Why are there many gpu manufacturers (zotac, Asus, msi…) but onlz 2 pc CPU manufacturers?
In: Technology
Many companies make graphics cards, but only two companies, Nvidia and AMD, make GPU chips. The brand-name third-party companies like Asus and EVGA buy key components from the chipmaker and manufacture them into graphics cards.
Nvidia and AMD engineers don’t just make new chips. They also make a reference design, which is a schematic and circuit board that implements their new GPU chip into a graphics card. When manufacturers like Asus commit to buying Nvidia’s chips, Nvidia licenses the reference design to them, so they can base their GPU on it.
So, when Nvidia launches a new chip, like the GTX 1080 TI, they’re the first ones to bring it to market. You can buy their in-house basic “vanilla” version of a GTX 1080 TI graphics card.
The first batch of third-party cards are almost straight implementations of the reference design. Asus literally takes the schematic from Nvidia and makes minor tweaks so they can use their favorite manufacturing plants and parts suppliers. This first round of graphics cards are nearly identical – Asus, EVGA, Zotac, MSI, etc are all using the same schematic!
As time goes on, third parties improve the reference design to set themselves apart. For instance, Asus replaces the power-management circuit with a stronger version so you can overclock the card easier. Zotac replaces the fan and heatsink with a flashier custom version. EVGA replaces a DisplayPort output with an HDMI. MSI writes improved firmware that gives users better control over the card.
As time goes on, companies improve their proprietary designs and GPU’s start getting really exotic. For instance, EVGA develops a GTX 1030 that doesn’t need a cooling fan and fits in a tiny micro-ATX case.
Processors are a little different – instead of buying a “processor card” with a CPU soldered onto it, you buy the processor and the carrier board – the motherboard – separately. Even though only one company manufactures the Intel i7700, dozens of companies implement its Z370 chipset into compatible motherboards.
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