GPU Showdown

[_Nick]

Hi all,

I’ve read older threads suggesting Intel QuickSync (QS) is generally preferred over NVENC, but why exactly is that the case, excluding setup difficulty (e.g., GPU pass-through)? What's the basis for that recommendation, especially across different QS and NVENC generations?
Is it due to:

• AV1 support at lower cost e.g., Arc A310/A380 (Do any of you actually use AV1 regularly, or is it just future-proofing)?
  
• Better picture quality per bitrate? (If so, is the improvement significant or < 5%)?
  
• Lower power consumption? (My 3080 Ti transcodes under 30W when underclocked).
  
• All of the above, or something else entirely?
  

Also, how big is the actual gap between NVENC gen 8 (RTX 40 series) and QuickSync ver. 9 (Arc GPUs, Core Ultra 5 245K, etc.)?
Remember Intel dropped lower-end options this gen, so no i3-14100/13100 equivalents—just Core Ultra starting at 245K.
Maybe a fairer comparison is NVENC vs. QuickSync ver. 8, which was standard in all Intel 11th–14th gen desktop CPUs? (Note: QS ver. 8 has no AV1 encode).

Let's discuss.

Nick.