VIDEO CARD BUYING GUIDE
What we have entered is a period of apparent calm
in the video card market. No new models are expected soon, but AMD is
developing its new high-end GPU , in addition to the RDNA 2 architecture,
NVIDIA instead is grappling with the Ampere architecture, which will be the
basis of the upcoming 3000 series RTXs .
The models currently on the market should not undergo any changes in the
coming weeks, except for surprises, which is why it seems to be a good time to
take a look at the offer available today , very rich especially in the medium
and low range. To have a homogenous reference in prices, all those included in
this article are taken from Amazon.it.
VIDEO CARDS UP TO 150 EUROS
There has been no vast news in the field of entry level video cards, not
least because it is difficult to beat the price-performance ratio of the Radeon
RX 570 with 4 GB of RAM. This GPU is priced at around $ 149 on Amazon and
allows you to play in Full HD with high details in virtually any game. The 60
frames per second are always and in any case not possible, indeed very often
you have to accept a compromise, still remaining above the 30 fps threshold,
but just lower the graphics settings to get a higher frame rate.
Too bad that the Radeon RX 570 is based on Polaris architecture , much
less efficient than the Turing of NVIDIA and its successor Navi, which we find,
however, only starting from the RX 5500 XT and up.
VIDEO CARDS BETWEEN 150 AND 200 EUROS
AMD's RX 580 is still on the list but the arrival of AMD's GTX 1650
Super and AMD's RX 5500 XT has cut it out of the game. The 8 GB RX 580 in fact
is positioned just below the NVIDIA proposal at the price level, but this is
more powerful and above all more efficient, thanks to the Turing architecture.
The GTX 1650 Super can be found on Amazon for around 177 euros , while
the Radeon RX 5500 XT costs around 192 euros , both in the 4 GB versions. Both
are excellent cards for Full HD, capable of generating a good number of frames
per second, but even in this case the fixed 60 fps in all conditions with
details on Ultra are not reached.
The performances are similar, a lot depends on the game used, which is
why the GTX 1650 Super is to be preferred, at least with the current price
lists. In fact, NVIDIA's GPU costs slightly less than its AMD counterpart, just
enough to make it more palatable.
VIDEO CARDS BETWEEN 200 AND 250 EUROS
The crowding in the mid-range makes it difficult to choose one video
card over another with absolute certainty. A discount of a few euros is enough
to overturn the balance at stake, so a good rule of thumb is to always keep
prices under control before buying something. Between 200 and 250 euros we find
the RX 5500 XT from 8 GB to 234 euros , but also the GTX 1660 for around 220
euros and, thanks to the discounts, you can buy a GTX 1660 Super for around 240
euros , with the two solutions of NVIDIA, however, equipped with 6 GB of RAM.
The choice between the RX 5500 XT and the GTX 1660 is anything but
simple, because the first offers 2 GB of RAM more, the second instead has
slightly higher performance but "only" 6 GB of RAM, which remains
anyway. more than enough for Full HD gaming, the target of these cards.
However, we do not know how long the GTX 1660 will remain on the market, given
that the Super model should, at least in theory, definitely take its place. The
current price list, however, penalizes the RX 5500, which only a few days ago
was sold for 215 euros: with current prices, our preference goes towards NVIDIA
solutions.
The GTX 1660 Super offers superior performance to both rivals. The
choice in this case is purely economic: if the budget allows you to get to a
GTX 1660 Super, then this is the choice to make to have the best performance in
this price range.
VIDEO CARDS BETWEEN € 300 AND € 350
We skipped directly the price range between 250 and 300 euros because
the alternatives available are the same as previously seen, to have a
noteworthy increase in performance you have to go directly to the models
between 300 and 350 euros.
In this case, there are three video cards to look at, AMD's 6GB RX 5600
XT , costing $ 318 , the 6GB RTX 2060 for around $ 339, and the 8GB RX 5700 for
around $ 359 .
The choice in this case varies according to your needs. The RX 5600 XT
offers a rock-solid 1080p frame rate and also allows gaming in 1440p, all with
aslightly higher frame rate than the 6GB RTX 2060 . This for its part offers
Ray Tracing and DLSS, a technology destined to spread more and more during the
year.
Better a slightly higher frame rate or access to the magical world, but
little used for now, of Ray Tracing? The answer to this question corresponds to
the card that is most suitable for you.
The speech on the RX 5700 is instead different, this GPU offers a
smoother gaming in 1440p than the two rivals, thanks to the 8 GB of RAM, making
it more suitable for higher resolution screens.
VIDEO CARDS FROM 350 TO 450 EUROS
In the price ranges between 350 and 450 euros there are two the most
interesting GPUs, the RTX 2060 Super and the RX 5700 XT . The RTX 2060 Super is
probably the best Turing video card for price-performance ratio , it costs
around 420 euros , guaranteeing excellent gaming in both 1080p and 1440p, also
offering a smoother ray tracing than the base RTX 2060.
The RX 5700 XT, on the other hand, only improves what has been seen with
its cheaper version, with even more solid performance in 1440p, which also detaches
the RTX 2060 Super. Also in this case what has been said previously applies. If
the priority is the frame rate, then AMD's solution is more valid, given the
cost of 425 euros. On the other hand, NVIDIA is the only one to offer Ray
Tracing. The performance gap between the two cards is however consistent, the
RX 5700 XT in fact comes close to the power of the RTX 2070 Super , a card with
a decidedly higher cost.
VIDEO CARDS ABOVE 450 EUROS
If the budget you have available allows you to buy a better video card
than the ones we have seen so far, without reaching the high end, then the RTX
2070 Super is the only solution available. In fact, AMD's Radeon VII does not
keep pace with the NVIDIA solution, which is proposed at a much lower price,
around 530 euros , against the over 600 euros required for the counterpart of
AMD.
From now on NVIDIA dominates unchallenged, there are no new generation
Radeons designed for the high end of the market. Our advice is to aim for
lower-end cards than the RTX 2070 Super if you don't have a 4K monitor, which
still allow you to play in 1440p without problems.
In case you want more, it is better to go directly to the RTX 2080
Super, a card that opens the doors to the world of 4K , without however
reaching the target of 60 frames per second with Ultra settings. The Ultra HD
is a difficult resolution to manage, you need a lot of power, but the RTX 2080
Super does well anyway, with a cost that starts from 750 euros depending on the
model.
The RTX 2080 Ti, on the other hand, stands out from all competitors in
terms of performance and also in terms of price, since it is currently at
around 1240 euros . This is the card to choose if you are looking for
high-quality 4K gaming, not always at 60 frames per second, a target that can
still be reached by managing the graphics settings well. @ Read More
