Graphics market on fire; AMD gains

The economy may be under water, but the graphics chip market is on fire.

The market for graphics processing units (GPUs) saw the biggest increase in third-quarter shipments in six years, according to Jon Peddie Research (JPR), as AMD gained in both the desktop and laptop segments.
Laptop graphics chip shipments soared by almost 40 percent quarter-to-quarter, as AMD gained

Laptop graphics chip shipments soared by almost 40 percent quarter-to-quarter, as AMD gained
(Credit: Jon Peddie Research)

In the third quarter of 2008, more than 111 million GPUs were shipped, the market researcher said. During the same quarter last year, 91 million GPUs shipped, and 94 million units shipped in the previous quarter. That's an annual increase of 22.5 percent and a quarter-to-quarter increase of almost 18 percent, according to JPR.

In the overall market, Intel jumped from 33.4 percent in the third quarter of 2007 to 49.4 percent in the third quarter of this year, according to JPR. AMD saw year-to-year growth of 22.8 percent, while Nvidia lost 6.4 percent year-to-year.

For desktop GPUs, Intel increased its first place position to a 43.9 percent share, while Nvidia's position slipped to 32.6 percent, and AMD climbed to 20.3 percent, JPR said. Desktop GPUs saw an increase of 4.7 percent this quarter to 61.9 million units.

On the laptop front, Intel GPU shipments dropped one point to 56.2 percent, while Nvidia GPU shipments declined to 21.8 percent, and AMD jumped to 20.9 percent. Laptop graphics chips soared almost by 40 percent quarter-to-quarter to 49.4 million units, to claim 44.4 percent of the market, JPR reported.

Though the third quarter is typically up as PC makers place orders for chips for the holiday season, "this quarter was up more than any other for some time, and in spite of suggestions of a recession that started last Q4," said Jon Peddie, president of the Tiburon, Calif.-based firm.

Peddie cautions, however, that the doom-and-gloom scenarios may be having their effect on business and consumer spending plans and the fourth quarter could be flat (compared with the third quarter) this year.

AMD bows new budget 3D card

Check up on the enthusiast Web sites and their review of AMD's new $130 512MB ATI Radeon HD 4830 graphics card and you'll find a common thread. Each laments the crowded $100 to $200 3D card segment, where rebates and minute performance wins make it very hard to determine a clear winner between AMD and Nvidia in this price range.

If you believe AMD, and want to compare the Radeon HD 4830 with Nvidia's GeForce 9800, it seems as if the Radeon card wins on performance, even on games such as Crysis and Call of Duty 4, where, as the folks at PC Perspective note, Nvidia traditionally has the upper hand. The complication here is that you can find the GeForce 9800 card for a few dollars less than the new AMD card.

Follow Nvidia's guidance, and compare the Radeon HD 4830 to the GeForce 9800 GTX+, the situation is reversed, Nvidia maintains a slight performance edge, but the AMD card is less expensive. Just keep in mind that the 9800 GTX+ is a double-wide card. The Radeon HD 4830 has a single slot design, meaning you can install it in a wider variety of desktops.

In one view, 3D card shoppers win. All of these cards deliver speedy 3D frame rates on current PC games for relatively affordable prices. But with so many options, this midrange thin-slicing, as always, is confusing and annoying. You can bet both AMD and Nvidia are aware of the game they're playing, a kind of one-upsmanship in minor increments.

Our suggestion? We like generally like AMD's cards more than Nvidia's lately. Among other things, they have better audio implementation over the HDMI port, you get more flexibility in multicard setups, and on level that's completely irrelevant to you, AMD doesn't send us overly aggressive weekly propaganda newsletters via e-mail. Ultimately, you're best off buying the fastest card you can afford. That strategy will typically give you the longest break between upgrades.
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Read reviews of the Radeon HD 4830 here: