GPU Buying Guide - 2020 In Review

MicroCenterOfficial

By Ben Price

Building a new PC can often be a rather daunting task. Many different factors need to be considered while buying PC parts: budget, power, compatibility between components, and more all need to be considered. The most critical decision made in the PC building process is selecting a graphics card, which is necessary for gamers hoping to build a PC capable of playing all of the newest video game releases. Graphics cards can vary wildly in price, from lower-end models at around $200 to higher-end ones that can cost upwards of $1,000.

Both Nvidia and AMD's newest line of graphics cards have finally launched and are now available for purchase at all major retailers. And while Nvidia's cards in the past have been considered to be the best around, AMD's most recent offerings are said to have comparable specs and pricing. Today we'll look at the newly released graphics cards from both companies and see which might be the best GPU for your next PC build.

 

Nvidia or AMD

On September 1, 2020, Nvidia unveiled the long-awaited RTX 30 Series graphics cards: the GeForce RTX 3090, GeForce RTX 3080, and GeForce RTX 3070. Each model launched excels within their tier and has incredible specs. Nvidia advertised the RTX 30 Series as the most significant generational leap for its history, being anywhere from 70-100% faster than the RTX 20 Series, depending on the task.

Comparatively, AMD decided to announce its respective line of graphics cards a bit later in the year, with a formal announcement taking place on November 1, and staggered the release of the cards over a month (RX 6800 Series on November 18, and RX 6900 XT on December 8). The graphics cards have been described as being able to compete with Nvidia's offerings directly, but we'll take a look at specs next to see for ourselves.

 

GeForce RTX 3070

Starting with Nvidia's lower-end offering, the GeForce RTX 3070 is the cheapest graphics card out of the six cards discussed today at only $499. And though it's the most affordable, the card certainly doesn't lack in terms of power. Equipped with a GA104 graphics processor, this card is more than capable of running all modern games, with guaranteed support for advanced features like ray-tracing. Compared to 2018's model, the GeForce RTX 2070, the 3070 offers a higher performance of up to 45 percent. The RTX 3070 is a dual-slot card and draws up to 220 W of power.

It's worth noting that this graphics card does not have RGB lighting of any sort, so fans of that sort of thing might a tad be disappointed. This card's overall presentation could have been a lot better, as the GeForce RTX logo is smaller and more out of the way than this year's other models and even the 20-Series of cards. With all of that out of the way, let's move on to the card's performance.

The RTX 3070 handles most games great, with titles such as Horizon Zero Dawn, Doom Eternal, and Red Dead Redemption 2, each running exceptionally well at 1080p resolution at maximum settings, with average frame rates of 115, 287, and 95, respectively. At 1440p resolution at maxed-out settings, Horizon Zero Dawn still hits a high frame rate of 91 fps, while Doom Eternal hits an average of 204 fps, and Red Dead 2 averaging 77 fps.

And finally, while running games at 4K resolution with maxed out graphical settings, the RTX 3070 still holds its own, though many new games are unable to stay at 60 frames per second or above. Horizon Zero Dawn only hits an average of 55 fps, and at its worst, dipping down to 51 fps. Doom Eternal fares much better, with it still reaching an average of 115 fps, but similarly to Horizon, the very demanding Red Dead Redemption 2 only manages to hit an average of 50 fps, with it dipping as low as 43 fps. Pretty much all modern games are playable with the RTX 3070; however, it won't hit 60 fps or higher when in 4K.

Pros:

●     Very fairly priced

●     Exceptional performance

Cons:

●     Lacking a bit in presentation, no RGB

●     Struggles with handling 4K for some titles

 GeForce RTX 3080

The GeForce RTX 3080 is even more potent than the already impressive RTX 3070, with it based on the GA102 graphics processor. Like the RTX 3070, this card supports many advanced graphical features such as ray-tracing. The GPU operates at a frequency of 1440 MHz and can be boosted up to 1710 MHz. Power consumption-wise, this card has a power draw rated at 320 W maximum, which is a full 100 watts more than the RTX 3070. While not quite as power-demanding as its big brother, the RTX 3090, this GPU still consumes quite a lot of power compared to other graphics cards on the market.

The card easily handles games running at 1080p resolution with maxed out settings, with recent titles like Watch Dogs Legion, Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War, and Doom Eternal, each hitting an average of 90 fps, 149 fps, and 331 fps, respectively. When gaming in 1440p resolution, the RTX 3080 continues to kick butt with Watch Dogs Legion hitting an average of 74 frames-per-second, Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War achieving 138 fps on average, and Doom Eternal averaging 254 fps. Finally, when playing games in a native 4K resolution, we start to see the RTX 3080 struggle a bit more in some of the more demanding titles. While Doom Eternal and Black Ops: Cold War can both comfortably hit above the 60 fps mark, with each averaging 148 fps and 110 fps, other games like Red Dead Redemption 2 and Watch Dogs Legion don't fare quite as well; the former barely reaches 60 fps average, while the latter only hits an average of 48 fps. With all of this said, the card still managed to keep relatively cool temperatures thanks to its high-quality fans. Overall, the RTX 3080 runs nearly everything you might throw at it incredibly well, despite a few games that fell short of the ideal 60 fps average.

Pros:

●     Excellent 4K performance, with a couple of exceptions

●     Low temperatures

●     No price increase over RTX 2080

Cons:

●     High power consumption

●     A bit expensive

GeForce RTX 3090

Nvidia's RTX 3090 is a truly impressive piece of hardware, packing in some immense graphical power made only for the most hardcore of PC gamers. This graphics card is enormous, with its dimensions of 336 mm x 140 mm x 61 mm. Comparing it to the RTX 2080 and 2080 Ti, which launched in 2018, it becomes immediately apparent just how large this card truly is. This card won't fit in most slim PC cases without additional modifications, as its size is larger than most graphics cards on the market.

The GPU operates at a frequency of 1395 MHz, which can be boosted up to 1695 MHz and supports variable-rate shading, ray-tracing, and more for all current and future games.

Beware that this GPU is incredibly power-hungry; it is a triple-slot card, meaning that the RTX 3090 draws power from 1 x 12-pin power connector and has a power drawing rate of up to 350 W maximum, which is 30 W more than the RTX 3080 and 130 W more than the RTX 3070. This card is also incredibly expensive, costing more than twice the amount of the RTX 3080.

The RTX 3090 performs incredibly well, as one might expect, given its high-end nature. This card runs any games in 1080p with max settings without even breaking a sweat, with recent titles like Assassin's Creed Valhalla and Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War averaging 90 fps and 260 fps, respectively. The card handles 1440p gaming similarly, with Valhalla averaging around 80 fps and Black Ops Cold War averaging 206 fps. Finally, when taking a look at the RTX 3090's performance while running games in native 4K resolution, it still does incredibly well: Black Ops Cold War hits an average of 128 fps, while another popular shooter from 2020, Doom Eternal, manages to hit 171 fps average. The more demanding Assassin's Creed Valhalla still hits an average of 60 fps, with it just barely dipping under 60 occasionally.

Pros:

●     Fastest gaming chip available

●     Excellent cooling

Cons:

●     Very expensive

●     Incredibly power-hungry

●     Massive size, won't fit in slim PC cases

 

Radeon RX 6800

The Radeon RX 6800 is the first of three graphics cards to come from AMD this year, as part of their "Big Navi" trio of cards. This card comes in at $579, which isn't too high of a price considering the power that it packs. The RX 6800 is based on the Navi 21 graphics processor, which supports DirectX 12 Ultimate just like the Nvidia cards, and as a result, it too supports hardware ray-tracing, which is a first for AMD's cards. The card has 60 ray-tracing acceleration cores and 16 GB GDDR6 memory connected using a 256-bit memory interface. The RX 6800 is a dual-slot card and has a power draw rated at 250 W maximum, slightly more than the RTX 3700. This card also cools very well, hitting just 71 degrees C during the most intense times, which is cooler than any other GPUs released this year by either company.

The RX 6800 performs excellent, with no issues with running any titles in 1080p; this similarly is the case when running games in 1440p, with recent titles like The Division 2 and Dirt 5 hitting average framerates of 86 fps and 66 fps, respectively. The card does falter a bit when attempting to play some more demanding titles, however. 2019's Control could only manage to reach an average of 40 fps in 1440p and an embarrassingly low average of 20 fps in 4K resolution. A handful of other titles performed similarly, illustrating that the RX 6800 isn't quite as powerful as some may hope. Still, for under $600, this GPU is by no means terrible.

 

Pros:

●     Great cooler

●     First AMD card to have ray-tracing

●     Low power consumption

Cons:

●     More expensive than RTX 3070

●     Performance is behind the competition in some areas

 

Radeon RX 6800 XT

AMD's middle child--the Radeon RX 6800 XT--is an impressive piece of hardware comparable to Nvidia's RTX 3800 and costs $60 less. This card is based on the Navi 21 graphics processor and 16 GB GDDR6 memory and operates at 1825 MHz, boosted up to 2250 MHz. Like the RX 3800, this GPU features ray-tracing among a host of other new features. This feature alone gives owners of last-gen AMD cards a reason to upgrade to this model. This card draws up to 300 W of power, making it a tad bit more power-hungry than its little brother, the RX 6800 but still more power-efficient than Nvidia's RTX 3800. Visually, the card also has an excellent presentation, with a striking looking logo on the front of the card along with some very nice looking RGB lighting.

Looking at performance, the RX 6800 XT fares very well versus Nvidia GPUs. Running Red Dead Redemption 2 in 1440p resolution, for example, the 6800 XT hits an average of 116 fps with a more consistent frame rate overall and never dipping lower than 90 fps. The same title manages to hit an average of 71 fps when bumped up to 4k resolution, which unfortunately is lower than both the RTX 3090 and 3080. This is somewhat of a theme for the RX 6800 XT; whereas it exceeds its competition when running games in 1440p, it doesn't quite stack up to others when playing many titles in native 4K. For those looking for a great graphics card with a competitive price and outstanding 1440p performance, this might be the best GPU of choice. But for 4K gaming, it isn't quite as good as other options.

Pros:

●     Competitive pricing

●     Very consistent frame rates for many games

●     Low power consumption

●     Nice presentation

Cons:

●     Inconsistent performance across titles

●     Performance is behind the competition in some areas

 

Radeon RX 6900 XT

Last but not least, the Radeon RX 6900 XT is the beefiest of AMD's 2020 line of graphics cards. Launching at a price tag of $999, the 6900 XT is the most expensive from AMD, yet it still comes in at $500 cheaper than the RTX 3900. Like the 6800 and 6800 XT, this card also supports ray-tracing with 80 ray-tracing acceleration cores but additionally features 5120 shading units, 320 texture mapping units, and 128 ROPs. Like the 6800 XT, this card operates at 1825 MHz, which can be boosted to 2250 MHz.

Taking a look at its performance, the Radeon RX 6900 XT is very impressive on several fronts, rivaling and even beating competing cards in some respects, but still falls short when it comes to other features like ray-tracing. The Big Navi is the first set of cards by AMD that have supported ray-tracing, and as a result, they feel a bit behind Nvidia GPUs in that regard. Looking at highly demanding games like Watch Dogs Legion and Control, it's clear that the GPU struggles with keeping up with competing cards, with frame rates for both titles sitting at only around 40 fps while running at a 1440p resolution. On the other hand, the card handles many other games like Death Stranding better than any other card market, though the difference is only marginal.

While the RX 6900 XT is a great card that runs most games brilliantly, it isn't far ahead of AMD's 6800 and 6800 XT and is ideal for PC gamers that want better performance without entirely breaking the bank on the RTX 3090.

Pros:

●     Best in class performance for a handful of games

●     Power-efficient

Cons:

●     Only marginally superior to the 6800 XT

●     Ray-tracing doesn't stack up to Nvidia GPUs

●     Expensive

 

Table of Specs

 

 

Graphics Card	RX 6900 XT	RX 6800 XT	RX 6800	RTX 3090	RTX 3080	RTX 3070
Architecture	Navi 21 XTX	Navi 21 XT	Navi 21 XL	GA102	GA102	GA104
Process Technology	TSMC N7	TSMC N7	TSMC N7	Samsung 8N	Samsung 8N	Samsung 8N
Transistors (Billion)	26.8	26.8	26.8	28.3	28.3	17.4
Die size (mm^2)	519.8	519.8	519.8	628.4	628.4	392.5
SMs/CUs	80	72	60	82	68	46
GPU cores	5120	4608	3840	10496	8704	5888
Infinity Cache (MB)/ Tensor Cores	128	128	128	328	272	184
Ray Accelerators/RT Cores	80	72	60	82	68	46
Base Clock (MHz)	1825	1825	1700	1395	1440	1500
Boost Clock (MHz)	2250	2250	2105	1695	1710	1725
VRAM Speed (Gbps)	16	16	16	19.5	19	16
VRAM (GB)	16	16	16	24	10	8
VRAM Bus Width	256	256	256	384	320	256
ROPs	128	128	96	112	96	96
TMUs	320	288	240	328	272	184
TFLOPs FP32 (Boost)	23	20.7	16.2	142	119	81
Bandwidth (GBps)	512	512	512	936	760	512
TDP (watts)	300	300	250	350	320	220
Dimensions (mm)	278x107x50	278x107x50	278x107x 39	336x140x61	285x112x38	242x112x38
Weight (g)	1505	1504	1389	3279	1355	1260
Release Date	Dec 2020	Nov 2020	Nov 2020	Sep 2020	Sep 2020	Oct 2020
Price	$999	$649	$579	$1,499	$699	$499

 

Conclusion

So at the end of the day, which GPU should you purchase? Well, that entirely depends on what you're looking for in a graphics card. If you're hoping to play all the latest games at the highest graphical settings and have a large budget, then you might want to check out either AMD's Radeon RX 6900 XT or Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090. But keep in mind that these cards are only for those looking for the absolute best performance out there, as they aren't the most cost-effective.

If power isn't everything and you would instead prefer saving a bit of money, then the GeForce RTX 3080 or the Radeon RX 6800 XT may be better options. The GeForce RTX 3070 and Radeon RX 6800 are even less powerful and the least expensive out of Nvidia and AMD's newest GPUs and are still compelling pieces of hardware that are the most cost-efficient.

Overall, Nvidia and AMD's newest graphics cards each have their merits, and the best card for you depends on your budget and personal computing needs.

 

 

Scar

Yes those cards are a great idea. Oh wait there is non in stock.

sixsixtysix

Why the hell can't I buy a product online, as it says in stock, and pick-it up in shop? I'm not going to travel all the way across the metro only to find it sold out. Fix up or find out.

JS_MC

Hello, @sixsixtysix Welcome to the community!

Are you referring to an RX 6000 Series card?

If so, the reason would be that we have many customers waiting outside of our store for us to open. Typically we would allow these items to be reserved for in-store pick up, however, due to the limited availability at this time we do not have the stock to be able to offer this. I apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause. If you're looking to reserve an RX 6000 series, once we start to receive a more adequate volume of these GPUs we will enable this feature again. Otherwise, I'd recommend that you stop by our store directly if you are interested in purchasing an RX 6000 series card.

I hope this info helps! If you have any other questions or concerns, please let us know!

TheRob

Goodmorning microcenter people,
I need some helo upgrading GPUs, and the only way I can upgrade is by going to the store directly as I want the gigabyt 3080. Does microcenter boston receive shipments of these on tuesdays? Its my only day off during the week so its the only day I have to wait. 

Thank you for your help!

TSPhillipT

Hello @TheRob

Thank you for posting on the Micro Center Community! I see you are trying to get a Gigabyte 3080. Our Micro Center's do get shipments frequently, however we do not know what is on those shipments and a 3080 may or may not be on those shipments. The main thing however, is if that shipment does have Gigabyte 3080s, it is likely to be sold out instantly to the customers waiting at the store during the day or when we open in the morning.

You're best bet is being at the store, towards the front of the line. We are using a Voucher System that allows customers at the front of the line to get a card once we know what our stock is looking like. More information can be found here; Limited Availability Products FAQ.

Rhamnetin

This is some incredibly biased propaganda. I mean, it says this about the RX 6800 XT:

"Pros:

• Very consistent frame rates for many games

Cons:

• Inconsistent performance across titles"

This does not portray the truth that AMD and NVIDIA are generally very competitive with one another (it only points out that AMD loses at times, not that NVIDIA also has its fair share of losses) or that the RX 6800 generally outperforms the RTX 3070 by a considerable margin.

JS_MC

I don't disagree with you @Rhamnetin I think that Ben's perspective here is quite subjective.

I'd agree that both brands offer a very competitive performance across a wide range of performance categories. I think the pros and cons above could be applied to almost any GPU upon initial release.