It's not the greatest time to be a maker of discrete computer graphics cards.


  • Desktop computers are on the wane - supplanted by laptops, Chromebooks, tablets and smartphones
  • Desktops and all-in-ones have APUs or integrated graphics on board and you usually don't need a discrete card unless you are a gamer.
  • Graphics chip makers have limited R&D funds because of lower sales volumes.
  • The fab shops that make graphics chips haven't used their latest die shrink technology for graphics cards since they need the lower process number for tablet processors.


The result of the above is that the latest graphics technology only ends up in the highest end graphics cards, AMD and Nvidia have recycled the older technology a couple of times in the lower end market, They make some tweaks to the software and maybe the cache but there's not a big change, The graphics card maker might add more VRAM or a different cooler to overclock a bit.
Let's face it, unless you haven't upgraded in 4 years, you probably don't need a new graphics card at all. It's a far cry from the early 2000s when a new graphics card was needed every 18 months to keep up with the latest games.
On the bright side if you are a Linux user, the slower change in graphics card technology means that the Linux drivers work better than ever. They usually need trailing edge technology for best results.