GPU is the most important part of a gaming rig. It has a huge effect on how the games are rendered. It controls fps and resolution to a large extent and getting it right is very important.
You can have the best gaming CPU in town, but if the GPU is mediocre or cannot keep up with the processor, you will see a major dip in performance.
If you’re building a brand new gaming rig or just upgrading your graphics card, there are some excellent GPUs in the market currently and making a choice might seem difficult owing to the sheer variety that’s on offer.
There are a few things that you need to consider before making a purchase. Clock speed, VRAM, and memory on the technical side and price on the practical front. To make things easier for you, we have created a GPU hierarchy. If you don’t know what this means, you might want to find out what is VRAM. We also talk about VRAM in our article that explains how much RAM you need for gaming – just check the content table for a quick read.
This GPU hierarchy is developed with performance in mind. In essence, it’s a list of GPUs arranged in the descending order of their performance.
We have divided the list into a few categories. Each category has GPUs that perform and cost similarly.
Flagship GPUs
These GPUs are pretty much the best in the market right now. They are very expensive but perform very well.
Because these are the absolute best GPUs for gaming in the world, you can expect to play any game at 4K and 60 FPS. As the resolution goes down, the FPS will go higher. It is in this category that the latest advances in GPU technology are first implemented.
Most mainstream users have no use for these.
| GPU Model | Clock Speed | Memory | Memory Bus Width | Thermal Design Power |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nvidia Titan V | 1455 MHz | 12 GB HBM2 | 3072 bit | 250 W |
| Nvidia Titan RTX | 1770 MHz | 11 GB GDDR6 | 384 bit | 280 W |
Enthusiasts and Professional Gamers
The GPUs in this category are not as powerful as the previous ones but they don’t lag behind by much. You can expect to see about 20% dip in performance. The prices are lower as well.
They are not cheap by any means, though. In fact, these cards make up the top-end of mainstream GPUs. They are usually used by professional gamers and people who use graphic intensive applications. For example, you can see the one of the best 1080 ti cards listed at the 4th spot in our table.
| GPU Model | Clock Speed | Memory | Memory Bus Width | Thermal Design Power |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti | 1635 MHz | 11 GB GDDR6 | 352 bit | 260 W |
| Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 | 1800 MHz | 8 GB GDDR6 | 256 bit | 225 W |
| Nvidia GeForce Titan Xp | 1480 MHz | 12 GB DDR5X | 384 bit | 250 W |
| Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti | 1582 MHz | 8 GB GDDR5X | 350 bit | 250 W |
| AMD Radeon VII | 1750 MHz | 16 GB HBM2 | 4096 bit | 300 W |
High-end gaming GPUs
If you have been gaming for a long time and looking to upgrade to a high-end gaming rig, you’ll probably want something from this category. If you have budget limitations, you’ll be happy that you can find some of the best graphics cards under $300 right here on this list.
For a reasonable price, these GPUs offer excellent gaming performance. Nvidia is the most popular brand here as well, owing to the fact that AMD uses the HBM2 memory which is very expensive.
With these GPUs, you can expect to play most games in 4K between 40-60 FPS. Per usual, if resolution decreases, the FPS will increase.
The fact is, most gamers don’t buy super-expensive GPUs, either owing to budget limitations or to the fact that they aren’t professional gamers and have no use for that ‘extra performance’
| GPU Model | Clock Speed | Memory | Memory Bus Width | Thermal Design Power |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 | 1710 MHz | 8 GB DDR6 | 256 bit | 185 W |
| AMD Raedon RX Vega 64 | 1546 MHz | 8 GB HBM2 | 2048 bit | 180 W |
| Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 | 1733 MHz | 8 GB DDR5X | 256 bit | 295 W |
| AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 | 1471 MHz | 8 GB HBM2 | 2048 bit | 210 W |
| Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 | 1680 MHz | 6 GB DDR6 | 384 bit | 160 W |
Mainstream GPUs for Most Gamers
Casual gamers fall under this category as well. The GPUs listed in this category are reasonably priced and for that price, offer very good gaming performance.
At the very beginning of this table, we list the ‘Enthusiast GPUs’. Using one of them, you can play games in 4K at 60FPS without a hitch. The problem is, most gamers don’t use 4K gaming monitors. 1080p is, to this day, very much the standard.
At this resolution, most GPUs in this category are capable of rendering games at 40-60 FPS, which isn’t bad at all.
The price?
Most of these will cost about a quarter (or less) of the ‘Enthusiast’ products, making this the most hotly competed GPU category. The best mainstream GPUs are also often the highest-selling GPUs in the market at any given time.
| GPU Model | Clock Speed | Memory | Memory Bus Width | Thermal Design Power |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti | 1680 MHz | 6 GB GDDR6 | 192 bit | 150 W |
| AMD Radeon RX 590 8 GB | 1545 MHz | 8 GB GDDR5 | 256 bit | 225 W |
| Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 | 1683 MHz | 8 GB GDDR5 | 256 bit | 150 W |
| AMD Radeon RX 580 8 GB | 1340 MHz | 8 GB GDDR5 | 256 bit | 185 W |
| Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB | 1708 MHz | 6 GB GDDR5 | 192 bit | 120 W |
| Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB | 1708 MHz | 3 GB GDDR5 | 192 bit | 120 W |
| AMD Radeon RX 570 | 1244 MHz | 4 GB GDDR5 | 256 bit | 150 W |
Budget and Entry Level GPUs
If you don’t want to blow a hole in your pocket and you don’t do a lot of serious gaming, best GPUs under $150 are the way to go.
They’re inexpensive and can handle light gaming. Most of them can run games at around 60 FPS and 1080p. AAA titles will usually run around the 30-40 FPS mark at the same resolution.
| GPU Model | Clock Speed | Memory | Memory Bus Width | Thermal Design Power |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti | 1392 MHz | 4 GB GDDR5 | 128 bit | 75 W |
| AMD Radeon RX 560 | 1275 MHz | 4 GB GDDR5 | 128 bit | 80 W |
| Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 | 1455 MHz | 2 GB GDDR5 | 128 bit | 75 W |
| AMD Radeon RX 550 | 1183 MHz | 4 GB GDDR5 | 128 bit | 50 W |
| Nvidia GeForce GT 1030 | 1468 MHz | 2 GB GDDR5 | 64 bit | 30 W |
Should you just get the most expensive one you can afford?
No. Don’t do that.
Read the Buying Guide below to understand why it’s not the best way.
Buying Guide: GPUs
When looking to buy a GPU, there are a few things you should consider.
Monitor Resolution
This is perhaps the most important to keep in mind. A super-expensive GPU is no good if your monitor can’t make use of it. Plenty of monitors to this day have an upper limit of 1080p. If that’s the monitor, there’s no use in buying the Titan V. Your monitor cannot make use of the GPU.
The best gaming monitors today can render games at 4K. If you do have – plan to buy – such a monitor, flagship GPUs make sense.
CPU is important
It’s important to match your GPU and CPU in the hierarchy charts. That is, if you have a mid-range GPU, you need a mid-range CPU to harness all the gaming goodness. A quick glance at the CPU hierarchy list will clear things up for you.
Dual Cards Haven’t Really Caught On
Dual GPUs was supposed to be the next big thing in gaming. Well, that didn’t happen. Support for dual GPUs is going down and the best thing right now would be to buy one really good GPU.
Memory Matters
The VRAM numbers are very important. If you plan to game at 1080p – or maybe even 1440p – a 3 or 4 GB VRAM is sufficient. As the resolution goes up, so should the VRAM. For 4K gaming, you’ll need an 8GB card.
While we’re talking about memory, you should know that your system won’t be able to run high-end games without sufficient RAM. Even if you have the most expensive CPU and GPU on the market, you will also have to get the best RAM for gaming – at least 16 GB of it.
TDP
This is where most new PC builders usually go wrong. PSUs are very important. Calculate your energy needs very carefully.
GPUs need a lot of power. As the stress increases, so does the power consumption. Power bills are one thing, but if you don’t calculate your energy consumption correctly, your system might not even start.
These are some of the things that you should keep in mind before splurging on a GPU. To answer the question above, getting one high-end product is of no use. All components have to be in the same league if you want the best performance.
AMD vs Nvidia – which one to buy
Depends on a lot of things. The general agreement is that if you’re looking for a mid-range GPU, AMD is better choice than Intel.
It’s worth noting that the difference isn’t huge.
Also, as long as you have an x16 PCIe card, AMD GPUs are compatible with Intel processors as well. So, compatibility isn’t a problem you have to worry about.
However, AMD graphic cards are known to be very energy-hungry and it’s important to keep that in mind before you make a purchase.
As we go up the list here, the choice becomes easier. Nvidia makes brilliant high-end graphics cards and AMD isn’t even in the race in this segment.
Graphics Cards: Frequently Asked Questions
Buying a new GPU can be a bit confusing. We get questions about this all time. We answer the popular questions below
When Should I Buy a New GPU?
This is obviously for people who are upgrading their GPU.
The fact is, you don’t have to upgrade your GPU as often as you think it’s necessary. If you have a combination of decent CPU and GPU, they will last for quite some time.
New GPUs don’t increase performance drastically. It’s more evolution than revolution. At best, prices being the same, you can see a difference of about 20%.
So, boils down to you. Are you willing to spend on a new GPU for 20% increase in performance? If yes, go for it. Personally, I wouldn’t.
Should I Spend More on My CPU or the GPU?
If you’re building a gaming rig, GPU is the most important component of that build. It has a huge effect on your computer’s gaming performance and it is certainly important to make sure that you set aside enough money for it.
However, a great GPU and a mediocre CPU don’t get along well. It’ll bring down the overall performance of your computer, including gaming performance. Your system will throttle and things won’t be good on the whole.
The best thing to do is to match your CPU and GPU in their hierarchy standards. That is, a mid-level gaming GPU under $200 is perfect for a mid-level CPU.
What Are CUDA Cores and Stream Processors in GPUs?
CUDA (Compute Unified Device Architecture) Cores and Stream Processors are proprietary parallel computing languages that work to harness the GPU power in specific ways to get maximum performance.
In English, more the better. More CUDA Cores and Stream Processors mean better visuals. Nvidia calls their language CUDA Cores and AMD uses the term Stream Processors.
1 CUDA Core IS NOT equal to 1 Stream Processor.
How to Know If My GPU Is Compatible With My Processor?
Let me take this question and explain something more important.
It’s not enough if your GPU is compatible with your CPU. There are other things to consider here. The first one being monitor capabilities. If your monitor cannot render 4K visuals, don’t buy a super-expensive GPU.
And in the same breath, take some time to calculate your energy requirements. Unpacking a brand new GPU and finding out you don’t have enough power to run it is not a fun experience.
As far as the question is concerned, each GPU has a list of products that it’s compatible with. You can find it on the manufacturer’s website. It would be a shame to get one of the best Intel processors on the market, just to find out it isn’t compatible with your GPU.
Final Words
So, these are the things to bear in mind before buying a GPU. It’s important to make sure that you get your GPU right. After all, it’s the most important component of a gaming PC. This list should help you make a more informed decision.
Let us know which one you eventually go with in the comment section below!