Gadget

Video cards improve extremely quickly, almost every six months a video adapter comes out that is significantly superior to its predecessor. Active progress is due to the rapid increase in the system requirements of computer games. Already, modern games in 4k resolution can only be played by flagship video cards. On video cards from 2-3 years ago, demanding games from 2019 will either not run or will only run at minimum settings.

We will not take the most expensive Nvidia RTX 2080 TI or Radeon 7 series models, as it is obvious that they are the best in their class. The price of some models reaches $1500, today few people will pay that kind of money for only one video card. Let’s better focus on more affordable and productive video adapters. From this material, you will learn how to choose a video adapter and the 7 best video cards of 2019 from the price-quality ratio.

How to choose a video card?

Video adapters have a lot of key characteristics that are important when choosing. We can focus on technical parameters and choose the best adapter in our niche, or use the test results. Today, the network has benchmarks of almost all modern video cards. This allows you to understand the number of FPS issued in specific games. In our opinion, this is a simpler and more reliable way to evaluate the card’s performance.

What characteristics to look for when choosing:

• The amount of video memory. Today it is pointless to take less than 2 GB, but 4-8 GB is better. If you plan to play Middle-Earth: Shadow of War, Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus and other demanding games at maximum settings, you will have to take an 8-11 GB video card;
• Memory type. There are GDDR5, GDDR6, HBM2 — this is a list of popular memory types in order of increasing performance. Now it is optimal to take GDDR6 and HBM2, but they are more expensive. If there is GDDR5 or GDDR5X, the video card will still be good;
• Bus width. Don’t even look at less than 256 bit, otherwise you won’t be able to play new games normally;
• Number of coolers. There is a double-edged sword here. On the one hand, more coolers mean better cooling and overheating protection. On the other hand, many coolers create more noise. Something will have to sacrifice, decide for yourself what is more important to you.

You need to choose a video card such that it pulls the desired games with at least 30 fps, but better — 60 fps.

TOP 7 gaming video cards of 2018-2019

Now is the time to move from theory to practice. Find really good models of video adapters with an excellent combination of price and performance.

Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 550

This is the best budget graphics card that is based on the RX550 video processor designed for eSports. The card consumes a minimum of electricity and is quite compact, it will fit even in a small system unit. True, it will not work to run demanding games on it.

Characteristic	Meaning
video processor	AMD Radeon RX 550
Chip frequency	1206 MHz
Memory size	2 GB
Memory type	GDDR5
Operating frequency	7000 MHz

Advantages:

• Small dimensions (158×28 mm);
• There is a protective plate on top.

Flaws:

• Loud noise at maximum load.

Review:

“Viduha is great for processing games 2-3 years ago, where it gives out 60 or more FPS. I played Fallout 4, the video card keeps stable 40-50 frames per second. I recommend for purchase to fans of CS: Go, Dota and other popular, but not the most demanding games.”

Price: 8 200 rubles.

Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 550

MSI GTX 1050 TI X 4G

MSI is a reliable manufacturer of quality graphics cards. True, the use of high-quality electrical elements somewhat increases the cost of the video adapter. This also has a positive effect on the durability of the video card and overclocking capabilities. Power consumption even in overclocked state is no more than 70 watts.

Characteristic	Meaning
video processor	GXT 1050 Ti
Chip frequency	1379 MHz
Memory size	4 GB
Memory type	GDDR5
Operating frequency	7108 MHz

Advantages:

• Quiet cooling system;
• High card performance;
• Even when operating at maximum load, it does not heat up above 55 ° C.

Flaws:

• Protective plate missing.

Review:

“When choosing a computer, I focused specifically on the video card. The GTX 1050 TI is my choice for its high performance and reasonable price. It is the most successful model for those who do not want to overpay money, but love to play. Modern games (Far Cry 5, Assassin Creed Odyssey) run at medium settings and produce 30-50 fps.

Price: 15-17 thousand rubles.

MSI GTX 1050 TI X 4G

GIGABYTE GTX 1050TI

Similar model, but slightly cheaper. If the purchase budget is very limited, you should consider purchasing a video card from GIGABYTE. Cheaper production was reflected in the operating temperature. This model heats up more and power consumption increases slightly. Compared to the previous counterpart, the manufacturer installs a casing on the back of the board to protect against impacts and to increase rigidity.

Characteristic	Meaning
video processor	GXT 1050 Ti
Chip frequency	1328 MHz
Memory size	4 GB
Memory type	GDDR5
Operating frequency	7008 MHz

Advantages:

• Coolers practically do not create noise;
• The clock frequency accelerates well;
• There is a protective cover.

Flaws:

• It does not allow you to work with two monitors at the same time.

Review:

“Inexpensive and productive video card with an ideal balance of price and quality. I also like quiet cooling, even in games the operation of the system unit is almost inaudible.

Price: 13-15 thousand rubles.

GIGABYTE GTX 1050TI

ASUS ROG STRIX Radeon RX 560OC

It has a high frequency of operation and an efficient cooling system developed on heat pipes. These solutions provide high performance that is not inferior to the GTX 1050 and the titanium version. Easily pulls games in FullHD resolution.

Characteristic	Meaning
video processor	Radeon RX 560
Chip frequency	1326 MHz
Memory size	4 GB
Memory type	GDDR5
Operating frequency	7000 MHz

Advantages:

• Cooling maintains a stable operating temperature under extreme loads in a hot room;
• High quality manufacturing;
• Supports single cooler control.

Flaws:

• A small number of connection interfaces.

Review:

“One of the top budget graphics cards with high performance. It pulls all new games, though the most demanding ones — only at the minimum settings.

Price: 13,000 rubles.

ASUS ROG STRIX Radeon RX 560OC

ASUS GTX 1060 6G

More expensive, but also a productive video card. It is of interest not only among avid gamers, but also specialists in working with graphic editors. It runs almost all games at maximum or at least medium settings, even without overclocking. True, due to the high frequency of operation, it undergoes strong heating, which compensates for 3 coolers.

Characteristic	Meaning
video processor	GTX 1060
Chip frequency	1620 MHz
Memory size	6 GB
Memory type	GDDR5
Operating frequency	8208 MHz

Advantages:

• Supports manual configuration of two coolers;
• Has 2 HDMI ports for connecting multiple monitors;
• To run modern games, the video card does not have to be overclocked.

Flaws:

• It does not fit into small system units due to its large dimensions (298×134 mm).

Review:

“This is a gaming graphics card in every sense of the word. Perfectly drags all the masterpieces of the gaming industry. Installed in a relatively small case, but the video adapter never heated above 66 ° C. Runs all 2018 games at max settings.

Price: 26-30 thousand rubles.

ASUS GTX 1060 6G

GIGABYTE GTX 1060 WINDFORCE 6G

A large amount of video memory, high clock speed and factory overclocking is all that a gamer needs. Even with a slight lack of power, the card can be easily overclocked with special utilities. Overclocking will not particularly affect the durability of the video card. If you buy a video adapter now, for the next few years it will be able to pull all the games.

Characteristic	Meaning
video processor	GTX 1060
Chip frequency	1582 MHz
Memory size	6 GB
Memory type	GDDR5
Operating frequency	8008 MHz

Advantages:

• Plenty of RAM (6 GB);
• Medium dimensions (223×121 mm);
• Rugged construction.

No deficiencies found.

“I installed a new video accelerator in the system unit with the fifth generation I7. Now the video card pulls any games, and the processor only limits it. The card is so powerful that the I7 processor just doesn’t match the power.»

Price: 20-25 thousand rubles.

GIGABYTE GTX 1060 WINDFORCE 6G

MSI GTX 1060 GAMING X 3G

Gaming graphics card for large system units. In small and horizontal cases does not become due to size. Despite the proud title of a gaming video card, it is inexpensive. It has good performance and low noise level. The advantage of the video card is low power consumption.

Characteristic	Meaning
video processor	GTX 1060
Chip frequency	1594 MHz
Memory size	3 GB
Memory type	GDDR5
Memory frequency	8108 MHz

Advantages:

• Noise minimum;
• Economical consumption of electricity.

Flaws:

• Large dimensions (277×140 mm).

“I always buy video cards from MSI because of the quiet operation, the company pays due attention to noiselessness. All games up to 2018 pull easily at maximum settings. Only Assassin Creed Odyssey went to medium settings, but this is without overclocking.

Price: 22,000 rubles.

MSI GTX 1060 GAMING X 3G

Comparison of characteristics of video cards

Based on a review of all video card models from the rating, we have compiled a table. It clearly compared all the characteristics of each model. Based on the table, it is easy to choose the most suitable video card.

Model	GPU	Frequency (MHz)	Memory (GB)	Type of	Memory frequency (MHz)
Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 550	Radeon RX 550	1206	2	GDDR5	7000
MSI GTX 1050 Ti X 4G	GXT 1050 Ti	1379	four	GDDR5	7108
GIGABYTE GTX 1050 Ti	GXT 1050 Ti	1328	four	GDDR5	7008
ASUS ROG STRIX Radeon RX 560OC	Radeon RX 560	1326	four	GDDR5	7000
ASUS GTX 1060 6G	GTX 1060	1620	6	GDDR5	8208
GIGABYTE GTX 1060 WINDFORCE 6G	GTX 1060	1582	6	GDDR5	8008
MSI GTX 1060 GAMING X 3G	GTX 1060	1594	3	GDDR5	8108

Best graphics cards: budget, AMD and NVidia

The listed video cards are far from the only ones in the assortment of manufacturers; they are significantly inferior in power to top models.

Best budget graphics card

Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 is built on a budget video processor, which practically does not lag behind the flagships. It has the best ratio of performance and price. Although the video card is inexpensive, it belongs to the gaming class.

Characteristic	Meaning
Chip frequency	1354 MHz
Memory size	2 GB
Memory type	GDDR5

Advantages:

• High clock frequency (1354 MHz);
• It becomes easy even in small cases.

Flaws:

• Small amount of video memory.

Price: 10-12 thousand rubles.

Best AMD Graphics Card — Radeon VII

It is the most productive video card from the entire AMD series, but it is not yet available on the market. This is the first video card with 7nm process technology. It has 16 GB HBM2 memory. This is one of the few graphics cards that allows you to stream demanding games in 4k.

Characteristic	Meaning
video processor	Vega II
Chip frequency	1800 MHz
Memory size	16 GB
Memory type	HBM2

Price: $700 in Europe and the US, release date February 7th.

AMD-Radeon VII

Best NVidia Graphics Card — GeForce RTX 2080 Ti

The flagship model of the video card with 11 GB of GDDR6 memory. It initially has an average chip frequency (1350 MHz), but during overclocking it gets 1650 MHz. It is based on a 12 nm process technology and a 352-bit bus. The video card is capable of pulling movies and videos in 8k resolution.

Characteristic	Meaning
video processor	RTX 2080 Ti
Chip frequency	1350-1650 MHz
Memory size	11 GB
Memory type	GDDR6

Price: 104,000 rubles.

GeForce RTX 2080 Ti

That’s all for today video cards that deserve attention. Among them are both budget and premium video adapters for any possibilities and requests.

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