The best graphics cards for gaming computers
The vast majority of people who want to buy a new graphics card to enhance the graphics capabilities of their PC, ask the same question before purchasing: which card has the best price / performance ratio?
Obviously the answer may vary depending on your budget, but beyond that, there are a numbers of factors to considers. Raw performance is importantly, but so are things like noises, heat dissipation, power, as well as user experience fashionglee and software .
With
this article, we want to clarify the difficult choice of finding a graphics
card for your gaming-oriented PC. We have tested almost every major GPU on
the market in recent years, from budget models of € 100, to the more advanced
ones that exceed € 2,000.
In
this way, we want to capture our knowledge in this advanced buying guide for
the best graphics on the market for PC gaming configurations ,
with recommendations on which graphics card to buy.
Firstly, you should know that there are custom versions of each of the graphics cards that are released by AMD or Nvidia. Thus, you can buy different models of GeForce GTX 3060 from EVGA, Asus, MSI or Zotac, among others.
Spending
more money means buying a graphics card that will allow you to carry out more graphics overclocking practices ,
with more advanced and robust cooling systems that allow maintaining the
adequate operating temperature to extend the usefull life of the product.
The best graphics cards for gaming PC
Asus ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1650 Super - Best Budget Graphics Card
It
comes with 4GB of ultra-fast GDDR6 memory and Nvidia's latest and greatest
Turing NVENC video encoder, something the original GTX 1650 lacked. And it
is that the Nvidia GPU is incredibly efficient in energy consumption without
forgetting being silent.
For
its installation on PC you will need a six-pin power connector to power the
card, being much more powerful than the sister that does not have the tag of
'Super', the GeForce GTX 1650 priced at only € 169.90.
The competition at AMD comes in the form of the Radeon RX 5500 XT that you can find with 4 or 8 GB of graphics memory at a price of € 190, although right now it is also very difficult to get availability.
Asus Dual GeForce GTX 1660 Super EVO OC - Best 1080p Graphics
The GeForce RTX 3060 has positioned
itself in the market as a most interesting option for those who want
performance at a still contained price point that does not shoot up and reduces
the possibilities of purchase.
Many
PC gamers continue to use somewhat more basic 1080p 60Hz monitors to play
games, with a solid combination of resolution, speed and affordability. It
is for them that this graphics card may be of interest.
Although
the aforementioned GeForce GTX 1650 Super and Radeon RX 5500 XT are the winners
in the budget range for 1080p gaming, the best graphics card to power those
displays is Nvidia's GeForce GTX 1660 Super.
It
has the same basic specifications as the GTX 1660 , but
the speeds of the GDDR6 memory are increased to the point that the performance
in games increases between 7 and 18% according to each case, which allows to
exceed 60 fps in the most cases.
Speaking
of percentages, it is also between 3 and 5% higher than the GTX 1660 Ti which
is not bad at all. In addition to the performance advantage, the one
analyzed here is very efficient compared to its AMD Radeon rivals.
Another
incentive to go for this model is that modern GeForce GPUs now work well with
the more affordable FreeSync-powered monitors, as well as the slightly more
expensive G-Sync display option.
The GeForce GTX 1660 Super's price and performance equation makes it an excellent choice over Nvidia's other GTX 1660 modes. If you have a somewhat more powerful monitor that supports higher frequencies of 120 or 144 Hz, consider buying the GeForce RTX 3060 .
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Founders Edition - Best 1440p card
If
you're looking to handle PC graphics on a 1440p display at over 60fps and more, Nvidia's GeForce
RTX 3060 Ti is an option that we consider impeccable for this
environment. We already did an individual article on where to buy the
card.
It's
faster than the latest-generation $ 800 + RTX 2080 Super, the second most
powerful GPU in the world until just a few months ago. That performance
combined with 8GB of GDDR6 memory makes the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti a fantastic
1440p gaming option.
It
surpasses the 60fps performance mark in all games tested at that resolution,
even with the most intense visual settings enabled. So it flies well
beyond that mark in various games and you should have no problem keeping 90fps
at 1440p.
It
arguably performs ray tracing much better than AMD's more expensive GPUs,
thanks in part to the use of Nvidia's DLSS 2.0 technology. It's capable of
playing well in 4K too, but the 8GB of memory could set it back in future 4K
games.
Also,
the GeForce RTX 3070 (and 3060 Ti) only have 8GB of GDDR6 memory so it may not
be enough for the 4K games of the future, but it is fine for 1440p in most
scenarios. Ubisoft's Watch Dogs:
Legion uses more than 8GB of VRAM at 1440p.
In this sense, the alternative would be to opt for the Radeon RX 6800 , a model for which AMD has accompanied 16 GB of GDDR6 memory. The Radeon RX 6700 XT is somewhat lower in price and memory, with 12GB of VRAM
GeForce RTX 3070 - Best Value 4K Graphics
Although the price of the most basic
model of the RTX 3070 graphics should start according to Nvidia at € 519, a
price that it sets and is reflected on the manufacturer's website, today it
will be difficult for you to buy this graphics model at a similar price.
In
fact, we have consulted the different variants of RTX 3070 that you can find in
stores like PcComponentes and you soon realize that the lowest price
corresponds to the 849 € of the Zotac GeForce RTX 3070 Twin Edge OC White
Edition with 8 GB GDDR6 .
This
card in this price range has no rival at AMD, as the RTX 30 series offers far
superior ray tracing performance, along with the raw power and improved
sampling carried out with DLSS 2.0.