2022 best graphics card: Best Graphics Cards 2022 — Top Gaming GPUs for the Money

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Review

(Image credit: Nvidia)

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti story should be familiar ground. Halfway through the regular product cycle, release a higher-spec, higher-performance variant of the existing x80-series part with a price that makes for a compelling upgrade. The GTX 1080 was a great card back in the day, and the GTX 1080 Ti upped the ante and basically redefined what we came to expect from a mid-cycle update. But anything even remotely competitive from our GPU benchmarks hierarchy, along with all the best graphics cards, are in a bad place right now with virtually no availability at retail and exorbitant prices on places like eBay. As a result, the RTX 3080 Ti ends up looking a lot more like the RTX 2080 Ti than the GTX 1080 Ti: Fast but expensive.

Fundamentally, nothing has changed with the Nvidia Ampere architecture. More games support ray tracing and DLSS, and driver improvements over the previous nine months have altered performance a bit since launch. Otherwise, the RTX 3080 Ti takes the same GA102 GPU found in the GeForce RTX 3090 and GeForce RTX 3080, disables two more SMs compared to the 3090, and slashes the VRAM capacity in half compared to the 3090. That’s not actually that big of a deal in most games, and performance should generally be quite similar between the two.

The real question will be retail pricing and availability, which will undoubtedly be awful. Officially, the RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition has a $1,199 price tag — $300 less than the 3090, but $500 more than the 3080. In practice, the RTX 3080 already sells for close to $2,000 on eBay, and even in the Newegg Shuffle, it routinely goes for over $1,200. Meanwhile, the RTX 3090 pushes closer to $3,000 on eBay and costs more than $2,000 in the Newegg Shuffles we’ve tracked — and your odds of getting picked in the Shuffle are extremely low, based on our experience.

Here’s a quick overview of the specifications for the RTX 3080 Ti, along with similar Nvidia GPUs:

Nvidia GPU Specifications
Graphics Card RTX 3090 RTX 3080 Ti RTX 3080 RTX 2080 Ti
Architecture GA102 GA102 GA102 TU102
Process Technology Samsung 8N Samsung 8N Samsung 8N TSMC 12FFN
Transistors (Billion) 28. 2) 628.4 628.4 628.4 754
SMs / CUs 82 80 68 68
GPU Cores 10496 10240 8704 4352
Tensor Cores 328 320 272 544
RT Cores 82 80 68 68
Base Clock (MHz) 1395 1370 1440 1515
Boost Clock (MHz) 1695 1665 1710 1545
VRAM Speed (Gbps) 19.5 19 19 14
VRAM (GB) 24 12 10 11
VRAM Bus Width 384 384 320 352
ROPs 112 112 96 88
TMUs 328 320 272 272
TFLOPS FP32 (Boost) 35.6 34.1 29.8 13.4
TFLOPS FP16 (Tensor) 142 (285) 136 (273) 119 (238) 108
RT TFLOPS 69 67 58 43
Bandwidth (GBps) 936 912 760 616
TDP (watts) 350 350 320 260
Launch Date Sep 2020 Jun 2021 Sep 2020 Sep 2018
Launch Price $1,499 $1,199 $699 $1,199

In terms of theoretical performance, the RTX 3080 Ti lands 3–4% behind the RTX 3090 and 14–20% ahead of the RTX 3080. Memory bandwidth shows the biggest gains, thanks to the addition of two memory channels, though clocks are slightly lower on the GPU side of things. Power consumption is rated at 350W, the same as the 3090 and 30W more than the 3080, which could be a problem given the 3080 Ti Founders Edition uses the same cooler design as the 3080 rather than the triple-slot monstrosity that is the 3090 Founders Edition.

Looking at generational improvements, the RTX 3080 Ti is potentially more than double the compute performance of the 2080 Ti, with nearly 50% more memory bandwidth. In practice, we expect performance will be about 40–50% faster than the 2080 Ti, but that will mostly be at 4K and 1440p. Buying a GPU like this for 1080p gaming (unless you’re playing games with lots of ray tracing effects) would be a waste of money.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

One final item of note before we continue is that the RTX 3080 Ti implements Nvidia’s Ethereum hashrate limiter. The limiter works as expected for the time being, and we saw average hash rates of 55–65 MHps at stock settings, depending on the software used. That’s basically half the performance we’d expect from the hardware and similar to what we saw with the launch of the GeForce RTX 3060. Hopefully, Nvidia doesn’t accidentally circumvent its own lock this time, though we expect pricing will remain higher than the official starting point, even with the limiter. 

Image 1 of 4

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

For better or worse, Nvidia hasn’t altered the card design relative to the RTX 3080 Founders Edition. The cooler mostly worked well before and ran reasonably quiet… except when the GDDR6X memory got hot and the fans had to kick up to full speed. We hoped Nvidia would use better thermal pads for the GDDR6X memory this round, especially with the addition of two more GDDR6X chips, but that doesn’t appear to have happened.

In testing, games generally didn’t have major problems, with memory temperatures peaking at anywhere from 94C–104C. The higher end of that range is a concern, however, as we’re dealing with a brand-new card. How will it perform after a year or two of use? We’ve been there, countless times, and the answer will inevitably be higher temperatures and fan speeds over time.

Testing mining algorithms was a different story, with multiple algorithms pushing the GDDR6X temps to 110C, max fan speeds, and throttling of GPU clocks to try to compensate. Some future game, or game that we haven’t tested, might behave in a similar fashion, but we haven’t encountered any specific games that match the intensity of mining. That’s the good news. The bad news is that a $10 thermal pad upgrade for the Founders Edition is still a good idea, but it would void your warranty. Nvidia should have done the ‘upgrade’ itself and used higher-quality pads.

One thing that has changed since the launch of the RTX 30-series last year is support for the RGB lighting on the cards. We’ve verified that multiple RGB utilities, including Corsair’s iCue, can now control the LEDs on the 3080 and 3090 Founders Edition cards, and that applies to the 3080 Ti Founders Edition as well. Do you want your Nvidia GPU to dress up in AMD red? Now it can! And there was much rejoicing.

We’ll be looking at some third party cards in the coming days as well, and hopefully those will pay more attention to memory cooling. This has been a sore spot on RTX 3080 and 3090 cards since launch, with only about 25% of the cards we’ve looked at using better GDDR6X cooling methods. Considering the extreme nature of these parts, we expect manufacturers to pay more attention to this important aspect of cooling going forward.

GeForce RTX 3080 Ti: Gaming Performance

TOM’S HARDWARE GPU TEST PC

Intel Core i9-9900K
MSI MEG Z390 Ace
Corsair 2x16GB DDR4-3200 CL16
XPG SX8200 Pro 2TB
Seasonic Focus 850 Platinum
Corsair Hydro h250i Pro RGB
OpenBenchTable
Phanteks Enthoo Pro M 

Our test setup remains unchanged from previous reviews, though we’ll be doing additional testing with ray tracing and DLSS — using the same tests as our AMD vs. Nvidia: Ray Tracing Showdown. We’re using the test equipment shown above, which consists of a Core i9-9900K, 32GB DDR4-3600 memory, 2TB M.2 SSD, and the various GPUs being tested — all of which are reference models here.

That gives us two sets of results. First is the traditional rendering performance, using thirteen games at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K with ultra/maximum quality settings. Then we have ten more games with RT (and sometimes DLSS, where applicable). We’ll start with 4K since this is a top-tier GPU more likely to be used at that resolution, plus it’s where the card does best relative to the other GPUs — CPU bottlenecks are almost completely eliminated at 4K but more prevalent at 1080p.

Image 1 of 28

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Overall, 4K ultra gaming puts the RTX 3080 Ti right behind the RTX 3090, just as expected. The difference between 24GB and 12GB VRAM generally doesn’t show up in our standard test suite in any meaningful way, with the largest gains topping out at around 5%. Basically, it comes down to clock speeds and core counts.

One clear impetus for the RTX 3080 Ti can be seen in the standings. Previously, the RTX 3090 claimed the top spot, but the RTX 3080 traded blows with the RX 6800 XT and often fell behind the RX 6900 XT. The RTX 3080 Ti ‘corrects’ things and puts Nvidia back in first and second place. AMD still has its strong points, like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Borderlands 3, and Forza Horizon 4, but at least the two most expensive (based on MSRP) GPUs take the top two spots at 4K ultra — and as we’ll see later, ray tracing definitely favors Nvidia by a larger margin.

Image 1 of 28

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Dropping down to 1440p, the gaps between the fastest cards narrow slightly, and AMD’s Infinity Cache starts to play a bigger role. Where the RTX 3080 Ti placed second overall at 4K, just behind the 3090, it now drops behind the RX 6900 XT and lands in third place, with the RX 6800 XT nipping at its heels.

Assuming any of these GPUs were even available at MSRP, AMD makes a very strong case for its RDNA2 cards. Considering the 3080 already costs more (on eBay) than the 6900 XT, the 3080 Ti will likely be even worse — though the limited Ethereum mining performance might affect eBay prices.

The individual games tell a similar story as above, but AMD has even more wins relative to Nvidia. Valhalla remains the major outlier, with its optimized-for-AMD performance, but Borderlands 3, Forza Horizon 4, and Horizon Zero Dawn all put the RX 6800 XT ahead of the 3080 Ti. Nvidia counters with significant wins in The Division 2, Final Fantasy XIV, Metro Exodus, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Strange Brigade — with the remaining games being basically tied.

Image 1 of 28

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Remember when we said that buying a card like this for 1080p gaming was overkill? This is what we were talking about. The top five cards are relatively tightly packed, partly due to CPU bottlenecks, with AMD’s RX 6900 XT now sitting in the pole position, followed by the RTX 3090, RX 6800 XT, and RTX 3080 Ti, and RTX 3080. If you’re after ultra-high framerates (e.g., on a 1080p 360Hz monitor), you’ll definitely want to get the fastest CPU for gaming possible — possibly the Core i9-11900K if you can handle the power and cooling, though the Ryzen 9 5900X is arguably the better pick overall.

The rather questionable results in certain AMD promoted games — particularly Assassin’s Creed Valhalla — become even more apparent. That game either really loves AMD’s Infinity Cache, or contains heavy AMD optimizations, or both, as its 45% lead for the 6900 XT over the 3080 Ti is an extreme outlier. The Infinity Cache definitely helps at 1080p more than higher resolutions, however, and AMD’s cards have a strong showing in general. Of course, everything from the RX 6800 and up averages more than 144 fps in our test suite at 1080p, which frankly should satisfy all but the most demanding esports competitors.

GeForce RTX 3080 Ti: Ray Tracing and DLSS Gaming Performance

So far, we’ve focused on gaming performance using traditional rasterization graphics. We’ve also excluded using Nvidia’s DLSS technology in order to provide an apples-to-apples comparison. Let’s change things up for a moment and look at ray tracing performance, with and without DLSS 2.0, where applicable. We’re only showing DLSS results on the 3080 Ti, and we used the Quality mode (2x upscaling) in the six games where it was supported. AMD’s FSR will provide an alternative to DLSS in the coming months, though we don’t yet have hands-on experience with it, so we can’t comment on the image quality. We’ll also confine testing to 1440p and 1080p here since native 4K with ray tracing tends to push even the fastest GPUs beyond their reasonable limits. This is the same testing we used in our recent AMD vs. Nvidia Ray Tracing Battle.

Image 1 of 11

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

While AMD was competitive in games that use traditional rendering techniques, ray tracing continues to strongly favor Nvidia. We even included two AMD games (Dirt 5 and Godfall) that don’t actually benefit all that much from ray tracing. Games that use more effects, like Bright Memory Infinite, Control, Cyberpunk 2077, Fortnite, and Minecraft really benefit from Nvidia’s second-generation RT cores, not to mention DLSS 2.0. (Note that we’re still using the original Metro Exodus and not the Enhanced version, which also adds more RT effects and DLSS 2.0.)

We’re not going to say ray tracing is required to enjoy most games, but it can make a difference. Given a few more years of work and hardware improvements, we’ll hopefully see games that push visuals to new levels of fidelity. We’re just not there yet.

Image 1 of 11

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Even 1080p can be taxing with all the ray tracing effects enabled. The RTX 3080 Ti continues to come in just behind the RTX 3090, beating the closest AMD card by more than 20%. Dirt 5 and Godfall are the outliers again, with RT only used for shadows — what we’d argue is generally the least impressive use of ray tracing.

While the various games are all promoted either by Nvidia or AMD, we’d say Fortnite is probably the best ‘neutral’ look at how the cards stack up with RT enabled — mostly because Epic has a vested interest in optimizing Unreal Engine to run as good as possible on all GPUs. If you agree with that way of looking at things, the RTX 3080 Ti beats the RX 6900 XT by over 30% in Fortnite, even at 1080p.

GeForce RTX 3080 Ti: Power, Clocks, Temperatures, and Fan Speeds

Okay, we said ‘power’ but we actually don’t have power results yet. Jarred recently moved halfway across the US, and in the process, his power testing equipment partially failed. The RTX 3080 Ti does appear to peak at around 350–360W, and we’ll update this page with proper power testing using our Powenetics equipment as soon as we’re able to replace the failed bricklet. In the meantime, here’s a look at clock speeds, temperatures, and fan speeds.

We use Metro Exodus running at 1440p ultra (without RT or DLSS) and FurMark running at 1600×900 in stress test mode. Each test runs for about 10 minutes and we log the result to generate the charts. For the bar charts, we only average data where the GPU load is above 90% (to avoid skewing things in Metro when the benchmark restarts).

Image 1 of 4

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

While the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti technically beat its rated boost clock of 1665MHz in Metro, averaging 1800MHz, it also delivered the lowest average GPU clocks out of any of the latest-gen GPUs. In FurMark, all of the GPUs clock much lower to avoid blowing past their TDP. Again, the RTX 3080 Ti exceeds the base clock of 1370MHz, but not by much.

AMD’s RDNA2 cards are tuned for much higher clocks, but we would have liked to see the 3080 Ti land a bit closer to the 3090 here. A large part of the deficit likely comes thanks to the unmodified RTX 3080 cooler, which certainly doesn’t appear to be coping all that well with the added power and heat, as we’ll see in a moment.

Image 1 of 4

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Interestingly, temperatures don’t look too bad in FurMark, but the 3080 Ti was one of the hottest running cards in our gaming workload. 73 degrees Celsius (C) on the GPU core isn’t particularly worrisome, though we did see GDDR6X temperatures well above 100C when gaming at 4K in multiple games. Again, we really wish Nvidia would have done a bit more to improve the RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition design — better GDDR6X thermal pads might have sufficed.

As we stated earlier, it’s not the GPU thermals alone that are important. We’ve seen numerous instances over the past nine months where cards with GDDR6X run hot on the memory. Fresh from the box hardware represents the best-case scenario for the hardware, outside of modding the card yourself. If the RTX 3080 Ti already hits peak temperatures of 104C on the memory in some games, we expect that to get worse over time.

We’ve seen this on lots of previous generation cards, like the RTX 2080 Ti, where one Founders Edition card we tested ended up having to spike fan speeds to 100% every 60 seconds or so while gaming just to keep thermals in check. If you have any RTX 30-series card with GDDR6X memory, we recommend keeping an eye on temperatures and keeping the heatsink and fans clear of dust with regular cleanings. Not that we don’t recommend that as a general rule regardless, but it will likely prove even more important on the current generation of cards with 300W and higher TDPs.

Image 1 of 4

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

The corollary to the relatively weak thermal performance of the RTX 3080 Ti is that it also had far and away the worst fan speeds. We’re used to seeing 2000+ RPM only when overclocking or using cards with lackluster coolers. Which we suppose applies to the 3080 Ti Founders Edition. The average fan speed during our Metro test was ‘only’ 1935 rpm, but each loop of the benchmark only lasts about two minutes. Running any taxing game for an hour or two will easily push the fan speed into the 2250 rpm range, unless you have a case that provides a lot of airflow (and probably even then).

GeForce RTX 3080 Ti: Skip the Founders Edition

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Nine months after Ampere first appeared in the form of the RTX 3080 and RTX 3090, Nvidia is back with a mid-cycle refresh it’s calling «the ultimate Ti.» Nvidia makes reference to the GTX 1080 Ti, which admittedly was a great card back in the day. It was priced $150 above the GTX 1080 at launch and actually inherited the GTX 1080 Founders Edition launch price, all while delivering about 30% better performance. Even today, gamers with GTX 1080 Ti cards can still run every game out there — just not at maxed-out settings. That’s a pretty high bar to clear, and frankly, the RTX 3080 Ti doesn’t come close.

The RTX 3080 Ti isn’t awful, but if you’re willing to plunk down $1,200 for a graphics card — in theory, because we all know these are going to end up selling for closer to $2,000 or more for the foreseeable future — spending $300 more to double your VRAM and get a better cooler with the RTX 3090 seems like a better plan. Instead of a marginally higher price than the RTX 3080, the MSRP is 70% higher and the RTX 3080 Ti is only about 10–12% faster on average. Plus, as we mentioned above, the Founders Edition cooler can’t keep up with the additional GPU cores and GDDR6X memory.

The RTX 3080 Ti is far more similar to the RTX 2080 Ti than the 1080 Ti — except it’s nine months late to the party, which is probably just as well since GPU shortages will likely continue throughout the rest of the year. By the time we’re able to stroll into a retail shop or check out of an online store without battling bots and shortages, we might be looking at the next generation Hopper and RDNA3 architectures.

There’s potential for far more promising third party cards, but then we still have the price conundrum. It’s been an incredibly bleak year for graphics cards so far. This card was probably originally slated to be a $999 competitor to the RX 6900 XT, but in the current market, Nvidia has bumped the price to reap some of the profits that the AIBs and suppliers have been enjoying. Since everything we’d like to recommend ends up costing twice as much as it «should,» and much of the price gouging doesn’t end up going to Nvidia (or AMD), this is what we get. If you thought the RTX 3090 was too expensive when it launched at $1,500, be prepared for slightly lower performance, half the VRAM, and higher street prices on the RTX 3080 Ti. Well, higher than the 3090 launch price, at least, since the RTX 3090 now basically sells at Titan RTX and Titan V levels these days.

Fundamentally, there’s nothing wrong with the RTX 3080 Ti on paper. Even the price might be tolerable for those with deeper pockets. But unless we see a dramatic increase in supply — or a massive decrease in demand (which might happen, as mining profitability has dropped quite a bit during the past month) — finding one in stock at a reasonable price will be an exercise in frustration. Anyone still hoping to pick up a 3080 Ti should also opt for a third party card with higher factory clocks and a beefier cooler. We’ll be looking at some of those cards in the coming days.

Jarred Walton is a senior editor at Tom’s Hardware focusing on everything GPU. He has been working as a tech journalist since 2004, writing for AnandTech, Maximum PC, and PC Gamer. From the first S3 Virge ‘3D decelerators’ to today’s GPUs, Jarred keeps up with all the latest graphics trends and is the one to ask about game performance.

Best Graphics Card for Star Citizen (2022)

Star Citizen is a very demanding game. It’s supposed to be visual masterpiece (a space opera if you will) and so far, it’s been living up to that at least in the graphics department. That is exactly what most of what signed up for when Chris promised us a high-fidelity PC space sim.

The challenge though is that it can take a monster PC to run it at optimal settings. Some improvements will come from the developers as they fine tune the netcode, asset streaming and other programming stuff. But it will still need all the horsepower you can throw at it.

STAR CITIZEN sign-up Bonus!


Get 5,000 UEC extra (in-game cash) using this sign-up link or code: STAR-BX2G-7NDL

Before you buy a new graphics card or CPU, know that Star Citizen’s full release is still some years away.  So whatever you buy today, will probably not hold up a few years from now. Whatever you are buying, is for the next 2-3 years only or maybe a bit more.

Personally, I am fine with that. I used to play a lot of Arena Commander way back in 2014 and I bought top of the line stuff for Star Citizen even back then. It’s not like you can’t use it for other games. And the PU looks pretty good even right now.

Based on my own experience with SC, RSI’s user telemetry data, hours on the forums/ reddit and my experience with other very demanding VR sims, here are my top GPU recommendations.

1. Best Premium GPU

Sale

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition Graphics Card

ASUS TUF Gaming NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 OC Edition Graphics Card- PCIe…

  • Memory Speed:24 Gbps.Digital Max Resolution:7680 x 4320
  • NVIDIA Ampere Streaming Multiprocessors: The building blocks for the world’s fastest, most…

When it comes to the best GPU, the Nvidia 3090 clearly dominates. Not only is it a beast on paper, but actual RSI data shows that it dominates over all others when it comes to actual in-game performance. The 3090 is a beast and performs well even without overlocking and has 24 GB of GDDR6X memory which means it should future proof you for several years (in fact, it is overkill). It also has Ray Tracing support which provides a but more future proofing. Normally, I am not a fan of the Founder’s Edition versions but with the 3000 series, Nvidia has done pretty well. Feel free to get whatever version is in stock. ASUS is also what I always tend to use personally and I have never had any issues with their quality control.

The 3080 is second best option. It performs slightly below the 3090 (less than 5% difference in SC) but the price difference is massive. Which is why I feel comfortable recommending it without hesitation to anyone who doesn’t have cash to burn. The main difference between these cards is the VRAM. The 3090 has 24 GB which no game even comes close to using and this GDDR6X RAM is expensive. The 3080 comes with just 10 GB which is totally fine for even 4K gaming and this is the main reason for the price difference. There are some other differences in compute cores and bandwidth as well but it is up to you to decide if the extra price is worth it. The problem is that it is even harder to find in stock.

2. Best Mid-Range

ASUS GeForce RTX 2070 Super Overclocked 8G EVO GDDR6 Dual-Fan Edition…

  • Powered by NVIDIA Turing with 1845 MHz Boost Clock (OC Mode), 2560 CUDA Cores and overclocked 8GB…
  • Supports up-to 4 Monitors with 3x DisplayPort 1. 4 and 1x HDMI 2. 0 port

The 2070 Super is the best mid-range option. There are actually a lot of good cards in this price range and the difference between them is not too great. But I think the 2070 Super hits the sweet spot for the mid-tier budget segment. Again, there are a lot of manufacturers that offer this card from ASUS to ZOTAC and EVGA and they are all good.  There is not much difference in cooling performance between them as they all have a dual fan design. So pick the one that is available or cheaper and a brand that you trust. I personally prefer Asus.

3. Best Budget/ Entry Level

Sale

XFX Radeon RX 580 GTS Black Edition 1425MHz OC+, 8GB GDDR5, VR Ready,. ..

  • Equipped with XFX double dissipation cooling
  • Microsoft Windows 10 support. Microsoft DirectX 12 support

The AMD Radeon RX 580 can hold its own in Star Citizen and it’s the lowest I recommend you go. It is actually a pretty decent card for most games. This card punched above its weight when it comes to price/ performance. In fact, it may actually be the price/ performance champion.

You might even consider a used option in case budget is tight. Just know that the card comes in both 8GB and 4GB variants and I recommend you go with the 8GB one. While 4GB also works ok with Star Citizen, the 8GB variant will give you a bit more future proofing.

4. Best second hand/ used GPU

Sale

EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti SC2 Gaming, 11GB GDDR5X, iCX Technology — 9…

  • Real Base Clock: 1556 MHz/Real Boost Clock: 1670 MHz; Memory Detail: 11264MB GDDR5X
  • EVGA iCX Technology — 9 additional temp sensors to monitor Memory and VRM

The 1080Ti is the best option in this category. It has the same performance as the 2070 but it does not have Ray Tracing and uses slightly older architecture. I would not recommend you to pay full price to buy a 5 year old card at this point, but we all know how the GPU market is these days so this is a decent second hand option. It will perform better than most of the newer budget/ entry level options out there and you can use use it till the market supply of graphics cards improves.

STAR CITIZEN sign-up Bonus!


Get 5,000 UEC extra (in-game cash) using this sign-up link or code: STAR-BX2G-7NDL

Related Articles

  • Star Citizen Review (Current State)
  • Star Citizen Beginner’s Guide
  • Star Citizen Frequently Asked Questions
  • Star Citizen Best Starter Ships & Packs
  • Star Citizen Referral Code
About the Author

Best Graphics Cards For Video Editing And Rendering [2022 List]

While today’s graphics cards are faster than ever, video editing and rendering can still be demanding tasks, even for a high-end PC. As hardware technology advances, so does software and the standards for renders or videos.

To do any rendering or editing, you will need the hardware to back that up. A faster GPU means you will waste less time processing/rendering/finalizing your project.

These days, you can either use the CPU or the GPU (or both). However, some programs, like Adobe Premiere, prefer the CPU for most of the work and use the GPU for specific tasks like color correction, stabilization, blur, etc.

Other programs, like Vegas or DaVinci Resolve, rely more on the GPU.

So, if you believe you will be doing most of your work on Vegas Pro, Blender, or DaVinci, here’s a list of some of the best graphics cards for rendering and video editing.

Let’s have a look!

Things To Consider When Choosing A GPU For Rendering Or Video Editing

Before we can start listing various GPUs, you will have to consider several factors that will affect your experience.

Price

First and foremost is the pricing. To optimize your time as best as possible, you will need a fast GPU. A high-end graphics card usually costs well over $700, so make sure you have your wallet ready.

When on a budget, you can get plenty of GPUs for under $200-300, but understand that the performance will not be the same.

VRAM

Even if you are working with a program that prioritizes the CPU, it is still essential to have a GPU with higher Video RAM Memory or VRAM. VRAM allows users to work with higher-quality images while maintaining low/fast loading times.

If you are on a GPU with 2GB VRAM or less, you will have difficulty rendering.

Interface/Display Ports

We know that there are a lot of people in the 3D modeling industry that can’t work without at least three monitors. So check if the GPU has enough HDMI or DP available for your setup.

Power Usage/TDP

Rendering software like Unity, Blender, Maya, or Cinema 4D can utilize 100% of the GPU. When the GPU is at its maximum, it can start drawing some serious power.

So, if you don’t want to end up with huge electricity bills, it may be a good idea to consider the power usage of a graphics card which is why we listed the TDP under the name of every GPU.

Performance

Last, but definitely not least, is the performance of the card. The best way to figure out the performance of one card compared to another is through benchmarks. You can’t exactly compare them with raw numbers/specifications.

With every GPU, we’ll share productivity-related benchmarks so your final decision-making can be a little bit easier.

For anyone on a budget, MSI’s GTX 1660 Super Gaming X should definitely be considered. It may have been released back in 2019 and isn’t part of the RTX lineup, but it’s still a competent card, especially if you consider its price.

The MSRP of the GTX 1660 Super was around $230, but over the years, its average price dropped to about $150.

Its price is not the only thing that makes this GPU a lucrative offer. The fact that it is a 125W TDP card with four display ports and 6GB of GDDR6 VRAM makes this card a solid option.

Additionally, the 1660 Super is capable of some gaming once you are done with working.

Productivity Performance

After benchmarking the GTX 1660 Super, Linus Tech Tips found that the card offers pretty good productivity performance.

It is slightly slower, which is quite a bit more expensive (now worth it), and on part with the GTX 1070, a card with 8GB of VRAM.

We see the same trend in V-Ray, except that it outperforms the 1660 Ti too.

The ASUS ROG Strix is the best RTX 3060 Ti variant out there. The RTX 3060 Ti is also the best value graphics card for rendering. It has an MSRP of $400, and you can find it roughly at the same price.

It has 8GB of VRAM and is exceptionally fast in rendering, video editing, and gaming. It has a higher power draw, at 200W, and it’s a bit bulkier in size because of the STRIX cooler. However, it also has 3 DisplayPort 1.4a and 2 HDMI 2.1.

Sadly, it doesn’t get the 12GB VRAM treatment like the RTX 3060, but it’s still an overall better GPU even with less VRAM.

Productivity Performance

Performance-wise, the RTX 3060 Ti is an absolute beast.

Within this Linus Tech Tips video, the benchmark shows the RTX 3060 Ti surpassing its predecessor’s flagship by a large margin.

This $400 GPU is close to the $500 RTX 3070 Ti and even the $700 RTX 3080.

This is the perfect GPU for video editing and rendering for people who don’t feel comfortable spending thousands of dollars on a GPU.

The RTX 3070 is undoubtedly one of the fastest consumer GPUs in the world. And, for that extra performance, the Gaming X Trio is the best aftermarket 3070.

MSRP of the RTX 3070 is $500, but because of the high demand, it has maintained its price.

It does not have more VRAM than the RTX 3060 Ti; it’s slightly larger and draws 240W of power. And while it could use a bit more VRAM for both rendering and gaming, it’s still a powerhouse.

Productivity Performance

We will try to stay consistent with Linus Tech Tips’ benchmarks in Blender or V-Ray for an accurate comparison.

In Blender, the RTX 3070 is consistently up there with the top 5 consumer GPUs. Even the RTX 3070 Ti, which is about $100 more expensive, ends up performing worse than the original 3070.

The only GPUs surpassing it are the RTX 3080/Ti and RTX 3090/Ti. Yes, the RX 6800 XT does provide a better score in this benchmark above, but AMD cards are often worse with rendering software, so it’s best to stick with NVIDIA.

The RTX 3080 is the threshold when things start to get expensive. The MSRP of this graphics card is $700, but this STRIX variant will most probably cost more than the retail price, considering it’s the best RTX 3080.

Because it is a STRIX, it gets 2 HDMI 2.1 and 3 DisplayPort 1.4a, just like the RTX 3060 Ti. Additionally, this 12GB version of the 3080 can give you a bit of an edge when rendering or video editing.

It also draws considerably more power (320W TDP) than the other GPUs above.

However, even though we’re getting into the expensive segment of graphics cards, the 3080 might well be worth it because of its performance.

Productivity Performance

Here’s the 3080 against the 3090 and 3080 Ti in Blender 2.92 (CUDA):

Compared to the chart with the RTX 3070, the 3080 comes out at least 30% faster. It’s also slightly slower than the 3080 Ti and the RTX 3090.

However, the 3090 has an MSRP of $1500 and usually sells well over that. The 3080 Ti also sells for more than $1200. So, in reality, You won’t get a lot of extra performance for that extra money.

The 3090 and 3080 Ti pull ahead in V-Ray, but the 3080 is still more than capable!

The RTX 3090 is NVIDIA’s most significant achievement in the gaming/consumer GPU sector. It was their fastest graphics card until the RTX 3090 Ti was released. Still, the Ti is based on the original 3090, so it’s the same card with higher clocks.

And again, benchmarks show that the Strix is the best version of the RTX 3090.

What makes this GPU so suitable for rendering or video editing is the fact that it has 24GB of GDDR6X memory. That is double that of the 3080. In other words, you will never have any VRAM-related issues with this GPU.

However, this does not come without any disadvantages. The card has a tremendous amount of memory, and it’s incredibly fast, but it also draws immense power from the socket. With 350W TDP, you will probably notice a spike in your electricity bill.

Either way, let’s look at some performance numbers.

Productivity Performance

The RTX 3090 runs almost twice as fast as its predecessor, the Titan RTX. But, compared to its little brother, the RTX 3080, it’s about 20% faster.

That isn’t negligible, but is $800+ worth it for 20% less time spent rendering? If your wallet can support this kind of purchase, absolutely! Instead of spending 10 hours waiting for a render with a 3080, you can spend just 8 hours waiting when using an RTX 3090. Time is money, right?

However, if you’re considering spending even more money to get your hands on the RTX 3090 Ti, forget about it.

The difference here in rendering performance is well under 5%, so there’s really no incentive to spend $500 more for a GPU. Instead, you could invest those $500 into a faster CPU, more RAM, better cooling, or a motherboard with more PCIe lanes.

Honorable Mentions

Above are four RTX 3000 (and one GTX) GPUs that either offer a solid price-per-performance or offer one of the best rendering speeds.

e avoided adding AMD GPUs to the list because most of the rendering software available is

However, there are also a ton of other older generation graphics cards or AMD that can fulfill your rendering needs.

We didn’t add any AMD GPUs to the list because most of the rendering software isn’t optimized for AMD. But, when they do work (like in OpenCL Blender), they can even outperform RTX cards.

Here are some of them:

  • RX 6900 XT/6950 XT – AMD’s two flagship GPUsthat can bring performance on par with an RTX 3090 while costing around $500 less.
  • RX 6800 XT – A GPU comparable to the RTX 3080 for around $650. It has 16GB of VRAM, just like the 6900 XT and 6950 XT.
  • RX 6800 – Slightly faster than the 3070, but a $580 MSRP. If you can find this one for less than $500, it’s a good deal. Also has 16GB of GDDR6 memory.
  • RTX 2080 – Performance comparable to the 3070, but it’s possible to get it for around $400 (second-hand). Unfortunately, it’s limited to only 8GB of VRAM.
  • RX 6700 XT – A $480 MSRP, but considerably slower than the RTX 3070. The only strong point is that you may find it for less than $450 and that it has 12GB GDDR6.

Final Words

Whichever GPU you pick from this list, you will get hardware capable of delivering fast video editing or rendering times. Of course, which one of these you get depends entirely on your budget.

We suggest going for the RTX 3060 Ti as it offers the best value for your money. If you have extra money left, invest it in other parts of your PC.

The RTX 3070 is also a good value product but will draw a little bit more power.

If you are cash-limited, it’s best to get the GTX 1660 Super as it provides “good enough” rendering performance.

Consider the RTX 3090 or 3080 if you have a larger budget ready.

If you’re interested in something even faster or more powerful, it might be a good idea to wait for the RTX 4000 and RDNA 3 GPUs.

Best Graphics Cards of 2022 — Top 10

In 2022, the two-year cryptocurrency mining frenzy has come to an end. During which video cards were sold out at 1.2 — 2 times the prices in warehouses, without reaching the store shelves. In the spring of 2022, the cost of cryptocurrencies began to fall, and with them the prices of video cards. Regular computer users were able to buy video cards at recommended prices to upgrade their desktop computer and build new systems. The top video cards worth paying attention to are:

Best graphics card for gaming — Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti

The best graphics card for home use with a focus on gaming, in 2022 has become the RTX 3060 Ti. It delivers the performance of the previous generation flagship RTX 2080 Super, only at a more affordable price. Most importantly, it supports ray tracing and DLSS. It’s worth noting that the RTX 3060 Ti graphics cards are quite «cold» under load, and don’t turn your computer’s insides into a red-hot stove that requires good airflow.

RTX 3060 Ti graphics cards allow you to play at 1080p resolution at maximum settings. Here in 4K resolution, you can make compromises by lowering the settings in games, in the first place to abandon ray tracing.

Best graphics card for 1080p gaming — Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060

The main contenders for the best 1080p graphics card of 2022 are the Radeon RX 6600 XT and the GeForce RTX 3060. If the former shows a bit more performance, the latter supports ray tracing and DLSS scaling. However, they are almost the same price. Therefore, due to the support of more advanced technologies, namely ray tracing and DLSS, it is worth stopping at the GeForce RTX 3060. Which shows performance in games at the level of the previous generation RTX 2070 graphics card. 12 gigabytes of video memory is guaranteed to be enough for several years ahead to play all the most technologically advanced games at maximum settings.

Best Budget Graphics Card — Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050

After a long hiatus when both major GPU manufacturers ignored the budget segment. Finally, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 graphics card has been released, which is really worth buying. It allows you to comfortably play all modern games at high settings in 1080p resolution. As a bonus, there is support for ray tracing and DLSS scaling. With both technologies enabled, the graphics card delivers game-friendly frame rates at 1080p.

The main disadvantages of the RTX 3050 are the high price for a budget graphics card and high power consumption.

The best budget video card under $200 — AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT

If the price is the main criterion for you when buying a new video card, then there is no alternative to buying AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT. The developer here cut everything they could to a minimum, limited themselves to a 64-bit memory bus and support for old codecs. To unleash the full potential of the Radeon RX 6500 XT, the computer must be assembled on a new platform that supports the PCI Express 4.0 bus. Otherwise, in some games, a strong FPS drawdown will await you. The only pluses of the RX 6500 XT are the low price and the fact that the video card will be really new in the factory packaging. If possible, it’s worth saving up for an RTX 3050.

Best choice for 4K gaming — Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080

Thanks to the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 graphics card, the cost of playing in 4K resolution, at high settings with high frame rates, has dropped by almost half compared to the RTX 2080 Ti. The GeForce RTX 3080, compared to the previous generation RTX 2080 video cards, shows a performance increase of 50-60%, and compared to the RTX 2080 Ti by 20-30%. Most importantly, the price of the video card remained at the level of the RTX 2080.

Best Performance Graphics Card for Gaming — Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti

If you’re looking for the ultimate gaming graphics card, the RTX 3080 Ti is the one to go for. It delivers gaming performance on par with the RTX 3090, only it costs less. The video card allows you to play with a stable 60 frames per second in 4K resolution with ray tracing enabled and other settings set to maximum.

Most powerful graphics card — Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090

None of the graphics cards available on the market can compete with the RTX 3090 in terms of performance. Huge 24 gigabytes of memory on board allow you to comfortably work with large graphic projects and run games at high frame rates. In a number of games, the RTX 3090 graphics card is capable of delivering 60 frames per second even at 8K resolution.

In fact, the RTX 3090 has become a replacement for Titan video cards of previous generations of chips. It should be taken only by creative people who work a lot in 3D modeling and multimedia, whose working time is worth its weight in gold. Accelerating the execution of projects even by a couple of percent pays for the purchase of a very expensive video card.

Best graphics cards 2020: all the best graphics cards for gaming

Upgrade your rig with one of the best graphics cards for gaming. Take a look at our catalog and we will help you choose the best graphics cards for you.

Having a powerful graphics card in your PC, which you usually need to spend a lot of money on, is vital when you want to play the best PC games or tackle the most complex graphics tasks such as video design and editing.

The best graphics card doesn’t just make your games good. More importantly, it will provide a much smoother and more immersive computing experience overall. With the battle between rivals AMD and Nvidia, and Intel joining the fray, we can choose between next-gen AMD Navi GPUs, Nvidia’s all-powerful RTX 2080 Ti and Super RTX cards, and Intel Xe. The race is really on, and it benefits us when the prices of components start to drop.

We’ll help you find the perfect GPU for you. Below are selected the best video cards and collected them in a list. Whether you’re a hardcore gamer, content creator, or designer, you’ll find something here for you.

Best graphics cards at a glance

  1. AMD Radeon RX 5700
  2. Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti
  3. AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT
  4. Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super
  5. Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Super
  6. AMD Radeon VII
  7. Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super
  8. Zotac GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Mini
  9. Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660OC 6G
  10. PNY GeForce GTX 1660 Ti XLR8 Gaming OC

AMD Radeon RX 5700 is the best graphics card for most people

Stream processors: 2,304 | Core Clock: 1465 MHz (gain 1725 MHz) | Memory: 6 GB GDDR6 | Memory Clock: 14Gbps | Power connectors: 1 x 8-pin and 1 x 6-pin | Outputs: 1 x DisplayPort 1. 4 with DSC, 1 x HDMI with 4K60 support

+ Superb performance

+ Affordable

— No ray tracing

This absolute graphics card giant is still totally relevant and already in first place in our list of the best graphics cards, except for the former reigning champion and its direct competitor, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060. This powerful mid-range card, priced at 349dollars brings players 1440p at Ultra or Max settings, making it accessible and accessible to everyone. At this price point, it doesn’t have to be perfect — those looking for ray tracing will have to wait. But for what it offers and how much it costs, it well deserves its title as the best graphics card of 2020 for most people.

0003

Stream Processors: 4,352 | Core Clock: 1350 MHz (1635 MHz) | Memory: 11 GB GDDR6 | Memory Clock: 14Gbps | Power connectors: 2 x 8-pin | Outputs: 3 x DisplayPort 1. 4, 1 x HDMI 2.0, 1 x USB-C

+ High FPS 4K games

+ Advanced ray tracing revolution

— Very expensive and you don’t want to compromise, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti might be the one for you. This is the most formidable graphics card you can buy without jumping over a professional graphics solution. But, get ready for an incredibly high price.

3. AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT — the best in performance of the video card

Stream processors: 3.584 | Main watch: 1,506 | Memory: 11GB GDDR5X | Memory clock: 10 Gb/s | Power connectors: 2 x 8-pin | Outputs: 1.4 with DSC DisplayPort, HDMI with 4K60 support

+ Gen 9 defining performance0003

+ Affordable

— No ray tracing

— 6GB VRAM only

If you’re looking for a 1080p gaming graphics card, you might want to take a look at what the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT has to offer. This AMD card outperforms the more affordable Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 by delivering high frame rates and plenty of software features while requiring less power. Sure, it doesn’t have ray tracing and deep learning (DLSS) supersampling, but for sheer performance and value, AMD’s rival comes out on top.

4. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super — Best qHD graphics card

Stream processors: 2.560 | Main watch: 1,605 | Memory: 8 GB GDDR6 | Memory Clock: 14Gbps | Power connectors: 6-pin + 8-pin | Outputs: 1 x DisplayPort, 1 x HDMI, 1 x DVI-DL

+ Founders edition cheaper than 2070 original

+ More CUDA cores

+ 1440p ray tracing games

— Still expensive

— Founders Edition — card heavy , offering exceptional 1440p games. What’s also striking is that the power on offer comes at a very reasonable price, making it an attractive purchase for most users, even those on a tight budget. Also, if you’re into ray tracing, this is the best overclocking card out there — you no longer need to spend big on an RTX 2080 or RTX 2080 Ti.

5. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Super — Best Full HD

9000 9000 Sfty processors: Processing processors: Processing processors: Processing processors: Processing processors: Processing processors: Processing processors: Core Clock: 1530 MHz (1785 MHz) | Memory: 6 GB GDDR6 | Memory Clock: 14Gbps | Power connectors: 1 x 8-pin | Outputs: 1 x DisplayPort, 1 x HDMI, 1 x DVI-DL

+ Affordable

+ Superb Performance

— No RT Cores

When Nvidia released the GTX 1660 and GTX 1660 Ti, they excelled at playing Full HD games at a moderate price. And now that the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Super is here, both of these cards are practically irrelevant. This new graphics card is faster than the GTX 1660 but only costs ten dollars or more. At the same time, it achieves the same level as the GTX 1660 Ti, and is significantly cheaper. If you’re looking for a graphics card for Full HD gameplay, you should really take a look at the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Super — it really is one of the best graphics cards out there.

6. AMD Radeon VII — The best video card for creatives

Stream processors: 3840 | Core Clock: 1400 MHz (1800 MHz boost) | Memory: 16 GB HBM2 | Memory hours: 2 Gb/s | Power connectors: 2 x 8-pin | Outputs: 3 x DisplayPort 1.4, 1 x HDMI 2.0

+ Lots of VRAM

+ Runs great

— Weak DirectX 12 performance

We’re looking forward to AMD’s new top-end graphics card, but the graphics market has seen major changes — especially Nvidia Turing. With the introduction of AMD’s Radeon VII from the Vega II lineup, Team Red attempted to reclaim a piece of the high-end graphics market, and it pretty much prevailed. The AMD Radeon VII has its advantages in 4K gaming, but it’s especially good at content creation. Equipped with 16GB of HBM2 memory, the AMD Radeon VII can keep up with much more expensive, creative-focused competitors, making it one of the best graphics cards of 2020.

7. Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super — Best VR

Stream Processors: 3.072 | Core Clock: 1650 MHz (boost 1815 MHz) | Memory: 8 GB GDDR6 | Memory Clock: 15.5Gbps | Power connectors: 1 x 8-pin, 1 x 6-pin | Outputs: 3 x DisplayPort, 1 x HDMI 2.0b, 1 x DVI-DL

+ Excellent 1440p and 4K gaming performance

+ Cheaper than original RTX 2080

+ FrameView is useful

— Still expensive

— Minimal performance boost over RTX 2080

If you’re looking for the best VR games, you’ll need the best graphics cards for the job . And today, that honor goes to the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super. Ready for VR and filled with the latest Turing architecture, you won’t have to worry about nauseating poor-quality displays. Apart from VR, it can also handle all your favorite 1440p and 4K PC games without issue. The best advantage is that it is much cheaper than the RTX 2080 and offers a much better value. Gbps | Power connectors: 2 x 8-pin | Outputs: 3 x DisplayPort 1.4, 1 x HDMI 2.0b, 1 x DL-DVI-D

+ World’s smallest 1080 Ti

+ SLI support

— Low performance

— Low performance

Want to build a microATX or mini-ITX gaming computer? You don’t have to settle for a weak GPU. Take a look at mini graphics cards like the Zotac GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Mini. It’s not the latest and greatest GPU, but the 1080 Ti still packs a punch and is one of the best graphics cards to power your microATX. And when you can get that kind of power in a card that’s only 211 x 125 x 41mm, the tiny loss in performance is absolutely worth the fine mini PC you get. Outputs: 3 x DisplayPort 1.4, 1 x HDMI 2.0

+ Very affordable

+ Excellent entry-level performance

— GDDR5 memory

budget graphics cards sometimes get under the radar. It’s unfortunate, especially since cards like the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 deserve special attention for its excellent 1080p performance at a very affordable price. With the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660 OC 6G, you’ll also get a healthy factory overclock and all the output you’ll ever need, so you can play all your favorite games with multiple monitors connected. We’d call it a bargain, maybe even the best we’ve ever had, and it certainly warrants a spot on our list of the best graphics cards.

 

 

 

10. PNY GeForce GTX 1660 Ti XLR 8 Gaming OC Best Esports Graphics Card

Stream Processors: 1,536 | Core clock: 1500 MHz | Memory: 6 GB GDDR6 | Memory speed: 12Gbps | Power connectors: 1 x 8-pin | Outputs: 1 x DisplayPort 1. 4, 1 x HDMI 2.0, 1 x DVI

+ Affordable

+ Excellent 1080p performance

— Limited memory bandwidth

, which would not cost an impressive amount of money. However, with the launch of the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti — especially the PNY XLR8 Gaming OC model — next-generation performance is within the reach of everyone. You won’t have access to 4K 60fps games with this card, but it’s one of the best graphics cards for those still using a 1080p display and it can handle most esports games at over 60fps.

So which is better to buy a video card in 2020?

Let’s sum up what is the best video card to buy this year in order to dispel doubts about the choice:

  1. The best video card in terms of price/performance ratio is AMD Radeon RX 5700;
  2. Gaming — Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti;
  3. The most powerful is the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT.

Once you’ve made your choice, don’t forget to share your opinion. Your feedback and comments can help others make the right choice. If you have not yet decided on a purchase, look at the reviews and carefully read the reviews of gaming video cards. The question of choosing video cards undoubtedly requires a detailed study!

Thanks to everyone who appreciated the work of the team Lucky Link

  • 3. Veineda GTX 1060 6G
  • 4. KEFU GeForce GTX 1070 8GB
  • 5. Soyo GTX 1650 Super 4G
  • 6. MSI GeForce Ventus XS 4G
  • 7. GIGABYTE RTX 20. GIGABYTE RTX iGAME GeForce 2070 8GB
  • 9. ZOTAC RTX 3060 Ti 8GD6
  • 10. GeForce SOYO RTX 3070 8G
  • AMD
  • 11. AMD Radeon RX 580 8G
  • 12. SAPPHIRE Radeon RX590 8G
  • 13. AMD Radeon RX 6800 16G
  • One of the essential elements of a gaming PC is a good gaming graphics card. But due to the use of graphics cards for mining, their prices have increased markedly, and many models have completely disappeared from sale. But there is a solution — the site super-blog.ru recommends buying a video card on the Chinese trading platform AliExpress, the advantages of which include a huge assortment and affordable prices.

    NVIDIA

    1. GeForce GTX 960 4G

    One of the versions of the famous video cards from the 900 series, produced since 2014 and still suitable for a gaming computer in terms of capabilities. Its parameters remain higher than the minimum requirements of any modern game at a resolution not lower than FullHD. And among the additional advantages — very quiet operation and the possibility of overclocking provided by the manufacturer.

    Video card memory capacity — 4 GB GDDR5, 3 types of connectors are provided for connecting external devices — DisplayPort, DVI and HDMI. The maximum image resolution is 4K, the bandwidth is 224 GB / s. The recommended power of the computer power supply is 400 watts.

    2. HUANANZHI GTX 1050TI 4G

    Another modern graphics card from the middle price category with parameters that are enough for modern games at high settings. This possibility is provided by a high throughput bus of 128 bits. Although the TDP is only 125 watts, it is not necessary to use a powerful power supply to use the video card — 450 watts is enough.

    High performance, almost on par with the GeForce GTX 1070 models, is ensured by the use of 4 GB of GDDR5 video memory. It is possible to support images up to 8K at 30 Hz, although the recommended picture is 4K at 60-120 Hz. The list of interfaces is standard — one DVI each. HDMI and Display Port.

    3. VEINEDA GTX 1060 6G

    One of the flagship graphics cards of 2016, designed for demanding gaming projects. It remains relevant to this day and is suitable for running games with FullHD resolution. In terms of performance, the 6 GB version is not inferior to the 900 series, heating up much less, which makes it even quieter and allows you to get by with a 400-watt power supply.

    Video card memory frequency — 8008 MHz, bandwidth — 192 GB / s, the maximum supported resolution is 8K (7680×4320) with a frequency of up to 60 Hz. Connection with external devices is carried out via HDMI, DVI and DisplayPort interfaces.

    4. KEFU GeForce GTX 1070 8GB

    One of the flagships of 2016, still relevant and suitable for any game with a resolution of at least FullHD or 2K. The maximum resolution supported by this 256-bit video card is 8K, the bandwidth is up to 256 GB / s. A 150W TDP requires a 500W PSU on your gaming PC.

    The 8GB GDDR5 graphics card features a futuristic design and low noise. It is possible to connect 4 monitors at once — using 2 DVI ports, one HDMI and one DisplayPort. The dimensions of the model are compact, suitable for any case, and the price remains quite competitive against the background of representatives of the more modern 20xx and 30xx series.

    5. SOYO GTX 1650 SUPER 4G

    The card has been released since the end of 2019 and although it does not support the new ray tracing technology, it still remains relevant and sow the day. With only 4 GB of RAM, this little girl at optimal settings shows pretty good results even in games such as Far Cry 6, Cyberpunk 2077, God of War III.

    As for other technical specifications, they are as follows: the GPU has a frequency of 1730-1725 MHz and has 1280 CUDA cores. For data exchange with 4 GB GDDR6 memory, a 128-bit bus is installed in the board. An air cooler with two fans is responsible for cooling, which do not create much noise. The card requires only 100W of power to power it, allowing you to use a 400W power supply.

    6. MSI GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER VENTUS XS 4G

    One of the most modern mid-range gaming graphics cards. It received 4 GB of GDDR6 memory and performance, which is enough to run any modern game at a high frequency and resolution of at least FullHD. A thermal package of only 100 W allows the model to work on gaming computers with a power supply up to 450-500 W.

    192-bit memory exchange bus, standard sizes, suitable for installation in any system unit. The maximum supported screen resolution is 4K at 120Hz and 8K at 30Hz. DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort ports are provided for connecting output devices.

    7. Gigabyte RTX 2060 D6 6G

    A representative of the 2019 generation of video cards that is not inferior in performance to the GeForce RTX 2070 at standard frequencies. The model received the original corporate design ICRAFT and 192-bit bus with a bandwidth of 448 GB / s. There’s room for overclocking, though the card’s specs will be enough for any 2K and 4K game, and even support for ray tracing.

    Video card coolers have good heat and noise characteristics, ensuring quiet operation under medium and even high loads. It is possible to connect up to 4 monitors using one HDMI and three DisplayPort. Although the buyer of the card should take into account that due to the relatively high TDP, a power supply unit of at least 600 W will be needed for its normal operation.

    8. iGAME GeForce 2070 8GB

    Impressive performance 8 GB model with iGAME signature design. The use of three coolers at once ensures almost silent operation of the graphics card. Moreover, its bandwidth of 448 GB / s is enough to run most modern games in 2K and 4K format and support ray tracing, and the maximum resolution is 8K.

    Among the features of the video card — support for simultaneous connection of up to 4 monitors. But there are also features that the buyer should definitely take into account — dimensions that make the model suitable only for a large system unit, and a thermal package that requires the use of a power supply unit with a capacity of at least 650 W.

    9. ZOTAC RTX 3060 Ti 8GD6

    On Aliexpress since 2021, you can buy one of the best GeForce RTX 3060 Ti graphics cards to date. With 8GB of GDDR6 memory on board, high resolution is supported in today’s games, providing a picture with a resolution of 8K. The graphics card has updated NVIDIA DLSS rendering technology, which allows you to set the ray tracing settings and resolution in games to the maximum. In addition, the graphics card received a new application for streaming NVIDIA Broadcast.

    Model bandwidth — 256 bits, average noise level does not exceed 39 dB. To connect, a 550 W power supply with a PCIe 8-pin or 12-pin connector is enough. It is possible to use the resources of the video card to speed up work in popular graphics applications and work with video.

    10. GeForce SOYO RTX 3070 8G

    The latest gaming video card from the Chinese vendor SOYO, which is better known in the Asian market as a manufacturer of high-quality motherboards, the company is also an official partner of NVIDIA. The RTX 3070 model received DirectX 12 features, PhysX technology, support for two-dimensional and three-dimensional graphics OpenGL 4.5 and an interface for virtual reality glasses VR Ready. The Ace Dragon cooling unit has an attractive design, with three fans installed and beautiful RBG lighting.

    The main features of the model: an eight-nanometer processor with a memory frequency of 19000 MHz, 8 gigabytes of new GDDR6 RAM, and a 256-bit bus that ensures fast data transfer. The RTX 3070 can display up to 7680×4320 pixels using the latest DisplayPort AV signal interface. Two 8Pin cables are required for power connection.

    AMD

    11. AMD Radeon RX 580 8G

    One of the most popular mid-range AMD video cards in 2017-2018. With 8 GB GDDR5, the card supports high resolution in modern games and provides a 4K picture. The only thing the RX 580 is inferior to the latest generations is the lack of support for ray tracing. But it takes up little space and supports connecting 4 monitors.

    The throughput of the model is up to 256 GB / s, the average noise level does not exceed 39 dB. A 500W power supply is sufficient for use. It is possible to use a video card for video capture — although this requires the software to support AMD VCE technology.

    12. SAPPHIRE Radeon RX590 8G

    A model that is not inferior in terms of parameters to modern video cards from the middle price category. Supports 4K resolution and is comparable to models such as the GeForce GTX 1060, and in some games — with the GTX 1070. Got 8 GB of GDDR5 memory and 256 GB / s bandwidth — enough to set FullHD or 2K resolution at medium and high settings in any modern game.