For gamers, streamers, and content creators, a graphics card is one of the most important
parts of your PC.
The graphics card, also called a “GPU”, is responsible for generating the information
and images that you see on your computer’s display.
The more powerful the GPU, the faster that information can be displayed, and the better
your visual experience will be overall.
As with every PC component, the first question to ask yourself when choosing a graphics card
is: how will you be using it?
If you’re building a PC to play games, then the GPU will be your most important purchase.
Other components can affect performance, like the CPU and RAM, but getting a GPU that’s
too weak for your chosen games is guaranteed to result in disappointment.
Some games won’t even run.
There are different kinds of games, though, and not all of them demand the most powerful
GPU on the market.
That’s why it’s important to read a game’s required, recommended, and optimal specifications
to make sure that you get a suitable GPU.
Buying the best GPU you can afford is a good way to future-proof your build, and can keep
it ready to play popular games that have yet to be released.
If you’re not a PC gamer, there are still many reasons you might need a powerful graphics card.
Some examples include video editing and computer-aided design and manufacturing applications like
AutoCAD, which can use the GPU for significantly better performance.
In fact, there’s a class of GPUs aimed specifically at these professional users.
These workstation GPUs are optimized for these applications, and their drivers are certified
to be stable and reliable.
They’re not always the best at powering games, because they’re designed with those
workstation applications in mind.
We’re going to focus on gaming graphics cards in this video.
When you’re shopping for a GPU, you’ll be choosing between two manufacturers:
Nvidia and AMD
Historically, these two companies have battled for leadership in the GPU market, and Nvidia
was strongly in the lead until the last few years.
Nvidia still holds a strong position in the market, but AMD’s newest graphics cards
have made the landscape more competitive.
One of the phrases you’ll hear a lot these days when GPU shopping is “real-time ray-tracing,”
which is a visual technology that enables more realistic lighting,
shadows, and reflection effects.
There’s some debate about how necessary this tech is to advancing game visuals, but
as of right now it’s only something you’ll get on the Nvidia side of the GPU world.
If you want to play games that support RTX features, that’s a strong argument for picking
up an Nvidia 20-series or Super card.
According to the Steam Hardware and Software Survey in November 2019, Nvidia’s
GTX 1060 is still the most popular graphics card around, by a lot.
But the new GPUs that AMD launched in 2019, the RX 5700 and the RX 5700 XT, are starting
to gain some traction.
It will be a while before AMD catches Nvidia in their most prominent demographic, PC gamers,
but the gap has been consistently narrowing for the past couple of years.
We live in a pretty exciting point in GPU history.
Rather than just one GPU manufacturer putting out a superior product, both AMD and Nvidia
offer unique benefits for anyone looking to buy a GPU.
There isn’t one best answer for everyone now.
You can pick a graphics card that fits your needs, your budget, and your future goals.
As of the start of 2020, there are, generally speaking, three tiers of cards from Nvidia
and two from AMD that cover most customers looking to upgrade or buy a new GPU.
On the Nvidia side, we have:
The RTX 2060 Super: This is an entry-level card for PC gamers on a budget who still want
to be able to run the newest games, and it will run most older games at high or max settings.
The RTX 2070 Super: Nvidia’s mid-range card is where things start to get pricey, but you’ll
be ready when real-time ray-tracing goes mainstream.
If you want to play games like Control and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare with the latest visual effects, you’ll
probably want at least a 2070 Super.
And finally, the RTX 2080 Super and 2080 Ti: Both of these cards are expensive, the latter
being much more expensive than the former.
Both can run any game at maximum graphics potential, and the 2080 Ti will probably be
able to do that for years to come.
These cards represent a top-tier that AMD currently doesn’t match with an equivalent
GPU of their own, so if you’re looking to drop a ton of cash on the best possible consumer
graphics card, you’ll want one of these.
AMD’s cards don’t support real-time ray-tracing, but often offer higher horsepower than their
Nvidia counterparts at equivalent price points.
For AMD cards, you'll find the following:
AMD’s low-end card falls just under the 2060 Super in most benchmark tests.
If you plan on rendering videos, but don’t have the budget for a mid-range card, this
one’s a good bet.
The Radeon RX 5700 XT: AMD’s mid-range card appropriately falls behind Nvidia’s 2070
Super while out-performing the 2060 Super.
But the budget difference between the 2070 Super and the 5700 XT is immense: The 5700
XT is typically around $250 cheaper.
The 5700 XT can run most modern games at high or ultra graphics settings, but again, it
doesn’t support ray tracing.
Always keep your favorite games in mind when choosing a card, too.
Typically, games created on an AMD architecture, like Borderlands 3 or Apex Legends, will run
a little more smoothly on an AMD card.
On the other hand, Nvidia games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare or Metro Exodus might
run smoother on an RTX card.
If you only plan on playing a handful of games, it’s worth checking out what GPU family
they are optimized for.
When shopping for a graphics card, you’ll most often be choosing from models made by
companies like ASUS, Gigabyte, EVGA, and MSI, which put their own special spins on the core
hardware developed by NVIDIA and AMD.
Of all the various specifications you’ll come across when learning about GPUs, the
GPU model itself is the most important.
This is what tells you where the GPU falls in terms of overall performance.
Those specific graphics cards within a GPU model can vary in performance depending on a variety of factors.
So reading reviews and comparing benchmarks can be helpful when you’re looking
to determine the best bang for your buck.
It’s also important to know what kind of power connections a graphics card requires.
Usually this is a mix of six-pin and eight-pin connectors, which the power supply will need
to provide in sufficient quantity.
Graphics cards have their own memory where they store the data needed to display information on screen.
The amount of RAM in your GPU is important for high-performance games that use large
amounts of data to represent on-screen images.
Also, if you’re running multiple 4K displays, then you’ll want more graphics RAM.
However, generally speaking, you’ll get more graphics RAM as you buy faster graphics
cards, and so as long as you buy a GPU that’s fast enough for your desired games, then you
should have enough RAM to go with it, built-in.
Today, all discrete GPUs plug into PCIe slots.
GPUs vary, though, in how many slot widths they take up, including single, double, and
triple slots.
You’ll need to be sure that your PC’s motherboard and case has enough room for your
chosen GPU along with the other components you might want to install.
And if you’re using a particularly large or heavy card, like NVIDIA’s 2080 Super
or Ti models, then it’s a good idea to get a motherboard with reinforced PCIe slots,
too, to cut down on GPU sag.
Of course, a GPU by itself isn’t worth much.
It needs to connect to a display to be useful.
HDMI and DisplayPort are the most common connections these days,
and can be found on most graphics cards – usually at least one of each.
When buying a GPU, you need to make sure it has enough ports, of the right types, to support
the monitors and VR headsets you plan to connect.
It’s possible to buy adaptors for some ports, but you’ll have a much easier time if you
can avoid that.
By now you should have some idea of how to select the right graphics card for your needs.
The next step is to narrow your choice down, based on functionality, performance, and price,
which you can do with the help of Newegg’s product comparison tool.
Check out the links in the description below to head over to Newegg.com and start shopping.