AMD vs Nvidia for hardware acceleration

[Cs342]

So I've been reading a lot about how AMD graphics cards are better than Nvidia for GPU compute, but it seems that in every application I use (PowerDirector, Photoshop, Handbrake etc) there is an option for Nvidia CUDA acceleration but not AMD acceleration. If AMD's compute power is not being used then wouldn't it be better to get an Nvidia card even if their theoretical compute performance is lower?

[carolkarine]

adobe's next update will include AMD acceleration. AMD is much MUCH better for bitmining. it depends on what you want to do, but if you're writing your own code for a research project that involes crunching numbers, doing it with AMD's GPUs is easier to code.

[TechFan@ic]

adobe's next update will include AMD acceleration. AMD is much MUCH better for bitmining. it depends on what you want to do, but if you're writing your own code for a research project that involes crunching numbers, doing it with AMD's GPUs is easier to code.

Pretty much what he said.

[Cs342]

adobe's next update will include AMD acceleration. AMD is much MUCH better for bitmining. it depends on what you want to do, but if you're writing your own code for a research project that involes crunching numbers, doing it with AMD's GPUs is easier to code.

But for most applications right now, is it true that the majority of them only support Nvidia GPU acceleration?

[SnypeUXD]

For right now all of Adobe's programs only support CUDA, and a lot of video and effects programs like Houdini only support Nvidia as well. It depends on when and how you need to use the GPUs.

[GoodBytes]

You are the first that I hear that say that AMD card are better at GPU computation than Nvidia's.

All the benchmark I have seen, says otherwise. Researchers are favoring Nvidia's for CUDA and their performance. Nvidia Tesla is selling like hotcakes.

Nvidia CUDA is based on C. If you know C/C++ its a breeze to program. AMD uses OpenCL, which is known to be a pain in the neck to program. That is why Nvidia made CUDA. They could have used OpenCL as well, and it the cards support it. But they choose to invest millions to make something better, and it is. Also, CUDA is the most used language, and therefor better support, and books.

The upside of OpenCL is that is works on anything, while CUDA is exclusive to Nvidia graphic cards.

Also, AMD's graphic card cost less, and consume a bit less power, making them more affordable solution.

So AMD card are better in that way.

[GPUXPert]

GCN is far superior to fermi & OpenCL is far superior to CUDA .

[GPUXPert]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-titan-performance-review,3442-10.html

Even a 1000$ card falls way short of the much more powerful GCN powered 7970 for 550$ less.

In all, our general-purpose compute testing is overwhelmingly disappointing. We can clearly see in Sandra 2013 that GK110 has plenty of potential, flying past the GK104-powered GeForce GTX 680. But a serious of failures prevent us from judging the GPU’s performance in more real-world workloads. For a card long-expected to reconcile Nvidia’s position against Tahiti in these disciplines, Titan falls short right out of the gate.

[Cs342]

But if no programs use OpenCL then what is the point in buying AMD?

[Blake]

@cs342.

Look harder.

Handbrake, photoshop CS6, Battlefield 3, and a bunch of others, are all opencl enabled.

In terms of "no-one knows how to code in OpenCL" It is coded in C (C99 to be exact)

The reason you see no enable OpenCL button is due to it already being enabled

http://openclnews.com/apps have a looky

[Cs342]

I currently have a GTX 460. Should I get an ASUS 7950 Direct CU II now, or wait for the 8000 series? I'll be doing gaming and video editing, and if AMD's card are that good with OpenCL and OpenCL as you said is already enabled by default instead of CUDA, then should I buy now or wait?

[Mattg123]

You might be waiting a while for the 8000 series, rumored for 2014.

[Cs342]

You might be waiting a while for the 8000 series, rumored for 2014.

Are there any definitive release dates for the 8000/700 series yet?

[Mattg123]

There is a "leaked" roadmap for Nvidia GPU's that says Maxwell will be released in 2014, and i just found a few threads saying the 8000 series is coming Q4 2013. No official dates yet.

If it was me, I'd wait for the next gen, a GTX 460 is more than enough to get me through the year.

[TechFan@ic]

You might be waiting a while for the 8000 series, rumored for 2014.

We know the 8000 series is coming in Q4 2013, that's been confirmed by AMD.

[Cs342]

There is a "leaked" roadmap for Nvidia GPU's that says Maxwell will be released in 2014, and i just found a few threads saying the 8000 series is coming Q4 2013. No official dates yet.

If it was me, I'd wait for the next gen, a GTX 460 is more than enough to get me through the year.

Yeah I kinda agree, but that depends on whether the 8000 series will be release during early Q4 or late Q4. On another note, it might be even better to just wait until the 700 series since it would be really bad to buy an 8970 or something and then have Nvidia totally blow it out of the water a month later.