Why international graphics card and other hardware reviews don’t apply to South Africa

Despite an abundance of choice, it’s actually an incredibly difficult time to be in the market for a graphics card.

Besides stock issues and high prices, the South African hardware market is a very different beast from the international one.

For example, it is relatively easy to say that the GeForce GTX 1080 is currently the best commercially available card in the country (despite a monstrous R13,000+ price point).

However, the debate international reviewers have had over the GeForce GTX 1060 vs Radeon RX 480 is a completely different conversation in South Africa.

This is primarily because South Africa is one of the few countries internationally where the GTX 1060 is actually cheaper than the RX 480.

As a result, one of the biggest issues international reviewers had recommending the GTX 1060 over the RX 480 (price disparity) no longer applies to South African buyers, at least for the moment.

Likewise, Nvidia has traditionally had a much better technical support network in South Africa than AMD (although this has begun changing recently), making post-sales support an important consideration for South Africans buyers to be aware of.

Graphics card benchmarks are applicable internationally and while we are not necessarily recommending one specific card over another, it is always important to take note of South Africa’s specific hardware market before buying what those in the US and UK are calling the latest and greatest.