all major Nvidia and AMD GPUs tested • Eurogamer.net



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Replacing your graphics card is the number one upgrade that you can perform on your PC and the deepest in terms of improving game performance. So it makes sense to spend a little time searching for your options . We have simplified this process for you here, with strong graphics card recommendations for budget boxes up to high-end battles, including AMD's new Radeon 7 graphics processor and the latest GTX 1660 GPU. Ti from Nvidia.

One of the advantages of a gaming desktop versus a gaming console or laptop is that it can last a long time. If you've chosen a powerful motherboard and processor, you can keep them for five years or more. For example, Intel's classic Intel Core i5 2500K still occupies a central place in many systems and is largely capable of handling modern games. However, to run the latest games with features and performance superior to those of a console, a modern graphics processor is essential.

If you just want to receive our straightforward and straightforward GPU upgrade recommendations, that's not a problem. Currently, the Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti is our best choice for the best graphics card, with superior performance over the GTX 1080 Ti and support for exciting new technologies. If you're looking for the best price-performance ratio, the recent price cuts mean that the AMD RX 580 outperforms our old selection, the GTX 1060, to become the new graphics card at the best price-performance ratio. Regarding our lower level choices, we have targeted a higher longevity and throughput than the console for our best budget graphics card – in this case, the recently released 3GB GTX 1050.

Choosing the right graphics card is important because it is the component that does most of the heavy work that brings your games to life. Graphic hardware capable of easily executing triple-A titles starts at around $ 120/120, with Nvidia's GTX 1050 and AMD's RX 560 offering (at least on paper) significantly higher graphics processing power than that of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles. This means that each major multi-platform title should work at least with equivalent performance. From there, you just have to pay more and move up a gear: the RX 580 is our choice for the best 1080p graphics processor and the RTX 2080 Ti, one of the best among the best, and the most viable video card for the game 4K at 60 frames per second. second without sacrificing graphic fidelity.

Of course, it is also important to avoid creating a bottleneck system. So you must aim to couple your video card of choice with a processor, RAM and other sufficiently powerful components. We generally recommend that system builders have 8 GB of system RAM, a nice upgrade of 16 GB. If you are using an AMD Ryzen processor or a standard Intel processor, use two RAM modules in dual channel mode gives you better performance. Your choice of processor is also crucial for building a balanced system. The AMD Ryzen 5 and the AMD Core i5 are the price / performance champions of the 60fps game, but if you want to use the latest games with the highest possible frame rate, especially on a display at high refresh rate, we recommend Intel Core. 8700K or his successors.

Fortunately, we have reached the point where even the least expensive end of the discrete GPU market offers good results if you are ready to do anything to tweak your graphics in the game. Beyond that, there is apparently a graphics card for each type of use case – and that's where this guide comes in. Every interesting GPU to consider is included in this comprehensive guide, and if you're looking for measurements of more detailed performance, we can create a link. Check out the most detailed gaming benchmarks to find out exactly what kind of performance you should expect.

Best budget graphics card

Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 3GB: compact and capable of playing in 1080p.

GTX_1050_3GB
GPU cores: 768 | Boost Clock: 1518MHz | TFLOPS: 2.3 | Memory: 3 GB GDDR5 | Memory clock: 7 Gbps | Memory bandwidth: 84 GB / s

If you are looking for the best budget card, our choice is the Nvidia GTX 1050 3GB. It offers about 90% of the performance of our previous choice, the GTX 1050 Ti, at 80% of the price. Remember that the GTX 1050 3GB should cost about the same price as the 2GB card, but to date, only a few models (such as the Gigabyte Low Profile offer we've tested) are available at prices reasonable – about $ 120/120.

Compared to next-generation cards, the GTX 1050 3GB offers performance similar to that of the GTX 960. It also features additional VRAM, with a reading capacity of 3 GB, which should prevent it from launching heavily in titles with high intensity of VRAM, which could not avoid it. The 1050 3GB is also energy-efficient and available in compact versions, making it a smart option for multimedia PCs or prefabricated systems that can not accommodate larger, more powerful graphics cards.

In the game, you should expect about 30 frames per second in modern titles on ultra settings. If you are willing to compromise and adjust key settings such as shadow quality and anti-aliasing, then it is possible to reach 60 frames per second in 1080p. Of course, this can vary enormously depending on the game – esports such as Fortnite, CS: GO or DotA 2 will likely have higher frame rates.

It should be kept in mind that choosing a relatively low card means that your system will have to be upgraded as soon as possible. However, if you work on a tight budget or if you need a low-energy card, the 1050 3GB is still a good choice. Our recommendation would be to choose a model without PCI Express power input because it overclocked almost as well as more expensive versions and can be integrated into multiple systems.

Advantages:

  • Excellent performance for its price
  • Full HD resolution at 60 frames per second is at your fingertips
  • Consumes little energy, available in small formats and most models do not require PCI Express power

The inconvenients:

  • Do not reach 1080p and 60 frames per second with the highest settings
  • Low retail availability, with only a few models on sale at the recommended retail price

Best value graphics card for 1440p: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060

rtx_2060_press
GPU Hearts: 1920 | Boost Clock: 1680 MHz | RTX-OPS: 76T | Memory: 6 GB GDDR6 | Memory clock: 14 Gbps | Memory bandwidth: 336 GB / s

The RTX 2060 is an excellent value-for-money card with strong midrange performance, and the RTX and DLSS features that define Nvidia's Series 20 cards. It offers a noticeable increase in performance over the GTX 1070 and 1070 Ti at a substantially similar price. To give you an idea of ​​its prowess, the RTX 2060 surpasses the 2015 Titan X Maxwell, which was once the best of the best in terms of graphic material.

The performance level at the tap allows the 2060 to adopt higher resolutions (1440p versus 1080p) or higher refresh rates (like 144Hz). If you're ready to experiment with less detailed settings or if you play less demanding sports-oriented titles, such as CSGO or Rocket League, your PC could easily drive a popular 1440p / 144Hz monitor combo flat. With DLSS in play, you can shoot for even more demanding resolutions and refresh rates. However, remember that high refresh rates and low resolutions transfer more load to your processor, so make sure your processor is worthy of the name; we recommend a Core i7 8700K or higher for optimal performance.

Finally, contrary to expectations, the RTX 2060 can indeed generate video images with ray tracing in 1080p60 in games such as Battlefield 5, although graphic adjustments may be necessary. With the DLSS available in some games to offset additional power requirements, the RTX 2060 should only improve over time. If you're not convinced by these new features, the new GTX 1660 Ti may be worth testing. It is a bit slower than the RTX 2060 but much less expensive, due to the lack of new RT and Tensor kernels.

Advantages:

  • Excellent 1080p and 1440p performance
  • Can extend to 4K game, especially with a G-Sync monitor
  • Relatively cool and efficient
  • The inclusion of RTX and DLSS could be a big bonus later

The inconvenients:

  • Much more expensive than the latest generation of GTX 1060
  • Only 6 GB of VRAM against 8 GB on the GTX 1070
  • Can not deliver 4K at 60 frames per second
  • The RTX, DLSS and VRS features were little adopted early in 2019

Best AMD graphics card: AMD Radeon RX Vega 56

vega_56
GPU cores: 3584 | Recall Clock: 1471 MHz | TFLOPS: 10.5 | Memory: 8 GB HBM2 | Memory clock: 1.6 Gbps | Memory bandwidth: 410 GB / s

The Vega 56 is a slightly lightened version of AMD's latest-generation Vega 64 graphics processor, losing eight compute units and a certain memory bandwidth. The good news is that the memory of the HBM2 can be overclocked to match that of Vega 64, which helps reduce the performance gap, while the undervoltage can significantly cool the board and open up more overclocking margin on the kernel.

The Vega 56 is able to easily handle 1080p and 1440p resolutions (but be prepared to respect the CPU limits in full HD under DX11). It can even extend to the 4K game as long as you are realistic with the settings management. In this case, a FreeSync monitor does wonders in providing smoother performance without the significant overhead inherent in monitors using Nvidia's adaptive sync solution, G-Sync. After a pricing period closer to the more powerful GTX 1070 Ti, the Vega 56 has now returned to the GTX 1070, making the card an excellent choice for 1440p games.

Advantages:

  • Excellent 1080p and 1440p performance
  • Combined with a FreeSync screen, the 4K game is possible
  • Cooler and more energy efficient than the Vega 64
  • Offers good value in a relatively scalable package

The inconvenients:

  • Can not comfortably run 4K games without compromise
  • Power consumption remains a problem compared to Nvidia cards

Nvidia graphics card at the best value for money: GeForce GTX 1660 Ti

1660Ti
GPU cores: 1536 | Boost Clock: 1770MHz | TFLOPS: 5.5 | Memory: 6 GB GDDR6 | Clock Memory: 12 Gbps | Memory bandwidth: 288 GB / s

The new GTX 1660 Ti includes the performance benefits of Nvidia's next-generation Turing cards, without ray tracing or DLSS features that many users can do without – at least for now. This makes the 1660 Ti the most economical Nvidia video card on the market, capable of delivering excellent gaming performance at 1080p and acceptable results at 1440p as well. You can expect performance similar to the GTX 1070 in older games and even better results in the latest versions – provided your system includes a midrange or upscale processor, whether it's Intel or AMD.

The GTX 1660 Ti is also an efficient card that produces little heat, thanks to its modest power envelope of 120W. In comparison, the GTX 1070 and RX 590, with similar performance, have TDPs of 150W and 175W, respectively. This means that Nvidia's partners can easily produce compact designs with only one or two fans, well suited for narrow housings or Mini ITX systems.

Advantages:

  • Good performance for the price
  • Low temperatures and noise, even in compact models with a fan
  • Delivers more performance when paired with a low-end processor versus AMD alternatives

The inconvenients:

  • Can pretty much stretch to 1440p, but struggles to 4K
  • The absence of RTX and DLSS could limit the usefulness of this card in the future

AMD fastest graphics card: AMD Radeon 7

Radeon_7
GPU Hearts: 3840 | Boost Clock: 1800MHz | TFLOPS: 14.2 | Memory: 16 GB HBM2 | Clock Memory: 4 Gbps | Memory bandwidth: 1024 GB / s

The new Radeon 7 is the most powerful graphics card produced by Team Red, capable of being identical to the RTX 2080 in most games and benchmarks. It also has an outstanding amount of VRAM memory for a consumer card, with 16GB of HBM2 memory, making it a good choice for some productivity workloads such as 4K video editing.

You can expect good performance at 1440p and 4K of the Radeon 7, with the AMD card showing its best results with DX12 or Vulkan APIs. However, the Radeon 7 is still far from our best choice, the RTX 2080 Ti, in terms of overall gaming performance. The Radeon 7 also does not have ray tracing or DLSS features introduced in the latest Nvidia Turing series cards. Finally, the Radeon 7 can generate a lot of noise and consume more power than the RTX 2080 Ti.

Although Nvidia RTX cards seem to be becoming the most popular choice, there are still good reasons to choose the Radeon 7 – and if you build the latest AMD platform with a fast Ryzen or Threadripper processor, the Radeon 7 should take the place of honor in your PCI Express slot. If you buy now, you will only be able to create references, but custom Radeon 7 cards may appear later this year.

Advantages:

  • Strong game performance in 4K and 1440p, especially in DX12 and Vulkan titles
  • The fast and large memory configuration is useful for content creators.

The inconvenients:

  • The RTX 2080 is faster in most games and easier to find at a lower price
  • Performance in DX11 games, especially at 1080p and 1440p, leaves a lot to be desired

Best Value Graphics Card for 4K or High Refresh Rates: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070

RTX_2070
GPU Hearts: 2304 | Boost Clock: 1620 MHz | RTX-OPS: 42T | Memory: 8 GB GDDR6 | Memory clock: 14 Gbps | Memory bandwidth: 448 GB / s

Nvidia's new midrange card delivers outstanding 1440p performance, while incorporating the new features that define the Turing Generation: Real-Time Ray Scanning and Super Sampling Deep Learning (DLSS). The significant frame rate increases provided by the latter could turn this card from a competitor close to the GTX 1080 to an absolute beast that surpasses that of the GTX 1080 Ti, but we have not still seen DLSS apart from some technical demonstrations.

The RTX 2070 does not handle 4K resolutions at high settings almost as comfortably as the RTX 2080 or 2080 Ti, but you can get close to 60 fps with careful settings, without taking into account the DLSS. Similarly, the 2070 monitor provides control of the high-resolution combo and high refresh rate of 1440p / 144Hz monitors. Finally, the 2070 is also suitable for new monitors capable of handling 240 Hz, although you are not likely to see these images-rates apart from sports-oriented titles, even in 1080p. It is important to keep in mind that running many games at high refresh rates, but low resolutions are low, requires a powerful processor. Therefore, a seventh, eighth, or ninth generation Core i7 is as important to performance as choosing the video card.

Advantages:

  • Strong performance in 1080p and 1440p, especially in the latest games
  • DLSS and real-time raytracing could be decisive inclusions
  • The 4K game is viable on most titles, but careful metrics management is required.

The inconvenients:

  • Dear for a GeForce xx70 card; more expensive than the GTX 1080
  • The potential value of DLSS and ray tracing remains largely unknown

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