Can You Use Nvidia GPUs with an AMD CPU? - CGDirector

Can you use an AMD GPU with an Intel CPU? Yes, AMD GPUs are fully compatible and will run fine with any Intel Processor. Can you use Geforce Experience with AMD ... »RyzenMemoryGuide »5900Xreview »Z590Motherboards »X570Motherboards »CinebenchR23Scores TABLEOFCONTENTS AreNvidiaGPUsCompatibleWithAMDCPUs?AreThereAnyBenefitsofUsingAMDGPUswithAMDCPUs?AMDfor3DRenderingandWorkstationsSmartAccessMemoryOpenSourceDriversEnergyEfficiencyPriceValueAreThereAnyBenefitstoRunningNvidiaGPUsonIntelCPUs?ConclusionAnswerstofrequentlyaskedquestions(FAQ)CanyouuseanAMDGPUwithanIntelCPU?CanyouuseGeforceExperiencewithAMD?DoesCUDAworkwithAMD?OvertoyouComments/HelpSectionAMDistheonlyPCcomponentmanufacturerthatbuildsbothCPUsanddedicatedgraphicscardsforthemainstreamPCmarket.Still,whenitcomestoGPUs,manydopreferNvidia.EvenwithAMD’smostrecentreleaseoftheirRDNA2RadeonRX6000seriesofgraphicscards,NvidiaisstillregardedbymanytobethesuperiorGraphicsCardvendor.ButwhenitcomestoCPUs,AMD’sZen3RyzenprocessorsarecurrentlymorepopularthanIntel’sCPUsandaregainingmarketsharebytheday.Therefore,consideringthepairingofanAMDCPUwithanNvidiaGPUwillonlycomenaturallyformanyPCbuilders.Ifyouagreewiththisdesigndecision,thisarticlewillgiveyouarundownofthebenefitsanddrawbacksthataccompanythecombinationofanAMDCPUwithanNvidiaGraphicsCard.AreNvidiaGPUsCompatibleWithAMDCPUs?Inshort,theanswertothisquestionisaresounding:yes.AMDCPUsarecompatiblewithdedicatedgraphicscardsfrombothAMDandNvidiaandcansynergizejustaswellwithbothoptions.Inotherwords,noperformanceissuewillbeexperiencedwiththistypeofsetup.Thatbeingsaid,therearesomeinherentadvantagesthatareinnatetothesynergyfoundbetweencentralandgraphicalprocessorsmadebythesamemanufacturer.WhetherthesebenefitsoutweightheutilityofNvidia’sownproprietarytechnologywilldependentirelyonyourpreferencesandthepurposeofyourbuild.AreThereAnyBenefitsofUsingAMDGPUswithAMDCPUs?TohelpyououtweightheupsidesanddownsidesbetweenchoosinganAMDorNvidiaGPU–toaccompanyyourAMDCPU–let’sgothroughtheexclusivefeatureseachoptionholds.AMDfor3DRenderingandWorkstationsButbeforegoingintoanyspecifics,itmustbementionedthatAMD’sGPUsarefarmorecateredtoagamingaudience.Thisiswhytheirfeaturesaimmoresoatenhancingthenumberofframespersecond(FPS)theGPUcanrender.Theirray-tracingcapabilitiesarebelowpar,incontrasttothe2ndgenerationRTcoresofNvidia,sotheyarenotidealoptionsformostprofessional3Drenderingworkloads.Additionally,theirlackofCUDAcorestranslatestomany3DRenderEngines,likeOctaneandRedshiftbeinginoperablefortheseGPUs.(–attimeofwritingthisarticle.BothOctaneandRedshiftareworkingonAMDGPUsupport.)Also,whenitcomestocontentcreationandprofessionaleditingworkloads,theperformanceofAMDGPUsareseverelylackingwhencomparedtotheirNvidiacounterparts.BenchmarksbyPugetSystemsshowtheflagship$999RadeonRX6900XTtrailingthe$399GeForceRTX3060TiwhenitcomestoGPUeffectsforDaVinciResolve.ItalsofallsbehindthepreviousgenerationGeForceRTX2080TiforUnreal4.26raytracingperformance.SmartAccessMemoryTheexclusivefeaturewhichrequiresbothanAMDCPU&GPUisAMD’sSmartAccessMemory(SAM);whichworkssolelybetweenRDNA2GPUsandZen2orZen3CPUs.SAMcreatesanexpandeddatachannelthattakesadvantageoftheCPUPCIExpresslanesthattheGPUalreadyneedsinordertooperate.WiththeincreasedbandwidthprovidedbythePCIebus,theCPUcanaccessfarlargertemporaryassetsfromtheGPU’sVRAM.Thispracticallyresultsinanincreaseingamingperformance;though,dependingonthetitle,theremaybeadecreaseinperformanceaswell.Aftertesting22differentgames, TechPowerUpfounda2%overallincreaseinrelativeperformancefortheRadeonRX6800XTacrossallresolutions.Nvidia’sAnswertoSmartAccessMemoryTheseconcurrent,orfull-scale,transfersfromtheGPU’sVRAMtotheCPU–viatheuseofthebandwidthofPCIExpresslanes–arealsoknownasrBAR(ResizableBAR).Nvidia’sResizableBarfeatureworksforbothAMDandIntel(10thand11thgeneration)CPUs,andevenallowssupportforAMD400serieschipsets,whichSAMdoesnot.However,rBARonlyworksforRyzen5000seriesCPUsandisthereforeincompatiblewithZen2processors.Anotherdownsideisthatitcurrentlyonlysupports17differentgamingtitles.OpenSourceDriversIfyouareaLinuxuserthatrequiresgraphics-renderingApplicationProgrammingInterface(API)support,thenyouwillfindAMD’sGPUstobefarmorefavorablethanNvidia.Nvidia’sonlyopen-sourcedriver(named“nv”)wasdeprecatedbyNvidiain2010.Ontheotherhand,AMD’sCatalystisup-to-dateandreadilyavailableforboth Windowsand Linuxsystems.EnergyEfficiencyIfperformanceperWattisimportantforoptimizingyoursetup’sproductivity,thencertainAMDGPUsmayworkbetterforyourbuild.AccordingtobenchmarkscarriedoutbyTom’sHardware,theRDNA2RadeonRX6000seriesGPUsweremoreenergy-efficientthanequivalentlypricedNvidiaGPUs.Infact,inthesetests,theRadeonRX6800wasfoundtobethemostpower-efficientGPU–basedonperformance.PriceValueOnefinalfactortotakeintoconsiderationisthepriceofAMD’sGPUsversustheirNvidiacompetition.Dependingonthemodelandtask,AMDgraphicscardscanbefoundtobemorecost-efficientinmanycases.Forexample,whenitcomestogamingperformance,theRadeonRX6800XToutperformstheGeForceRTX3080incostperframeforeveryresolutiontested.AreThereAnyBenefitstoRunningNvidiaGPUsonIntelCPUs?Ingeneral,theanswertothisquestionis:no.WhetherpairedwithanAMDorIntelCPU,theperformanceoftheGPUitselfwillnotdiffer.Nonetheless,thereisanargumenttobemadeinregardstowhichCPUandGPUcombinationisbesttooptfor;especiallywhenitcomestoArtificialIntelligenceperformanceoptimization.Nvidia’sTensorCores,togetherwithIntel’sDLBoost,doprovideimpressivebenchmarksforAI&machinelearningapplications.ConclusionUltimately,whenitcomesto choosingaGPUforyourbuild,ithardlymatterswhetheryouhaveanAMDorIntelCPU.Thatbeingsaid,ifyouwanttomaximizeyourPC’spotentialperformanceforaspecifictask,evensmalladvantagescangoalongway.BothAMDandNvidiaprovidegreatoptionsforgraphicalprocessors.Whenitcomesto3Drenderingandworkstationbuilds,Nvidiadoesholdasignificantadvantage.However,fordedicatedgamingPCs,AMDsuppliespeak1080pand1440pperformance–especiallywiththeirRadeonRX6900XT–andfarbettercost-per-frameperformancefor4Kgaming(TechSpot).Answerstofrequentlyaskedquestions(FAQ)CanyouuseanAMDGPUwithanIntelCPU?Yes,AMDGPUsarefullycompatibleandwillrunfinewithanyIntelProcessor.CanyouuseGeforceExperiencewithAMD?Yes,youcanuseGeforceExperienceevenonanAMDGPUifit’snewenoughandfulfillstherequirements.DoesCUDAworkwithAMD?No,itdoesnot.CUDAisaproprietarytechnologymadetorunonNvidiaGPUsonly.OvertoyouAreyouplanningonusinganAMDCPUwithanNvidiaGPU?DoyouneedanyadviceforplanningyournextPCbuild’scomponents?Feelfreetoaskusinthecommentsbelow,orjoinourexpertforumwhereyouwillfindafriendlycommunitywithaplethoraofusers!Sharethisarticle: CGDirectorisReader-supported.Whenyoubuythroughourlinks,wemayearnanaffiliatecommission.ThenextpostyoushouldreadPC-Builder:FindTheBestPartsForYourPC&WorkstationUPDATEDMay11,2022PartsNeededtoBuildaPC(ComputerPartsList&Explanation)UPDATEDMay9,2022BestHardwareforGPURenderinginOctane–Redshift–Vray(Updated)UPDATEDMay9,2022BestGraphicsCardBrands&Manufacturers[AMD&NVIDIA]UPDATEDMarch1,2022 BestWorkstationComputerfor3DModelingandRendering1453 PC-Builder:FindTheBestPartsForYourPC&Workstation1254 BestLaptopforAnimation[2022Guide]637 BestComputerforVideoEditing[2022Guide]534 Needhelp?AskusAnything!:)hey!CustomPC-BuilderPartRecommendationsforyourbuild! YourBudget ~$ BuildmyPC!LeaveaReplyCancelreply Milija28April,2022Hiall,firstofall,greatguidance! However,Istillhavedoubts. IhaveTUFB450M-PLUSGAMINGforthemotherboard,Ryzen53600fortheprocessorandIwouldliketoswitchtheexistingGPU,whichisRadeonRXVega,withe.g.GIGABYTEGeForceGTX1660SUPEROC6GBGDDR6192bit. Howdoesitsoundtoyou? Thanksinadvance. Reply AlexGlawion6May,2022Thissoundsgreat!Noissueswhatsoever.It’llworknicelyandeverythingiscompatible.Cheers, Alex Reply HaydarGhazi26April,2022Hi,whatsetupdoyousuggestforapcorlaptopthat’susedtoruna3Dscanner(intraoral3Dscanner) Reply AlexGlawion6May,2022This’lldependonthespecifichardwareandsoftwareyou’reusing,buttobeonthesafeside,anNvidiaGPUwithanykindofAMDorIntelCPUshouldbesafe.Nvidiabecausetheyusuallyhavewidersupportandstablerdrivers,sochancesarehigheryourworkloads’llrunnicelyonthem.Cheers, Alex Reply Santiago18November,2021Hi!Myquestionis: DoNVIDIATeslaK80GPUworkwellwithanAMDRyzen9CPU,forAIandMLpurposes? WillAMDRyzengetalongwithNvidiaCUDAdrivers? Reply AlexGlawion19November,2021HeySantiago, Yes,theTeslaK80willhavenoissuesrunningwithanAMDRyzen9CPU.TheCUDADriversareavailableforWindowsandLinux,andaslongastheOSsupportsallyoursoftwareandhardware,they’llgetalong.Cheers, Alex Reply