I believe that all people who need to sell computers have faced this problem, that is, what is the difference between A card and N card, and how should I choose. In fact, their design and function are different in many ways, so they are suitable for different application scenarios. In this article, we will deeply discuss the difference between A card and N card, so that everyone can better understand the characteristics of these two different graphics cards.
A card used to be ATI's graphics card brand, but after ATI was acquired by AMD, we also called it AMD graphics card. Therefore, on the latest graphics card hierarchy table, A card refers to AMD graphics card. N card refers to another graphics card manufacturer NVIDIA. Also known as Nvidia, Nvidia is best known for its line of GeForce graphics cards for gaming. So what is the difference between A card and N card? After we have tested and collected, we have made a detailed comparison in many aspects.
GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) is a central processing unit that handles graphics calculations and is also one of the most important components of graphics cards. The GPU stream processor is an important part of the graphics card, and it is also one of the important indicators of the performance of the graphics card. Different graphics card manufacturers are different in the design, design focus, architecture and image processing of GPU stream processors.
Each stream processor in the GPU of the N card has a complete ALU function, and each stream processor can fully work when issuing an operation instruction. In contrast, the five stream processing units of each stream processor in the GPU of the A card are fixed and cannot be disassembled and reassembled. Each stream processor can only provide one 4D instruction through processing. This difference in design leads to the extremely high execution efficiency and flexibility of the GPU stream processor of the N card, while the GPU stream processor of the A card has stronger theoretical computing capabilities, but the execution efficiency is not high.
In addition to the differences in design, N cards and A cards are also different in design focus and architecture. N card focuses on 3D performance and speed, while A card focuses on 2D plane quality. In terms of architecture, the control unit of the N-card accounts for a considerable proportion of transistor consumption. Therefore, with the same number of transistors, the N-card can do relatively few computing units. The A card uses a general-purpose 1D stream processor as the execution unit, but uses an instruction-level parallel architecture. Every 5 stream processors form a group, and each group can receive a maximum of one 5D instruction at a time. This difference in architecture leads to higher execution efficiency and flexibility of the N card, but it is difficult to control power consumption, while the advantage of the A card lies in the theoretical computing power, but the execution efficiency is not high.
In addition to the above factors, N cards and A cards are also different in image processing. The image effect of the N card is slightly soft and the color is slightly lighter, while the effect of the A card is slightly sharper and the color is slightly thicker. This difference is mainly due to the different design focus of the two.
Then when we choose a graphics card, we can comprehensively consider factors such as the design, design focus, architecture, and image processing of the GPU stream processor. Different graphics cards are suitable for different application scenarios, and we can choose the graphics card that suits us according to our needs and budget. For example, if we need to perform 3D games or graphics rendering, the performance and flexibility of the N-card graphics card may be more suitable; and if we need to perform large-scale data processing or artificial intelligence calculations, the theoretical computing power of the A-card graphics card may be more advantageous. In short, the GPU stream processor is one of the important indicators of graphics card performance. When choosing a graphics card, you need to consider various factors and choose the graphics card that suits you.