Yes, you can use pair any Nvidia graphics card with an AMD processor. As long as your motherboard comes with a PCIe X16 lane, you can install any type of graphics card regardless the type of CPU. For people who are new to custom building, questions related to compatibility of Nvidia products with AMD are quite common to pop in their mind.
Using Nvidia GPUs with AMD CPUs
AMD is best know for making GPU and CPU chips in the market whereas Nvidia is limited to making GPUs only. There’s a tough competition going on between the AMD and Nvidia to become the leader in the GPU market. Some people think that AMD might stop the support for Nvidia products in the near future, which is wrong.
Nvidia GPUs are readily compatible with any generation of AMD CPUs. However, you might see a little downfall in the performance when you are using CPU and GPU from a different manufacturer. AMD CPUs tend to show higher performance if paired with AMD GPUs.
Similarly, the Intel processors are highly compatible with Nvidia graphics cards in games.
What to Expect If You Have AMD CPU & GPU in Your Computer
Here are some of the benefits to expect:
3D Rendering
Audience can benefit from an AMD GPU if they want higher performance in gaming, especially when it comes to improve the frame rates, AMD graphics card are ideal to handle that situation.
But AMD GPUs are weaker in the holding ray-tracing capabilities, and this is where Nvidia shines out. Even the entry-level GPUs in the RTX Series perform great when it comes to 3D rendering.
Also, AMD cards are not supported by famous rendering engines like the Red Shift and Octane. In the future, we might see more engines to support AMD GPUs. However at the moment, it is Nvidia that holds the fame for it.
Moreover, the AMD graphics cards do not perform as good in content creation as the Nvidia cards do. Here’s a the research carried out by Pugetsystems that shows the flagship GPU from AMD the RX 6900 XT losing the battle from Nvidia’s RTX 3060 Ti in Adobe Premiere Pro.
SAM (Smart Access Memory)
This is a premium feature that works only between RDNA2 GPUs and Zen Architecture CPUs from AMD. With the help of Smart Access Memory, a CPU can access a large set of assets from the memory of the GPU. This can result in improved gaming performance if you are playing demanding titles on your PC.
Open Source Drivers
Well, for Linux users who need API for graphics rendering, then pairing an AMD CPU with AMD GPU could be a lethal combo.
AMD GPUs Consumer Less Power
If you need an energy efficient computer, then it’s better to go for an AMD graphics card. The AMD’s flagship GPUs in the RX 6000 series are more energy-efficient as compared to Nvidia’s RTX 3000 series GPUs.
Cost
Due to on-going fluctuation in the prices of GPUs all over the world, it’s hard to decide which company is offering the most cost-effective chips. But once the prices fall to their MSRP level, you will find AMD GPUs to be wallet-friendly as compared to Nvidia.
Can You Expect a Boost in Performace If You Pair Nvidia GPU with an Intel CPU?
Although, the Nvidia GPUs are highly compatible with Intel CPUs, it doesn’t means that they will perform more than their expected power. The only edge that you can get is a minor boost in the average frame rates, other than this, the Nvidia GPU will perform with an Intel CPU like it does with an AMD CPU.
Conclusion
Finallhy, whenever you are building a custom PC, it doesn’t matter if you go for an intel or AMD CPU unless you have a specific goal in mind. For example, if you are building a PC for 3D rendering, Nvidia GPUs can give you more edge as compared to AMD GPUs. However, when it comes to gaming performance, AMD GPUs outperform Nvidia in most demanding PC titles.
