Hamartia Antidote
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Since Nvidia and AMD dominate the market I’ll put this article in this forum
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-best-graphics-cards/
It's a great time to be choosing the best graphics card for your gaming PC. With Nvidia and AMD scrapping it out for your attention all throughout the summer, there are a wealth of options available for all types of build, whether you're looking to create a 4K powerhouse, or just have your favorite games running silky smooth at 120 fps on high settings. We now have all Nvidia's enhanced 'Super' cards available to buy, and while they haven't made massive leaps in performance, they do offer better bang for your buck. What's more, Nvidia's slightly older GPUs—the original 20-series cards—are now going cheaper, so you can often get a decent bargain on graphics cards that are less than a year old.
Our list of the best graphics cards has been updated to include the 2080 Super (along with the lower-spec Supers), and the new Radeon models. While there are a few exceptions, broadly speaking the AMD cards offer decent value for those on a budget, whereas we're still recommending the top-end Nvidia cards for beefy gaming builds. Sure, at the top-end, the RX 5700XT is a fantastic card that can hold its own against the 2080, and at the lower end the 1660 is a great option for lower-budget builds, so you have plenty of options regardless of whether you want AMD or Nvidia. While they're still likely to be the most expensive part of your build, the days of truly over-priced GPUs are gone (for now), so it's a great time to boost your rig and futureproof it for the next few years.
We've got a list of the best graphics cards below, along with the cheapest prices on each of them. If you want an exhaustive list of all modern GPUs, check out our full graphics card hierarchy.
1. Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti
The best graphics card in 2019
GPU Cores: 4,352 | Base Clock: 1,350MHz | Boost Clock: 1,545MHz | GFLOPS: 13,448 | Memory: 11GB GDDR6 | Memory Clock: 14 GT/s | Memory Bandwidth: 616GB/s
Fastest graphics card around
Ray tracing and deep learning tech
More developers moving to embrace ray tracing
Extravagantly priced
2080 Super has closed the power gap
Nvidia's GeForce RTX 2080 Ti is the latest and most potent GPU around, and it's also one of the largest consumer GPUs ever produced. The Turing TU102 is 60 percent larger than the Pascal GP102 in the 1080 Ti, with 55 percent more transistors. Those extra transistors went into more CUDA cores, but Nvidia didn't stop there, adding in Tensor cores to help accelerate deep learning algorithms like DLSS, plus RT cores to accelerate ray tracing.
There are plenty of other enhancements in the Turing architecture as well, but if you want the best, be prepared to shell out: the cheapest 2080 Ti cards start at $999, with many selling for $1,199 and up. Technically there's also the Titan RTX, which more than doubles the price of the 2080 Ti, but it's more of a prosumer card that anything we'd recommend for pure gaming purposes.
If you're looking for the best value, forget about the new RTX cards. On the other hand, if you're eyeing a 4k 144Hz HDR G-Sync display and you want the absolute fastest graphics card around, this is the card for you. You could even try adding a second card and using an NVLink connector, assuming you just won the lottery. (Note that the current ray tracing enabled games do not support multi-GPU with DXR (DirectX Raytracing) enabled, so we don't recommend this!) We're unlikely to see anything substantially faster for at least a year, so you'll be able to sit comfortably at the top of the pecking order for a while.
The biggest issue with DXR and RTX hardware right now is that lack of games, although this problem is getting less and less significant. There were a few major games when these cards first launched (Battlefield 5, Assetto Corsa Competezione, Metro Exodus, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider), plus a few tech demos (Quake 2 with RT) and some overseas titles (Justice). But with Unreal Engine and Unity both supporting DXR, we should start seeing more ray tracing games later this year, and early next - Cyberpunk 2077 and the Call of Duty reboot have already announced they'll support ray tracing, with Control, Wolfenstein: Youngblood, recently adding it for their launches.
(Image credit: Future)
2. AMD Radeon RX 570 4GB
The best graphics card for 1080p on a budget
GPU Cores: 2,048 | Base Clock: 1,168MHz | Boost Clock: 1,244MHz | GFLOPS: 5,095 | Memory: 4GB GDDR5 | Memory Clock: 7 GT/s | Memory Bandwidth: 224GB/s
Good for 1080p gaming
Often faster in DX12
'Budget' pricing
Uses more power than GTX 1660/1060
Only 4GB VRAM
While nowhere near the top of our list for power, this is a superb value pick if you're looking for performance on a budget. AMD's Polaris architecture has been around a few years, and while it's beginning to show its age, it's also significantly cheaper now than when it launched. It's an excellent card to tackle the current 1080p era of gaming, and if you're still leaning on integrated graphics or an older card, it's a cheap upgrade.
Overall, the RX 570 4GB typically comes out slightly ahead of the GTX 1650 4GB. It does draw more power than Nvidia's Turing-in-a-GTX-shell 16-series of cards and the 1060, but it can also regularly be had for $30-40 less than either of Nvidia's closer competitors.
Most desktops are more than capable of running this 150W card without any difficulty, though you'll need at least a 6-pin power connector, or possibly an 8-pin connector. Sales routinely drop the price of RX 570 4GB cards to $110-$120, so as long as your PSU is up to snuff, the RX 570 pretty much kills off the market for anything lower. If you're building a budget PC or upgrading from an older, outdated GPU, the RX 570 is a great starting point.
3. Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super [/paste:font]
The best graphics card for 4K at a (fairly) reasonable price
GPU Cores: 3,072 | Base Clock: 1,650MHz | Boost Clock: 1,815MHz | GFLOPS: 11,151 | Memory: 8GB GDDR6 | Memory Clock: 15.5 GT/s | Memory Bandwidth: 496GB/s
Fantastic 1440p performance and respectable 4K
Ray tracing and deep learning
Fastest GDDR6 clocks available
No groundbreaking new feature
Only slightly outperforms the vanilla 2080
Sure, the RTX 2080 Ti is the fastest graphics card and has all sorts of cool and potentially useful features, but at the current prices it's a tough pill to swallow. Dropping down to the brand new RTX 2080 Super will get you still excellent performance—it's the second fastest consumer GPU, edging out the base 2080 and GTX 1080 Ti—and save you a bunch of cash, as the Founder's Edition retails for $700. And you still get the same ray tracing and deep learning (eg, DLSS) features, albeit not quite as many of each core type (though still more than the vanilla 2080).
The one major caveat right now is that we're still waiting for more universal adoption of ray tracing and DLSS. We've got Battlefield 5, Metro Exodus, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and Control (with unreleased games like Cyberpunk 2077 and the Call of Duty reboot recently climbing on the bandwagon). The RTX 2080 Super can run all of those games with ray tracing, though if you're looking for 4K Ultra and 60FPS the Super isn't quite there. That said, it can deliver very playable frame rates in the vast majority of triple-A titles at 4K, though on the extreme end you may need to tweak some settings down (Metro Exodus for instance, with its taxing global illumination ray tracing, is a strain). Even with a $700 GPU, 1440p typically works best at slightly reduced ray tracing quality mode and with DLSS enabled.
4. Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super
The best graphics card for solid 4K RTX performance and price
GPU Cores: 2,560 | Base Clock: 1,605MHz | Boost Clock: 1,770MHz | GFLOPS: 9,062 | Memory: 8GB GDDR6 | Memory Clock: 14 GT/s | Memory Bandwidth: 448GB/s
Performance close to a 2080
Same starting price as the base 2070 (no FE premium)
Handles 4K at high/medium settings admirably
As with the 2060, a very iterative release
The ray tracing future may sound great, but what if you can't afford $700 or more on a graphics card? That's where Nvidia's RTX 2070 Super enters the picture, the middle option of the new lineup (with the 2080 Super launching on July 23rd). The 2070 Super retails at $499, the same price as the vanilla 2070 at launch, and offers a substantial performance improvement. That's still a lot of money for a graphics card, and the 2070 is only about tied with the previous generation 1080 Ti (see below), at least in games that don't support DLSS—which is still most games.
The RTX 2070 Super moves to the TU104 chip from the base version's TU106, enables more cores, and increases clockspeeds. The performance bump is pretty predictable but also very welcome when it doesn't come with an increase in price. As a play to stay ahead of AMD's RX 5700 and 5700 XT launch, it's very convincing, though as a new product stack it's not earth-shaking.
The 2070 Super can attack triple-A games at 4K if you're willing to turn down graphics settings to medium or high, and it does an excellent job of pushing more than 60 FPS at QHD. Needless to say, if you're got an incredibly high refresh monitor or TV, you can squeeze some very high rates out at 1080p Ultra. The 2070 Super may not be a revolution, but it's an excellent card at a very convincing price.
5. Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Super [/paste:font]
The best graphics card for 1440p and 144hz FHD performance
GPU Cores: 2,176 | Base Clock: 1,470MHz | Boost Clock: 1,650MHz | GFLOPS: 7,181 | Memory: 8GB GDDR6 | Memory Clock: 14 GT/s | Memory Bandwidth: 448GB/s
Great for 1080p and 1440p gaming
Affordably priced RTX features
Effectively replaces the 2070 for $100 less
Extremely iterative
The best graphics card isn't simply the fastest graphics card, or the cheapest graphics card. Instead, the best graphics card needs to balance performance, price, and features. There are many great graphics cards, but for a great GPU that won't break the bank, Nvidia's RTX 2060 Super is probably the best option. It delivers performance roughly equal to a vanilla RTX 2070 but retails for $100 less.
If you want to play games at 1080p or 1440p on a 144Hz display, the RTX 2060 has the chops to handle most games at close to high to ultra quality. It's more powerful than a 1080 but costs less, and is nearly twice as fast as an RX 570.
For DXR and ray tracing games, 1080p with DLSS often works well, and in a few cases 1440p with DLSS. Don't be shy about turning the ray tracing setting down a notch as well, as in most games so far there's not much visual difference between ultra and high quality DXR modes.
(Image credit: ©AMD)
6. AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT
The best graphics card for those who crave AMD efficiency
GPU Cores: 2,560 | Base Clock: 1,605MHz | Boost Clock: 1,905MHz | GFLOPS: 9,754 | Memory: 8GB GDDR6 | Memory Clock: 14 GT/s | Memory Bandwidth: 448GB/s
Outperforms the 2060 Super for the same price
Efficient new RDNA architecture
No ray tracing hardware or driver support
Runs a bit hot
After a bevy of leaks, gossip, and rampant speculation, Radeon's Navi 10 GPU is finally out in the wild, with three RX 5700 models leading the charge. The 5700 XT is technically the middle offering, between the base 5700 and the 5700 XT 50th Anniversary Edition, and takes full advantage of the shiny new RDNA architecture update and a capacious 8GB of GDDR6 to deliver performance just ahead of Nvidia's 2060 Super.
The 5700 XT is a fantastic card if you're looking to push really high frame rates on on a high refresh display at 1080p, or you crave a stable 60(ish) FPS at QHD. With AMD's last minute price drop (knocking the 5700 XT down to $399), it's an extremely viable alternative to Nvidia's 2060 refresh.
It may lack dedicated hardware (or driver support) for ray tracing and DLSS, but in terms of sheer in-game performance, it edges out the 2060 Super by a narrow margin. If you're not overly concerned about DXR (or Vulcan-RT) support, or if you're squarely in Red Team's camp, the 5700 XT is an easy recommend—especially if you're upgrading from a card that's a couple of generations old. It's slightly below the 2060 Super on our list because of that lack of ray-tracing support but, really, it's tied for fifth.
7. GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB [/paste:font]
The best graphics card for mainstream gaming
GPU Cores: 1,536 | Base Clock: 1,500MHz | Boost Clock: 1,770MHz | GFLOPS: 5,437 | Memory: 6GB GDDR6 | Memory Clock: 12 GT/s | Memory Bandwidth: 288GB/s
Excellent performance at 1080p
Very efficient design
Only 6GB VRAM
No RTX features
A more recent GPU from Nvidia, the GTX 1660 Ti is an odd departure for the new Turing architecture as Nvidia removed the ray tracing and deep learning hardware that has so far been the focus of a lot of hype, not to mention a little controversy. But along with dropping those features Nvidia delivers a lower priced and impressively efficient design. It mostly takes over from the previous GTX 1060 cards, with more bandwidth and better performance at a similar price. In fact, it's almost a direct replacement in performance for the GTX 1070.
There are a few minor drawbacks, however, like sticking with 6GB of VRAM. Yes, the GDDR6 memory delivers 50 percent more bandwidth than the 1060 6GB GDDR5, but some newer games are starting to push beyond 6GB at some settings. There's also the missing RTX features. Ray tracing and DLSS might not seem like such a big deal right now, but $70 more gets you the faster and potentially more capable RTX 2060 Super. But if you don't want to go above $300, the GTX 1660 Ti is a great graphics card.
8. Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 6GB [/paste:font]
The best graphics card for Turing architecture at a very low price
GPU Cores: 1,408 | Base Clock: 1,530MHz | Boost Clock: 1,785MHz | GFLOPS: 5,027 | Memory: 6GB GDDR5 | Memory Clock: 8 GT/s | Memory Bandwidth: 192GB/s
Good price and performance
Efficient and quiet
Needs lower settings in some games
Not a massive improvement over the 1060
The arrival of Nvidia's new GeForce GTX 1660has basically ended the era of the GTX 1060 as the most popular mainstream gaming solution. Or at least, the 1060 cards are no longer in contention, as they've been discontinued, though tens of millions were sold.
For roughly the same price as the outgoing 1060 6GB, the new 1660 boosts performance by about 10-15 percent. That puts it ahead of the RX 580 and tied with the RX 590, and it's a more efficient card as well. You'll typically only need a single 6-pin connection to power the GTX 1660.
The loss of 2GB VRAM relative to the RX 590/580 isn't really a concern in most games, especially at 1080p, which is where these cards do best. 1440p is possible, but only at sometimes significantly lower quality settings. But while Nvidia wins on efficiency, the RX 580 and 570 remain exceptional values for budget-minded gamers.
9. AMD Radeon RX 590 [/paste:font]
The best graphics card of AMD's mid-tier
GPU Cores: 2,304 | Base Clock: 1,469MHz | Boost Clock: 1,545MHz | GFLOPS: 7,120 | Memory: 8GB GDDR5 | Memory Clock: 8 GT/s | Memory Bandwidth: 256GB/s
Good value and performance for 1080p
8GB of VRAM
Uses more power than GTX 1660
Same old Polaris architecture
Originally a $280 graphics card, the RX 590 now routinely sells for $220. That makes a world of difference in value, and performance is still good. The GTX 1660 is roughly tied with the RX 590, at the same price, and it's a more efficient card. However, there are games where the 6GB on the Nvidia card can be a bit limiting. We rate the RX 590 just ahead of the 1660 for performance, though that's splitting hairs.
Compared to the older RX 580 8GB, the new revision has higher clockspeeds that boost performance by 15 percent. That's thanks to a refined '12nm' process, as otherwise the architecture remains effectively the same. The price is also about 20 percent higher, but if you're looking at total system cost and not just the graphics card, we recommend faster GPUs even if they cost more. Just make sure you have a PSU with a the necessary 8-pin and 6-pin power connections that most 590 cards use.
10. AMD Radeon RX 5700 [/paste:font]
The best graphics card for frames/dollar
GPU Cores: 2,304 | Base Clock: 1,465MHz | Boost Clock: 1,725MHz | GFLOPS: 7,949 | Memory: 8GB GDDR6 | Memory Clock: 14 GT/s | Memory Bandwidth: 448GB/s
Excellent performance at FHD and QHD medium-high
Uses less power than the 5700 XT
Great price for a mid-tier card
Lacks ray tracing support
No marquee feature
The launch of the 5000-series of cards is a landmark moment for AMD, which has been struggling to find its footing in the graphics card market in the face of Nvidia's dominance. While its previous RX cards have been aggressively priced and allowed AMD to maintain a foothold in the budget space, the mid- and high-tier range has been all Green Team for the past generation plus.
The 5700 and 5700 XT radically change that dynamic. In them, AMD has a card with the price and performance to genuinely challenge Nvidia's RTX offerings (including the new Super launch), not in small part due to the last second price cut AMD announced just before launch. At $349, with performance exceeding that of the vanilla 2060 by 10% or more, the 5700 is an excellent value even in the face of Nvidia's Super counterpunch.
The three core components that make this such a massive event for AMD's lineup are the Navi 10 GPU, the brand new RDNA architecture, and the 7nm process. While the 5000-series isn't the first deployment of a 7nm GPU (after the Radeon VII and Vega 20), it's easily the most impressive, and certainly the most important for gamers. While the 5700 may lack marquee features like ray tracing or DLSS support, in terms of base performance at this price point it's currently head of the class.
How we test graphics cards and performance
While the CPU is still the 'brain' of your PC, dozens of games every year will push your graphics card to its limits. It's the component you'll want to upgrade most frequently, but if you buy the right card, it should last you at least two years. For gaming systems, it's also likely the most expensive part in your build. On a practical budget, it's critical to find the graphics card with the best ratio of price to performance. That's why we've previously looked at cards in the $300/£250 range, though the best values are currently either above or below that mark.
For raw performance, Nvidia's RTX 2080 Ti is a killer card, easily outperforming all older cards. It's also modestly overclockable, quiet, and reasonably efficient. But it costs an arm and a leg. You can argue about whether you really need ultra quality or what resolution to run, but your wallet will likely end up pointing you at cards in the $200-$350 range. That's why the RTX 2060 Super is such an impressive card, even if it's not the fastest new kid on the block.
We recommend the RTX 2060 Super, RTX 2070 Super, or maybe the RX 5700 XT to most—but not all—PC gamers. They're not the only options worth considering. Performance scales with price as you move up the ladder, but near the top you get greatly diminishing returns. The same goes for moving down to the ladder, though: go too low and while the price might look good, performance could leave you wanting. So we factor in all of these elements when reviewing and recommending graphics cards.
Do you need a new graphics card?
If you're doubtful that your current PC is fast enough to warrant purchasing a better graphics card, I have some data for you. Even with the fastest graphics card around, running at a resolution that puts more of the burden on your CPU (1080p ultra), there's often only a minor improvement in gaming performance. Yes, truly old CPUs are going to struggle, but going from a Core i7-4770K to a Core i7-8700K only improves gaming performance by 20 percent on average, at 1080p ultra.
What happens if you use a graphics card that's 20-30 percent slower than an RTX 2080? Your CPU becomes even less of a factor. If you have at least 8GB of system memory and a Core i7-4770K or better CPU, you should be fine with everything up to about the GTX 1070 Ti / RX Vega 56 level of performance. We wouldn't recommend buying an i7-4770K these days, however, so when it comes time to upgrade look at our choice for the best CPU for gaming.
Don't be fooled into thinking VRAM capacity is more important than the GPU, either. It can be a factor, but slower GPUs with 4GB VRAM usually can't handle settings that actually need 4GB VRAM, and games that need 8GB will also tend to favor GPUs closer to the RTX 2080 than the RX 580. There's also very little (if any) discernible difference in most games when switching from 2GB to 4GB textures, never mind 4GB to 8GB. All the cards we've selected have at least 4GB, which is more than sufficient for high quality, and it's usually enough for ultra settings as well.
Testing graphics cards
Our graphics card recommendations are based on our own extensive benchmarks and testing, and then factoring in the price. We have benchmark data for the complete range of Nvidia and AMD graphics cards, including all the RTX 20-series, GTX 10-series and AMD Radeon VII, RX Vega, RX 5000 and RX 500 series. We've previously looked at the R9 Fury/300/200 series and GTX 900/700 series, but due to time constraints and availability we're no longer actively testing most of these cards. However, I've included one or two representatives from each generation as a point of reference.
A WORD ABOUT SLI AND CROSSFIRE
If you're looking for maximum performance, you can run two cards in SLI or CrossFire. However, it's become increasingly common for major games to completely ignore multi-GPU users. That includes all DXR games. Still, if you want two GPUs, it's an option, and these days we'd worry less about dual x16 connections (ie, X299) and more about the CPU. Our testing indicates the i9-9900K or i7-8700K generally beat out the AMD Ryzen and X299 CPUs for multi-GPU.
Graphics performance isn't the only consideration. The quality of game drivers and other features supported by the card are important. The card's noise level, power draw, and temperature matter, too. Thankfully, nearly all modern cards are fairly quiet, even under load, and temperatures are within the acceptable range as well, though Nvidia still has an advantage when it comes to power.
We test each card on a high-end PC at 1080p medium, 1080p ultra, 1440p ultra, and 4K with ultra/high settings. We take the results from fifteen games, mostly newer releases, using the 'best' API for each GPU on each game. That means low-level APIs are used for AMD cards if they're available, while DX12/Vulkan are only used in certain games for Nvidia cards.
Here's how the cards stack up in terms of average and minimum frame rates across these games. You can see individual game charts including most of these GPUs in our GTX 1650 review.
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-best-graphics-cards/
It's a great time to be choosing the best graphics card for your gaming PC. With Nvidia and AMD scrapping it out for your attention all throughout the summer, there are a wealth of options available for all types of build, whether you're looking to create a 4K powerhouse, or just have your favorite games running silky smooth at 120 fps on high settings. We now have all Nvidia's enhanced 'Super' cards available to buy, and while they haven't made massive leaps in performance, they do offer better bang for your buck. What's more, Nvidia's slightly older GPUs—the original 20-series cards—are now going cheaper, so you can often get a decent bargain on graphics cards that are less than a year old.
Our list of the best graphics cards has been updated to include the 2080 Super (along with the lower-spec Supers), and the new Radeon models. While there are a few exceptions, broadly speaking the AMD cards offer decent value for those on a budget, whereas we're still recommending the top-end Nvidia cards for beefy gaming builds. Sure, at the top-end, the RX 5700XT is a fantastic card that can hold its own against the 2080, and at the lower end the 1660 is a great option for lower-budget builds, so you have plenty of options regardless of whether you want AMD or Nvidia. While they're still likely to be the most expensive part of your build, the days of truly over-priced GPUs are gone (for now), so it's a great time to boost your rig and futureproof it for the next few years.
We've got a list of the best graphics cards below, along with the cheapest prices on each of them. If you want an exhaustive list of all modern GPUs, check out our full graphics card hierarchy.
1. Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti
The best graphics card in 2019
GPU Cores: 4,352 | Base Clock: 1,350MHz | Boost Clock: 1,545MHz | GFLOPS: 13,448 | Memory: 11GB GDDR6 | Memory Clock: 14 GT/s | Memory Bandwidth: 616GB/s
Fastest graphics card around
Ray tracing and deep learning tech
More developers moving to embrace ray tracing
Extravagantly priced
2080 Super has closed the power gap
Nvidia's GeForce RTX 2080 Ti is the latest and most potent GPU around, and it's also one of the largest consumer GPUs ever produced. The Turing TU102 is 60 percent larger than the Pascal GP102 in the 1080 Ti, with 55 percent more transistors. Those extra transistors went into more CUDA cores, but Nvidia didn't stop there, adding in Tensor cores to help accelerate deep learning algorithms like DLSS, plus RT cores to accelerate ray tracing.
There are plenty of other enhancements in the Turing architecture as well, but if you want the best, be prepared to shell out: the cheapest 2080 Ti cards start at $999, with many selling for $1,199 and up. Technically there's also the Titan RTX, which more than doubles the price of the 2080 Ti, but it's more of a prosumer card that anything we'd recommend for pure gaming purposes.
If you're looking for the best value, forget about the new RTX cards. On the other hand, if you're eyeing a 4k 144Hz HDR G-Sync display and you want the absolute fastest graphics card around, this is the card for you. You could even try adding a second card and using an NVLink connector, assuming you just won the lottery. (Note that the current ray tracing enabled games do not support multi-GPU with DXR (DirectX Raytracing) enabled, so we don't recommend this!) We're unlikely to see anything substantially faster for at least a year, so you'll be able to sit comfortably at the top of the pecking order for a while.
The biggest issue with DXR and RTX hardware right now is that lack of games, although this problem is getting less and less significant. There were a few major games when these cards first launched (Battlefield 5, Assetto Corsa Competezione, Metro Exodus, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider), plus a few tech demos (Quake 2 with RT) and some overseas titles (Justice). But with Unreal Engine and Unity both supporting DXR, we should start seeing more ray tracing games later this year, and early next - Cyberpunk 2077 and the Call of Duty reboot have already announced they'll support ray tracing, with Control, Wolfenstein: Youngblood, recently adding it for their launches.
(Image credit: Future)
2. AMD Radeon RX 570 4GB
The best graphics card for 1080p on a budget
GPU Cores: 2,048 | Base Clock: 1,168MHz | Boost Clock: 1,244MHz | GFLOPS: 5,095 | Memory: 4GB GDDR5 | Memory Clock: 7 GT/s | Memory Bandwidth: 224GB/s
Good for 1080p gaming
Often faster in DX12
'Budget' pricing
Uses more power than GTX 1660/1060
Only 4GB VRAM
While nowhere near the top of our list for power, this is a superb value pick if you're looking for performance on a budget. AMD's Polaris architecture has been around a few years, and while it's beginning to show its age, it's also significantly cheaper now than when it launched. It's an excellent card to tackle the current 1080p era of gaming, and if you're still leaning on integrated graphics or an older card, it's a cheap upgrade.
Overall, the RX 570 4GB typically comes out slightly ahead of the GTX 1650 4GB. It does draw more power than Nvidia's Turing-in-a-GTX-shell 16-series of cards and the 1060, but it can also regularly be had for $30-40 less than either of Nvidia's closer competitors.
Most desktops are more than capable of running this 150W card without any difficulty, though you'll need at least a 6-pin power connector, or possibly an 8-pin connector. Sales routinely drop the price of RX 570 4GB cards to $110-$120, so as long as your PSU is up to snuff, the RX 570 pretty much kills off the market for anything lower. If you're building a budget PC or upgrading from an older, outdated GPU, the RX 570 is a great starting point.
3. Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super [/paste:font]
The best graphics card for 4K at a (fairly) reasonable price
GPU Cores: 3,072 | Base Clock: 1,650MHz | Boost Clock: 1,815MHz | GFLOPS: 11,151 | Memory: 8GB GDDR6 | Memory Clock: 15.5 GT/s | Memory Bandwidth: 496GB/s
Fantastic 1440p performance and respectable 4K
Ray tracing and deep learning
Fastest GDDR6 clocks available
No groundbreaking new feature
Only slightly outperforms the vanilla 2080
Sure, the RTX 2080 Ti is the fastest graphics card and has all sorts of cool and potentially useful features, but at the current prices it's a tough pill to swallow. Dropping down to the brand new RTX 2080 Super will get you still excellent performance—it's the second fastest consumer GPU, edging out the base 2080 and GTX 1080 Ti—and save you a bunch of cash, as the Founder's Edition retails for $700. And you still get the same ray tracing and deep learning (eg, DLSS) features, albeit not quite as many of each core type (though still more than the vanilla 2080).
The one major caveat right now is that we're still waiting for more universal adoption of ray tracing and DLSS. We've got Battlefield 5, Metro Exodus, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and Control (with unreleased games like Cyberpunk 2077 and the Call of Duty reboot recently climbing on the bandwagon). The RTX 2080 Super can run all of those games with ray tracing, though if you're looking for 4K Ultra and 60FPS the Super isn't quite there. That said, it can deliver very playable frame rates in the vast majority of triple-A titles at 4K, though on the extreme end you may need to tweak some settings down (Metro Exodus for instance, with its taxing global illumination ray tracing, is a strain). Even with a $700 GPU, 1440p typically works best at slightly reduced ray tracing quality mode and with DLSS enabled.
4. Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super
The best graphics card for solid 4K RTX performance and price
GPU Cores: 2,560 | Base Clock: 1,605MHz | Boost Clock: 1,770MHz | GFLOPS: 9,062 | Memory: 8GB GDDR6 | Memory Clock: 14 GT/s | Memory Bandwidth: 448GB/s
Performance close to a 2080
Same starting price as the base 2070 (no FE premium)
Handles 4K at high/medium settings admirably
As with the 2060, a very iterative release
The ray tracing future may sound great, but what if you can't afford $700 or more on a graphics card? That's where Nvidia's RTX 2070 Super enters the picture, the middle option of the new lineup (with the 2080 Super launching on July 23rd). The 2070 Super retails at $499, the same price as the vanilla 2070 at launch, and offers a substantial performance improvement. That's still a lot of money for a graphics card, and the 2070 is only about tied with the previous generation 1080 Ti (see below), at least in games that don't support DLSS—which is still most games.
The RTX 2070 Super moves to the TU104 chip from the base version's TU106, enables more cores, and increases clockspeeds. The performance bump is pretty predictable but also very welcome when it doesn't come with an increase in price. As a play to stay ahead of AMD's RX 5700 and 5700 XT launch, it's very convincing, though as a new product stack it's not earth-shaking.
The 2070 Super can attack triple-A games at 4K if you're willing to turn down graphics settings to medium or high, and it does an excellent job of pushing more than 60 FPS at QHD. Needless to say, if you're got an incredibly high refresh monitor or TV, you can squeeze some very high rates out at 1080p Ultra. The 2070 Super may not be a revolution, but it's an excellent card at a very convincing price.
5. Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Super [/paste:font]
The best graphics card for 1440p and 144hz FHD performance
GPU Cores: 2,176 | Base Clock: 1,470MHz | Boost Clock: 1,650MHz | GFLOPS: 7,181 | Memory: 8GB GDDR6 | Memory Clock: 14 GT/s | Memory Bandwidth: 448GB/s
Great for 1080p and 1440p gaming
Affordably priced RTX features
Effectively replaces the 2070 for $100 less
Extremely iterative
The best graphics card isn't simply the fastest graphics card, or the cheapest graphics card. Instead, the best graphics card needs to balance performance, price, and features. There are many great graphics cards, but for a great GPU that won't break the bank, Nvidia's RTX 2060 Super is probably the best option. It delivers performance roughly equal to a vanilla RTX 2070 but retails for $100 less.
If you want to play games at 1080p or 1440p on a 144Hz display, the RTX 2060 has the chops to handle most games at close to high to ultra quality. It's more powerful than a 1080 but costs less, and is nearly twice as fast as an RX 570.
For DXR and ray tracing games, 1080p with DLSS often works well, and in a few cases 1440p with DLSS. Don't be shy about turning the ray tracing setting down a notch as well, as in most games so far there's not much visual difference between ultra and high quality DXR modes.
(Image credit: ©AMD)
6. AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT
The best graphics card for those who crave AMD efficiency
GPU Cores: 2,560 | Base Clock: 1,605MHz | Boost Clock: 1,905MHz | GFLOPS: 9,754 | Memory: 8GB GDDR6 | Memory Clock: 14 GT/s | Memory Bandwidth: 448GB/s
Outperforms the 2060 Super for the same price
Efficient new RDNA architecture
No ray tracing hardware or driver support
Runs a bit hot
After a bevy of leaks, gossip, and rampant speculation, Radeon's Navi 10 GPU is finally out in the wild, with three RX 5700 models leading the charge. The 5700 XT is technically the middle offering, between the base 5700 and the 5700 XT 50th Anniversary Edition, and takes full advantage of the shiny new RDNA architecture update and a capacious 8GB of GDDR6 to deliver performance just ahead of Nvidia's 2060 Super.
The 5700 XT is a fantastic card if you're looking to push really high frame rates on on a high refresh display at 1080p, or you crave a stable 60(ish) FPS at QHD. With AMD's last minute price drop (knocking the 5700 XT down to $399), it's an extremely viable alternative to Nvidia's 2060 refresh.
It may lack dedicated hardware (or driver support) for ray tracing and DLSS, but in terms of sheer in-game performance, it edges out the 2060 Super by a narrow margin. If you're not overly concerned about DXR (or Vulcan-RT) support, or if you're squarely in Red Team's camp, the 5700 XT is an easy recommend—especially if you're upgrading from a card that's a couple of generations old. It's slightly below the 2060 Super on our list because of that lack of ray-tracing support but, really, it's tied for fifth.
7. GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB [/paste:font]
The best graphics card for mainstream gaming
GPU Cores: 1,536 | Base Clock: 1,500MHz | Boost Clock: 1,770MHz | GFLOPS: 5,437 | Memory: 6GB GDDR6 | Memory Clock: 12 GT/s | Memory Bandwidth: 288GB/s
Excellent performance at 1080p
Very efficient design
Only 6GB VRAM
No RTX features
A more recent GPU from Nvidia, the GTX 1660 Ti is an odd departure for the new Turing architecture as Nvidia removed the ray tracing and deep learning hardware that has so far been the focus of a lot of hype, not to mention a little controversy. But along with dropping those features Nvidia delivers a lower priced and impressively efficient design. It mostly takes over from the previous GTX 1060 cards, with more bandwidth and better performance at a similar price. In fact, it's almost a direct replacement in performance for the GTX 1070.
There are a few minor drawbacks, however, like sticking with 6GB of VRAM. Yes, the GDDR6 memory delivers 50 percent more bandwidth than the 1060 6GB GDDR5, but some newer games are starting to push beyond 6GB at some settings. There's also the missing RTX features. Ray tracing and DLSS might not seem like such a big deal right now, but $70 more gets you the faster and potentially more capable RTX 2060 Super. But if you don't want to go above $300, the GTX 1660 Ti is a great graphics card.
8. Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 6GB [/paste:font]
The best graphics card for Turing architecture at a very low price
GPU Cores: 1,408 | Base Clock: 1,530MHz | Boost Clock: 1,785MHz | GFLOPS: 5,027 | Memory: 6GB GDDR5 | Memory Clock: 8 GT/s | Memory Bandwidth: 192GB/s
Good price and performance
Efficient and quiet
Needs lower settings in some games
Not a massive improvement over the 1060
The arrival of Nvidia's new GeForce GTX 1660has basically ended the era of the GTX 1060 as the most popular mainstream gaming solution. Or at least, the 1060 cards are no longer in contention, as they've been discontinued, though tens of millions were sold.
For roughly the same price as the outgoing 1060 6GB, the new 1660 boosts performance by about 10-15 percent. That puts it ahead of the RX 580 and tied with the RX 590, and it's a more efficient card as well. You'll typically only need a single 6-pin connection to power the GTX 1660.
The loss of 2GB VRAM relative to the RX 590/580 isn't really a concern in most games, especially at 1080p, which is where these cards do best. 1440p is possible, but only at sometimes significantly lower quality settings. But while Nvidia wins on efficiency, the RX 580 and 570 remain exceptional values for budget-minded gamers.
9. AMD Radeon RX 590 [/paste:font]
The best graphics card of AMD's mid-tier
GPU Cores: 2,304 | Base Clock: 1,469MHz | Boost Clock: 1,545MHz | GFLOPS: 7,120 | Memory: 8GB GDDR5 | Memory Clock: 8 GT/s | Memory Bandwidth: 256GB/s
Good value and performance for 1080p
8GB of VRAM
Uses more power than GTX 1660
Same old Polaris architecture
Originally a $280 graphics card, the RX 590 now routinely sells for $220. That makes a world of difference in value, and performance is still good. The GTX 1660 is roughly tied with the RX 590, at the same price, and it's a more efficient card. However, there are games where the 6GB on the Nvidia card can be a bit limiting. We rate the RX 590 just ahead of the 1660 for performance, though that's splitting hairs.
Compared to the older RX 580 8GB, the new revision has higher clockspeeds that boost performance by 15 percent. That's thanks to a refined '12nm' process, as otherwise the architecture remains effectively the same. The price is also about 20 percent higher, but if you're looking at total system cost and not just the graphics card, we recommend faster GPUs even if they cost more. Just make sure you have a PSU with a the necessary 8-pin and 6-pin power connections that most 590 cards use.
10. AMD Radeon RX 5700 [/paste:font]
The best graphics card for frames/dollar
GPU Cores: 2,304 | Base Clock: 1,465MHz | Boost Clock: 1,725MHz | GFLOPS: 7,949 | Memory: 8GB GDDR6 | Memory Clock: 14 GT/s | Memory Bandwidth: 448GB/s
Excellent performance at FHD and QHD medium-high
Uses less power than the 5700 XT
Great price for a mid-tier card
Lacks ray tracing support
No marquee feature
The launch of the 5000-series of cards is a landmark moment for AMD, which has been struggling to find its footing in the graphics card market in the face of Nvidia's dominance. While its previous RX cards have been aggressively priced and allowed AMD to maintain a foothold in the budget space, the mid- and high-tier range has been all Green Team for the past generation plus.
The 5700 and 5700 XT radically change that dynamic. In them, AMD has a card with the price and performance to genuinely challenge Nvidia's RTX offerings (including the new Super launch), not in small part due to the last second price cut AMD announced just before launch. At $349, with performance exceeding that of the vanilla 2060 by 10% or more, the 5700 is an excellent value even in the face of Nvidia's Super counterpunch.
The three core components that make this such a massive event for AMD's lineup are the Navi 10 GPU, the brand new RDNA architecture, and the 7nm process. While the 5000-series isn't the first deployment of a 7nm GPU (after the Radeon VII and Vega 20), it's easily the most impressive, and certainly the most important for gamers. While the 5700 may lack marquee features like ray tracing or DLSS support, in terms of base performance at this price point it's currently head of the class.
How we test graphics cards and performance
While the CPU is still the 'brain' of your PC, dozens of games every year will push your graphics card to its limits. It's the component you'll want to upgrade most frequently, but if you buy the right card, it should last you at least two years. For gaming systems, it's also likely the most expensive part in your build. On a practical budget, it's critical to find the graphics card with the best ratio of price to performance. That's why we've previously looked at cards in the $300/£250 range, though the best values are currently either above or below that mark.
For raw performance, Nvidia's RTX 2080 Ti is a killer card, easily outperforming all older cards. It's also modestly overclockable, quiet, and reasonably efficient. But it costs an arm and a leg. You can argue about whether you really need ultra quality or what resolution to run, but your wallet will likely end up pointing you at cards in the $200-$350 range. That's why the RTX 2060 Super is such an impressive card, even if it's not the fastest new kid on the block.
We recommend the RTX 2060 Super, RTX 2070 Super, or maybe the RX 5700 XT to most—but not all—PC gamers. They're not the only options worth considering. Performance scales with price as you move up the ladder, but near the top you get greatly diminishing returns. The same goes for moving down to the ladder, though: go too low and while the price might look good, performance could leave you wanting. So we factor in all of these elements when reviewing and recommending graphics cards.
Do you need a new graphics card?
If you're doubtful that your current PC is fast enough to warrant purchasing a better graphics card, I have some data for you. Even with the fastest graphics card around, running at a resolution that puts more of the burden on your CPU (1080p ultra), there's often only a minor improvement in gaming performance. Yes, truly old CPUs are going to struggle, but going from a Core i7-4770K to a Core i7-8700K only improves gaming performance by 20 percent on average, at 1080p ultra.
What happens if you use a graphics card that's 20-30 percent slower than an RTX 2080? Your CPU becomes even less of a factor. If you have at least 8GB of system memory and a Core i7-4770K or better CPU, you should be fine with everything up to about the GTX 1070 Ti / RX Vega 56 level of performance. We wouldn't recommend buying an i7-4770K these days, however, so when it comes time to upgrade look at our choice for the best CPU for gaming.
Don't be fooled into thinking VRAM capacity is more important than the GPU, either. It can be a factor, but slower GPUs with 4GB VRAM usually can't handle settings that actually need 4GB VRAM, and games that need 8GB will also tend to favor GPUs closer to the RTX 2080 than the RX 580. There's also very little (if any) discernible difference in most games when switching from 2GB to 4GB textures, never mind 4GB to 8GB. All the cards we've selected have at least 4GB, which is more than sufficient for high quality, and it's usually enough for ultra settings as well.
Testing graphics cards
Our graphics card recommendations are based on our own extensive benchmarks and testing, and then factoring in the price. We have benchmark data for the complete range of Nvidia and AMD graphics cards, including all the RTX 20-series, GTX 10-series and AMD Radeon VII, RX Vega, RX 5000 and RX 500 series. We've previously looked at the R9 Fury/300/200 series and GTX 900/700 series, but due to time constraints and availability we're no longer actively testing most of these cards. However, I've included one or two representatives from each generation as a point of reference.
A WORD ABOUT SLI AND CROSSFIRE
If you're looking for maximum performance, you can run two cards in SLI or CrossFire. However, it's become increasingly common for major games to completely ignore multi-GPU users. That includes all DXR games. Still, if you want two GPUs, it's an option, and these days we'd worry less about dual x16 connections (ie, X299) and more about the CPU. Our testing indicates the i9-9900K or i7-8700K generally beat out the AMD Ryzen and X299 CPUs for multi-GPU.
Graphics performance isn't the only consideration. The quality of game drivers and other features supported by the card are important. The card's noise level, power draw, and temperature matter, too. Thankfully, nearly all modern cards are fairly quiet, even under load, and temperatures are within the acceptable range as well, though Nvidia still has an advantage when it comes to power.
We test each card on a high-end PC at 1080p medium, 1080p ultra, 1440p ultra, and 4K with ultra/high settings. We take the results from fifteen games, mostly newer releases, using the 'best' API for each GPU on each game. That means low-level APIs are used for AMD cards if they're available, while DX12/Vulkan are only used in certain games for Nvidia cards.
Here's how the cards stack up in terms of average and minimum frame rates across these games. You can see individual game charts including most of these GPUs in our GTX 1650 review.
