11 best video cards

Without a good computer, no one can imagine their life. In order for a computer to be called good, it must have components that together provide an excellent result. For the quality of video playback, the level of graphics processing in games and visual editors is the video card. And although this board is the most expensive and second in importance, after the motherboard, you can’t see good graphics in games without it. Among all the offers in online stores and ordinary technology supermarkets, it is very difficult to choose the best video card for your money. This article serves as a guide so that you can determine for yourself what exactly you want and how much it will cost.

Graphics card which company to choose

Only two companies develop video cards - nVidia and AMD.

1. nVidia

They work closely enough with the companies that develop video games, and these games, for the most part, are better optimized for these video cards. The brand that sells nVidia graphics cards is called GeForce.

2. AMD

Video cards of the company sometimes experience some problems, expressed in braking and other graphic defects in various games. But on the other hand, AMD offers video cards for lower prices. Radeon is a trademark of this company.

Produce a video card developed by nVidia and AMD, a larger number of companies, among them you can find:

1. ASUS

The largest manufacturer of electronic equipment, is considered one of the best manufacturers of video cards.

2. Gigabyte

A manufacturer who uses the latest technology in the production process. Competes in the market on a par with ASUS.

3. MSI

An old company that competes with ASUS and Gigabyte in the quality and equipment of video cards. It can lose a bit in technology, but it has a bit cheaper technology.

4. Palit

Taiwanese company also appeared on this market for a long time. It is one of the leaders in this industry, distinguished by gentle prices and high-quality cooling.

5. Zotac

One of the most extraordinary manufacturers. Some of their decisions are criticized, while others, in contrast, are surprised by the excellent quality of performance.

The best gaming graphics card budget

ASUS GeForce GTX 750 Ti 1072Mhz PCI-E 3.0

The budget adapter is a good level, which is controlled by the graphics processor Maxwell, performed by ASUS. The card is interesting for its potential graphics accelerator, which is very strong. In normal mode, the maximum ceiling frequency of the core is the value of 1210 MHz, but if you do overclocking to 1290 MHz, this figure jumps up several levels and becomes 5700 MHz.

In the cooling system of the card, which is called Dual Fan Cooling, there are no evaporators and other copper elements. Oddly enough, this does not affect the performance, and under heavy loads the accelerator does not heat up much. The video card has a type of video memory in GDDR5 and a bit width of 128 bits. It is not one of the quietest, but the noise from its fans is not stronger than the acoustics of the system.

According to customers who have purchased this video card model, it can be concluded that it has the following advantages:

• High performance;
• Good system cooling board;
• Compactness.

Minuses:

• Inconvenient location of make-up connector.

Palit GeForce GTX 750 Ti 1202Mhz PCI-E 3.0

The name of the video card is Dual because of the fact that it has two fans. What is interesting, it works with the version of DirectX 12. Good for medium-high graphical settings in the latest games. Skyrim with HD textures, for example, draws on ultra settings with fps at 40-60.

Also in World of Tanks with the highest graphics solutions gives about 65 FPS, which is an excellent result.The company Palit in creating this video card has used its work in recent years, which greatly pleased the fans of the products. The video card works in GDDR5 mode with 2 gigabytes, which is not superfluous in games that require large resources.

Comments of those who bought the device speak about the following advantages:

• High performance with low power supply requirements;
• Does not overheat;
• Price-quality ratio.

Minuses:

• For such a price - not revealed.

ASUS GeForce GTX 950 1165Mhz PCI-E 3.0

Second-generation video adapters started with this motherboard from ASUS, based on the GTX 950 chip. They installed a cooling system, consisting of two fans and a unique component base. The device is quite overclocked, but it consumes a little electricity. Owners of this video card should count on decent graphics on mediocre settings in most video games of our generation. The 2-gigabyte video card is suitable for eSports players playing CS: GO or LOL or Dota 2, in which it works perfectly on the settings set to maximum.

Judging by the reviews of people who have bought this analog video card, it is distinguished by the following advantages:

• Absolutely silent cooling;
• Lack of additional power;
• DSR function.

Minuses:

• The device is quite expensive.

Best mid-level gaming graphics cards

GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 970 1178Mhz PCI-E 3.0

This board is a bright representative of the GeForce 970 G1 Gaming series from GIGABYTE. It incorporates the cooling system WindForce, in which there are three coolers. The card is equipped with four gigabytes of GDDR5 memory, which operate at 7100 MHz. There is a special option BOOST, which accelerates the core graphics.

Manually video chip can be overclocked to 1530 MHz. The video card shows consistently high FPS in all recent games with anti-aliasing and filtering settings. Many additional connectors for interfaces - DVI, DisplayPort and even HDMI, up to 5 devices can be connected at the same time.

The obvious advantages of this video adapter:

• Huge overclocking potential;
• Excellent FPS increase in games;
• Lack of strong heating during operation.

Disadvantages:

• Heard whistling chokes in the diet;
• High price.

MSI GeForce GTX 960 1241Mhz PCI-E 3.0

A representative of the bright accelerator segment from the Gaming line acts on the GM20 core with a 256-bit interface. Despite the nVidia promises that the card's processor is capable of supporting toys at a resolution of 1920x1080, this is not quite the case. The memory potential is quite good - the standard value is 7030 MHz, the ceiling is about 8100 MHz.

Usually, the core operates at about 1366 MHz, but with overclocking of 1460 MHz, and if you modify the BIOS, you can reach 1520 MHz. If the card is subjected to the strongest load, it heats no more than 67 degrees, considering that the fan rotates about 1000 rev / s. The optimal resolution for the latest toys, taking into account the quality settings set for maximum - 1980x1020 pixels.

According to reviews that were left by customers who bought the penultimate generation video card, we can say that the board has such advantages:

• Very quiet and cold device;
• Small amount of energy consumed.

Minuses:

• Throttle sound is heard under heavy load conditions.

Sapphire Radeon R9 380 985Mhz PCI-E 3.0

The 200X Series Accelerator with the latest graphics chip and a slightly improved internal architecture. Because of the convenient optimization, the frequency of the internal core has increased by 60 MHz, and in addition, Sapphire has increased it to 995 MHz.

The maximum temperature reaches 60 degrees, considering that the fans rotate by half. The memory of the video card is 4 gigabytes, and the internal bus is 256-bit. In HD resolution, depending on the assigned level of detail in games, FPS is stable at the level of 50-60 FPS, which is quite a comfortable indicator. There are different connectors HDMI, DisplayPort and DVI-D / I.

Advantages of the video accelerator:

• Works great in modern toys;
• Good cooling;
• Excellent overclocking potential.

Minuses:

• Hear the cooling system under heavy loads.

Best high end gaming graphics cards

MSI GeForce GTX 1060 1594Mhz PCI-E 3.0

This device is the best representative of the transition of the middle class to the elite. A proprietary program for a video card allows you to select different profiles with different clock rates. The graphics card has a very good overclocking potential.

The memory frequency of the card with 6 GB - 8100 MHz. It supports DirectX 12, works with four monitors, and the maximum resolution with which it works is 7680x4320.

Given all this performance, the model is poorly heated, thanks to an innovative system that cools the device. In games, it shows consistently high results, supporting 16x filtering and smoothing 4 times.

Reviews of users using this device, speak about the following positive qualities:

• Silent operation;
• Consumes some electricity;
• Supports many games on ultra graphics settings.

Disadvantages:

• At maximum load, strike the throttle.

ASUS ROG STRIX GeForce GTX 1070 GAMING PCI-E 3.0

The model features include a redesigned printing platform, the cooling system DirectCU III, several operating modes and a new element base. The video card has 8 gigabytes of GDDR5 memory, several external inputs HDMI, DisplayPort and DVI-D, and a 256-bit memory bus. The stability of work is ensured by DrMOS microcircuits and chokes with a core of ferrite.

This model works on the NVIDIA GP106-203-A1 graphics chip, made using the 16-nm process technology. FPS in the newest games at high settings keeps around 80-100, which is an excellent indicator. This video card will be top for a few more years, which is quite enough for gamers.

The advantages of this device, formed by user reviews:

• Non-reference cooling system;
• High-quality assembly with optimal dimensions;
• Impressive design.

Disadvantages:

• Not found.

MSI GeForce GTX 1070 1607Mhz PCI-E 3.0

The nVidia company, having developed GTX 1070, made a lot of noise. In terms of performance, this super-technology model is not far from the past flagship of this company - the GTX 980 Ti, but at the moment this video card is one of the most affordable, supporting 4K resolution.

Various tests in GTA 5 and Last Light games showed that FPS in games is kept at the level of 60-70 in ultra quality. Modern coolers and performance drivers can improve these parameters. 8 gigabytes of GDDR5 memory support DirectX 12, OpenGL 4.5 modes and work with multiple monitors.

Based on the feedback from customers who purchased this model, we can conclude that the video accelerator has the following advantages:

• Wonderful design;
• Noiseless cooling even in the most productive games;
• 4K is a great format for a card.

Minuses:

• Great weight;
• Sometimes throttles whistle.

The best gaming video cards of the elite level

MSI GeForce GTX 1080 1708Mhz PCI-E 3.0

By the way, as a manufacturer, you can choose not only MSI, but also ASUS or GIGABYTE, since the video card is of reference type. This card is able to resist any flagship, thanks to its uncompromising power. Nvidia assured that the architecture of this video card at times surpasses all previous generations, and you can see this for yourself. The high efficiency of accelerators based on the GP104 core is a strong reason for this device. 4 supported monitors, 8 gigabytes of memory, 256-bit bus and GDDR5X video memory with a unique frequency of 10,108 MHz - all this is in this device.

Reviews about this device say that it has the following advantages:

• Best performance graphics card to date;
• Excellent overclocking capability;
• Efficient cooling;
• Multiple game modes.

Minuses:

• Price.

GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 980 Ti 1190Mhz PCI-E 3.0

This video card is one of the most unique models on the Russian market. It has not only an original cooler and a reinforced PCB, but also an overestimated frequency of the graphics processor. The device has 6 GB of video memory GDD5, with a frequency of 7010 MHz. It supports 4 monitors and has several DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort connectors. It is distinguished by its memory bus, which is 384 bits. An example of performance can be given on the game Elite Dangerous, very demanding of computer resources. With the correct settings of the device and proper installation of coolers, the temperature of the video card does not reach more than 60 degrees, and in the game it produces 70-90 FPS.

Pros:

• Excellent overclocking;
• Good cooling system;
• There are all kinds of connectors.

Minuses:

• Great price.

What video card to buy

1. Budget gamers can consider the ASUS GeForce GTX 750 Ti 1072Mhz PCI-E 3.0 and Palit GeForce GTX 750 Ti 1202Mhz PCI-E 3.0 boards, as they are the most reasonable choice of existing adapters for their money.

2. Professional players will give preference to GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 970 1178Mhz PCI-E 3.0 - a card with good overclocking potential, high performance in games and little heating of components.

3. If you are a fan of excellent graphics, or a holder of virtual reality glasses - take MSI GeForce GTX 1080 1708Mhz PCI-E 3.0, and you will not lose. Efficient accelerators and GDDR5X memory will delight in any weather and any time of day.