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AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT review

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The RX 6800 XT is a fantastic 4K graphics card—no ifs, ands, or buts.

(Image: © AMD)

Our Verdict

With the launch of the Radeon RX 6800 XT, AMD can claim 4K-capable performance in earnest. It marks a huge step in the right direction for team red, and delivers genuine competition to Nvidia’s high-end.

For
  • 4K performance
  • Cheaper than an RTX 3080
  • Cooler performance
  • Large GDDR6 capacity
Against
  • Moderate ray tracing performance
  • Slower than an RTX 3080 at 4K
  • No DLSS alternative at launch

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is the best representation of the RDNA 2 inflection point that has accompanied the red team’s latest gaming architecture. It’s a high-end graphics card unlike really any we’ve seen from AMD in recent years, the RX 6800 XT is right on time, competitive, and without caveat when it comes to gaming performance in a wide range of modern games. 

That’s not to say AMD hasn’t had some superb graphics cards in the past—the RX 480 stands out for its tremendous value proposition over the duration of its lengthy time with us. No, what I mean is that the RX 6800 XT is competitive at a level which AMD hasn’t been able to reach for some time, and it does not require a generous helping of in-game optimisations from hard-pressed developers to get there.

The second generation of an architecture tailor-made for gaming, RDNA 2 is not just an incremental step towards high-end performance, but rather a staggering leap.

What was once only competitive with Nvidia’s third-run GPUs, the RDNA architecture has come on drastically with only a single turn of the crank. It now sits provisionally alongside Nvidia’s enthusiast class RTX 3080 and RTX 3090 , and that’s no simple feat.

So how did AMD play catch up?  There’s a lot to discuss when it comes to RDNA 2 and the RX 6800 XT. From Infinity Cache to Ray Accelerators, the Navi 21 die isn’t without shiny new things to lure the avid PC gamer. But, perhaps most importantly, the RX 6800 XT is also a lesson in how dragging Intel kicking and screaming from its gaming throne offered more than just the know-how to make a decent CPU.

Let’s just say that AMD has figured out a few techniques that don’t go amiss whether you’re aiming for an IPC increase with a brand new CPU or building out a more performant GPU.

AMD RDNA 2 architecture

(Image credit: AMD)

AMD RDNA 2 architecture

With a continuation of the 7nm process, you’d be easily fooled into thinking that there’s little to talk about when it comes to performance per watt and clock speed. RDNA 2 pulls no punches in either, offering 30 percent higher frequency for the same power draw as the previous generation, or 50 percent greater power savings while holding the same frequency.

That cross-pollination of ideas and methodologies between Zen and RDNA 2 starts here: In order to improve performance while retaining roughly the same process node, AMD has incorporated custom libraries, tools, methodologies, and structures used to build Ryzen 5000-series CPUs into RDNA 2 in order to run it at higher frequencies or the same frequencies for less power.

Those have clearly been successful. For a clear cut example of the initial power savings and 7nm optimisations, just look to the first-generation RDNA top dog: the RX 5700 XT. This first wave card delivers 40 CUs at 225W with a top clock of 1,905MHz. The RX 6900 XT doubles the CUs, all of which run up to 18 percent faster, for just 33.33 percent greater power.

To further help the architecture along AMD has built in further capacitance in alternating current (CAC) optimisations right down to the metal with RDNA 2. These optimisations go down to the very capacitance of transistors as they switch. It’s all in order to ensure that a maximum benefit and power saving is being achieved at a transistor and clock level. From there, it’s all about scaling up an architecture that just doesn’t waste any juice.

(Image credit: AMD)

At a base level you’re already getting more performance out of the same components with RDNA 2, but that doesn’t make for a lax approach on a uniquely architectural level. From here AMD’s building out with an eye on maintaining a level of efficiency throughout, and not blowing the entire power budget on a 512-bit bus, I’m told. 

AMD really wants people to know bandwidth is not all about bus width—forget what ya heard.

A 512-bit bus, AMD explains, is costly and large. Two things AMD of all companies knows it can’t get away with. That’s also why you’ll not see HBM2 memory anywhere near RDNA 2’s hallowed PCB either. Instead, AMD is incorporating a new concept with RDNA 2: Infinity Cache.

Infinity Cache is what you might call a cure-all for AMD’s GPU issues of the past— its gaming panacea, so to speak. It’s a close relation to Infinity Fabric, the interconnect used throughout Zen 2 and Zen 3 CPUs. In fact, it’s the work that AMD’s engineers carried out on its EPYC server chips that led to such a cache technology making its way to RDNA 2 in the first place.

Cache is effectively organised into serialised banks within EPYC, one after the other. That’s great for a CPU, but when it comes to the highly parallelised workloads of a GPU that simply won’t cut it. So that’s why AMD took its CPU cache and made it increasingly more parallel in the Infinity Cache.

«An architecture that’s easy for the industry to adopt»

Laura Smith, senior director, RTG

The result is a cache subsystem that, AMD says, offers an effective bandwidth far exceeding the physical 256-bit one. One that can turn 512GB/s bandwidth into 1,664GB/s. In other words, 3.25x the effective bandwidth of a 256-bit cache. And without the power demands of a doubly wide bus and without taking up too much die space—in comparison to a larger surrounding bus, anyways. The Infinity Cache is still a sizeable chunk of the Navi 21 die.

Much like Zen 3’s unified L3 cache, AMD’s engineers were apparently surprised with the performance a larger cache system could offer. Yet clearly it works, and at low power consumption. We can’t compare to a 512-bus, simply we don’t have that point of comparison available, but the effective bandwidth of Infinity Cache appears a smart and functional workaround.

At least when you get a hit on that cache. AMD says it only manages to do just that some 60-80 percent of the time depending on the resolution—cache hits are more likely at 1080p, but you’re also less likely to hit a memory bandwidth brick wall at lower resolutions. 

The 128MB of Infinity Cache effectively takes the place of calls to external memory most of the time, meaning your GPU doesn’t have to wait around for external memory or a PCIe bus to relay a signal, and thus effective memory bandwidth is increased in games where that comes into play most, most of all at 4K.

And that’s partially why AMD can finally, almost, compete with its rival at 4K resolutions, a hurdle that had seemed insurmountable only a couple of generations ago.

Yet this is not the only workload where Infinity Cache helps AMD find precious performance. RDNA 2 sees the first integration of hardware-accelerated ray tracing for AMD: a new block called a Ray Accelerator. There’s a single Ray Accelerator per compute unit, which makes for two blocks per dual CU block, in a similar configuration to those in the initial RDNA architecture. 

Therefore the number of Ray Accelerators is dependent on overall CU count. In the RX 6800 XT’s case, that’s 72. As such you can expect a sliding scale of ray tracing performance through the stack, from the 20 CU Xbox Series S to the 80 CU RX 6900 XT.

Each of these Ray Accelerators is capable of accelerating the intersection of rays within a ray-traced BVH structure, or bounding volume hierarchy, taking care of four ray/box intersections per clock or one ray/triangle intersection per clock. A bounding volume hierarchy is the same acceleration technique accelerated in RTX graphics cards from Nvidia—a tree like structure of boxes within boxes containing sets of objects in a scene, like a Russian nesting doll stuffed with geometry.

It’s all still based on Microsoft’s DirectX Raytracing API, so any DX12-based title with ray tracing built into it is using DXR, and that means both AMD and Nvidia can support the new lighting techniques. On games sporting Vulkan workarounds, however, it’s all a bit more proprietary.

(Image credit: AMD)

The rest of the ray tracing equation, including denoising, is taken care of by shader code on the compute units. There’s no dedicated denoising block such as Nvidia’s Tensor Core within RDNA 2, and that means you won’t see any accelerated AI inference workloads on the RX 6000-series, although GPUs tend to be pretty good at those anyways.

What’s a boon to ray tracing performance, however, is that Infinity Cache, which can itself store a «high percentage» of relevant BVH information and thus reduces the latency of each ray traced frame. Those could be killer for frame times otherwise, as logic is too busy with BVH intersections to deal with the all-important standard rendering stuff.

So you’ve got multiple uses for Infinity Cache, and that’s by design in order to offer what AMD calls a hybrid rendering solution—one that offers a blend of rasterised rendering performance and ray tracing performance. 

AMD has not got its foot as heavily on the ray tracing pedal as Nvidia, which will become abundantly clear once we reach the performance figures a little later on. Instead, AMD is focusing on this hybrid approach, one that it deems necessary to make it worthwhile for both gamers at 1440p and developers. 

Speaking of which, programming transparency is key this generation. AMD aims to create «an architecture that’s easy for the industry to adopt», and Infinity Cache has been built around a concept of requiring no prerequisite developer support. That means its impact should be felt more immediately and for longer—what the devs don’t know can’t hurt them.

That doesn’t mean there’s no potential avenue for extra developer-side support for Infinity Cache in the future. AMD says that’s one possible avenue for improved optimisation on RDNA 2 GPUs, which both the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 have inside them. It’s absolutely true that today there’s more reason than ever to build your game with an eye to optimising for modern red team tech.

AMD RX 6800 XT specs

(Image credit: AMD)

AMD RX 6800 XT specifications

The RX 6800 XT will enter the fray as AMD’s most powerful graphics card to date, but will only hold that station until December 8, 2020, when the RX 6900 XT will surpass it for a chunk more change. The difference between the two is only minimal, really—these cards differ only in price and compute unit count: $649 to $999 and 72 CUs to 80 CUs, respectively.

The RX 6800 XT’s 72 CUs contain 4,608 stream processors in total. That’s 64 per CU, the same as first generation RDNA albeit on a greater scale. AMD says it will run at a moderate 2,015MHz game clock, while boosting up to 2,250MHz. That’s a little on the conservative side, though, as we saw the card with some sticking power around 2,200MHz and easily break 2,300MHz in-game.

That’s even without Rage Mode enabled, the new performance preset available on the RX 6800 XT and RX 6900 XT. This allows the card to operate within any extra headroom available for both power and fan-speed limits, and essentially cranks the clock speeds up a step or two. Technically Rage Mode offers a game clock of 2,065MHz and a boost clock of 2,310MHz on the RX 6800 XT, but the exact specification and behaviour can vary per chip and per cooler design, so your results may vary.

RX 6800 XT specs

GPU — Navi 21
Lithography — TSMC 7nm
Die size — 519 mm2
Transistors — 26.8bn
Stream processors — 4,608
CUs — 72
Ray Accelerators — 72
GPU Game clock — 2,015MHz
GPU Boost clock — 2,250MHz
Memory bus — 256-bit
Memory capacity — 16GB GDDR6
Memory speed — 16Gbps
Memory bandwidth — 512GB/s
TGP — 300W
Recommended power supply
— 750W
Size — 2. 5-slot
Price (reference) — $649

So much so that our review sample seems to be one of the few that doesn’t see much uplift whatsoever with Rage Mode enabled—we’re talking a frame or two gained at its best, and a handful of frames dropped at its worst. Guess we weren’t one of the lucky ones.

Rage Mode is just the ‘safe option’, however. You’re more than welcome to overclock this chip further, if you can.

Both the RX 6800 XT and 80CU RX 6900 XT share the same 300W TGP (or TBP, total board power, by AMD’s convention). AMD tells us the matching spec is simply down to the way it has constructed the product specification, which alludes to a potential binning process for the 80 CU chips destined for the high-end card. Yet we took that as a sign that the 72 CU card may be a good candidate for a healthy undervolt or judicious overclock.

More on that later. And anyways, the RX 6800 XT doesn’t need a helping hand taking aim at Nvidia’s RTX 3080—it’s just icing on the cake. Beyond an eye to delivering performance roughly on par to that of the Ampere flagship card (although you can see how that shapes up in the graphs below), AMD is also looking to spread the good word of 4K gaming for $50 less.

Another of the key battlegrounds for both companies’ 4K cards this generation has been in memory bandwidth and capacity—or at least that’s what AMD is looking to instigate a heated discussion about.

Memory and Infinity Cache is uniform across the RX 6000-series. As such, the RX 6800 XT comes with 16GB of GDDR6 across a 256-bit bus for a total bandwidth of 512GB/s and 128MB of Infinity Cache to bolster that further—the same as the RX 6800 and RX 6900 XT. That means AMD has Nvidia’s RTX 3080 on the ropes in terms of capacity, but falls slightly behind in raw bandwidth to the RTX 3080’s 760GB/s.

That’s without the Infinity Cache factored in, however, and as I mentioned before you’re looking at a considerable ‘effective bandwidth’ as a result of the 128MB cache. Some 1,664GB/s, by AMD’s making—a 3.25x improvement over the RX 6800 XT’s raw bandwidth.

We’re looking at two very different approaches from AMD and Nvidia with this GPU generation, and perhaps not what you’d have been expecting from either company looking only a year or so back. How that all stacks up in game, well, you’ll see just below.

AMD RX 6800 XT performance

(Image credit: AMD)

AMD RX 6800 XT performance

And what’s all that smart architectural jostling good for if not gaming performance? RDNA is a gaming-first architecture, after all, and for your patience and stick-to-itiveness bearing with successive mid-tier cards, AMD is finally ready to gift the world a truly capable high-end 4K graphics card in the RX 6800 XT.

4K gaming performance

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If a large memory pool is to become a key player in 4K performance it certainly isn’t all that important just yet

Across some of the latest games in our testing suite, the RX 6800 XT manages 60+ fps at 4K with ultra (or highest) graphics settings enabled. That’s the 4K stamp of approval in The Division 2, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Metro Exodus, Horizon Zero Dawn, F1 2020, Civ 6, and Wolfenstein Youngblood.

It’s only marginally off the mark in Total War: Three Kingdoms, too, which is a more demanding benchmark on all aspects of our test rig. Similarly, you may want to knock down the graphical fidelity a touch in order to maintain steady 60+ fps in Metro Exodus, Wolfenstein, and The Division, all of which see some less than ideal minimum frame rates.

To answer the question at the forefront of most PC builders’ minds today: The RX 6800 XT comes in a little short of the RTX 3080 at 4K. Occasional flares for brilliance shine out from results otherwise overwhelmingly in favour of the green team’s high-end graphics card. If a large memory pool is to become a key player in 4K performance, which is where the RX 6800 XT has the RTX 3080 roundly beat, it certainly isn’t all that important just yet.

We’re likely to see some benefit to that larger VRAM at some point in time—whether within the shelf life of this GPU generation, who can say. Like a great deal of the feature support introduced with the latest generations from both AMD and Nvidia, it may be years before any become must-haves. Variable Rate Shading, Mesh Shaders, Sampler Feedback, and DirectStorage will all likely have a tremendous impact—one day.

Yet further to that point, there’s some confirmed performance to come in the form of FidelityFX Super Resolution, which AMD has said it plans to integrate into its driver package at some point in the future. There’s no confirmed release date for this feature today, and while AMD has every confidence it will receive wide adoption, a promise alone is far too ethereal to have any weight in the RX 6800 XT’s standing today.

1440p gaming performance

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It’s not all a question of 4K performance, however, and the RX 6800 XT also shows its strengths as a 1440p graphics card. In a wide range of games the RX 6800 XT will deliver 144Hz or more for silky smooth gaming right in that gaming monitor sweet spot.

It’s a much more close-run affair between the RX 6800 XT and RTX 3080 at 1440p, too. The RX 6800 XT manages to eke out the win in a couple of games, often splitting the difference between the RTX 3080 and RTX 3090, yet loses out in just as many.

1080p gaming performance

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It’s unlikely 1080p will factor much into a decision to buy an RX 6800 XT, yet it’s where the card delivers its best comparative results against the RTX 3080. On a rare occasion even the RTX 3090 takes a kicking—for all 12 of you enjoying your $1,499 graphics card at 1080p.

AMD expects the Infinity Cache to operate at its highest accuracy at 1080p, which may go some ways to explaining the lead, yet memory will also play a lesser role at this resolution by some margin. So it may be more so due to the more effective use of the fewer cores within the RX 6800 XT at a higher clock speed that sees it deliver its best at 1080p.

Ray tracing performance

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There are now two 3DMark provided benchmarks for putting ray tracing silicon to the test: Port Royal and the DirectX Raytracing Feature Test. Port Royal is a hybrid mix of ray-traced effects and rasterised rendering, so it’s a little more gaming-adjacent than the purely ray-traced DirectX Raytracing benchmark. 

In Port Royal, the RX 6800 XT is unable to keep up with the RTX 3080’s new RT Core/Tensor Core configuration. There’s something to be said of the RX 6800 XT managing to maintain a small advantage over the RTX 2080 Ti, yet that’s more to do with the rasterised rendering lead the RDNA 2 GPU delivers over Nvidia’s top Turing chip than its specific ray tracing acceleration’s capabilities.

The feature test is more so an apples to apples ray tracing benchmark, in very loose terms. As a fully single pass ray-traced scene, the benchmark removes as much of the rasterised performance imbalance from the equation as possible. Essentially meaning you’re testing raw ray tracing silicon alone. Well, something close to that, anyways. Both Nvidia and AMD use compute shaders for a portion of the ray tracing pipeline, so it’s not quite RT Core vs. Ray Accelerator for either benchmark.

Once again, it’s the RTX 3080 that takes the lead—and by some margin, too. Nvidia has made a concerted effort to generate a ray tracing solution that negates the burden of the physics-mimicking rendering technique in Ampere, and it shows. 

The RX 6800 XT delivers enough to match AMD’s 1440p ray tracing promise, at least, but nothing more.

Power and thermal

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Test rig

CPU — Intel Core i7 10700K
Motherboard — MSI MPG Z490 Gaming Carbon WiFi
RAM — Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro @ 3,200MHz
CPU cooler — Corsair h200i RGB Pro XT
PSU — NZXT 850W
Chassis — DimasTech Mini V2

Now, you may be surprised to learn that the RX 6800 XT is cool and quiet. Going against pre-launch speculation, and, admittedly, our expectations based on previous reference AMD cooler designs. The RX 6800 XT’s triple-fan cooler is able to keep the Navi 21 GPU to a low rumble while gaming.

I suppose a change from the usual blower-style design was necessitated by the 300W TDP of the RX 6800 XT, which the board is all to happy to consume. The design also comes out a little higher at its peak than the RTX 3080, but with generally lower power demands throughout benchmarking it’s actually looking like the more power-savvy design. 

Yet the RTX 3080 does put the available wattage to better use, if only by a sliver. At 0.23 frames/J (Joules being the equivalent of one Watt dissipated as heat for one second), the RTX 3080 is a touch more efficient than the RX 6800 XT at 0.22 frames/J.

Perhaps helping to explain that lead at 1080p somewhat, the RX 6800 XT is the more efficient GPU at lower resolution.

Overclocking and undervolting

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With Rage Mode increasing average power consumption, clock speed, and temperature for no performance gain whatsoever in Metro Exodus (in fact, performance actually dropped by a hair), I hadn’t much hope for an overclock actually coming through for me on the RX 6800 XT.

But not one to be deterred, I took to a manual overclock through the tuning tab in the Radeon Adrenalin Software. A 156MHz offset to GPU core clock is achieved easily enough with a generous 15 percent power limit tweak to match.

That’s technically a max GPU clock limit over 2.5GHz right there, no big deal, but you’re actually likely see that level out to a far more reasonable level under load in game.

The actual benefit of such an overclock wasn’t all that pronounced, either, with only negligible impact to frame rates in most and minor improvements in the odd run. It’s sapping the extra power, alright, but we’ve not much to show for it.

Undervolting proved to be a slightly more successful venture, with even a mild 25mV undervolt (down to 1,125mV) dropping peak power consumption to just 328W (down from 378W) and peak temperature to 74°C (down from 76°C). Although, for what it’s worth, neither changed average power or temperature results.

I’ve clearly only scratched the surface of what’s possible with my limited time to tinker so far. And while it’s clear there’s at least some potential hidden in our chip someplace—it feels like AMD’s done a decent job of allowing the GPU to eke that performance out for itself with only the generic boosting behaviours in place.

AMD RX 6800 XT verdict

(Image credit: AMD)

AMD RX 6800 XT verdict

As a red team alternative to Nvidia’s high-end graphics cards, there have been few finer than the RX 6800 XT. A highly competitive card that comes so close to a nominal performance differential to the RTX 3080, it is truly an enthusiast card worth consideration for any PC gamer with 4K in their sights.

When choosing between it and Nvidia’s second-tier Ampere card, however, it all comes down to a question of immediacy.

The RX 6800 XT is $50 cheaper, delivers high 4K performance, and a hefty VRAM increase over the available memory of the RTX 3080. However, it’s easy to argue that the extra $50 spent on the RTX 3080 is money well spent—a small price to pay for greater 4K performance, much improved ray tracing, and DLSS—all available today and with two year’s worth of developer support in the bank.

To return to the age-old fine wine analogy for AMD’s GPUs—that which supposes its GPUs only get better with age—there’s certainly hope for a finer vintage down the line with RDNA 2. 

The competition

(Image credit: Nvidia)

Still can’t decide between red or green? Check out our RTX 3080 review to get the complete picture as it stands today.

FidelityFX Super Resolution, for one, is a potential uplift on the way for RDNA 2. We don’t yet know anything of game support, availability, or how effective it may be—all things we do already know of Nvidia’s DLSS—but AMD is promising a wide reaching and industry-standard approach through its GPUOpen initiative.

With 16GB of memory at its disposal, the RX 6800 XT may well be a better graphics card for the videogames of the future, too, those currently but a sticky note stuck on a whiteboard in some developer’s office. We’re not quite at a point where it’s a boon in anything but those few exceptions to the rule and non-gaming applications, however.

But looking at AMD’s architectures as always one step away from ‘lolz nvidia get rekt’ performance has put a lot of pressure on these cards to magically deliver significantly improved frame rates in a relatively short time frame—the reality of which is that never really happens. At least not to such an extent that your time spent with second-rate performance for a year will be justified twofold and before the next big leap in GPU performance rounds the corner.

A fine wine isn’t made overnight, and perhaps that’s why that very analogy is more fitting than it was first intended to be. It sets an increasingly difficult bar for AMD to reach within a single generation’s lifetime: Development cycles are getting longer and longer, and it’s the gradual and heavily telegraphed features introduced and then improved upon with every subsequent generation that have the biggest impact over time.

The fact of it is, not to entirely discount the possibility of improved performance in the future, anything AMD can eke out of these cards eventually is highly variable and nearly impossible to quantify without a crystal ball. But unlike some Radeon launches in the past, that doesn’t leave the RX 6800 XT in a tough spot today.

The RX 6800 XT is just as much a viable alternative to Nvidia’s high-end as ever, fine wine or no, and more than that it’s an impressive show of just what AMD and RTG can deliver when it brings its unified expertise to bear.

Perhaps RDNA and RDNA 2 are better compared to opening moves in a game of chess than some dusty bottle of gone-off grape juice. Leave it to me to replace one vomit-inducingly pretentious analogy with another, but it bear with me. Each turn of the GPU crank incrementally evolves play to eventually move AMD’s piece into a dominant position where there’s a damn good chance it will actually be able to land check.

The RX 6800 XT leaves AMD in an incredible strong position going forward, and delivers what is required today to get the entire industry to take notice

The development of AMD’s Zen CPU architecture has been a familiar tale, albeit one slightly ahead of where we’re at with RDNA today. The initial moves in Zen and Zen 2 showed confidence and the clear outline of a game plan taking shape. It wasn’t until Zen 3 that we saw AMD’s aggressive play first capture of anything significant on Intel’s board. Now it’s up to Intel to change strategy and think on its feet to avoid more pieces falling.

I won’t pretend that the same is definitely going to happen with RDNA 3, and certainly not just because both architectures have a 3 in the name—although you have to admit it would be poetic. But AMD appears to be going from strength to strength with RDNA much as it did with Zen, nowhere more so than with the supposed transparency in new features that AMD is adding in order to make «an architecture that’s easy for the industry to adopt.»

The RX 6800 XT leaves AMD in an incredible strong position going forward, delivering what is required today to get the entire industry to take notice, and with a strong proposition to offer gamers instantly at launch. And it’s no surprise to hear the cooperation between Zen and RDNA engineers had a part to play in all this, too.

All of which is to say that AMD has evolved on what was already a promising architecture in RDNA and delivered it in a fantastic graphics card in the RX 6800 XT. And not the least bit impressive in just how swiftly it has achieved near performance parity with Nvidia. There’s still some ways to go to claw back market share from the green team, but step one on RTG’s to-do list (build a high-end GPU) can be confidently checked off with the release of the RX 6800 XT.

Now fingers crossed there will be a decent availability this side of New Year’s—something tells me it’s going to be another all-too-brief scramble for stock.

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AMD RX 6800 XT

With the launch of the Radeon RX 6800 XT, AMD can claim 4K-capable performance in earnest. It marks a huge step in the right direction for team red, and delivers genuine competition to Nvidia’s high-end.

Jacob earned his first byline writing for his own tech blog from his hometown in Wales in 2017. From there, he graduated to professionally breaking things as hardware writer at PCGamesN, where he would later win command of the kit cupboard as hardware editor. Nowadays, as senior hardware editor at PC Gamer, he spends his days reporting on the latest developments in the technology and gaming industry. When he’s not writing about GPUs and CPUs, however, you’ll find him trying to get as far away from the modern world as possible by wild camping.

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AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT review

Our Verdict

In an alternate universe, without the current silicon drought, AMD’s RX 6600 XT is less than $300 and a great mid-range option. In this, the darkest timeline, it’s almost $400, negligibly quicker than an RX 5700 XT and only slightly cheaper. Though at least it’s better than the RTX 3060.

For
  • Comfortably quicker than an RTX 3060
  • Superbly efficient RDNA 2 architecture
  • Stable at 2.7GHz when overclocked
Against
  • The better RTX 3060 Ti is only $20 more
  • Doesn’t move the game on from the RX 5700 XT

«The ultimate 1080p gaming experience,» that’s what AMD is calling its $379 Radeon RX 6600 XT graphics card. And I’m going to suggest that’s maybe a tough sell. It’s clear that AMD is aiming at folk wishing to hit triple figure frame rates in competitive shooters at 1080p, specifically those who are willing to spend significant amounts of cash doing so. Just not the sort of significant figure that would get you a significantly better graphics card. 

That feels like a niche audience when your new generation’s most affordable GPU is traditionally meant to be the one which targets the broadest range of PC gamers possible. 

These are not traditional times, however, and trying to use recent history to inform opinions on newly released graphics cards almost feels like a fool’s errand right now. Admittedly, so does talking about such ephemeral concepts as a $379 MSRP, especially in relation to the long-forgotten suggested retail pricing of existing cards. That’s something which has long since ceased to have any meaning in the real world.

But forming the bottom rung of the RDNA 2 GPU ladder, the Radeon RX 6600 XT is the fifth tier pick of AMD’s current graphics card generation. And the fact it’s a nigh-on $400 GPU—when that was the price of the previous generation’s top Radeon card—probably tells you a lot about the graphics card market right now.

AMD is competitive again, and no longer has to exclusively rely on undercutting its Nvidia GeForce rival’s top cards. But we’re also at a point in history where pretty much every GPU that can be manufactured is guaranteed to be sold, and sold for well above its market value. However much AMD and its partners would like to suggest there will be enough silicon out there to keep sales around this card’s stated MSRP, the likelihood is the RX 6600 XT will still sell out just as quickly as all the other GPUs released in the last year, and potentially for similarly exorbitant sums of money.

AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT specifications

(Image credit: AMD)

What are the Radeon RX 6600 XT specs?

Which almost makes talk about the actual specifications of a particular chip, or even its real-world performance, feel kind of pointless. Yes, there is a certain malaise setting in for us humble GPU reviewers these days, and I am certainly not immune. 

But let’s do this: The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT features the new Navi 23 GPU; one of the latest second-gen Navi chips based on the seriously impressive RDNA 2 architecture. It’s another TSMC N7 (7nm) graphics processor, but the smallest of all the current-gen AMD GPUs. Despite its small scale, though, it packs in more transistors than even the most powerful of the first generation Navi cards, the Navi 10 chip at the heart of the RX 5700 XT.

Radeon RX 6600 XT specs

GPU: Navi 23
Lithography: TSMC 7nm
Transistors: 11.1B
Stream Processors: 2,048
CUs: 32
Ray Accelerators: 32
GPU Game Clock (MHz): 2,359
Memory bus: 128-bit
Memory capacity: 8GB GDDR6
Memory speed: 16Gbps
Memory bandwidth: 256GB/s
TBP: 160W
Recommended power supply: 500W
Price: $379

When it comes to speeds and feeds we’re talking about a chip with 32 compute units (CUs) at its heart, with a total of 2,048 stream processors making up those RDNA 2 dual-CU workgroups. If you want a full rundown of how the RDNA 2 architecture is able to produce graphics cards able to keep pace with Nvidia’s finest, then check out Jacob’s excellent Radeon RX 6800 XT review . 

One of the keys to the latest architectural design is the way AMD’s engineers have been able to push its efficient silicon faster than any GPUs we’ve seen before. This focus on raw frequency was part of the process which made subsequent Ryzen CPU generations so good, and it’s an approach that has been working to great effect with AMD’s latest graphics chips too. 

That’s made abundantly clear through the speeds of the RX 6600 XT. The ‘game clock’ of the latest card, essentially the expected clock speed under gaming loads, is a heady, and strangely specific 2,359MHz. Compare that with the 1,755MHz of the old RX 5700 XT and you can clearly see the progress AMD has made. Nvidia’s Ampere silicon is rarely able to get close to the 2GHz mark, and this is one of the core reasons as to why AMD has been able to close the gap between it and its rivals’ top cards.  

With that super high frequency in mind, the efficiency of the RDNA 2 architecture should be clear when you compare the total board power (TBP) of the RX 6600 XT at 160W vs. that of the RX 5700 XT at 225W.

It is worth noting that the XFX RX 6600 XT Merc 308 card we have in for review is able to hit an average 2,516MHz under normal gaming operations, and was even steady with an average 2,731MHz when overclocked. A 2.7GHz clock speed is pretty much unprecedented in GPU terms outside of the LN2-sniffing overclocking crowd.

It’s just a shame that sort of frequency bump doesn’t actually translate into more than an extra couple fps here and there for your trouble.

(Image credit: Future)

With that it’s also worth noting that, like with the Nvidia RTX 3060 , you won’t find reference model versions of AMD’s latest GPU. That’s why we’ve got the XFX card here, rather than the sort of pleasingly chonky black and grey reference numbers we’ve had for the Radeon RX 6700 XT et al.

But the Navi GPU silicon itself isn’t the whole deal with AMD’s latest cards, the memory subsystem is absolutely key, especially down at this end of the stack. Compared with the rest of the RX 6000-series cards that have already been released, and the last-gen RX 5000-series, we’re looking at a memory bus usually reserved for cards lower down the ladder. 

With 8GB of 16Gbps GDDR6 arrayed across an aggregate 128-bit bus you’d normally expect the GPU to be starved of memory bandwidth, and while it’s certainly lower than either the 448GB/s of the RX 5700 XT or the 288GB/s of the RX 5600 XT, its 256GB/s figure doesn’t look too bad.

But that’s without taking into account the RDNA 2 magic bullet of Infinity Cache. This is a supplementary, die-mounted slice of speedy cache memory, that will intercept a bunch of calls that would otherwise have to go across the PCIe bus to memory pools outside of the card itself. With something like the RX 6800 XT, and its healthy chunk of 128MB of Infinity Cache, and an already high memory bandwidth, this extra cache is partly responsible for its 4K performance.

(Image credit: AMD)

With the RX 6600 XT, however, Infinity Cache ought to be arguably more important. AMD said, when it introduced the new RDNA 2 design, that cache hits are most likely at 1080p, though at that resolution you’re less likely to run into issues with memory bandwidth on higher-spec card. The RX 6600 XT, however, is already pretty restricted in terms of bandwidth, and so the regularity of cache hits at its target resolution should mean the extra effective bandwidth boost of Infinity Cache will be a true boon for its limited 128-bit bus.

Though that’s tempered by the fact there is only a rather paltry 32MB of this performance-salving cache available to the latest AMD card, however.

And then there’s ray tracing. Which, let’s be honest, you don’t really care about if you’re buying an AMD graphics card.

AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT performance

(Image credit: Future)

How does the Radeon RX 6600 XT perform?

There are no real surprises here, which itself isn’t much of a surprise.  

The further you get into a new architectural generation of graphics card the more it becomes a known quantity and you can almost predict the performance ballpark of subsequent iterations of GPU. When looking at relative 3DMark Time Spy Extreme GPU numbers—flatter line from RX 6900 XT to RX 6800 XT aside—the trend is almost completely linear through the rest of the four Radeon cards. 

There is a lot more variation, for good or ill, when you look at the green line of GeForce 3DMark scores.

For the RX 6600 XT itself, the good news is that it confidently beats Nvidia’s cheapest Ampere GPU, the RTX 3060, across the board. That was a card we were initially keen on around launch, but its lustre is maybe wearing off. Still, it’s the most affordable ‘next-gen’ GPU right now, which is at least something. 

On the other hand, the RX 6600 XT falls short of the pace of the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti , which is looking ever more like the card of this current generation.  

AMD RX 6600 XT 1080p gaming performance

Image 1 of 9

The best showing for the newest Navi GPU is at its 1080p target resolution. That’s generally been the case for AMD’s cards compared to their Nvidia competition this time around. With the RX 6600 XT it’s some 15% slower on average than the nominally $20 more expensive Nvidia card at this res, though that performance delta quickly grows you shift gears to 1440p and then on to 4K. 

If you’re sporting a higher resolution monitor, or just want to get yourself those high 1080p frame rates in competitive shooters that AMD seems to be aiming its new card, then that $20 outlay starts to look increasingly like money well spent on the RTX 3060 Ti.

AMD RX 6600 XT 1440p gaming performance

Image 1 of 9

AMD RX 6600 XT 4K gaming performance

Image 1 of 10

AMD RX 6600 XT ray tracing performance

Image 1 of 2

Test rig

CPU — Intel Core i7 10700K
Motherboard — MSI MPG Z490 Gaming Carbon WiFi
RAM — Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro @ 3,200MHz
CPU cooler — Corsair h200i RGB Pro XT
PSU — NZXT 850W
Chassis — DimasTech Mini V2
Monitor — Eve Spectrum

The efficient GPU at the heart of the RX 6600 XT, coupled with the impressive triple fan cooler offered by XFX’s Merc 308 edition, means that this review card remains super chill even under sustained load. To be fair, it’s not like RTX 3060 Ti with its Founders Edition shroud is particularly toasty, but even when cranking up the clock speed of the RX 6600 XT it never broke the 70°C mark, which is supremely impressive.

In terms of power, too, the RDNA 2 architecture shows its class. Despite regularly outshining the RTX 3060 in terms of raw gaming performance it also does so with both a significantly lower average power draw and lower peak too.

AMD RX 6600 XT power and thermals

Image 1 of 3

AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT analysis

(Image credit: Future)

How does the Radeon RX 6600 XT stack up?

For most of this GPU generation, and for a significant part of the last, the regular refrain has been that raw performance numbers are one thing, but Nvidia has a serious edge in terms of the extra features. While real-time ray tracing has been touted as the biggest, realistically it’s the almost-indistinguishable-from-magic Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) tech that has garnered more industry plaudits.

Delivering higher gaming performance with a barely perceptible impact on visual fidelity has long been something Nvidia is rightly proud of. And it’s been something that has regularly been the differentiating factor between recommending an Nvidia card over an AMD one.

But AMD now has a pool of features with its recent Radeon cards that, while they maybe can’t quite match up to their GeForce equivalents, provide a genuine value-add on top of the base frame rate levels of its GPUs. King of those is FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) . It is held up as AMD’s answer to DLSS, though it is a very different thing, it can help you get higher frame rates in select games, without being particularly punitive when it comes to the look of your game.

We’re big fans of it, and while it’s not as snazzy a solution as DLSS, it will still deliver more performance and look pretty great while doing so. That’s a definite win for a mid-range card such as the RX 6600 XT. 

Though FSR looks a little underrepresented when it comes to game support, AMD’s promise that it’s easy for devs to implement has been born out by earnest modders dropping FSR the feature into different games, such as GTA V and Skyrim VR , themselves. Some have even created apps that allow you to add it into practically any Windows or Vulkan game.

Then there’s Radeon Anti-Lag and Radeon Boost, now with a variable rate shading boost in certain titles, which are both designed to deliver the slickest gaming performance in competitive games where milliseconds can be the difference between life and death.  

And the Adrenalin driver software isn’t so awkward to use anymore either. The drivers themselves have been regularly improving over the years, but that actual software is now joining it. Obviously there are some issues, like strange hardware recommendations, and settings being buried and needlessly obfuscated inside Russian doll menus, but it feels far more solid than it has in a while.

(Image credit: Future)

But this improved AMD package doesn’t change the fact that I’d happily pay the extra $20 that would theoretically get me the more performant Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti over the AMD RX 6600 XT. In raw performance terms it’s the quicker GPU, and then you can add the green team’s own impressive feature set on top of that.

Which makes the pricing of this card my biggest frustration. At $379 it’s obviously far too expensive for what it is, and what it represents. But AMD has been laser-focused on boosting the average selling price of its components, and the GPU shortage has now given it ample opportunity to do so with its Radeon graphics cards.

There was a real chance here to stick it to Nvidia and either match or beat the price of the RTX 3060, in which case we’d be only mentioning the relative power of the RTX 3060 Ti card in passing, not focusing on it. What makes that doubly frustrating is that, with few RX 6600 XT cards ever likely to be sold at the MSRP, AMD could just as easily have plucked a cheaper price out of the air and basked in the goodwill that generated. Instead it’s looking overpriced up against the only slightly more expensive, and faster Nvidia GPU.

It’s also not like the RX 6600 XT is really moving things along any either. It’s practically the same price as the RX 5700 XT, and only single digit figures faster on average. Taking our entire benchmarking suite into account, this new card delivers average 1080p frame rates only 7% higher than the first-gen Navi card, while only being 5% cheaper than the RX 5700 XT’s $399 MSRP. 

The new GPU is more efficient, with significantly lower power consumption, and definitely a more technically elegant solution, though that doesn’t make a huge difference in terms of actual temperatures or performance. I can absolutely say the RDNA 2 architecture is certainly a better technology than its RDNA 1 forebear, but the in-game results in this case are barely any different.

Though if I just say the fifth tier of this latest generation of AMD graphics cards effectively matches the frame rate performance of the best of the previous generation, then things look pretty rosy. But when you consider they’re both the same price that doesn’t really feel like a lot of mainstream progress to me.

Remember when there were great $250 graphics cards in every generation? Seems like a long time ago now. And with the GPU shortage expected to last for at least another year, it seems like a long way to go from where we are now, too. Neither AMD or Nvidia are likely to dip their toes into that traditionally high-volume mainstream level when every higher-priced graphics card is being sold anyway.

Why supply cheaper cards, when the thirst forsimply anything is so insatiable?

AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT verdict

(Image credit: Future)

Should you buy the Radeon RX 6600 XT?

The new AMD RX 6600 XT is a graphics card in 2021, which means two things: It’s MSRP will be ephemeral at best, and every single one manufactured will be sold anyway. Quickly.

When it comes to gaming performance the RX 6600 XT is an excellent 1080p GPU, just as the RX 5700 XT was, and honestly like any near-$400 graphics card has been in any generation of the last five years. Really that should be a given, and we should at least be looking to push high refresh rate monitors at 1440p when we’re spending this much cash on a GPU.

It comfortably beats the RTX 3060, which I guess is the point, but it’s nominally $50 more. Though it’s pretty well off the pace compared with the RTX 3060 Ti which costs only another $20. With that card’s higher resolution performance, the magic of DLSS, and Nvidia’s generally greater availability, that’s where my recommendation lies right now. 

The positioning and pricing of the RX 6600 XT seems out of touch with the rest of the GPU market. But that’s when we’re talking about relative MSRP’s, which, in the current silicon-starved state of the industry, are almost utterly irrelevant. 

At any other time there would be some last-gen cards still floating around in retail, and if there were any RX 5700 XTs still out there priced normally the RX 6600 XT would have a very different launch price. But, in this darkest timeline, there aren’t.

And that’s why AMD can price its new card so high, and still be confident that it’ll sell out almost immediately. 

TODAY’S BEST DEALS

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XFX Radeon RX 6600 XT Merc 308

In an alternate universe, without the current silicon drought, AMD’s RX 6600 XT is less than $300 and a great mid-range option. In this, the darkest timeline, it’s almost $400, negligibly quicker than an RX 5700 XT and only slightly cheaper. Though at least it’s better than the RTX 3060.

Dave has been gaming since the days of Zaxxon and Lady Bug on the Colecovision, and code books for the Commodore Vic 20 (Death Race 2000!). He built his first gaming PC at the tender age of 16, and finally finished bug-fixing the Cyrix-based system around a year later. When he dropped it out of the window. He first started writing for Official PlayStation Magazine and Xbox World many decades ago, then moved onto PC Format full-time, then PC Gamer, TechRadar, and T3 among others. Now he’s back, writing about the nightmarish graphics card market, CPUs with more cores than sense, gaming laptops hotter than the sun, and SSDs more capacious than a Cybertruck.

Where to buy Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti: find stock here

(Image credit: Nvidia; Future)

There’s no better graphics card to get than the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti for its excellent blend of performance and value. That’s assuming you can get it for a fair price, but that’s been a tough proposition for the entire lifespan of the product. The RTX 3060 Ti launched right into the same shortage and mining fiasco that the rest of the graphics card market was already mired in, and it hasn’t gotten out of it yet.

We’ve been keeping a close eye on product availability, and there’s little hope of finding a fair priced RTX 3060 Ti from most retailers right now, and you don’t want to turn to scalpers to further encourage them. There are a few ways you may be able to get a reasonably priced model if you’re a bit flexible, as Newegg Shuffles have recently included many graphics cards bundled with other gaming PC components and Box in the UK has been offering similar bundles for sale. 

Right now, the easiest way to get an RTX 3060 Ti is simply to buy a pre-built gaming PC that has the graphics card in it. This may be more expensive than the graphics card alone, but you’re actually getting something for the extra money you spend. Be sure to check back here, as we’ll continue to share any available units we find. 

Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti stock: try these retailers

  • US RTX 3060 Ti retailers: Nvidia | Best Buy | Amazon | Micro Center  | B&H |  Newegg
  • UK RTX 3060 Ti retailers: Nvidia | Ebuyer | Box

If you’re thinking the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti will be too weak for you, we’ve gathered up guides on where to buy the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090, RTX 3080 and RTX 3070. And, if you want to pick up one of AMD’s graphics cards, we’ve got guides on where to buy the Radeon RX 6800 XT and Radeon RX 6800, too. 

The latest Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti deals available now

We’ll list all the latest Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti stock below as soon as it’s available. If you don’t see anything right now, be sure to check back regularly, as the stock has been anything but consistent.

Where to buy RTX 3060 Ti in the US

Orders for the Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti are now live in the US, but availability is still severely constrained.

Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti at Nvidia
Nvidia sells its own Founders Edition of the Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti, and you can pick it up on the company’s website. But don’t think Nvidia won’t sell out of the RTX 3060 Ti, you should act fast. 

Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti at Best Buy
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is listed at Best Buy, but it’s just as sold out as everything else. 

Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti at Micro Center
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is listed on Micro Center’s website, but it’s already sold out online. You might want to call your local store to see if they have stock, but it’s doubtful at this point.  

Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti deals at Newegg
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is already completely out of stock at Newegg, surprising literally nobody. We’ll keep checking back to see when they go on stock. 

RTX 3060 Ti at Amazon
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is listed on Amazon, but you’re not likely to find many models available, and they’ll likely be overpriced when you do. 

Where to buy RTX 3060 Ti Gaming PC

Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti gaming PCs at CyberPowerPC
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is now available in CyberPower’s custom configuration system. There aren’t any pre-configured desktops with the new card available, but half the fun is playing with the configurator in the first place. 

Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti gaming PCs at Origin PC
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is available now in Origin PC custom PCs, which are some of the most popular boutique builds here in the US.  

Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti gaming PCs at iBuyPower
iBuyPower has a range of gaming PCs with RTX 3080 GPUs in stock now, with a range of configurations and prices that start at $1,999 with an Intel Core i7-10700KF CPU, 16GB of RAM and an RTX 3080, of course.

Where to buy RTX 3060 Ti in the UK

The Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti is now on sale in the UK as well, though stock is proving to be just as hard to get there as well. Here’s what we’ve found so far:

Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti deals at Nvidia
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti should be available on Nvidia’s own website for a while, in the form of its Founders Edition. But don’t think that picking it up straight from Nvidia will keep it from selling out: act fast if you want to get your hands on this graphics card. 

Think going direct to the source, Nvidia itself, will get you an RTX 3080? While the company sells the founders edition of the RTX 3080 for £649, it’s currently out of stock.

Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti deals at Box
Box has a few options available. You’ll have to pony up some extra cash to get them, but they’re available right now.

Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti stock at Overclockers
Overclockers UK is a great site for buying components, and it has links for RTX 3060 Ti cards. However, none of the four Palit models of the 3060 Ti have purchase links yet, or even prices. 

Where to buy an RTX 3060 Ti gaming PC in the UK

Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti gaming PCs at PC Specialist
PC Spec makes some pretty spec-tacular custom gaming PCs, and right now you can configure one with an RTX 3060 Ti. Not as cheap as just buying the card, but if you were going to get a whole new system anyway…

Can’t get an RTX 3060 Ti? Here’s some more great graphics card deals:

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  • These are the best graphics cards of 2020

Jackie Thomas is Deputy Editor at Decisionary. Previously, she was TechRadar’s US computing editor. She is fat, queer and extremely online. Computers are the devil, but she just happens to be a satanist. If you need to know anything about computing components, PC gaming or the best laptop on the market, don’t be afraid to drop her a line on Twitter or through email.

The best graphics cards for PC gaming: Great deals before next-gen GPUs arrive

Updated

We’ll help you find the best graphics card to fit your needs.

By Brad Chacos

Executive editor, PCWorld

Rob Schultz/IDG

Most people who are in the market for a new graphics card have one primary question in mind: Which card will give me the most bang for my buck? Obviously, the answer will vary depending on your budget. Beyond that, there are a number of factors to consider: Raw performance is important, but so are things like noise, the driver experience, and supplemental software. And do you want to pay a premium to get in on the bleeding edge of real-time ray tracing?

Let us make it easy for you. We’ve tested nearly every major GPU that’s hit the streets over the past couple of years, from $100 budget cards to $1,800 luxury models. Our knowledge has been distilled into this article—a buying guide with recommendations on which graphics card to buy, no matter what sort of experience you’re looking for.

And yes, you can finally buy a GPU again. After over two years of an insane graphics card crunch spurred by chip shortages and an insane cryptocurrency surge, the dam has finally burst. End result? GPU prices are finally plummeting across the board, with higher-end graphics cards seeing especially steep sales. While you can buy a used GPU for less cash, picking up a new model with a full warranty and no risk is a lot more enticing with prices finally approaching sanity.

Rumors of next-gen Nvidia GeForce RTX 4000-series graphics cards abound, and AMD has publicly said that its new RDNA 3-based Radeon GPUs will launch later this year. A new contender, Intel, also appears ready to release its debut Arc GPUs later this summer, gunning for the RTX 3060 (at least in newer games) with the world’s first game-changing AV1 GPU encoder for streaming in tow. But if you need a new graphics card today, here are your best options. Street pricing for these cards still fluctuates wildly, and these rankings take real-world costs into account—which currently give AMD’s Radeon GPUs an edge.

Note: There are customized versions of every graphics card from a host of vendors. For example, you can buy different GeForce GTX 3080 models from EVGA, Asus, MSI, and Zotac, among others.

We’ve linked to our complete review for each recommendation, but the buying links lead to models that hew closely to each graphics card’s MSRP. Spending extra can get you hefty out-of-the-box overclocks, beefier cooling systems, and more. Check out our “What to look for in a custom card” section below for tips on how to choose a customized card that’s right for you.

The best graphics cards for PC gaming

AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT – Best budget graphics card

Prices may be relaxing, but currently, the much-maligned Radeon RX 6500 XT is still the only semi-reasonable sub-$250 option around. If you can find it for a good price, Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3050 is a much more capable modern graphics card, but its pricing is typically inflated at around $300. The Radeon RX 6500 XT is less appealing thanks to its nerfed memory, PCIe lanes, and limited ports, not to mention lower performance, but you can often find them going for around $200 on the streets these days. Those hardware limitations mean you’ll need to stick to Medium or High graphics settings at 1080p resolution in modern games in order to achieve playable frame rates, but if you do that, you’ll enjoy the experience.

Read our full
Radeon RX 6500 XTreview

AMD Radeon RX 6600 – Best 1080p graphics card

AMD’s Radeon RX 6600 and Nvidia’s rival GeForce RTX 3060 both ostensibly carry the same $329 MSRP, but on the streets, there’s a much wider gap. You can find the 6600 going for prices starting around $300, while the cheapest RTX 3060 begins at $400. Those are both steep entry costs for 1080p gaming—at least compared to the GPUs of yesteryear—but with 8GB of fast GDDR6 memory, insanely good power efficiency, and AMD’s Radeon Super Resolution in tow, the Radeon RX 6600 is a great graphics card for people looking to game at 1080p resolution at 60fps or higher without compromising on visual fidelity. (Or breaking the bank.)

Read our full
Radeon RX 6600 Swft 210review

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 – Best 1080p graphics card for ray tracing

Nvidia is on its second-generation of dedicated ray tracing hardware, and its killer DLSS upsampling feature is in hundreds of games to claw back the performance lost to turning on ray tracing (which carries a steep performance penalty). At $330-plus, it ain’t cheap, but if enabling those cutting-edge lighting effects is a priority, you’ll want to go with GeForce. The RTX 3060 is another solid option, but it’s $400 on the streets and delivers performance on par with the $300 Radeon RX 6600 in games that don’t use ray tracing.

Read our full
GeForce RTX 3050review

AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT – Best 1440p graphics card

In a sane world, Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3060 Ti would dominate 1440p gaming at its $400 MSRP. It’s that good, and it offers superior ray tracing performance to AMD’s Radeon rivals. But we still aren’t living in a sane world, and the RTX 3060 Ti is going for $500+ on the streets, and often $550 to $600. Nvidia’s RTX 3070, ostensibly $500, goes for $650 to $700 online. Get AMD’s Radeon RX 6700 XT instead. It’s plenty fast for 1440p gaming at 60fps+ without compromise, while its beefy 12GB of GDDR6 memory provides plenty of headroom for flipping on all the most intense graphical features. The one downside? AMD’s card is only capable of playing ray-traced games at 1080p resolution unless you activate Radeon Super Resolution, or FSR 1 or 2 in games that support it. One the flip side, the Radeon RX 6700 XT can take advantage of AMD’s awesome performance-boosting Smart Access Memory feature if you’re running a modern Ryzen system that supports it.

Read our full
Radeon RX 6700 XTreview

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti – Best 1440p graphics card for ray tracing

Yes, the RTX 3060 Ti remains overpriced compared to its MSRP, going for $500+ rather than the expected $400—but that’s because it’s that good. If you want a killer 1440p gaming experience with top-notch ray tracing as the cherry on top, this is the card to buy even at an inflated price. The step-down GeForce RTX 3060 is also worth considering, though you may need to turn down some graphics settings when you enable ray tracing, while the step-up RTX 3070 doesn’t deliver enough of a performance boost to justify spending yet more.

Read our full
GeForce RTX 3060 Tireview

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Founders Edition – Best 4K graphics card

If you’ve got a 4K monitor and want to put all those pixels to work, the RTX 3070, 3070 Ti and AMD’s Radeon RX 6750 XT and RX 6800 are all decent cheaper options. But if you want the best possible experience without any visual compromises, spend $800 and pick up the 10GB version of the RTX 3080. (The $1,000 12GB model isn’t worth the upcharge despite being slightly more future-proof.) The GeForce RTX 3080 packs enough power to blow through games even at 4K resolution with eye candy cranked, including ray traced games thanks to Nvidia’s killer combo of second-gen ray tracing hardware and DLSS.

The one problem? This is an insanely popular GPU, and it can still be difficult to find models around the 3080’s $800 MSRP (though they’re definitely popping up). AMD’s rival Radeon RX 6800 XT is easier to find, just as fast, and packs a whopping 16GB of GDDR6 memory, but Nvidia’s superior ray tracing and DLSS chops earn it the nod for this price point if you’re able to find one around MSRP.

All that said, new GPU generations from both Nvidia and AMD are expected before the end of the year, and when those launch, paying MSRP price for the two-year-old RTX 3080 or any of its rivals may sting, since new graphics families usually demolish the performance of last-gen’s high-end GPUs for a similar price. Consider whether you want to hop on board now, or risk waiting a few months to see what’s brewing.

Read our full
GeForce RTX 3080review

AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT – Best high-end 4K graphics card

Graphics cards that cost $1,000 didn’t used to exist, but now they’re commonplace, with the $1,000 12GB RTX 3080, $1,000 Radeon RX 6900 XT, $1,100 Radeon RX 6950 XT, $1,200 GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, $1,500 GeForce RTX 3090, and $2,000 RTX 3090 Ti all available in this price range.

Their steep price increases don’t translate into a lot of extra performance over the more affordable RTX 3080 or Radeon RX 6800 XT, so we recommend most people stick with those instead. But prices are being slashed rapidly at the high-end, and if you’re looking to splurge, we recommend the Radeon RX 6950 XT for most people.

The Radeon RX 6950 XT is faster than the RTX 3090 for $400 less, and comes with an ample 16GB of memory. Heck, it even surpasses the $2,000 RTX 3090 Ti in performance in some games. If you simply want to play some games with face-melting speed and fidelity, the 6950 XT is a killer value option, and it will deliver a killer experience—especially if you use AMD features like Radeon Super Resolution, Smart Access Memory, and FSR. (The same holds true for the Radeon RX 6900 XT, which we’ve seen on sale for less than $900 now that the GPU crunch is letting up.) It isn’t as good as Nvidia’s GPUs at ray tracing, however, so opt for the RTX 3080 Ti instead if you’re a gamer looking to flip on all those cutting-edge lighting effects. Note that the Sapphire Nitro+ Pure model we reviewed is an ultra-luxe enthusiast-class version that costs more, and deservedly so, though you can find other RX 6950 XTs for MSRP.

Read our full
Nitro+ Pure Radeon RX 6950 XTreview

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 – Best high-end 4K graphics card for content creation and ray tracing

If you want some of the best gaming performance on the planet, including ray tracing, and also want to do some work on the side, the $1,500 RTX 3090 is the graphics card to buy. This card works hard and plays hard thanks to a massive 24GB of ultra-fast GDDR6 memory that makes it excel at content creation and machine learning tasks, especially high-res video rendering. And it slings gaming frames with the best of them. The newer RTX 3090 Ti offers slightly faster GPU and memory performance, but costs $500 more, making the non-Ti 3090 a much more (somewhat) practical choice. You pay for the privilege, however, with the Radeon RX 6950 XT and GeForce RTX 3080 Ti delivering similar gaming performance for significantly less.

Read our full
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090review

How we test graphics cards

We test graphics cards on a dedicated test system used only for this purpose, with minimal extra software involved. That ensures that any performance changes we see are generated solely by the graphics card being tested and new GPU drivers, without the variability of other hardware or software changes. Here is the configuration of our current testbed:

  • AMD Ryzen 5900X, stock settings
  • AMD Wraith Max cooler
  • MSI Godlike X570 motherboard
  • 32GB G.Skill Trident Z Neo DDR4 3800 memory
  • EVGA 1200W SuperNova P2 power supply
  • 2x 1TB SK Hynix Gold S31 SSD

As far as games go, we use a fixed set of games to test every graphics card that comes out in a given generation, and update the suite when a new generation of GPUs is introduced. We test a variety of games spanning most major game types (tactics, racing, FPS, etc. ), engines (Unreal Engine, Unity, Anvil, etc.) and underlying graphics APIs (DirectX 11, DX12, Vulkan). We use the built-in benchmarks for each game, but only after validating the accuracy of the results by running the benchmarks and comparing the results to performance witnessed by third-party GPU measurement tools like OCAT. Each game is tested at least three times per resolution, generating an average from those runs, with additional tests run if we encounter any hiccups. We may also perform additional testing with tools like OCAT if any performance oddities are noticed. Power draw is measured on a whole-system basis, listing both idle and fully stressed states as measured via a Watts Up meter that the system is plugged into.

What to look for in a custom graphics card

If you want to shop beyond the scope of our picks, know that finding the right graphics card can be tricky. Various vendors offer customized versions of every GPU. For example, you can buy different Radeon RX 6700 XT models from Sapphire, XFX, Asus, MSI, and PowerColor.

To help narrow down the options and find the right card for you, you should consider the following things when doing your research:

Overclocks: Higher-priced custom models are often overclocked out-of-the-box to varying degrees, which can lead to higher performance. Most modern custom cards offer the same essential level of performance,however.

Cooling solutions: Many graphics cards are available with custom coolers that lower temperatures and fan noise. The vast majority perform well. Liquid-cooled graphics cards run even cooler, but require extra room inside your case for the tubing and radiator. Avoid graphics cards with single-fan, blower-style cooling systems if you can help it, unless you have a small-form-factor PC or plan on using custom water-cooling blocks.

Size: Many graphics cards are of a similar size, but longer and shorter models of many GPUs exist. High-end graphics cards are starting to sport especially massive custom cooling solutions to tame their enthusiast-class GPUs. Double-check that your chosen graphics card will fit in your case before you buy.

Compatibility: Not all hardware supports a wide range of connectivity options. Higher-end graphics cards may lack DVI ports, while lower-end monitors may lack DisplayPorts. Only the most modern Radeon and GeForce graphics cards support HDMI 2.1 outputs. Ensure your graphics card and monitor can connect to each other. Likewise, make sure your power supply meets the recommended wattage for the graphics card you choose.

Real-time ray tracing, FSR, and DLSS: AMD’s Radeon RX 6000-series graphics cards and all of Nvidia’s RTX offerings can play games with real-time ray tracing effects active. Nvidia’s RTX 30-series GPUs hold a massive advantage over everything else though, propelled even further by dedicated tensor cores for processing machine learning tasks such as Deep Learning Super Sampling, which uses AI to speed up the performance of your games with minimal hit to visual fidelity. GeForce RTX 20-series GPUs also support DLSS, while AMD’s rival FSR 2.0 and Radeon Super Resolution technologies are gaining traction by the day.

Author: Brad Chacos, Executive editor

Brad Chacos spends his days digging through desktop PCs and tweeting too much. He specializes in graphics cards and gaming, but covers everything from security to Windows tips and all manner of PC hardware.

The best graphics cards in 2022

(Image credit: GettyImages)

By having one of the best graphics cards in your computer, creatives can run high-end software smoothly without the risk of disrupting their creations. If you’re a gamer, a powerful graphics card will allow you full immersion in games without lag and able to run 4K visuals with ease. 

When picking up your graphics card, there are two variations to choose from. Professional graphics cards are powerful GPUs aimed at industry professionals and often have a high price tag. Alternatively, consumer graphics cards are mainly aimed at gamers. They have a more varied range in price that include budget models to more top of the line cards.

Professional graphics cards used to be the only sensible choice for professional creatives and 3D artists. However, consumer graphics cards now offer users performance equal to the more professional options but without the higher price tag.

Nowadays, there’s plenty of variation in graphics cards which can be overwhelming when choosing one that’s best for you. This guide is your handy place to find both the best professional and consumer graphics cards in one place, and we’ve chosen a selection for a range of different budgets and needs. Have a setup that needs an external GPU instead? You can read up on our guide to eGPUs here. 

The best graphics cards available now

(Image credit: MSI)

01. MSI GeForce RTX 3070

One of the best graphics cards for creatives.

Specifications

Cores: 5,888

Memory: 8 GB

Memory Clock: 14 Gbps

Power Connectors: 2x PCIe 8-pin

Outputs: HDMI 2. 1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a

Reasons to buy

+

GPU performance to beat

+

Up to 8k performance

Reasons to avoid

Quite bulky

This high-end MSI card with Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3070 is one of the very best graphics cards available right now. It comes at a price, but it’s a more affordable one than many professional alternatives and it can handle equally demanding workloads. For creatives in need of outstanding performance but at a slightly more accessible price or gamers looking for smooth visuals at 4K resolutions, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 is the ideal choice.

(Image credit: MSI)

02. MSI RTX 3090 Gaming X Trio

The best graphics card for professionals.

Specifications

Stream Processors: 2,176

Memory: 24GB GDDR6X

Memory Clock: 19.5Gbps

Power Connectors: 3 x 8-pin

Outputs: DisplayPort 1. 4a x3, HDMI 2.1

Reasons to buy

+

Great for game creators

+

Stylish RGB

+

3 standard 8-pin connectors

Reasons to avoid

Not cheap

The GeForce RTX 3090 Gaming X Trio makes the existing RTX 3090 card even more powerful and is ideal for those in need of superpowered graphics. Although it’s still an RTX 3090, it has the cooling power to handle this GPU at its stock settings and enough drive to make it even more powerful. For game creators, it’s the cherry on top of a GPU that makes light work of PC games at 4K.

As if all that isn’t enough, instead of the unusual 12-pin power connector that Nvidia employed in its RTX 30-series Founders Edition cards, this behemoth has three standard 8-pin power connectors, which should offer the potential to get even more performance from this GPU.

(Image credit: NVIDIA)

03.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti

A powerhouse raytracing GPU that balances capability with budget.

Specifications

CUDA Cores: 10,240

Base Clock: 1,370 MHz

Boost Clock: 1,670 MHz

Memory: 12GB GDDR6

Reasons to buy

+

Lots of cores and RAM for 8K content

+

HDMI and 3x DisplayPort output

+

Nvidia studio drivers for creatives 

Reasons to avoid

Fans can be loud

Nvidia’s RTX family of GPUs has continued to deliver since its release. The top of the range 3090 may offer incredible performance, it exceeds most budgets. The 3080 and 3080 TI cards are a substantially more affordable option, yet they still manage to pack a serious punch in the power department. 

The 3080 TI offers all the hallmarks of a high-end GPU including raytracing and it can easily handle complex tasks, like rendering intricate 3D scenes. Under the hood, it has 10240 cuda cores and up to 12GB GDDRX video ram for high-resolution textures, as well as 8K video editing and colour grading.

(Image credit: Nvidia)

04. Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti

A modern mainstream card that replaces the GTX 1060.

Specifications

GPU Cores: 1,536

Base Clock: 1,500

Boost Clock: 1,770 MHz

GFLOPS: 4,608

Memory: 6GB GDDR6

Memory bandwidth: 288GB/s

Reasons to buy

+

Very affordable

+

Solid 1080 and 1440p performance

Reasons to avoid

Not for 4K gaming

Modest memory bandwidth 

The Geforce GTX 1660 Ti is a much more affordable Nvidia graphics card than the high-end RTX series. This is because it’s based on the newer 12nm Turning architecture of the RTX cards, but without their ray tracing hardware.  

The GTX 1660 Ti offers 6GB of GDDR6 memory and a modest 1,536 cuda cores, but is still capable of delivering excellent gaming performance at 1080p and 1440p. It also has plenty of juice for accelerating plugins and filters in creative software. All this makes it one of the best graphics cards if you’re on a lower budget. Some manufacturers, such as PNY, even offer it in an extra short design that can squeeze into smaller PCs.

(Image credit: AMD)

05. AMD Radeon RX 6800

A fantastic GPU from AMD.

Specifications

Stream Processors: 3,840

Core Clock: 1.82 GHz (2.10 GHz boost)

Memory: 16GB GDDR6

Memory Clock: 16Gbps

Power Connectors: 2 x 8 pin

Outputs: DisplayPort 1.4 with DSC, HDMI 2.1 VRR and FRL

Reasons to buy

+

Excellent performance

+

AMD ray tracing

Reasons to avoid

Divisive design

AMD is going after Nvidia’s crown as the king of high-end performance in graphics cards, and the ongoing battle between the two companies means that both are now releasing powerful graphics cards at increasingly competitive prices.

The AMD Radeon RX is more than capable of powering gameplay and creative workflows. What’s more, it even includes ray-tracing, a relatively new capability for AMD graphics cards. In short, you’re getting a performance that beats the RTX 3070, for a fraction of the price.

(Image credit: Nvidia)

06. Nvidia Quadro RTX 5000

A powerful graphics card for creative software.

Specifications

GPU Cores: 3,072

Base Clock: 1,620MHz

Boost Clock: 1815MHz

GFLOPS: 11,200

Memory: 16GB GDDR6

Memory Bandwidth: 448 GB/s

Reasons to buy

+

Monstrous levels of application rendering

+

Improved Cuda and OpenCL compute performance 

Reasons to avoid

Not for gamers

If gaming isn’t your thing, Nvidia’s Quadro cards may be a better choice for running creative software than the GeForce range. While the 8GB Quadro RTX 4000 is the more affordable choice, the 16GB Quadro RTX 5000 packs a lot more of a punch, making it the better option for demanding users who are willing to shell out for serious performance.

The Quadro RTX 5000 offers a lot more rendering power than the previous Pascal generation, driving Cuda and OpenCL applications to new levels and leaving other graphics cards looking weak in comparison.

(Image credit: Gigabyte)

07. Gigabyte Aorus GeForce RTX 3080

Another one of the best graphics cards from Nvidia.

Specifications

Stream Processors: 8,704

Core Clock: 1,845 MHz

Memory: 10 GB GDDR6X

Memory Clock: 19Gbps

Power Connectors: 2x PCIe 8-pin

Outputs: 2x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1x HDMI 2.0

Reasons to buy

+

Excellent 4K gaming performance

+

Low temperatures

+

Stock has been okay

The Gigabyte AORUS GeForce RTX 3080 Xtreme Graphics Card comes with Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3080, which is one of the best graphics cards you can buy right now. The RTX 3080 brings all the advancements of Nvidia’s latest Ampere architecture, including next-generation ray-tracing capabilities and 10GB of fast GDDR6X memory, which means it can make light work of 4K gaming. 

It’s an excellent option for creative professionals as well, with ray tracing and AI support that’ll speed up your workflow. From rendering ultra-high-definition video to creating complex and realistic 3D models, this card can handle it all. Best of all, it offers up to 80% more performance than the last generation. The RTX 3080 is so popular that it can be hard to find in stock, but the Gigabyte AORUS might be your best chance.

(Image credit: Nvidia)

08. Nvidia Quadro RTX 4000

A reasonably affordable professional-grade graphics card.

Specifications

GPU Cores: 2,304

Base Clock: 1,005MHz

Boost Clock: 1,545 MHz

GFLOPS: 7,100

Memory: 8GB GDDR6

Memory bandwidth: 416 GB/s

Reasons to buy

+

Better for design than a GeForce card

+

Excellent with OpenCL and Cuda software

Reasons to avoid

No good for gaming

Quite pricey for the spec

If you’re after a workstation-class graphics card at a relatively low price, you couldn’t do much better than the Nvidia Quadro RTX 4000. This graphics card boasts excellent performance in design applications and comes in a svelte single-slot design that helps it fit into small cases. It also requires less power than the bulkier GeForce cards.

OpenCL and Cuda applications in particular absolutely fly on the Turing architecture, so the RTX 4000 will make a massive difference when working with creative software, plug-ins and filters, resulting in an excellent performance when rendering images, 3D and video.

The best graphics cards: What to consider

Graphics cards serve two major roles in computers. By using their impressive hardware power, GPUs maximise 3D visuals and determine the right resolution and frame rate to give you the best on-screen action.

If you’re a digital creative who works with elements like graphic design, 3D modelling or illustration, having the best graphics card will help your workflow by running your applications smoothly and significantly boosting rendering times. 

It’s important to note that individual graphics cards have generic reference models that aren’t usually for sale. Each manufacturer like MSI, Asus, Gigabyte and so on sell their own versions of each card which will all look slightly different.

The best graphics cards: How to pick the right one for you 

When you’re looking for a new graphics card there are some important points to consider. For higher resolution needed for elements like creating or gaming, you’re going to need a higher memory. If you need 4K resolution, you’re looking at needing a graphics card with higher memory — 8GB or more is now common on the higher tier cards. 

The faster the performance of your graphics card, the better effects and more detail you can expect from high-end gaming. 60 FPS is the sweet spot when it comes to performance, and if you own a 144Hz display you’ll be pushing your graphics card hard to keep up with elements like refresh rate.

The rendering power of a card is determined by the cores. This varies drastically across the various performance and price tiers, from the entry-level £100 card to the more high-end £1000+ beasts. The clock speed of the graphics card is quoted as a base figure. Similar to the Turbo mode on Intel CPUs, when a graphics card is under heavy load it will run at a higher clock speed for better performance until it hits its maximum to avoid overheating.

Don’t forget to consider your display and the output of a graphics card. All modern graphics cards use either HDMI or DisplayPort. For 4K or 5K displays, all graphics cards now support at least the DisplayPort 1.4 and HDMI 2.0 standards that offer the bandwidth needed for 60hZ refresh rates.

Finally, the single biggest factor in determining the performance of graphics cards is the hardware generation of the series. Nvidia and AMD usually produce a new series of graphics card every two years or so. When a new generation is released, it steps things up with more cores, memory, bandwidth and features. For the best performance and to future-proof your graphics, limit your search to the latest cards.

The best graphics cards: Jargon buster

Reviews of the best graphics cards tend to be full of jargon that explains the kind of performance you can expect. The specifications most often mentioned are memory (capacity, bandwidth and speed), the number of cores (basically the guts of the hardware), and the card’s clock speed (in MHz). 

These specifications vary between GPU generations and across the various tiers, and the cores in Nvidia and AMD cards aren’t the same. Nvidia uses the term Cuda cores while AMD refers to GCN cores. This means that AMD and Nvidia cards cannot be compared in that respect.

Quadro vs GeForce and Radeon vs Radeon Pro

Nvidia and AMD are the biggest names in consumer graphics cards, they each make two types of cards that are broadly intended for gaming or creative projects. Nvidia has GeForce, its gaming brand, while its Quadro cards are better suited to a range of creative undertakings. AMD on the other hand has Radeons for gaming and Radeon Pro for creatives.

The more expensive Quadros and Radeon Pros largely contain the same underlying design, architecture and specs, but with some crucial differences. Quadro and Radeon cards have certified drivers. That means they’ve been tested for compatibility with specific software, offering better performance with design software in certain circumstances, and are (in theory) less likely to run into problems.

Quadros and Radeon Pros also have ECC memory for increased precision and sometimes they run at lower clock speeds, meaning they have lower power requirements and thermal demands. If your livelihood depends on your creative output and you need something reliable, you may want to consider a Radeon Pro or Nvidia Quadro.

Another key difference is how the two classes of graphics cards are manufactured. With gaming cards, Nvidia and AMD produce and sell reference designs, but many other manufacturers, including Asus, MSI, Zotac, EVGA and Sapphire, sell variations on the reference specification with different cooling systems and faster clock speeds. For Quadro cards, though, Nvidia works with a single manufacturer – PNY – to produce all its hardware.

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Matt has been a technology journalist for well over a decade, writing for publications such as T3, MacFormat and Creative Bloq. He’s a senior editor of TechRadar, Creative Bloq’s sister site, where he can be found writing about and reviewing laptops, computers, monitors and more. He often writes for Creative Bloq, helping creatives find their perfect laptop or PC.

Best graphics card in 2022

The battle between AMD and Nvidia to produce the best graphics card shows no signs of slowing down, with the Radeon RX 6000 and GeForce RTX 3000 series hot on each other’s heels. However, the state of play could change significantly with the arrival of Intel Arc Alchemist cards later this year, but it remains to be seen whether they’ll be enough to stand up to upcoming RDNA 3 or RTX 4000 GPUs.

Whatever your budget, we’re confident you’ll find the best graphics card for your needs among AMD and Nvidia’s current product stacks. That said, you could save even more cash by grabbing a GPU of yesteryear on the used market. Even pixel pushers from a few generations ago are still more than capable of running the best PC games, providing you’re willing to turn a few settings down.

Don’t forget that you’ll want to equip your gaming PC with the best gaming CPU you can buy in addition to your new graphics card, else you may encounter processor bottlenecks in many videogames. This is particularly important if you play on one of the best gaming monitors, with a high refresh rate.

Here are the best graphics cards in 2022:
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Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti

The best graphics card for gaming is the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti.

While the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Ti might be the most powerful GPU you can buy, you’re better off spending your cash on an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti for gaming. It offers comparable performance to its bigger brother and is a whopping $800 cheaper.

An AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT may cost less, at just $999 USD, but the RTX 3080 Ti will deftly outperform team red’s flagship when it comes to ray tracing. It’s no slouch when it comes to traditional rendering either, making it the perfect card for 4K high refresh rate gaming.

What we like:

  • RTX 3090 gaming performance at a cheaper price point
  • Better ray tracing performance than the RX 6900 XT
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti specs
GPU Model GA102-225
CUDA cores 10,240
Tensor cores 320
RT cores 80
VRAM 12GB GDDR6X
Memory bandwidth 912GB/s

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Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050

The best cheap graphics card is the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050.

At just $249 USD, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 makes putting Ampere in your gaming PC a more affordable prospect. Despite its lower price tag, the RTX 3050 doesn’t miss out on features like Nvidia DLSS. This upscaling technology can help the budget card significantly boost fps in even the most demanding games, with little-to-no impact to image quality.

It’s also capable of ray tracing, and offers greater performance than its main competition, the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT. If you predominantly play esports titles like Call of Duty: Warzone, Fortnite, or Valorant, the RTX 3050 is a perfect fit for your system with support for Nvidia Reflex as well.

What we like:

  • Access to Nvidia DLSS and Nvidia Reflex at a more affordable price
  • Solid 1080p ray tracing performance
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 specs
GPU Model GA106-150
CUDA cores 2,560
Tensor cores 80
RT cores 20
VRAM 8GB GDDR6
Memory bandwidth 224GB/s

Check prices

AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT

The best AMD graphics card is the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT.

Sitting at the top of its RX 6000 series graphics cards, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT is team red’s frontrunner for the GPU performance crown. At $999 USD, it’s much cheaper than either the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti or RTX 3090 Ti, and can turn in very similar frame rates to those cards.

It unfortunately can’t quite compete with team green’s flagships when it comes to ray tracing, with Nvidia’s RT cores wiping the floor with AMD’s ray accelerators. If standard rendering is your priority, the RX 6900 XT is the best of the bunch from team red and should be on your shortlist.

What we like:

  • 4K gaming at less than $1000 USD
  • Can sometimes outperform the RTX 3080 Ti
AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT specs
GPU Model Navi 21 XTX
Stream processors 5,120
Compute units 80
Ray accelerators 80
VRAM 16GB GDDR6
Memory bandwidth 512GB/s

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Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Ti

The most powerful graphics card is the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Ti.

Nvidia’s flagship Ampere graphics card is the most powerful consumer GPU in the world right now. However, the only real advantage you’ll gain by spending $1,999 USD on it is bragging rights, as it only delivers marginally higher performance in games compared to the cheaper RTX 3080 Ti.

That said, the card’s 24GB of GDDR6X VRAM dwarfs the 12GB found on the RTX 3080 Ti, so it might be one to consider if you need something for production workloads and gaming.

What we like:

  • The most powerful consumer GPU bar none
  • Unparalleled performance in production workloads
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Ti specs
GPU Model GA102-350
CUDA cores 10,752
Tensor cores 336
RT cores 84
VRAM 24GB GDDR6X
Memory bandwidth 1,008 GB/s

Check prices

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080

The best graphics card for the money is the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080.

If you’re looking for the sweet spot between cost and performance, then you’ll want the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080. It comes from the same GA102 family as its bigger, more expensive siblings, the RTX 3080 Ti and RTX 3090, but is substantially cheaper at $699 USD.

Even those with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti can expect a significant uplift in frame rates, and it only gets better for those still holding on to GTX 10 series cards. It also supports Nvidia software features like Nvidia DLSS, Nvidia Reflex, and Nvidia ShadowPlay for a wonderfully robust toolset.

What we like:

  • Generational leap even over the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti
  • Better features and performance than the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 specs
GPU Model GA102-200
CUDA cores 8,704
Tensor cores 272
RT cores 68
VRAM 10GB GDDR6X
Memory bandwidth 760GB/s

Why are graphics cards so expensive right now?

There’s been an ongoing GPU shortage for the past two years, with several major contributing factors. The global pandemic has placed constraints on supply lines, which simply cannot meet the demand for graphics cards coming from gamers and crypto miners alike.

Thankfully, with recent cryptocurrency crashes and winding down of the pandemic, both prices and stock levels should slowly return to normal.

Budget vs high-end GPU

Not everyone is fortunate enough to allocate an unlimited budget on one of the most important components in a gaming PC: the graphics card. After all, you still need to set some cash aside for a good CPU if you want to avoid bottlenecking. This is why picking the best graphics cards for your individual needs is essential.

If you can’t afford the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080, don’t worry! While it’s currently our pick for the best value graphics card, there’s still plenty of great GPUs to be had that are cheaper. If you’re looking for something under $500 USD, consider the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 or AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT.

Much as the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT might be the cheapest graphics card on the market, we’d advise that you stay clear of it. Yes, it’s $199 USD MSRP is tempting, but it offers significantly worse performance compared to the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050, especially if you’re still using PCIe Gen 3.

TOP 8 Best graphics cards for gaming and work in 2022

The best graphics card available today will turn your computer into a real gaming machine. Of course, you can run a PC with only integrated graphics, but for real performance — one that delivers smooth frame rates in today’s games — you’ll need one of our best graphics cards. We mean something like NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 or AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT (if you can find them at a reasonable price). With any of these cards, you will get the best gaming experience.

The graphics processing unit (GPU) plays an important role in your gaming PC, helping the processor under heavy load. The better GPU you buy, the higher the resolution and higher gaming settings will be. If you’re wondering where exactly to start, with a new build or update, we’ve rounded up a selection of the best graphics cards available right now across several different performance thresholds and budget ranges.

What’s the best graphics card for gaming

The beauty of building your own PC is that there are many graphics cards available to you depending on your budget and performance requirements. You can mix and match equipment as you see fit and end up with a powerful rig. For most people 9The 0009 NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 will hit high-end performance levels and won’t cost as much money as the more powerful redundancy options, at least when scalping and inventory shortages aren’t an issue. Check out the NVIDIA RTX 3090 , the Ampere generation’s answer to the RTX Titan, perfect for design and development, but very expensive.

If you want to play PC games at 4K resolution, RTX 3080 or The next generation RX 6800 XT will perform well, delivering only about 10% less performance than the RTX 3090 for a lot less money. If you just want to play 4K games but focus on high-quality 1440p first, the NVIDIA RTX 3070 will suit those in Team Green, while the AMD Radeon RX 6800 will appeal to those in Team Red.

There are many more better graphics cards out there, whether you’re looking for one for gaming, 4K or if you’re on a budget. And don’t forget to keep an eye out for where to buy NVIDIA RTX 30-series and AMD Radeon RX 6000 GPUs, which until recently wasn’t easy. Here are the best graphics cards on the market today.

1

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080

The best video card for games and most gamers

Memory: 10 GB GDDR6x
Memory speed: 19 Gbit / C
memory bus: 320 bits
Frequencies of expans 1815 MHz
CUDA nuclei: 8704
Process: 8 nm
Power: 340 W

Plus

  • new generation AMPERE with 8704 cores Cuda
  • AI AI of DLSS 2.0
  • Compatibility with G-Sync Displays
  • quite powerful for games 4K
  • surpasses RTX 2080 and RTX 2080 and RTX 200055

Herbsies

                                                                                  When it comes to the best graphics card, there is no one right choice for everyone, but if we are looking for something that will suit most people in terms of performance and price, we should go for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080. Whereas AMD has undoubtedly squashed the claims NVIDIA to the GPU throne with its Radeon RX 6000 cards, some of which are included in this review, the top tier variant still belongs to Team Green.

                                                                                  The RTX 3080 not only outperforms the latest generation of GPUs, it delivers the additional benefits that make RTX cards so sought after. Ray tracing, the first major feature, isn’t as widespread as many would like, but it’s still available in popular games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Control, Minecraft, and more. And the RTX 3080 includes dedicated cores for ray tracing. The

                                                                                  DLSS is perhaps the most impressive feature that comes standard with this GPU. It uses dedicated Tensor cores to run real-time AI rendering, effectively boosting framerates while also rendering frames at a much higher resolution. Because ray tracing can have a negative impact on performance, DLSS is the perfect combination. The new AMD RX 6000 cards have ray tracing, but so far the performance hit is much more severe compared to NVIDIA RTX. 9The 0003

                                                                                  RTX 3080 has great specs and is the right card if you want to enjoy smooth 4K gaming at 60fps without having to lower your in-game settings. If you’re looking for the best power supply for the RTX 3080, NVIDIA recommends at least choosing the 750W option. This card is compatible with G-Sync monitors that have adaptive sync technology to reduce screen tearing. It will also work with any FreeSync monitors that are «G-Sync compatible». If you want to play at 4K or 1440p, the RTX 3080 is the best graphics card for many.

                                                                                  2

                                                                                  AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT

                                                                                  A more affordable video card, but similar performance

                                                                                  Memory: 16 GB GDDR6
                                                                                  memory capacity to 512 Gbit / memory bus: 256-bit
                                                                                  Base frequency: 2.015 MHz
                                                                                  Boost frequency: 2250 MHz
                                                                                  Stream processors: 4608
                                                                                  Process: 7nm
                                                                                  Wattage: 9000

                                                                                  It has impressive specs, including a whopping 16 GB of VRAM, great for the future. If you’re buying a new GPU today and want it to last for the next five years, 8GB of memory doesn’t look all that impressive.

                                                                                  One of the great achievements of these GPUs is the addition of ray tracing, which previously only NVIDIA could offer. It looks like while the RX 6800 XT has this capability, it’s not as good as the NVIDIA RTX cards. Your games will look prettier, but you will see a larger performance hit on AMD cards. Write it down to NVIDIA having more development time.

                                                                                  AMD has something called Smart Access Memory (SAM) that can improve performance in some games. The increase is not huge, but it is noticeable in many games. We tested Smart Access memory to see how much it really makes a difference. NVIDIA has since opened up Resizable BAR support to its own GPUs, essentially making this point zero.

                                                                                  Want to overclock without voiding your warranty? AMD Rage Mode is another nice addition that will get the job done without compromising your hardware. And finally, AMD has now introduced FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) for their new and old GPUs. This is NVIDIA’s answer to DLSS, and for the most part it works quite well despite taking a different approach. The list of compatible games is constantly growing, but it will take time to catch up with NVIDIA.

                                                                                  If you’re on Team Red and need a GPU that can handle 1440p and 4K gaming, the RX 6800 XT is clearly a great option and should cost less than the RTX 3080.

                                                                                  3

                                                                                  NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090

                                                                                  The most powerful and most expensive video card

                                                                                  Memory: 24 GB GDDR6x
                                                                                  Memory speed: 19.5 Gbts / s
                                                                                  Memory bus: 384-bit
                                                                                  Acceleration frequency: 1.785 MHz
                                                                                  CUDA nuclei: 10496
                                                                                  Process: 8 nm
                                                                                  Power: 370 W

                                                                                  Plus

                                                                                  • Absolutely powerful characteristics
                                                                                  • under certain circumstances
                                                                                  • 555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555E5E Great for professional design and development

                                                                                  Cons

                                                                                  • Very expensive
                                                                                  • Not much better than RTX 3080 in gaming performance
                                                                                  • Physically large

                                                                                  The NVIDIA RTX 3090 is a huge card both physically and on paper. It has a whopping 24GB of GDDR6X VRAM and 10,496 CUDA cores, but don’t think that means sheer gaming power. If you’re into 4K gaming, you’ll probably only see a performance increase of around 10% over the RTX 3080. And don’t even consider buying this GPU for 1440p or 1080p; it’s just not worth the money.

                                                                                  Considering it’s more than double the price of most RTX 3080 cards, this is hardware aimed at professionals and those on a big budget. Yes, this is the card that will kill the expensive RTX Titan, and developers and designers will be very interested in this.

                                                                                  If you are going to use one of these cards, make sure it will fit in your case and make sure you have a large enough power supply to handle the power required.

                                                                                  4

                                                                                  AMD Radeon RX 6800

                                                                                  Excellent performance at an average level of

                                                                                  Memory: 16 GB GDDR6
                                                                                  Memory Balms to 512 GBT /
                                                                                  Memory bus
                                                                                  Basic frequency Basic Frequency Basic frequency : 1815 MHz
                                                                                  Acceleration Frequency: 2. 105 MHz
                                                                                  Stream processors: 3840
                                                                                  Process: 7 Nm
                                                                                  Power: 250 W

                                                                                  Plus

                                                                                  • 9005 9 GB VRAM for the future
                                                                                  • Rage mode and smart memory access
                                                                                  • Handles 4K and 1440p

                                                                                  Cons

                                                                                  • Costs more than RTX 3070
                                                                                  • Less advanced ray tracing and FSR
                                                                                  • Slightly higher power consumption than the RTX 3070

                                                                                  Radeon RX 6800 (no XT) is another AMD RDNA 2 flagship GPU. a more powerful RX 6800 XT including ray tracing and smart access memory, but it costs less and is more power efficient (250W compared to the RX 6800 XT’s 300W). It will also handle 4K and 1440p games, and its 16GB of VRAM is better suited for the future than the comparable RTX 3070. There are plenty of third-party versions available, but the best AMD Radeon RX 6800 graphics cards will deliver a similar experience.

                                                                                  In that regard, you can expect better overall performance from the RX 6800, albeit at a higher power draw than the RTX 3070. It also costs a bit more money in the world without crazy overpricing and nonexistent stock. Ray tracing is available with the RX 6800, though it won’t compare to the capabilities of NVIDIA RTX cards. And, of course, NVIDIA offers DLSS technology, which is clearly a huge boon. AMD now has the answer with FSR and still has a chance to catch up with NVIDIA.

                                                                                  If you want more performance at 1440p and 4K and don’t mind paying a little more than the RTX 3070, the RX 6800 should be a great choice for your gaming PC.

                                                                                  5

                                                                                  NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070

                                                                                  Excellent performance at an average level of

                                                                                  Memory: 8 GB GDDR6
                                                                                  Memory bus: 256-bit
                                                                                  Basic frequency: 1.50 GHC
                                                                                  9000 Age frequency:
                                                                                  1.73 GHz
                                                                                  CUDA nuclei: 5888
                                                                                  Process: 8 nm
                                                                                  Power: 220 W

                                                                                  Plus

                                                                                  • easily processes 1440P
                                                                                  • 9005 9 for people on a budget

                                                                                  Cons

                                                                                  • Only 8 GB of VRAM
                                                                                  • Less performant than RX 6800

                                                                                  this time the card is cheaper. This is a huge achievement and anyone aiming for the mid-range PC market should be happy. A year ago, before the arrival of other NVIDIA 30-series GPUs and AMD RX 6000 graphics cards, the RTX 3070 would have broken the internet.

                                                                                  The RTX 3070 packs 5888 CUDA cores, more than double the RTX 2070 Super. It also benefits from RTX enhancements such as ray tracing and DLSS AI, significantly boosting frame rates in compatible games. However, it has 8 GB of video memory. If this is a problem for you, look at the AMD Radeon RX 6800 with 16 GB of video memory and a similar cost.

                                                                                  Either way, if you manage to get your hands on this card, your 1440p gaming experience will go up. The RTX 3070 can handle 4K, but you’ll see much better results with a QHD monitor.

                                                                                  6

                                                                                  NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti

                                                                                  The best price ratio

                                                                                  Memory: 8 GB GDDR6
                                                                                  memory capacity: 448 Gbits / s
                                                                                  Memory bus: 256-bit
                                                                                  Basic Basic Frequency. : 1410 MHz
                                                                                  Acceleration Frequency: 1.670 MHz
                                                                                  Cuda nuclei: 4864
                                                                                  Process: 8 Nm
                                                                                  Power: 200 W

                                                                                  Plus

                                                                                  • The most affordable amer 0055
                                                                                  • better RTX 2080 Super
                                                                                  • supports 1440P and 4K
                                                                                  • DLSS and rays tracing

                                                                                  Bessions

                                                                                  • is not as promising as more expensive options

                                                                                  manufacturers Ti, GPU with adequate cost under normal circumstances. Despite the bargain price, it outperforms the RTX 2080 Super in terms of 1080p and 1440p gaming performance. This is very impressive and is likely to become extremely popular for anyone who is not overly interested in 4K gaming. It also compares well to the more expensive RX 6700 XT.

                                                                                  Although it’s newer than the other RTX 30 series cards, you still get ray tracing and DLSS technology. All this at a TDP of 200W, which should be ideal for those who don’t want to upgrade the PSU on an old PC.

                                                                                  This card will not be as promising as the cards above on this list, but if you find it and want to keep your wallet from emptying, it should be an excellent choice. It is also our top pick for the best GPU for mining due to its high hash rate and favorable price.

                                                                                  7

                                                                                  AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT

                                                                                  decent performance with a limited budget

                                                                                  Memory: 12 GB GDDR6
                                                                                  memory capacity: 384 Gbits / s
                                                                                  Tire of memory: 192-bit
                                                                                  Base frequency. 2321 MHz
                                                                                  Boost Frequency: 2581 MHz
                                                                                  Stream Processors: 2 560
                                                                                  Process: 7nm
                                                                                  Power: 0202 W0003

                                                                                  • Excellent performance 1440p (QHD)
                                                                                  • 16 GB of video memory
                                                                                  • The ability to trace rays
                                                                                  • The ability to trace rays
                                                                                  • costs more than other RDNA 2
                                                                                  • 9005

                                                                                    minuses. 3060 Ti

                                                                                  • Ray tracing and FSR support not as good

                                                                                  AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT cards are somewhere between NVIDIA RTX 3060 Ti and NVIDIA RTX 3070 in terms of performance. They also cost more than the 3060 Ti’s advertised price, so you need to be sure you’re looking for the best power, not the best feature set. If you’re looking to bump up frame rates at 1440p and even play around with 4K a bit, the RX 6700 XT is a great fit.

                                                                                  Although the RX 6700 XT has ray tracing, its support isn’t as good as NVIDIA’s, and you’ll probably see a bigger performance hit. This is true even though AMD cards now have FSR, an alternative to DLSS.

                                                                                  12GB of VRAM makes the RX 6700 XT a great investment for the future, and FidelityFX Super Resolution is starting to hit NVIDIA DLSS technology. If you can find the RX 6700 XT close to retail, it’s a great card for QHD gaming.

                                                                                  8

                                                                                  NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER

                                                                                  Games 1080p

                                                                                  Memory: 6 GB GDDR6
                                                                                  memory capacity: 336 Gbit / C
                                                                                  memory bus: 192-bit 1830 MHz
                                                                                  Cuda nuclei: 1408
                                                                                  Process: 12 nm
                                                                                  Power: 125 W

                                                                                  Plus

                                                                                  • attractive price
                                                                                  • Architecture NVIDIA TURING
                                                                                  • G-Sync
                                                                                  • technology is enough for a smooth 1080p

                                                                                  minus

                                                                                  • not intended for 1440P
                                                                                  • No DLSS

                                                                                  not everyone sees the necessity in the game above 1080P. These displays are more affordable, and the lower pixel count typically results in much higher frame rates. If you don’t want to waste your GPU resources, the NVIDIA GTX 1660 Super is a great choice. It’s not an RTX card, so it doesn’t offer dedicated ray tracing cores, although a driver update allows it to be technically compatible. DLSS 2.0 is not supported. It is based on the Turing architecture, which makes it relatively energy efficient.

                                                                                  It has 6GB of GDDR6 VRAM (the base GTX 1660 uses GDDR5) and a fairly high memory bandwidth of 336GB/s, allowing it to outperform even the 8GB version of the AMD RX 5500 XT in terms of raw performance. You’ll see increased smooth frame rates at 1080p in just about any game, even at high settings.

                                                                                  What about all the other graphics cards?

                                                                                  There are plenty of other top graphics cards on the market, ranging from low-budget options, the best VR graphics cards, the best 4K graphics cards to professional grade cards for custom design and development. But when it comes to GPUs dedicated to gaming, these are the cards that make the most sense in terms of performance to price ratio.

                                                                                  Video cards are commonly available from several different manufacturers. Performance and specs are broadly the same with slight differences, although price, cooling, and overall design will vary. Regardless of your preferred resolution, preferred games, or preferred manufacturers, this guide will help you find the right GPU for your next new PC build or upgrade.

                                                                                  AMD’s 1080p budget pick, the Radeon RX 6600 XT is missing from the list, for good reason we think. It costs slightly less than the RTX 3060 Ti, which is an excellent card when it comes to pure performance. Once we move on to ray tracing and DLSS, the gap will get even bigger. And if you’re planning on moving to 1440p, the 3060 Ti should continue to perform better.

                                                                                  Stock shortages have thrown the GPU market into disarray, so you might find a good deal on the RTX 3060 or RX 6600 XT. If so, know that both GPUs will still deliver quality 1080p gaming.

                                                                                  Similarly, the Ti versions of the RTX 3080 and RTX 3070 are not included in the list due to price/performance. If all you can find is the Ti version, this will be a great card, but if you can find non-Ti versions, you’ll be just as happy and have a bit more money in your pocket.

                                                                                  Is it time to upgrade your graphics card?

                                                                                  Trying to figure out if it’s time to upgrade your GPU can be a daunting task. Of course, if you’re seeing signs that your GPU is dying — screen artifacts, PC crashes, howling — it’s definitely time to upgrade. But if your current GPU is working fine, do you really need something new?

                                                                                  It depends on what games you want to play and at what resolution. If you’ve been satisfied with low-impact indie games and built a computer to handle them, you’ll no doubt find your computer struggling to keep up with the new popular AAA game that’s caught your eye. The same goes for resolution. If you’re upgrading your monitor from 1080p to 1440p or 4K, you’ll likely need a new GPU to get the most out of the higher resolution display.

                                                                                  Whenever a new generation of GPUs is released, the previous generation seems disproportionately old. Say for example you have an NVIDIA GTX 980 in your PC. It’s a great GPU, but now that the 30-series RTX GPUs are out, it’s four generations behind. Given that 30-series RTX cards are a huge step up from even 20-series cards, the upgrade no doubt looks quite enticing.

                                                                                  Finally, you don’t want to upgrade your GPU unless you can also afford to upgrade the rest of your PC components to keep up. Buying an AMD RX 5700 XT GPU and installing it along with 8GB of RAM and a 4th Gen Intel Core i5 processor will keep it from reaching its full potential. Also, you may not have a large enough power supply to provide enough power for your system, or the cooling system may not be powerful enough to keep your PC running optimally. Always make sure that you can upgrade sufficiently so that you do not create bottlenecks in the system.

                                                                                  How to check what computer hardware you already have

                                                                                  Whenever you invest in a new component for your PC, it’s a good idea to run the software to see what you already have. This will help determine how recent other components are and whether they will be the bottleneck for your upcoming GPU purchase. To understand what makes everything work inside a PC case, there are many software options available. We would recommend two CPU-Z and Speccy.

                                                                                  These apps will tell you what motherboard you have, as well as the processor, RAM, and other little things. Basically we need to look at what kind of processor you have and a good metric to determine how good your processor will be when buying a new GPU is 3DMark. The higher the 3DMark score, the better the processor in games and other demanding applications. It shouldn’t be used as a final value, but a particular chip’s 3DMark score will give you an idea of ​​how powerful it is.

                                                                                  In addition to the estimate, you should also consider the age of the processor, the generation it belongs to, the manufacturing process used, the cooler installed, whether it is overclocked or not, and how many cores you are pumping. Intel has the ARK platform to easily search its processor portfolio. If you’re a member of #TeamRed, AMD has a similar feature on their own website.

                                                                                  How to choose a display resolution for gaming

                                                                                  If you’re building a new computer from scratch, you might be wondering what resolution to aim for. There are plenty of great 1080p, 1440p, and 4K gaming monitors out there, so choosing one can be tricky. What you need to consider is the price, reliability, and power of the PC hardware you want to include.

                                                                                  A 1080p gaming monitor will typically cost the least but will still have the high refresh rate and low response time that gamers are looking for. It won’t look as sharp as 1440p or 4K, but it will also take a bit less power to run games at high frame rates. You will be able to do without the GPU and the lower end CPU, saving more money.

                                                                                  If you increase the resolution to 1440p, things will get better. Once you’ve switched to QHD, a return to 1080p becomes noticeable. However, the problem with 1440p is that monitors tend to be more expensive, and you’ll need more powerful hardware to achieve high frame rates. The better the GPU and CPU, the better performance at 1440p. Even the high-end RTX 3070 and RX 6800, which can handle 4K, will perform much better with a 1440p display.

                                                                                  And finally, we have 4K. That’s a pretty big jump even from 1440p, and you need to have top-tier hardware to make the most of it. 4K displays are expensive, so it’s not recommended to buy them and connect them to a low-quality PC. Even with a high end GPU and GPU, don’t expect frame rates to come close to what you can achieve at 1080p and 1440p.

                                                                                  • Best gaming processors: Intel and AMD
                                                                                  • Rating of the best gaming headsets
                                                                                  • Best gaming microphones

                                                                                  TOP 15 video cards — Rating of the best models 2022

                                                                                  Naprikintsі 2020 — the beginning of 2021, becoming a breakthrough in the distribution of video cards. It’s a pity, that I broke through on the abyss of the majestic shortage of conductor crystals, the components of memory and the boom of mining. As a result, prior to the purchase of new video cards, they were sold at a lower cost and for prices, which would outweigh the statements made by the manufacturer.

                                                                                  As of April 2022, AMD (7000 series) and NVIDIA (4000 series) have already presented new video cards in other segments, but other models do not reach our rating, if the stench is in retail sale on the Ukrainian market.

                                                                                  Axis, in short, what varto know, first lower go to our rating of the 15 shortest video cards, on the cob of May 2022. Which rating will have like old models, so the releases of 2021 will be, so all those that allow you to play with the comfort of singing rozdilnіy zdatnostі.

                                                                                  In total we picked 5 cards for: FullHD, 2K and 4K retail buildings. For video cards of all segments, we provide tables with the results of the benchmark in Cyberpunk 2077 — one of the most powerful PC gaming resources today.

                                                                                  Cyberpunk 2077 benchmark (patch 1.2)

                                                                                  CPU – Intel Core i9-9900K (clocked by BIOS at 4. 8 GHz)

                                                                                • Mat. Board — ASUS MAXIMUS XII APEX

                                                                                • RAM — G. Skill Trident Z RGB F4-3200C14D-16GTZR, 2×8 GB (3200 MHz, CL14)

                                                                                • Nakopichuvac — Intel SSD 760p 1024 GB

                                                                                • PSU — Corsair AX1200i, 1200W

                                                                                • CPU Cooling System — Corsair Hydro Series h215i

                                                                                • Operating system Windows — 10 Pro x64. Drivers for AMD — Radeon Software Adrenalin 2021 Edition 21.5.1, for NVIDIA — GeForce Game Ready Driver 486.11

                                                                                Model

                                                                                Price for Brain at grass 2022, UAH

                                                                                Video cards for Full HD

                                                                                MSI GEFORCE GTX1050 TI 4096MB AERO ITX OC

                                                                                5316

                                                                                AFOX RADEON RX 560 4GB

                                                                                5799

                                                                                MSI GEFORCE GTX1650 4096MB VENTUS XS OC

                                                                                7599

                                                                                ASUS RADEON RX 6500 XT 4GB DUAL OC

                                                                                8699

                                                                                MSI GEFORCE GTX 1660 SUPER 6144MB VENTUS XS OC

                                                                                13799

                                                                                Productivity table for Full HD

                                                                                Video cards for 2K

                                                                                PowerColor Radeon RX 6600 Hellhound

                                                                                ~18500

                                                                                Sapphire Radeon RX 6600 XT PULSE

                                                                                ~19500

                                                                                MSI GEFORCE RTX3060 12GB GAMING X LHR

                                                                                20399

                                                                                Gigabyte Radeon RX 6700 XT GAMING OC 12G

                                                                                ~28000

                                                                                MSI GEFORCE RTX3070 8GB SUPRIM X LHR

                                                                                32299

                                                                                Productivity table for 2K

                                                                                Video cards for 4K

                                                                                Palit GeForce RTX 3080 GamingPro OC

                                                                                ~34000

                                                                                ASUS RADEON RX 6800 XT 16GB ROG STRIX LC OC GAMING

                                                                                ~43500

                                                                                MSI GEFORCE RTX3080TI 12GB SUPRIM X

                                                                                ~55500

                                                                                PowerColor Radeon RX 6900 XT Red Devil

                                                                                ~65000

                                                                                MSI GEFORCE RTX3090 24GB SUPRIM X

                                                                                ~75500

                                                                                Productivity table for 4K

                                                                                Visnovki


                                                                                Now, these cards of the cob level have risen in price by about the second time due to the improvement in the current rate of bitcoin. Just before anything, without thinking about buying an old RX 560 or an RTX 1050 Ti for gaming, then just set it up to zmushuyut. We have given it to the end of the fifties as a compromise video card so and so, as it allows you to comfortably play in FullHD on the settings close to the maximum. The main criterion was accessibility to the primary retail market. Serious cooling of most chips of such video cards is not needed, so you can take another variation of the card you have looked at. However, the rule is more true for cob video cards, for the mid-high segment of the cooling system, it can be of greater importance.


                                                                                MSI GEFORCE GTX1050 TI 4096MB AERO ITX OC

                                                                                Literally 3-4 years ago, video cards were installed on office computers for light work with graphics. At the same time, it’s still an option, if you want to increase the deficit in the minds. Mіzh 1050 and 1050 Ti and earlier there was no particular difference in prices, but at the same time the stink is practically the same, with which the version of Ti is noticeably better in games.

                                                                                RAM here is GDDR5 with a frequency of up to 2180 MHz in Boost mode. The chip practically does not heat up — that one fan is too much. The heart of the design is that the card itself is rather compact — it can be a great advantage if you choose a system in a small package.

                                                                                Available for FullHD :

                                                                                • The Witcher III Wild Hunt — 30-60 fps on mid-high settings, downstream of the processor;

                                                                                • WOT — more than 60 fps on ultra-high scalings, pro stats for even rarer lows are on swipes and great battles. It is better for him to vikoristovuvat «high» instead of «ultra»;

                                                                                • Cyberpunk 2077 — low preset, walks near the center of the place with no objects — 25-30 fps.

                                                                                Plusy

                                                                                Minusi

                                                                                Quiet operation, low temperatures

                                                                                Weak productivity for most daily games

                                                                                Small rosemary. Fits easily into the most compact

                                                                                cases

                                                                                AFOX RADEON RX 560 4GB

                                                                                Analogue of the front version, no AMD. The already old Polaris 12 chip, having lived out its remaining fates, but at the same time, although the deficit is on the decline, it is still relevant. Up to positive moments, you can still use the same compact rosemary, cold chip and, in general, achieve a quiet fan operation. For starters, a video card with 4 GB of RAM is the minimum you can use for Triple A projects. The stench «pull» with the comfort of good optimization of cybersports disciplines. The RX 560 of Viconan AFOX is good for such projects as:

                                                                                • WOT on ultra settings will run at 50 fps, and on high settings it will be stable at 65 without significant delay;

                                                                                • Fortnite Battle Royale — on average settings, you can get 60 fps. In general, the grati is comfortable, but some of them can make artefacts in the sight of darkness, which can live for 2-3 meters from the gravel;

                                                                                • Call of Duty Warzone on a low preset and medium shadows on a comfortable 30-40 fps.

                                                                                Map of good things we want, which can be easily found in the distribution.

                                                                                Plusy

                                                                                Minusi

                                                                                Dual fan, compact, low temperature operation

                                                                                The video card has no future prospects for the future

                                                                                Widely available from retailers

                                                                                Quiet fans

                                                                                MSI GEFORCE GTX1650 4096MB VENTUS XS OC

                                                                                GeForce GTX 1650 — next after 1050 Ti. The productivity of this card is about 30-40% higher than the front one. In this case, the video card does not support additional life, it heats up weakly and can get low power. In the big city, you can match the potential with the older GTX 1060 3GB and RX 570 4GB lines (you can’t separate them). Like all video cards with a 128 Mbps bus capacity, it’s completely stuck for Full HD gaming.

                                                                                Why choose MSI Ventus? All zavdyakov dosit yakіsnіy sistemі holodzhennya, scho to secure and without that dositat cold chip even lower temperatures. Tse allow us to manually download the video card and take it out for 10-12% more productivity.

                                                                                Without overclocking, we can take the following results:

                                                                                • Assassin’s Creed Odyssey — stable 40 fps on the arch of high lashings;

                                                                                • The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on Ultra seems to be at 40-45 fps or 60 on high;

                                                                                • Metro Exodus is traditionally heavily tested for cob cards. Here, on high-mounted windows, you can see a maximum of 22-24 fps, but if you lower the bar, it will be quite a rake.

                                                                                The video card is optimal for its pennies, it is quiet and hassle-free.

                                                                                Plusy

                                                                                Minusi

                                                                                Extremely low temperature work. Є expansion potential

                                                                                For whom segments and prices — ni

                                                                                Shvidka memory GDDR5

                                                                                ASUS RADEON RX 6500 XT 4GB Dual OC

                                                                                SERIOOOLOSISE ROZKRITICAL RODICIVE RX 6500 XT through 1.5 rocks of alternatives for quiet cups for gaming ale at tsimu obmezheniya koshta. For any particular person, it’s just right to appear as an indecent option. Before that, there is an analogue of Ray Tracing technology, although there are compromises and cuts, but in some projects it works.

                                                                                The main problem of which is sooner seen at the time of release — GPU Navi In the segment of desktop PCs, there are few differences. The protein market was built so that, for the price, it immediately looked at the decisions that it had to give up for productivity.

                                                                                Asus video cards sometimes suffer from weak cooling in budget series, but in the wrong weather — two fans can achieve quiet, low temperatures. Є okremy cooling mode is less like a radiator for low nawantage. In games, everything is approximately like this:

                                                                                • Red Dead Redemption 2 — high views up to 65 fps;

                                                                                • Far Cry 6 — on medium up to 70 fps;

                                                                                • Cyberpunk 2077 — at medium to 45-60 fps, great rozkid, with significant data on textures overlaid with characters.

                                                                                Plusy

                                                                                Minusi

                                                                                Yakisni fans, low noise level

                                                                                PCI Express bus, which borders the bag productivity

                                                                                Insignificant potential

                                                                                MSI GEFORCE GTX 1660 SUPER 6144MB VENTUS XS OC

                                                                                That’s why we chose the 1660 Super for the VENTUS XS OC variant. This map will be closed again for all the gravity needs of FullHD gaming. The same is the «finish» version of the Turing architecture from NVIDIA, with low power and operating efficiency. Cooling system with two fans and a radiator on two middle heat pipes.

                                                                                Specifically for this card, there is no sense in testing results in games — in most of the current projects, on FullHD itself, it allows you to play at maximum settings, otrimuyuchi comfortable 60 fps.

                                                                                Plusy

                                                                                Minusi

                                                                                Increased productivity in FullHD to allow more time for all current projects at maximum settings


                                                                                Today’s projects are already oriented towards the development of a residential building Quad HD or 2K, and for them video cards of the remaining years will be needed. In some parts of the rating, the still relevant RTX 2060 and 2070, as well as the RX 5700-5800, didn’t get any better, because in the retail chain they either don’t know, or the price outweighs the variety of new releases, so make such a purchase stupidly.


                                                                                Powercolor Radeon RX 6600 Hellhound

                                                                                Hellhound’s original feature is fans on a ball bearing, which wrap around smoothly and silently. The radiator is also small, with a triplet of medium heat pipes. The chip of prompting on the architecture of RDNA2, the throughput of the building of the GDDR6 memory is 14 thousand. Gb/s Speaking about the efficiency of the cooling system is the fact that the temperature in FurMark at maximum frequencies does not exceed 53 °C.

                                                                                If you want to be productive, then you won’t be on par with the main competitors — the 3060 series from NVIDIA. This is a new Quad HD card, built in the fallow land for the project to see a stable 60+ fps on high settings. For badly optimized projects, such as bugs after the rest of the Cyberpunk 2077 patch, the situation is not so radiant, but for the star productivity table, you can see that competitors have not flown in far.

                                                                                For one of the most important purchases, you still want 2K and the amount of exchange is not important (here AMD is still behind).

                                                                                Plusy

                                                                                Minusi

                                                                                Miracle cooling system, quiet fans

                                                                                Bus 128 Mbit

                                                                                High productivity in its price segment

                                                                                Compact size, pidide for small enclosures

                                                                                Sapphire Radeon RX 6600 XT PULSE

                                                                                Zagalom is an option for the quiet, who needs “putting it at the body and forgetting it”. So that effective video card is productive without any problems with overclocking. For such minds, the Sapphire Radeon RX 6600 XT PULSE is probably better.

                                                                                A specific model of the reference (visible reference video card) has a power supply of 160 W, which allows a two-fan cooling system to work without excessive noise. Obviously, the XT version is not a good choice for overclockers, if you want to add a few more chips — it is possible, even 3-5% of the factory firmware code can be removed. Naskіlki stably won pracciuvatime after dispersal, fall in the form of a particular instance.

                                                                                Acceptable constructive bonus for those who like to keep the PC clean will be able to replace and clean the fans without the need for a radiator for a different payment. Behind the benchmark results, it’s completely on par with the main competitor 3060 with 12 GB of memory.

                                                                                Plusy

                                                                                Minusi

                                                                                Quiet and efficient cooling system. Possibility of quick replacement of fans

                                                                                Low distribution potential, shards the card was already selected on the selection

                                                                                Bad productivity at 2K remote building in well-optimized projects

                                                                                MSI GEFORCE RTX3060 12GB GAMING X LHR

                                                                                In the GEFORCE RTX 3060 12GB GAMING X to KET CHITT CHETOSIONOVANNY — TSA QUADHD, PIDREMMENT OF THE DLSS. If so, it seriously compromises on the potential of older models of its generation, but it is also strongly encouraged by the 2070 and 2070 Super. The chipset itself works at a generally acceptable temperature of 55-57 °C to bring serious challenges to Tripple A projects.

                                                                                A specific vendor variation in MSI is a wonderful balance between price and productivity. It’s worth noting that the cards for the premium option are approaching for a price of up to 3070, which potentially reduces the rationality of such a purchase.

                                                                                The Twin Frozr 8 refrigeration system meets the needs of the industry for safe, stable and energy efficient operation. The remaining fact adds to the miners, giving rise to the main minus of this model — it is difficult to know from retail trade.

                                                                                In games without tracing, changes can be played by competitors such as AMD, in the same projects, de Ray Tracing is necessary — it is in the lead.

                                                                                Plusy

                                                                                Minusi

                                                                                Low energy supply for high productivity

                                                                                For productivity in some projects, go on a par with competitors who have less operational memory

                                                                                12 GB GDDR6 RAM

                                                                                The video card is already popular with miners

                                                                                Balanced price for aphids of other vendor variations

                                                                                Gigabyte Radeon RX 6700 XT GAMING OC 12G

                                                                                Vendors design video cards for 3 fans in order to achieve greater overclocking performance. The XT series is already pre-installed at the factory, which means that it is worthwhile to ensure stable cooling of the chip. Why, zokrema, the GAMING OC platform works wonderfully, it is based on a massive aluminum radiator with five mid-sized heat pipes and three 80 mm coolers. Gigabyte video cards with similar systems sound to show real results.

                                                                                As a reminder, in serious games, the temperature rarely exceeds the normal for older cards on the RDNA 2 architecture 67 °.

                                                                                Even more minor changes in AMD could not beat the serious competition from NVIDIA. But a little more than rock passed, for additional additional drivers and optimization, «chervonim» fared significantly improved this function. Before that, the analogue of DLSS — Fidelity FX Super Resolution is already present in the rest of the driver pack.

                                                                                This card is better equipped with configurations based on AMD Ryzen 3000/5000 processors, so in this connection the efficiency of the work is based on the proprietary Radeon Anti-Lag algorithm. The work of 2K has been credited with the most up-to-date games for the card holder.

                                                                                Plusy

                                                                                Minusi

                                                                                Productivity and efficiency of the card is constantly growing, leading to active additional drivers.

                                                                                Dimensional card for more open spaces

                                                                                Miracle cooling system, yakіsnі mosfeti vіd On Semiconductor

                                                                                MSI GEFORCE RTX3070 8GB SUPRIM X LHR

                                                                                Three MSI Suprim fans are one miracle chip — they have two modes of operation: quiet (silent) and productive. This variation of the RTX 3070 has the same won. In addition, the chips of memory are cooled by a rimmed heat pipe that reaches the radiator, and an additional cascade of guards is installed at the exit of the lances, which protect from the sound of a hum. All it takes is to make this card one of the best solutions for Quad HD in your class.

                                                                                Another solution plus a solution for MSI is a proprietary utility for overclocking Afterburner, which gives you more control over the device from the OS, with the ability to set the required frequency, temperature, etc.

                                                                                Standard video card — the leader for all parameters in this part of the rating.

                                                                                Plusy

                                                                                Minusi

                                                                                Dodatkovі zabіzhniki, scho protect vіd breakdown that short zamikannya

                                                                                Popular with miners

                                                                                Cooling chip memory on other board

                                                                                In quiet mode turn on coolers and become silent


                                                                                Performance table for 2K

                                                                                From the table it is clearly seen that the youngest AMD models seriously wait for an hour to switch to the mode of switching to the same graphics preset. Todіyak NVIDIA GPU has a smaller drawdown.


                                                                                In 2021, the XBox Series X and Playstation 5 were presented, on which the upgraded 8-core AMD Ryzen 5000 processor and GPU on the RDNA 2 architecture were already installed. This architecture formed the basis of discrete video cards of the 6000 series, which were presented in the middle of 2021. Some people have NVIDIA video cards from the Ampere family, which showcase similar productivity and exchange for supplements. Most of these products were awarded the final five of our rating.


                                                                                Palit GeForce RTX 3080 GamingPro OC

                                                                                At the start of sales, the RTX 3080 made a splash. More pack, even if the flagship 3090 is not rich for the characteristics of the same, it was even cheaper. Alemova, of course, spoke about the prices recommended by the picker. Prices, for which price video cards could buy one.

                                                                                Tim no less, Palit GeForce RTX 3080 GamingPro OC is your key to full 4K gaming. The chip is powerful, due to the reduced power of 320 W, which requires serious cooling. That’s why the three-fan cooling system here is even more pre-river. In terms of performance, the card clearly outperforms the 2080 Ti.

                                                                                Also, in the 3000th series, DLSS has been brought to the ideal, which is now focused not so much on the goal of productivity, as on the improvement of the quality of the game score, the smoothness of the spread and the depth of the image.

                                                                                Plusy

                                                                                Minusi

                                                                                Improved the operation of the cooling system in the most important games at the maximum settings of the graphics

                                                                                Practically impossible to know for sale

                                                                                GDDR 6X memory upgraded

                                                                                16 lane PCIe 4. 0

                                                                                ASUS RADEON RX 6800 XT 16GB ROG STRIX LC OC GAMING In fact, the RX 6800 XT is available in a single video card with 16 GB of memory. Even the last fate was given, but it didn’t give decisions on AMD’s best victories. But as a result of additional software development, those «red» drivers could actually improve the firmware of their video cards.

                                                                                In the sub-bag table of Cyberpunk 2077 productivity for 2021, this card showed results 7-9% higher than the current ones. Before that, earlier fps was lowered when tracing was turned on, the problem seems to have been eliminated.

                                                                                If the Asus Rog Strix has a specific video card, then the specific model is equipped with a closed cooling system, which ensures efficient heat transfer to the resource-hungry GPU. Find out that in the race with such an SRO system, the whole card can overtake the RX 6900 XT, don’t let the drivers work, if you want to overheat by 15-20 degrees.

                                                                                However, with such possibilities, it’s a wonderful alternative to 3080, so as not to focus on projects with trade-offs (though even here the situation has significantly improved since 2021).

                                                                                Plusy

                                                                                Minusi

                                                                                Native land refrigeration system provides superbly low noise level

                                                                                This is a long-term video card, which is far from being located near all buildings, with a domestic cooling system (quiet cooling). The intensity is 400-410 W, the Boost-frequencies of it are increased, so that it is practically limitless to work out its potential.

                                                                                If you use a card, you do not support HDMI 2.1, the ability to run on ultra settings in 4K is more than 120 fps in any existing Triple A projects. In addition, you will become a leader in the future and the appearance of an 8K-retail building. The axis only zahist in the mining of deposits with a vibrator at the video card for the current year successfully breaks and knows її it is easy to sell.

                                                                                Plusy

                                                                                Minusi

                                                                                Colossal expansion potential. In fact, the potential of the card is still not available for research on the basis of the essential information

                                                                                If you have a long video card, you need to know the type of housing behind it

                                                                                Premium component base. Efficient cooling system

                                                                                PowerColor Radeon RX 6900 XT RED DEVIL

                                                                                STEEN on Kinets 2021rx 6900 XT was the same in the Cyberpunk 2077. For the Distani AMD, I can reach the result The victory is far from complete, the shards of the video card that won the «red» indicator are still coming from the 4K exchange. Hey there, yak, AMD chanuvalniks should give respect to themselves for the PowerColor Red Devil variant. Here the feasibility of factory overclocking is brought to the ideal. All the same, it is possible to increase the additional productivity by 3-7% for relatively low fan wraps.

                                                                                With the Red Devil variant, you won’t have to compromise between productivity and overworld noise.

                                                                                In the top segment, we constantly talk about the need for compromises, if you have to put up with the singing nedolіkami, zokrema, with noise. In addition, the PowerColor Red Devil RX 6900 XT Ultimate has been spared such compromises, which is already acceptable. To turn it on and off to the point of noise, it’s enough to switch the video card to another BIOS in Silent mode. The PowerColor Red Devil RX 6900 XT Ultimate claims to be one of the best video cards in the top segment, boasting superior performance, high performance, and great overclocking potential.

                                                                                Plusy

                                                                                Minusi

                                                                                Quiet fans navitat

                                                                                Bonus for analogs with NVIDIA for Ray Tracing

                                                                                Best productivity in games without tracing exchanges

                                                                                MSI GEFORCE RTX3090 24GB SUPRIM X

                                                                                Navigate for 8K gaming 24 GB of RAM a little too late. Obviously, the retailers allowed gaming on some top-end TVs that support the diversity of buildings — 7680 × 4320.

                                                                                Therefore, the product is not just for gamers, but for the right enthusiasts, who want to take the maximum of all kinds of fun. There is a small presence here for dispersal, however, there will be a limit of maximum heat output — 860 watts. If there is no need for a special sensation to spread the GPU, there is no need for the content of the building «zavantazhit» even for ⅔ of the potential.

                                                                                Plusy

                                                                                Minusi

                                                                                The best video card in your class can still be found for games with Ray Tracing and DLSS

                                                                                The best video card in your class can still be found for games with Ray Tracing and DLSS

                                                                                24 GB RAM for professional workers


                                                                                PIDSUMKOVA Tables Products for 4K

                                                                                Cyberpunk 2077 — one of the Igor, de -a -sized patch. Why is the particularity of this grie, it is so unique in one’s own family. For other games, there are no problems and the cards realize their potential more quickly, but about the average graphics improvement, there are no problems, for 6800 XT without changing the cards.

                                                                                Another indicator of the situation in the results of the benchmark with increased traceability of the changes. Here, it is clear that NVIDIA’s leadership has no alternative, because fps is being promoted for these cards (DLSS and rational implementation of Ray Tracing), but AMD cards are significantly reduced for productivity.

                                                                                One more thing to clarify, what is the language about honest 4K without scaling at the maximum graphics preset. What does it mean, if AMD decides, to switch to a new generation of halls (specifically for Cyberpunk 2077). For some sense, this is given by a kind of “crash test” for today’s GPUs.


                                                                                It was said that 2021 is the biggest in history for the component market. Prote z 2022 the fate of you does not appear, even today all these problems have been aggravated by a lot of wars in the center of Europe and a large-scale pandemic in China — one of the leading manufacturers of components. Prote videocards on the market є, і far enough ї it is possible. On the right, in the cob segment at the same time, the models, like earlier, were valued in the shortest time with office zippers, and in the middle and high — with the newest and most relevant products with external productivity. If so, talk about those who can’t «sit» anymore. It’s impossible to see the growth of prices again, and the deficit will not decrease. Therefore, we recommend that you do not make a purchase, as the chips required for a video card may appear on sale.

                                                                                Top 15 best video cards in Ukraine – Rating 2022

                                                                                The video card market is going through hard times due to mining. Despite the hardware limitations on cryptocurrency mining in the latest map revisions, they are relatively easy to bypass. Therefore, the demand for cards is only increasing, which has led to a rise in price even for budget and office models. Nevertheless, we have prepared a ranking of the best graphics cards in 2022, compiled taking into account the developments in the market today.

                                                                                Let’s note right away that Nvidia releases technically more advanced products, with lower temperatures and a high degree of reliability. AMD, on the other hand, is focusing on a friendlier approach to optimizing its solutions for games. The big advantage is the long-term driver support for even obsolete products, which is why they gradually begin to outperform their counterparts from Nvidia.

                                                                                Contents

                                                                                The best inexpensive video cards

                                                                                This section contains inexpensive (in modern realities) video cards for office tasks and undemanding games.

                                                                                GIGABYTE GeForce GT 1030 OC 2G

                                                                                Opens the top graphics card office model, if a work computer is used when working with photos and videos. A narrow memory bus of 64 bits and a frequency of 6008 MHz minimize the effectiveness of the card in games, despite the 2 GB buffer. Note that more and more games are starting to require 2 GB of video memory, and every year this figure is growing. At the same time, the manufacturer did not stint on a high-quality cooling radiator and a fan in a stylish case, which we consider to be overkill. The card is equipped with a minimum number of ports — one HDMI and one DVI-D each, it was decided to get rid of VGA and PS2 altogether. The device can work with 2 monitors in 4K resolution, which makes it a good buy for working in graphic editors.

                                                                                Pros:

                                                                                • stylish design;
                                                                                • dual monitor support;
                                                                                • effective cooling;
                                                                                • 2 monitor operation.

                                                                                Cons:

                                                                                • overpayment for design.

                                                                                AFOX Radeon RX 560

                                                                                AMD fans have a good opportunity to buy a budget gaming card with 4 GB of RAM. The model was conceived as a competitor to the GTX 1050 Ti and has similar features. A memory frequency of 7000 MHz, a 128-bit bus and 4 GB of storage can pull out an image on an 8K monitor. There are 30% more stream processors (1024) and texture units (64 pieces), which makes the card more attractive compared to the GTX 1050 Ti. However, it will require a 6-pin power supply and a 450W minimum power supply. The main «sore» of these cards is due to the high temperatures of the chips, the user will have to regularly monitor the sensors and change the thermal interface. Thus, this card will be a good help in games at Full HD resolution in games of 2012-2016 at maximum settings.

                                                                                Pros:

                                                                                • low cost;
                                                                                • increased number of stream processors and texture units;
                                                                                • 3 advanced monitor ports available.

                                                                                Cons:

                                                                                • hot chip;
                                                                                • increased power consumption.

                                                                                Palit GeForce GTX 1050 Ti StormX 4GB

                                                                                We consider the Palit GeForce GTX 1050 in the Ti version to be the minimum pass to the world of gaming. Despite the budget element base and modest characteristics, the miners got to it, which led to a significant increase in the price. The card is made in a minimalistic style and can work with monitors in resolutions up to 4K. Memory frequency 7000 MHz, bus 128 bits, with 4 GB buffer. The performance is much inferior to the GTX 1650 due to GDDR5 memory. There are fewer stream processors (768) and texture units (48) here. At the same time, the 75 W TDP is easily dissipated by the stock fan. This relatively inexpensive but good graphics card does not need additional power, it works perfectly in conjunction with 4-core processors, providing comfortable performance in modern Free-to-Play projects.

                                                                                Pros:

                                                                                • excellent reliability;
                                                                                • does not require additional nutrition;
                                                                                • stock fan;
                                                                                • small thermal pack.

                                                                                Cons:

                                                                                • over 100% margin;
                                                                                • GDDR5 memory.

                                                                                Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1650 D6 OC 4G

                                                                                The most productive budget video card, in our opinion, is the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1650 D6 OC 4G model. Due to its compact size, this gadget can easily fit into any compact case. The fan, as well as the case, turned out to be flimsy, the cooling is mediocre due to a very small radiator. 4 GB of video memory with 896 stream processors and 56 texture units. The memory bus width is 128 MB, which is the minimum standard for gaming video cards. Works with monitors up to 8K resolution. To start, you need a PSU with a power of 300 W or more, no additional power is required, it is supplied through the PCI-E port. Equipped with a minimum of modern ports — DVI-D, Display Port and HDMI. There is no backlight. Suitable for entry-level gaming builds paired with Ryzen 3100, 3400, Intel Core 10105F and 10400F.

                                                                                Pros:

                                                                                • low heat pack;
                                                                                • compact dimensions;
                                                                                • good power;
                                                                                • available for sale.

                                                                                Cons:

                                                                                • mediocre cooling;
                                                                                • fan noise.

                                                                                MSI GeForce GTX 1650 D6 VENTUS

                                                                                The best low-cost graphics card of 2022 is the MSI GeForce GTX 1650 D6 VENTUS series model, which is no different from the previous card in its internal structure. All the same 4 GB of video memory with 896 stream processors, 56 texture units and a memory bus width of 128 MB. It has an improved cooling system, consisting of a massive aluminum radiator with a two-fan shroud. Increased power consumption led to the placement of an additional power port in the form of a 6-pin connector. Unlike older cards (900, 1000 series), this model does not overheat due to the improved quality of the fans and the optimal arrangement of aluminum plates on the heatsink. However, a slight hum at maximum speed still remains. The backlight is completely absent.

                                                                                Pros:

                                                                                • good cooling;
                                                                                • good dynamic acceleration;
                                                                                • sufficiently high power;
                                                                                • universal sizes.

                                                                                Cons:

                                                                                • rumble at high speeds.

                                                                                The best graphics cards in price and quality

                                                                                Mid-range graphics cards for comfortable gaming in Full HD and 2K resolution.

                                                                                Sapphire Radeon RX 6600 PULSE

                                                                                The Sapphire Radeon RX 6600 model replenishes the rating of video cards, which, in fact, opens the segment of mid-budget solutions. The bus width is only 128 bits, which partially limits the potential of the model. Thanks to GDDR6 memory, it was possible to raise its frequency to 14000 MHz, and the frequency of the GPU itself to 2491 MHz. The amount of memory is 8 GB. The heat pack was reduced by switching to a 7 nm process technology. 1792 stream processors provide a high-quality picture in all modern projects in Full HD through the PCI-E 4.0 interface, but in 2K and 4K resolutions, the card starts to be missed. To run, you need a power supply from 500 W and an 8-pin plug for additional power. A characteristic feature of the model was the rejection of DVI-D and the placement of only Display Port and HDMI.

                                                                                Pros:

                                                                                • affordable card in the middle segment;
                                                                                • new process technology;
                                                                                • new memory;
                                                                                • many outlets.

                                                                                Cons:

                                                                                • 128 bit bus;
                                                                                • the presence of only modern connection ports.

                                                                                Palit GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Dual

                                                                                Palit engineers are on course to deliver one of the cheapest GTX 1660 Ti cards on the market. The lack of backlighting, strict design and minimalism allowed the company to focus on technical specifications. Unlike the regular 1660, this card has 1536 stream processors and 96 texture units with 6 GB of video memory and an extended 192-bit bus. Equipped with a good heatsink and heat pipes to improve heat dissipation. Two 90mm fans with medium noise level are responsible for improving cooling. Thanks to the new GPU microarchitecture and high clock speeds, the graphics card is fast enough to provide smooth gameplay in all popular games of 2015-2019 at 1920×1080 resolution at maximum graphics settings. However, at high settings you can play in 2K, but not everywhere. Equipped with three interface ports (HDMI 2.0b, DVI-D, DisplayPort 1.4) and supports the connection of displays up to 8K.

                                                                                Pros:

                                                                                • low price compared to other vendors;
                                                                                • connect up to 3 8K monitors;
                                                                                • low operating temperatures.

                                                                                Cons:

                                                                                • noise level.

                                                                                Palit GeForce RTX 3060 Dual V1 LHR

                                                                                Finally got to cards with RT support. One of the most affordable high-performance mid-range gaming graphics cards of the current year, as you understand, is based on the Nvidia GA106 GPU. The possibilities of mining cryptocurrencies, in particular Ethereum, are limited at the hardware level. The cooling system is represented by three heat pipes and two reinforced fans. At idle or minimal loads, the fans are completely switched off, which increases comfort of use and reduces noise. The amount of video memory has been increased to 12 GB, frequency 15000 MHz at 192-bit bus. A prerequisite for running the card is a 550 W power supply with 10% power reserve and an additional 8-pin power supply. The card is aimed at mid-level gaming configurations for monitors in FullHD or WQHD resolution.

                                                                                Pluses:

                                                                                • increased video memory;
                                                                                • 80% more general purpose processors;
                                                                                • mining limitation.

                                                                                Cons;

                                                                                • fewer RT cores and texture units compared to RTX.

                                                                                ZOTAC GeForce RTX 2060 GAMING

                                                                                ZOTAC’s solution deserves special attention in our list of good graphics cards, which has 1920 universal processors and 120 texture units. To implement RT technology, the compute unit contains 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores, which makes it possible to enable ray tracing at Full HD resolution without a significant impact on performance. The amount of video memory, its frequency and bus are similar to the GTX 1660 Ti and we will not focus on them. Due to the new technology, heat dissipation has increased to 160 W, and a 500 W block with a power reserve of 10-15% of the required is now required to start the system. For additional protection of the board from the rear, a massive backplate is provided, made in the corporate style of the company.

                                                                                Pros:

                                                                                • presence of RT cores;
                                                                                • improved heat dissipation;
                                                                                • low cost relative to other vendors;
                                                                                • simple and pleasant design.

                                                                                Cons:

                                                                                • fan quality.

                                                                                Asus GeForce RTX 3060 TUF Gaming V2 OC LHR

                                                                                A great choice if you have a budget and want to overclock your graphics. The model is clearly not the most affordable three-fan video card, but its reliability and quiet operation bypass all analogues. Works on the PCI-E Gen4 x16 interface, is fully compatible with its previous version PCI-E Gen3 and can be used to upgrade existing gaming PCs. It will provide a comfortable frame rate in any modern projects at maximum graphics settings and Full HD resolution. The video card is based on the Nvidia GA106 graphics processor, created according to the 8 nm process technology and working in conjunction with 12 GB GDDR6 memory at 192-bit bus. Powerful cooling is achieved through a massive heatsink, three fans with hydrodynamic bearings and an extensive system of heat pipes.

                                                                                Pros:

                                                                                • excellent cooling;
                                                                                • low noise;
                                                                                • elegant lighting;
                                                                                • powerful backplate.

                                                                                Cons:

                                                                                • slightly overpriced.

                                                                                The best gaming graphics cards

                                                                                The best products for building high-performance gaming systems with several years to spare.

                                                                                Asus Radeon RX 6800 XT TUF GAMING OC

                                                                                Another pre-top video card from ASUS with proprietary three-section cooling. For power, 2 8 + 8-pin connectors and a power supply unit from 750-800 W are required. 16 GB of video memory at 16000 MHz is enough for any projects that can be played on 4 monitors in 8K resolution. The end plate houses only modern HDMI and DisplayPort ports. Due to the powerful cooling system, the video card occupies three slots and does not fit into many standard boxes. Multiple heat pipes paired with three fans provide efficient heat dissipation. Its large weight can be a problem during installation, it is advisable to purchase special clamps or supports.

                                                                                Pros:

                                                                                • powerful cooling;
                                                                                • 16 GB VRAM;
                                                                                • Pleasant, minimalist lighting.

                                                                                Cons:

                                                                                • massive model.

                                                                                Asus GeForce RTX 3070 Noctua OC

                                                                                ASUS has worked closely with Noctua to develop a truly powerful graphics card with several features. The appearance is designed in the design of the eyes of an owl with a distinctive creamy brown color scheme. The thick radiator is equipped with only two large fans, but what! Noctua branded turntables have low noise and easily cope with their tasks, on a par with three conventional fans. The metal backplate at the back is equipped with a hole for through blowing. As for the board itself, everything is standard — 8 GB of video memory with a frequency of 14000 MHz with a bus width of 256 bits. The recommended power of the power supply is from 750 watts with additional power supply for 8+8 pins.

                                                                                Pros:

                                                                                • very quiet model;
                                                                                • massive radiator;
                                                                                • compact dimensions;
                                                                                • unusual design.

                                                                                Cons:

                                                                                • installation problems;
                                                                                • is hard to find commercially.

                                                                                ASRock Radeon RX 6900 XT OC Formula 16GB

                                                                                This is ASRock’s premium AMD graphics card. It has more modest characteristics than its competitors from Nvidia, but it is also more pleasant for the price. Built on 7nm process technology. Despite the large amount of video memory of 16 GB, the bus is only 256 bits at a memory frequency of 16000 MHz. The video processor frequency of 2125 MHz is one of the highest on the market. To run, you will need a 24-pin additional power supply and a power supply of at least 1000 watts. She also has RT cores. There are 80 of them and they are enough to reproduce realistic pictures on the monitor. There are 3 DisplayPort ports and 1 HDMI for connectivity. Unlike Nvidia, G-sync, Physics and Hairworks technologies are used here, which will increase the performance of this model in the future.

                                                                                Pluses:

                                                                                • good overclocking of the video core;
                                                                                • large amount of video memory;
                                                                                • is a good value.

                                                                                Cons:

                                                                                • lack of DLSS and ray tracing.

                                                                                MSI GeForce RTX 3080 GAMING Z TRIO 10G LHR

                                                                                Another powerful gaming graphics card with 10 GB of VRAM. The model is equipped with a hardware system for blocking the mining of the Ethereum cryptocurrency and other algorithms used for mining altcoins. Designed for demanding gamers, e-sports players and enthusiasts who need a comfortable high frame rate in any project with a margin for several years ahead. It is based on the top-end graphics processor Nvidia GA102, which functions in conjunction with graphics memory. Hardware-accelerated RTX effects and intelligent DLSS scaling based on ML algorithms are involved in building a realistic picture. High heat dissipation of 370 W led to the installation of a powerful three-section air cooling system.

                                                                                Pros:

                                                                                • cold GPU;
                                                                                • powerful cooling;
                                                                                • high performance;
                                                                                • two types of BIOS.

                                                                                Cons:

                                                                                • no.

                                                                                MSI GeForce RTX 3090 VENTUS 3X

                                                                                MSI’s best gaming graphics card of 2022 is the GeForce RTX 3090 VENTUS 3X. It is the most balanced among similar models. Factory overclocking eliminates the need to do it yourself. The proprietary cooling system consists of several heat pipes, an aluminum heatsink and three fans. The Nvidia GA102 graphics chip is equipped with 2nd generation RT cores, enabling real-time ray tracing to render images for realistic reflections and light rendering. Additionally, it is worth noting the DLSS intelligent scaling technology, which guarantees excellent image quality when using ML technologies. The amount of video memory is 24 GB. The design uses the fastest memory to date — GDDR6X with a frequency of 19500 MHz. The bus width is 384 bits.

                                                                                Pros:

                                                                                • a record amount of video memory;
                                                                                • best GDDR6X memory;
                                                                                • 2nd generation RT cores.

                                                                                Cons:

                                                                                • no.

                                                                                How to choose a good graphics card for your computer?

                                                                                First, I would like to highlight a few basic recommendations for those who do not know how to choose a video card for a PC, after which we will try to answer popular questions:

                                                                                1. Cost. If there is a question about saving, take the cheapest card that is available in your store. Prices will not drop any time soon and while many advise to wait, we recommend buying, playing and mining if you wish.
                                                                                2. Cooling type. Avoid graphics cards with 1 fan. The exceptions are the GT 1030, GTX 1050 Ti and their counterparts from AMD. Trying to squeeze an RTX 2060 or 3060 into a compact size results in intermittent overheating and rapid fan wear. As for the top models, we recommend three-fan models as the most reliable ones. Variants with turbines and evaporation chambers will hum and constantly heat up. If we consider models with water blocks, then the quality of the circuits themselves and complete coolants leave much to be desired.
                                                                                3. You can sacrifice the backlight in the video card, but not the cooling. Buy video cards with good cooling to avoid overheating and burnout. Change the thermal interface and thermal pads regularly.
                                                                                4. Compatible. Before buying a video card, check if the power supply meets the stated requirements. If you are only planning to buy a PSU, then you should start from the total consumption of the system with a margin of 30-40% in case of an upgrade or problems with electricity.

                                                                                Should I buy an RTX 3090?

                                                                                Does it make sense to buy AMD graphics cards?

                                                                                What about the GTX 1000 line?

                                                                                How are the RX 570, 580 and 590 doing?

                                                                                How often should the graphics card be serviced?

                                                                                What is the best video card to buy in Ukraine?

                                                                                Given the current trends, we have divided our rating into two classes of models. If you don’t know which graphics card to buy, start with the targets:

                                                                                1. Best Premium Gaming Graphics Card — Gigabyte Geforce RTX 3060 Ti;
                                                                                2. Inexpensive model with good power — Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1650 D6 OC 4G;
                                                                                3. Best Budget Gaming Graphics Card — MSI GeForce GTX 1650 D6 VENTUS;
                                                                                4. A good model in terms of price and quality is the MSI GeForce RTX 2070 Super Gaming X. this kind of PC accessories.

                                                                                  Best video cards, top 10 ranking of good video cards in 2022