We’ve reviewed the best GPU for Ryzen 9 5900x builds in 2021. The centerpiece of a gaming PC, you should know that the graphics card is one of the most important components of a computer along with the processor . Of course, the RAM or the motherboard are just as important. But if there is one part that should be particularly favored , it is the GPU (Graphics Processing Units).
In short, we think these are the best graphics cards for Ryzen 9 5900X with smooth images and beautiful graphics. After various analyzes and comparisons, we have listed the graphics cards that we believe offer the best performance / price ratio .
To help you choose the video card that offers the best quality / price ratio and best meets your needs, here is a small comparison chart of the cards that we believe will offer the best performance in terms of gaming and will be ideal for streaming Twitch or YouTube Lives.
List of best graphics card Ryzen 9 5900X build
- Nvidia RTX 3070
- Nvidia RTX 3080
- AMD Radeon RX 6800
- AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT
- Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti
- Nvidia RTX 3090
- AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT
1. Nvidia RTX 3070
Achieving performance almost as high as the ultra high-end of the previous generation, the “RTX 2080 Ti”, the RTX 3070 already offers very good performance for an accessible budget. When on Assassin’s Creed Odyssey it reaches 66 FPS 1440p in Ultra High Quality (67 on the RTX 2080 Ti), it reaches 50 FPS in 4K (46 on the RTX 2080 Ti).
Particularly ideal for playing from 1080p to 1440p, its cooler is not as large as on the RTX 3080, allowing it to fit into smaller boxes.
The RTX 3070 is one of the best graphics cards on the market today in terms of performance / price ratio. If you have a small box, don’t have a huge budget to configure your PC and want to play at 1440p without compromising on graphics quality, this GPU will do just fine. No need to go up the prices!
2. Nvidia RTX 3080
Between the 3070 and the 3090 which is the most powerful graphics card ever presented to the general public, the RTX 3080 appears to be the best balance for more than sufficient power for the majority of hardcore gamers offering up to 60 IPS in 4K on latest games to date (the 3090 being more focused on 8K).
An ideal for having performances between 20 and 30% higher than the 2080 Ti, for a much more accessible price. Ray Tracing being much better controlled on the side of Nvidia today, it is an option not to be underestimated.
Among the most powerful graphics cards today, Nvidia’s RTX 3080 is one of the best value for money that can be found on the market, for those who can afford it. Please note, to accommodate this card a medium / large size box will be necessary. And for more peace of mind, we recommend that you accompany it with GPU support.
3. AMD Radeon RX 6800
Slightly less powerful than the RX 6800 XT, but at a much lower price, the RX 6800 remains among the most interesting graphics cards in terms of performance / price ratio. Overall more efficient than the RXT 3070 on 1440p, the RX 6800 reaches 149 FPS on Death Stranding in 1440p High Quality when it reaches 69 FPS in 4K.
With an acceptable Ray Tracing in 1440p, we also find the new Smart Access Memory (SAM) feature which increases the performance of the card by up to 10%.
Good graphics card to combine 1440p and Ray Tracing, with good 4K 60 FPS performance, although about 10% less powerful than the RX 6800 XT, its price is also more reasonable.
For those who are not afraid to fiddle with the BIOS, it can be really interesting; in addition to being more concretely more efficient than the RTX 3070. Be careful, if you want 4K + Ray Tracing, you will have to go to the RTX 3080 instead.
4. AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT
Yes Slightly less efficient than the RTX 3080 (but also less expensive), the RX 6800 XT consumes less overall (excluding Rage mode). Today, the RX 6800 XT is one of the first real AMD graphics cards to concretely challenge the high end of Nvidia. Offering excellent performance in 1440p with Ray Tracing, and good 4K performance on DX11 games not being of the next generation.
If you like to play the latest games developed from DX12 or if you absolutely want 4K with RayTracing, Nvidia will be your best companion.
However, if you’re not afraid to get your hands in the BIOS and the most played games are DX11 (ex: Assassins Creed Odyssey / Grand Theft Auto V). The RTX 3080 remains more interesting overall, the RX 6800 XT not being the best performance / price ratio.
5. Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti
At similar price to the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT, the RTX 3060 Ti is up to 35% faster. Comprising 4864 for the RTX 3060 Ti against 2160 for the RTX 2060 Super, this consumes slightly more with a total graphics power of 200W instead of 280W for the RTX 2060 Super. It offers very good performance on 1080p and manages to provide good performance on high quality 1440p when Ray Tracing is not activated.
Today it is clearly a graphics card that is less powerful than the RTX 3070 or the RTX 3080. However, if you are not on a big budget and want to play on 1080p or slightly on 1440p without going to 4K. This will run all games with excellent graphics and high frame rate.
6. Nvidia RTX 3090
Today the most powerful graphics card for gaming, ideal for creation and video editing, it offers 10 to 15% better performance than the RTX 3080 in 4K. Allowing to have professional applications such as Blender or Octane 20 to 30% faster. Although much more expensive, performance follows to provide the best today. Be careful, provide a large box as well as an excellent cooler.
For those who have the budget, want to have fun and for whom editing, gaming and the need for performance are everyday, the RX 3090 will clearly meet all needs.
Ideal for uncompromising 4K rendering but also for those who want to try 8K! If we start with 1440p or 1080p, the RX 6800 XT will be much more interesting on the other hand.
7. AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT
Positioned in the mid-range of AMD’s new Navi 10 architecture, the 5600 XT offers very respectable performance bordering on that of a 2018 RTX 2060. A more than correct 1080p choice, this card can even push from 1440p to 60 fps depending on the games and graphics quality. Coupled with a FreeSync monitor, it delivers a very pleasant gaming experience at a still affordable price.
If you want to get started in streaming and be able to run all current games in more than acceptable conditions, the 5600 XT is an excellent performance / price compromise. This is our top-pick for a budget-conscious streamer who doesn’t want to sacrifice picture quality.
Which graphics card to choose? AMD or Nvidia?
When console gamers talk about the eternal rivalry of the Xbox One X as well as the PS4 Pro, PC gamers keep asking this same question: AMD or Nvidia? Well when Nvidia releases its new “ Turing ” architecture on its GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, RTX 2080, RTX 2070 and RTX 2060 graphics cards; AMD is releasing its “ Vega ” technology on the new Radeon VII. A card that competes directly with the RTX 2080 Ti, the most powerful graphics card on the market today.
You will understand, each of these brands offer powerful video cards. Everything will depend on your budget as well as your needs . Indeed, when Nvidia pushes the performance to the maximum with its numerous and powerful technologies, AMD offers cards of very good quality / price ratio .
However, whether it is AMD or Nvidia, it is very rare that they design their graphics cards themselves. It will therefore be necessary to pay attention to the choice of manufacturers because they will be able to offer personalized designs.
Most of the time this will only affect the video card cooler, but sometimes these will go as far as developing a new PCB. But the evolution of performance remains very minimal between manufacturers, the best is to concentrate on the efficiency of the cooler.
It all depends on the model of the motherboard, but in general EVGA and MSI remain essential safe values for gamers. Asus is trying to deliver better performance and good overclocking despite the price hike, and Gigabyte remains popular with a lot of PC gamers.
Why Buy a Good Graphics Card?
You should know that it is the choice of the graphics card that will play on the fluidity and the beauty of the game that you will stream because it is this which will manage the graphic display of video games. However, it will not have a direct impact on streaming because in general it is not who will manage the encoding of the video stream, except in exceptional cases when this is dedicated to it.
Namely, today AMD and Nvidia cards give more and more importance to fixed units that can handle encoding. If you decide to let the graphics card take care of this task , you will have to choose your GPU with great care because it will require a lot of power , which can degrade the quality of the games.
How to choose your graphics card?
To choose a video card that is right for you, there are a number of criteria to consider. Resolution, clock speed, dimensions… If you are just getting started in there and these terms are not 100% clear to you, here are some explanations and some tips that you should absolutely not forget to select the best graphics card corresponding to your needs. Note that for stream gaming, it is really advisable to invest in the mid / high range.
Screen resolution
As a PC gamer, the most important point will be what resolution the video card is best suited for. Yes, the more graphic pixels a screen has, the more power it will require from its GPU. If you have a 1080p screen, it won’t be very useful to take an ultra high-end graphics card at € 800. Again, building a pc computer requires a certain balance in order not to run into any bottlenecks and lose power.
Today, even low-end cards display some games at 3,840 pixels by 2,160 pixels (or more simply in 4K). But some games in beta or requiring a lot of power (PUBG), will generally be poorly managed by a low-end graphics card. Namely that the video card calculates the positions, the geometry, the lighting, and restores the image to the screen in real time. Higher resolution and better precision will then require more power from the graphics card.
Of course, if necessary, it will be possible or even recommended depending on your choice of video card, to reduce the level of detail of the graphics in order to have better performance and an acceptable number of FPS. Note that today, the most sophisticated graphics cards are intended for 4K and sometimes offer an ultra high Frame per Second.
Graphics engine clock frequency / speed
The clock speed corresponds to the speed of execution of graphics requests sent by the processor. By remaining on graphics cards of the same family, the number of Mhz will therefore correspond to the speed of your video card. Be careful, this does not mean that if a graphics card has the highest clock speed on the market, it will also be the fastest. No no, because it all depends on the quality of its architecture. Video cards with a higher frequency can sometimes end up slower. So do not hesitate to inform yourself and look at tests and comparators.
As for the boost clock , this corresponds to the speed at which the graphics chip can temporarily accelerate when a big load suddenly appears. It’s a bit like Turbo Boost for processors. Of course, it will only take effect as long as the thermal conditions allow it!
The video memory of the graphics card
You should know that the RAM of the video card can store all the basic graphics data of a video game. The fact that it is directly integrated into the graphics card gives ultra-fast access to data and allows better gaming performance to be offered. No need to go to the PC’s basic RAM memory!
Video memory therefore offers much faster bandwidth, undeniably cool and essential for video games. So, do not confuse: what basically increases the performance of the graphics card is the speed of the bandwidth and not the number of GB of memory available on the graphics card. However, to make the most of this superb bandwidth, we are going to need space!
Indeed, depending on the gluttony of your game and the definition of your screen, it will be necessary to have a few Giga in stock to enjoy maximum speed across the board. This will allow your graphics card to retrieve all the graphics data needed to run the game at maximum settings. Note that today, a card made for a gameplay of 1920 x 1080 pixels (1080p) will generally have 4 GB or 6 GB of RAM. While cards for playing on 2560 pixels by 1440 pixels (1440p) or 3840 by 2160 (2160p or 4K) will tend to be equipped with 8 GB or more.
Freesync and G-sync graphics cards
When choosing your graphics card you will probably often see these terms pass by. But do you absolutely have to take them into consideration when buying your video card?
AMD’s Freesync and Nvidia’s G-sync are technologies called “adaptive sync”. That is to say that the screen will display a refresh rate which will adapt according to the output capacities of the graphics card. Without this technology, the frame rate could generate different artefacts, shifts or even jerks in terms of the image level. Basically, these technologies allow the monitor to display the image only when the graphics card has provided all the resources necessary to display it as a whole.
If your best gaming monitor supports one of these two technologies, this can only be a big bonus when it comes to the graphics quality of its video games. Be careful, however, you must absolutely take the graphics card with exactly the same technology supported by the screen, either G-sync or Freesync.
Electricity consumption
Each graphics card will spend a different amount of electricity. If you have a tight budget, this can be a criterion to take into account.
Which cooler to choose for your graphics card?
Any graphics card heats up and raises the temperature of the PC, especially during gameplay on games with particularly beautiful graphics. It is therefore essential to have a good fan compatible with your graphics card in order to use all its power without damaging any other component. For this we generally recommend water cooling coolers, quite simply because they keep the temperature of the PC at a more stable level but also because they are quieter. However, there are also some really good air fans and these have the added benefit of costing less!