Christmas is upon us and in any industry that usually means new products. The tech industry is no different and in the last month we have seen some exciting new products come out. AMD and NVIDIA, the two leading GPU manufacturers, are both releasing huge updates to their lineups. It can get rather confusing to sift through everything during the rush of holiday shopping, especially if you are new to computer parts. If you are in the market for a new GPU, this short overview will hopefully help with figuring out the best choice for your budget.

We will start with the company, NVIDIA, that has been an industry leader for the last decade. Their offerings include the RTX 3070, RTX 3080, and RTX 3090. These GPUs come in at $500, $700, & $1500 respectively. We cannot recommend the RTX 3090 unless money is no object. As for the RTX 3080 and RTX 3070, these are great cards at the listed price points.

Their competition, AMD, is finally looking to compete this year with a competitive lineup. Their offerings include the 6800, 6800XT, and 6900XT. These GPUs will come in at $580, $650, and $1000 respectively. They are great for esports games where the playing resolutions will be 1080p or 1440p (p=pixels).

So what should you buy this holiday season? It comes down this; if to if you want to stream your games, turn on Ray Tracing, or play at 4k resolution, then you will want to buy a Nvidia card. If you want high frames rates with basic features for games that require high frame rates at lower resolutions (1080p & 1440p), then you may lean toward AMD’s offerings.  Overall, the gap has closed considerably between these competing products, but the latest benchmarks show that Nvidia still has the lead in defining the graphics card scene.

The one caveat to keep in mind is product availability.  Covid-19 has made supply low and demand high on an international scale.  You might have to settle for whatever is in stock at your price point if you want a GPU upgrade this year.

Whatever your decision, here’s to wishing you a very Merry Christmas and safe and happy New Year!