NVIDIA drops a budget-friendly bomb on AMD, with Windows PC users
The race to be the best GPU maker has been on for a while, between NVIDIA and AMD.
In the wake of NVIDIA’s unveiling of its latest GeForce GTX 1050, AMD is caught scrambling to push back with its own Polaris GPUs. For the moment, the odds are in NVIDIA’s favor, as its latest, and cheapest version of the 10-Series, the GTX 1050, can be had for as low as $109, a price that includes the same technology at the GTX 1080, but with considerably less CUDA cores and memory.
The GTX 1050 comes in two models, the regular GTX 1050, which retails for $109, packs 640 CUDA cores and 2GB of RAM, and the GTX 1050Ti, which costs $139, and features 768 CUDA cores, and double the RAM.
NVIDIA’s GTX 1050 is also the only one that is not labelled as “VR-Ready”, with that said, it’s possible that it will work with most mid-range graphic applications and workloads.
With the GTX 1050, NVIDIA is closing the loop on its product line, spearheaded by the Titan X, which is followed by the GTX 1080 and 1070, as the top-most GPUs for gamers and professionals. The GTX 1060 and 1050 represent the more budget-conscious offerings, still with very respectable computing power.
In AMD’s court, the Polaris is doing rather well, but the price point, for some, is still too high, compared to performance, at least on paper. With that said, AMD’s focus seems to be more centered around mobile and portable computers. AMD has enjoyed a long standing relationship with Apple, among others, by which there is a strong chance for AMD Polaris to power more Apple Macs in the future.
For the moment, those looking to build a PC from scratch, or upgrade a desktop they already own, may be more likely to gravitate towards NVIDIA GPUs.,when looking for a budget-friendly, yet performance-driven option.
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