Today we're in an odd situation...
Since the advent of Fermi (NVIDIA) and GCN (AMD)., all of the Graphics Card Functionality has been moved to the Graphics Processor., this was the advent of the System-on-Chip or General Purpose Graphics Processor Unit.
In essence what the Graphics Cards themselves provide is hook up the Socket to all of the general purpose elements... Memory, Display Adapter (and Connections) and Power Supply.
Beyond that, everything else is part of the GPU itself.
The AMD Media "Fusion" Processor Project, actually took advantage of this fact.
It's why unlike the Intel Integrated Graphics; which is still "Barebones"., with AMD APU you have the exact same Full GPU Features as you'd have on the Discreet GPU.
What makes them slower is essentially sharing the Memory Bandwidth with the CPU / Chipset and using System Memory, which is about quarter the performance of Graphics Memory (in a "Best Case")... Consoles using either Dedicated, SRAM and/or Graphics Memory; well it's why they have Discreet-like Performance rather than APU Performance.
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So, why go into this?
Well because what would be both Consumer and Profitability Friendly., would be a Graphics Board.
That is to say a Board that literally just has the Display Controller, Power Supply and Sockets for Memory and GPU.
I mean think of it like a Motherboard for Graphics.
Why would this be a better / friendlier solution? Simple... because AMD is no longer just a Supplier; they have complete control over pricing for a GPU, as opposed to being locked into Supply Contract Prices.
I mean that's how they work... let's say they are selling to ASUS., well they'll agree to say 5,000 Units of RDNA 23 at say $58 / Unit. Now if for example anything in their supply chain goes down, like say due to Covid; and all of a sudden they're not producing them for $45 / Unit but instead that sky rockets to like $55 / Unit... well it's a contract they STILL have to sell to ASUS at the agreed price., eating the difference in their profits - while ASUS can get away with raising their prices with Retailers due to lack of Supply.
Who is winning there?
It's not AMD... nor the Consumer.
And that's the other factor here., because it's an All-in-One Solution; again let's say Graphics Memory prices suddenly rise... well what happens is that is simply passed on to the Consumer., but AMD gets a bad reputation because now Cards with their GPUs are more expensive; even though AMD might not be seeing any more profit.
Not that I'm saying AMD actually cares right now., it's clear a good portion of their Stagnated Price-to-Performance since 2015 is their own greed.
Still in any case., we as Gamers are certainly paying over-the-odds MORE than we should; because well we're not buying Hardware Direct.
I mean it's like going Pre-Built Vs. Custom Built Rig... it's clear the Pre-Builds are adding a notable mark-up., and well the same is happening with AIO Graphics Cards.
If these were to become Custom Cards., where-in we could chose what GPU, what Memory and perhaps more importantly have an upgrade path.
Well this would shift things into a Price War.
I mean frankly I don't want to upgrade to an RX 6700 XT., because well I thought £380 for the RX 5700 XT was grossly over-priced given the previous x70 Class was £180.
Yes, yes... much more performance., but the price jump was ridiculous.
It's like I'm not paying £260 for an R5 5600., when my R5 1600 was £180... I'm sorry., AMD you're just being greedy and that's a joke of a price for the same CLASS of CPU.
You can tell me "Oh but it's much faster" all you want., as I expect that from something that's 3 Generations on... the point is we get MORE performance for the same price point., NOT more Performance for a comparatively increased price point.
There is NO value in it for the Consumer, at least no Consumer with any sense.
I tell you what though... if I could simply upgrade my GPU from RDNA1 to RDNA2., for say £150; yeah I'd likely drop that.
And that's KNOWING that those GPU are likely being sold to AIB for like £70/Unit., because well I don't need more than 8GB Memory; and my GDDR6 is more than enough; maybe faster memory might be better, but I could upgrade that later and when I can afford it.
And this could tie into the X-Series Motherboards; which could have such built-in... so Graphics Memory Slots and GPU Sockets.. maybe then their £150+ price tags MIGHT be worth it,. rather than dealing with all of those useless added things to provide perceived value; like built-in WiFi with Antenna and such nonsense.
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The thing is though., these are nice dream and ideas... but nothing will change.
We simply will NEVER see this; because Manufacturers and AIBs can hide so much behind doing AIO Solutions; and they can customise their GPU each Generation with a bespoke connection and sizes just to keep other industries going - rather than building new ecosystems that we should've had a decade ago.
