Cost Per Frame: Nvidia Stops Offering Good Value GPUs to Gamers

[Scorpus]

GPU prices are climbing again, but not equally. Across 10 countries, Radeon now delivers far better value than GeForce in most price tiers, while Nvidia's lineup struggles to stay competitive.

Read the full article here.

Cost Per Frame: Nvidia Stops Offering Good Value GPUs to Gamers

 

[Skully]

If I was going to buy a graphics card right now strictly to game it would be an AMD card. But, there's more to life than just gaming (AI for example) and that's why the Nvidia cards are going crazy with their prices.

 

[godrilla]

If I was going to buy a graphics card right now strictly to game it would be an AMD card. But, there's more to life than just gaming (AI for example) and that's why the Nvidia cards are going crazy with their prices.

Also if still want Nvidia. Short term strategy is prebuilts. There is still a lag time by 1 to 2 quarters before they get affected as well.

 

[loki1944]

You mean Nvidia and Unreal Engine 5.

 

[Squid Surprise]

While I appreciate that these charts help you decide on a card, the rationale is a bit flawed.

AMD ISN’T dominating - Nvidia is. The reason “Nvidia can’t compete at the same price” is that they don’t have to! They are greedily charging more - AND GETTING IT!!

Saying that, once supply chain issues resolve themselves in a couple of years, prices will come down for both brands…

Unless you absolutely have to, you shouldn’t be buying either for awhile…

 

[Taroo]

If I was going to buy a graphics card right now strictly to game it would be an AMD card. But, there's more to life than just gaming (AI for example) and that's why the Nvidia cards are going crazy with their prices.

From a power user perspective, not an industrial neither an actual professional who requires that to produce something, I'm perfectly fine with LM Studio and some of the (lots of) open-source models available for it.

They're not perfect (neither are the commercial models, even the most advanced - and pricy - ones) but as someone who bought a graphics card to play, with cost-per-frame in mind (I have a RX 6800, it was one of, if not the very best in that regard when I purchased it), I'm really happy with what it can achieve with those copyright-free and cost-free solutions.

 

[Evrsr]

Wierd... Cheapest I can find in Germany + NL is 500€ for 9060 XT 16GB and 600€ for 9070.

Almost half the difference from the article. Makes it even more skewed towards the 9060 being a terrible deal.

 

[Dr Roboto]

9070 series hands down IMHO --> Not a cheap as they used to be, but best value if you can make the higher price range. 9070 XT if you can push to the upper price. After decades of Nvidia only, I have switched to the 9070 XT and couldn't be happier. Holiday's are just around the corner and I hope to see AMD cards with good discounts.

 

[PierreJG]

South Africa should be added to the list of countries to see how bad Nvidia is in some countries. Our retailers know RTX + DLSS is a thing, so they overcharge us. This can be either our retailers or our government picking a fight with Trump. The 5090 in South Africa went up from 63k (just under 3.9k usd) to 88k (around 5.5k usd). The RX9070XT and the plain 5070 are 860usd and then the 5070TI range anything from 1.3k usd to 1.5k usd. Sorry, both AMD/Nvidia xx60 series are not worth it, as I'd rather save for a 5070 or 9070XT.

 

[ScottSoapbox]

So glad I bought my 5080 last summer...

... how do I buy the 6080 last summer too???

 

[BadThad]

Intel finally coming through a bit. Perhaps this will help them?

 

[YSignal]

Just bought a 9070 that came with Onimusha and a free water cooler that I probably wont use lol.

 

[NimbusTLD]

Wow this must have taken a lot of work to compile. Thank you so much for your efforts Tim!

 

[psycros]

Honestly, have Nvidia cards been a good deal at all since the 3070? I always got more bang for the buck from AMD, and better color reproduction.

 

[daffy duck]

Disappointed you don't a chart for Mauritius!

 

[Taroo]

Honestly, have Nvidia cards been a good deal at all since the 3070? I always got more bang for the buck from AMD, and better color reproduction.

This. IMO the 1xxx, or maybe 2xxx, were the last cards with a coherent pricing.

It's not bad hardware but since then they have offered so little value for your buck.
The cards still sold well thanks to the software/driver side features and their marketing/reputation.

 

[manowar51]

Give it a couple of weeks and those AMD cards will go up in price too. Its always the way. They probably just have more stock to work through.

As for Nvidia stopping offering value to gamers, that stopped decades ago. People dont buy Nvidia for value, they never have. They buy Nvidia for its superior performance/drivers/software support.

Also Techspot is quite obviously releasing this article specifically when the price difference between the parts is at its highest exposes their bias. The Radeon prices are already up, with the cheapest 9070 at $690 making all the charts and information in this review inaccurate. But are we surprised, Steve and Tim have made their beef with Nvidia very public over the years.

 

[redgarl]

Yeah, it is hard for you Tim to finally admit that Nvidia is not making any sense...

There is no way you can defend them now with these numbers... but breaking news for you, it has been the same since the launch of the 9070 XT. There is no justification to buy an Nvidia GPU especially with the price and the 12VHPWR connector fiasco.

 

[redgarl]

People dont buy Nvidia for value, they never have. They buy Nvidia for its superior performance/drivers/software support.

Oh please... have you been kidnapped and brainwashed by Jensen to say stupid things like that?

Talking like a true fanboy. It is a non-existing bias nowadays. In fact, AMD drivers have been better lately than the ones from nvidia. As for performances, cost per frame clearly is showing the contrary. I am not buying a 5070TI over a 9070XT for a 50% premium for the same performances...

 

[Squid Surprise]

Oh please... have you been kidnapped and brainwashed by Jensen to say stupid things like that?

Talking like a true fanboy. It is a non-existing bias nowadays. In fact, AMD drivers have been better lately than the ones from nvidia. As for performances, cost per frame clearly is showing the contrary. I am not buying a 5070TI over a 9070XT for a 50% premium for the same performances...

Your nonsense aside, the reason Nvidia can sell their cards for more than AMD is because they’re better… it’s that simple. Are they 50% (or more) better? No. Hence buying one now is foolish.

Even the reviews show that Nvidia is better - it’s just not a better VALUE.

 

[amstech]

Nvidia currently is nearly 75% of Steam GPUs.
For the past 10 years its flucuated between 75-85%.
Prices have been high for 4-5 years now, its nothing new.
Breaking down current market values won't change anything.
Your echo chambers of AMD bias and bang for the buck performance don't fool anybody.

Nvidia still has smoother drivers with less issues and better features and you get what you pay for, which is why 3/4 of gamers will pay for the quality of the better product.

 

[amstech]

Your nonsense aside, the reason Nvidia can sell their cards for more than AMD is because they’re better… it’s that simple. Are they 50% (or more) better? No. Hence buying one now is foolish.

Even the reviews show that Nvidia is better - it’s just not a better VALUE.

They wont accept that reality.

 

[Hecate91]

The Nvidia fanboys refuse to accept reality, the reality is Nvidia hasn't offered value since the Pascal series. Hiking prices up with the 20 series, again during the crypto scam with the 30 series, and again with the AI circular economy where gamers aren't even getting the scraps anymore. Gamers are getting the leftover crumbs with no new launches until 2028.
Fanboys seem to have forgotten about the vibe coded Blackwell drivers, AMD drivers have been more trouble free for a while now. Features are not worth a 50% price premium in the current market for a gaming card.

 

[Squid Surprise]

The Nvidia fanboys refuse to accept reality, the reality is Nvidia hasn't offered value since the Pascal series. Hiking prices up with the 20 series, again during the crypto scam with the 30 series, and again with the AI circular economy where gamers aren't even getting the scraps anymore. Gamers are getting the leftover crumbs with no new launches until 2028.
Fanboys seem to have forgotten about the vibe coded Blackwell drivers, AMD drivers have been more trouble free for a while now. Features are not worth a 50% price premium in the current market for a gaming card.

Tell me again what the market share of Nvidia GPUs vs AMD GPUs is?
90% to under 10%….
Welcome to reality…

 

[rmcrys]

Wierd... Cheapest I can find in Germany + NL is 500€ for 9060 XT 16GB and 600€ for 9070.

Almost half the difference from the article. Makes it even more skewed towards the 9060 being a terrible deal.

In Iberia I can't find the 9070XT cheaper (17/9/2026, 7.00) than 850€. But I wouldn't buy ANY peace of hardware now: a HDD, SSD, and RAM cost at least twice as much as before.

I bought some years ago, five 5 TB USB 2.5" HDDs for 99 - 119€ each (in offer). Last year I bought two 4 TB Samsung SSDs for ~220€ and now everything costs more than double.