable difference to games.
geel slang
April 20, 2015 at 13:43
4870, that was the noisiest thing I have ever owen. Sounded like a leaf blower, I hated it.
Greylingad
April 20, 2015 at 13:45
Hahaha!! Yeah well, it was brilliant for aerodynamics testing in a wind tunnel… Oh and I never needed a heater for a cold winter morning….
James Anderton
April 20, 2015 at 13:53
Anyone remember this?
http://cdn.overclock.net/3/3d/350x700px-LL-3d666206_blower1.jpeg
James Anderton
April 20, 2015 at 13:56
or this
WeAllBleedRed
April 20, 2015 at 12:13
I’m not an either or fan. I’m for the competitive market for overall tech growth. What’s scary is that AMD is on the verge of disappearing and the inside chain of command knows this. Something drastic needs to happen before the end of the year to keep the shareholders happy. I’m not just talking about the upcoming gpu/cpu’s from AMD either. They need to merge with someone like Samsung to stay a float. If they don’t ….they’ll continue to hemorrhage money until their forced into a buyout or bankruptcy.
strange
April 20, 2015 at 12:14
Emperor of the back-end hehehe
Matthew Holliday
April 20, 2015 at 12:40
After upgrading to an Nvidia 970 after running Crossfired R9-270s.
i understand the market dominance.
Peter Pan
April 21, 2015 at 08:48
I really hope AMD doesn’t get swallowed by Nvidia. Their R&D guys really need to pick up the pace!
Hiebly
April 21, 2015 at 11:08
AMD has been losing money on pretty much all fronts. Right now Intel is so far ahead in the CPU market, and Nvidia’s got a pretty solid advantage in the GPU market (both because of marketing and more efficient GPUs).
Problem is because AMD has such a small (and shrinking) market share, they can’t afford to invest as much in R&D or marketing, so they fall behind… and falling behind in both of these things causes them to fall behind even more. To top things off, AMD needs to reduce the cost of all their products right now in order to make them competitive, but because of their manufacturing costs (AMD’s current lineup costs more to manufacture than nvidia’s as far as I know) they can’t afford to cut costs.
Michal Gloc
April 21, 2015 at 10:21
While I prefer NVidia, I would like to see AMD coming up with some new interesting tech. Close competition between these two is what’s best for the gamers.
Hiebly
April 21, 2015 at 11:12
Yeah… well FreeSync is really good, but might be a bit too late in the game. AMD’s financial position and market share is gonna continue to dwindle. They don’t have the money to invest in good R&D or advertise as powerfully as Nvidia, nor to branch out to different areas. They’re already struggling to stay relevant even just in mobile GPUs, let alone their CPU divisions.
Without more money to invest in R&D, AMD can’t make exciting new products as well. Without exciting new products, they lose even more money. If AMD is gonna keep rebranding old products, doing “refreshes” and trying to have ungodly long shelf lives (such as with their FX lineup of CPUs, or the HD 7000 GPUs from 2011-2012 that still make up 95% of their GPUs being sold today), they will need to drop prices of products to remain a viable purchase option. Unfortunately, they can’t afford to cut costs anymore because their margins are already very small.
I really want to get a FreeSync monitor and an R9 290X… but I’m afraid AMD is gonna go under shortly, or have to start doing mass layoffs in various divisions, causing driver support and new product adoption to go down the drain.
Corrie
April 21, 2015 at 11:53
Hey when you get absolutely great performance for a okay price then I’m glad I stuck it out with Nvidia and the 970, even with their little fiasco