The days are changing rapidly with technology galloping at a fantastic pace. Today, you have children as young as three to four years old playing games on their mobiles or laptops.
The gaming technology has improved significantly in the meanwhile. The millennial generation started with games like Mario and Road Rash.
They graduated to action-packed games like GTA Vice City and GTA San Andreas.
Today, you have almost every kid playing games like PUBG, Call of Duty, Far Cry 5, Assassin’s Creed, Counter-Strike, GTA V, Tom Clancy’s even though it is supposed to be played by adults.
These games are fast-paced and hence require high-quality graphics cards. It explains why children always look at the GPU configuration on laptops before anything else.
This guide should make it easy for you to select the perfect graphics card, as we discuss the technical aspects threadbare.
Table of Contents
- Best Graphics Card in India
- 1. ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 2080 Ti
- 2. MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Super Gaming X Trio
- 3. ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 2070 Super – AMP Edition
- 4. ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 2070 Super – Mini Edition
- 5. MSI GeForce RTX 2060 Ventus XS 6G OCV1
- 6. ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 2060 Mini
- 7. MSI GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Ventus XS 6G OC
- 8. ZOTAC Gaming GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Twin Fan
- 9. Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660 OC – GV-N1660OC-6GD
- 10. ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1050 Ti OC Edition ZT-P10510B-10L
- 11. Gigabyte GeForce GT 1030 Low Profile – GV-N1030D5-2GL
- Graphics Card Buying Guide
- Graphics Cards – The basics
- Useful tips you can rely on
- Graphics card – Which one to buy, AMD or NVIDIA?
- Graphics Card – Mind your budget
- Factors to consider when purchasing graphics cards
- Graphics Card Memory – Top Priority
- Connectivity Ports – Top Priority
- The graphics card size – Very Significant
- Power Connectors – Significant
- Thermal Design Power (TDP) – Significant
- TFLOPS/GFLOPS – Significant
- Clock Speed – Somewhat significant
- Stream processors or CUDA Cores – Somewhat significant
- Bandwidth or Memory Speed – Somewhat significant
- Ray Tracing / Tensor Cores – Not that significant today
- Supplementary Features
- Concluding thoughts
Best Graphics Card in India
1. ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 2080 Ti
ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 2080 Ti graphics cards come in different configurations, depending on the accessories. This specific model is a Twin Fan product, whereas a Triple Fan variant is also available at a higher pricing level. This card is compatible with the Intel i7 and i9 CPU-equipped PCs. It comes with advanced specifications with some of the latest features.
- Memory – 11 GB GDDR6 graphic memory
- CUDA Cores – 4352 with a boost clock frequency of 1545 MHz
- Connectivity Ports – Three DisplayPort 1.4, One HDMI 2.0, and One USB Type C
- Compatibility – 4K Ready and VR Ready
- Fans – Twin fans
- Architecture – New NVIDIA Turing architecture
- Advanced features – Real-time ray tracing, deep learning AI
This graphic card, with its breathtaking features, qualifies as the new generation graphics card. It is well ahead of its times with facilities like real-time ray tracing and deep-learning AI. It is a premium range graphics card priced over Rs 100,000.
The latest games come with astounding graphics. Real-time ray tracing offers one of the most advanced levels of realism by displaying lifelike lighting, reflections, and shadows to take your gaming experience to the ultimate level.
NVIDIA Turing architecture along with GeForce RTX platform brings excitable features like AI, programmable shading besides real-time ray tracing.
The next-generation GDDR6 memory has enough bandwidth to support DirectX 12 features, thereby reinventing graphics performance.
On the durability front, the additional die-cast metal jacket layer strengthens the graphics card. As it offers full board coverage, it provides necessary structural strengthening and additional heat dissipation.
The ZOTAC Gaming Firestorm is a pathbreaking software that offers a more intuitive and minimal interface along with a breathtaking display of RGB colours. The overclocking feature speeds up your gaming experience.
This graphics card comes with revolutionary safety features like the OC Scanner to eliminate the trial and error guesswork process and replace it with a simple button press procedure.
- The latest features make it the most powerful graphics card today.
- Adequate connectivity ports to connect with 4K monitors
- Twin-fan architecture to ensure smooth dissipation of heat, thereby enhancing its overall lifespan
- A graphics card, well ahead of its times
- Not compatible with the budget-level PCs, as it requires a motherboard with high specifications
2. MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Super Gaming X Trio
Here is another third-party manufactured GPU card working with NVIDIA architecture. The MSI GeForce RTX 2080 is a premium graphics card offering capable of delivering astonishing performance levels. Its features match the best on offer.
- Memory – 8 GB GDDR6
- Connectivity Ports – Three DisplayPort 1.4, One HDMI 2.0
- Card size – 327 x 140 x 55.6mm
- Chipset – NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super
- Clock speed – Boost speed of 1845 MHz
- Fans – Triple fan technology
MSI graphics are renowned for being one of the most powerful in terms of performance and experience. The exciting aspect is that it works on most customisable software. It is a durable card with a metal structure providing support to all the electric highways on the printed circuit board.
The triple-fan technology ensures to dissipate the heat as quickly as it is generated.
The three-fan architecture marks the return of the beast, as only the most powerful of GPUs come with such high configurations.
On the appearance front, the heady mix of black and gunmetal grey along with a brushed metal backplate is a sight to watch. Besides being sturdy, it provides gorgeous RGB effects that can further be controlled by MSI’s Mystic Light software to ensure proper synchronisation.
The NVIDIA Turing architecture, in combination with GeForce RTX platform, offers the latest features like real-time ray tracing, AI, and programmable shading. The real-time ray tracing solution offers fantastic realism beyond what other traditional rendering techniques provide.
When you have the next-generation GDDR6 memory that supports DirectX 12 features to reinvent graphics performance, you can rest assured of out-of-the-world gaming experience.
The boost clock features allow for a faster and better gaming experience. All these premium graphic cards come with VR-ready features.
This MSI card comes with adequate connectivity ports to pair with the latest generation monitors and deliver an above-par gaming experience that gaming addicts would pay anything to get.
- Compatible with 1440p monitors
- The highlight of this card is its explosive performance.
- Three-fan architecture ensures optimal cooling.
- Is 4K ready, but an RTX 2080 Ti card delivers a better performance
- Needs a correspondingly reliable motherboard and CPU to provide optimum performance
3. ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 2070 Super – AMP Edition
ZOTAC is a reputed graphics card brand, especially in the premium pricing range. This high-end graphics card comes in four editions, including a MINI edition. The present card under review is the AMP edition with its remarkable features delivering incredible realism and brilliant gaming performance.
- Memory – 8 GB GDDR6
- Architecture – NVIDIA Turing Architecture
- CUDA Cores – 2560 CUDA Cores with engine boost speeds up to 1800 MHz
- Software – IceStorm 2.0 for high cooling
- Connectivity ports – Three DisplayPort 1.4, One HDMI 2.0
- Compatibility – 4K, Microsoft DirectX12, Vulkan API
Here is another card in the premium category, capable of delivering dream performances. It comes with the backing of NVIDIA Turing Architecture.
In combination with GeForce RTX Super Platform, this card fuses real-time ray tracing with AI and programmable shading to bring the highest degree of joy to gaming enthusiasts.
Any gaming addict today can tell the importance of lighting in the fast-action paced games like PUBG. This architecture comes with real-time ray tracing to ensure optimum lighting, reflections, and shadows, thereby introducing the realism element that is not usually present in the traditional budget graphics cards.
One of the positives of this graphics card is the fantastic memory bandwidth of 8 GB GDDR6. It allows you to display your creative talent and dominate the games you play with absolute felicity.
Gaming can cause your GPU to heat up considerably. This gaming card features IceStorm 2.0 technology to enable a more cooling, quieter, and better overall performance.
The card’s dynamic layout occupies more surface area, thereby enabling higher dissipation of heat. The aluminium array heatsink fin stack and the improved heat pipe layout provides engineered cooling.
The active fan control feature allows the users to adjust fan rotators independently to increase the airflow and concentrate on the areas it is necessary. The Firestorm technology fine-tunes your graphics card with enhanced intelligence levels.
The OC Scanner feature enables gamers to extract the maximum out of the graphics card’s performance. A single click eliminates the trial and error process when deploying more speed to enhance its performance.
This graphics card features Spectra technology to enhance the visual experience and customises lighting and colour to the maximum extent possible.
- Magnificent performance backed by high-quality NVIDIA Turing architecture
- Fantastic cooling of the highest order
- Can play all the latest games with absolute efficiency
- Compared to the specifications, the pricing is on the higher side.
- Needs a robust infrastructure for working
4. ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 2070 Super – Mini Edition
We have discussed the AMP Edition of the ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 2070 Super-series graphics card earlier. This product is the Mini Edition of the same graphics card. Though it is smaller in size, it packs a similar punch because it comes with almost all the functions that are available on the AMP Edition.
- Memory – 8GB GDDR6
- Card Size – Mini Edition
- Connectivity Ports – Three DisplayPort 1.4 and one HDMI 2.0 port
- CUDA Cores – 2560 CUDA Cores with engine boost speeds of up to 1770 MHz
- Cooling technology – IceStorm 2.0
- Architecture – NVIDIA Turing Architecture
- Software compatibility – Microsoft DirectX 12 and Vulkan API
The performance of this graphic card is similar to the ZOTAC card discussed earlier because of the same specifications. However, this Mini Edition graphics card differs from the AMP Edition as it does not support gaming at 4K.
The NVIDIA Turing architecture and GeForce RTX technology combine to offer excellent facilities like ray tracing, AI, and programmable shading. Therefore, gamers enjoy playing the latest games like Devi May Cry 5, COD, DOOM and PUBG on this graphics card.
This card differs from the AMP Edition in its size. The dimensions of this Mini Edition card are 20.95 x 11.92 x 4.09cm, when compared to 26.99 x 2.99 x 11.99cm. Thus, it can fit into the PC cabinets comfortably.
As far as speed is concerned, both the cards are similar, with this Mini Edition capable of engine boost speeds up to 1770 MHz. When viewed in combination with the 2560 CUDA Cores, it shows that this graphics card is a remarkable performer.
On the cooling front, this card comes equipped with IceStorm 2.0 software, similar to that available on the AMP Edition. This technology enhances cooling because it utilises more surface area while having an improved heat-pipe layout and a robust aluminium array heatsink for additional heat dissipation.
This graphics card is compatible with 1440p gaming and Microsoft DirectX12 and Vulkan API. It works best with Windows 7 upwards. This card comes with adequate connectivity ports in the form of three DisplayPort 1.4 and one HDMI 2.0.
- Works excellently even in homes with poor ventilation
- The IceStorm 2.0 technology reduces heat dissipation to the maximum.
- Can play the latest games with ease
- Not suitable for playing on 4K monitors
5. MSI GeForce RTX 2060 Ventus XS 6G OCV1
This MSI GeForce RTX 2060 qualifies as a high-end gaming card but is available at mid-range price. Performance-wise, the GeForce RTX 2060 is a good one as it is compatible with 1440p gaming and VR.
- Memory – 6 GB GDDR6
- Clock Speed – up to 1710 MHz
- Connectivity ports – Three DisplayPort plus One HDMI
- Fans – Two
- Compatibility – Refresh rate up to 240 Hz, 1440p, HDR, DirectX 12
- Advanced features – VR, Ray tracing, and AI
The highlight of this MSI GeForce RTX 2060 Ventus 6G OVI graphics card is the new premium fan design with two different types of fan blades. The dispersion blade accelerates the airflow to enhance cooling, whereas the traditional fan blade provides a steady stream of airflow to the heatsink.
The dispersion blade has a steeply curved surface for increasing the effectiveness. The Torx Fan 2.0 technology in the MSI Ventus graphics cards ensure top-notch cooling performance.
This graphics card works on the NVIDIA Turning Architecture. In combination with GeForce RTX platform, this card offers a perfect fusion of ray tracing, AI, and programmable shading.
The real-time ray tracing is an innovative concept as it provides definitive solutions for lighting, reflections, and shadows. Thus, it presents a clear view of the gaming situation, helping you to gain the edge over your competitors. NVIDIA Turing is the first GPU capable of ray tracing in real-time.
The GeForce RTX 2060 card comes with 6 GB memory and next-generation GDDR6 memory bandwidth. Thus, it supports DirectX 12, HDR, VR, and other features to ensure an immersive gaming experience.
This graphics card is available in three versions, the 6G OCV1, the 6G OC, and Gaming Z 6G. There are minor differences between these three variants. However, they are similar in their performance levels.
One of the positive aspects of this graphics card is that it is compatible with Android and iOS devices through wireless control.
- The Ventus OC version is faster than the Founder’s Edition RTX 2060.
- Ideal for gaming at 1080p and 1440p
- VR compatibility is an added advantage.
- Fantastic cooling performance
- This graphics card cannot overclock massively.
6. ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 2060 Mini
This ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 2060 Mini Edition graphics card is available at mid-range card prices though it is a high-end gaming card. The ZOTAC graphics card works on NVIDIA Turing Architecture to deliver a power-packed performance with real-time ray tracing and AI.
- Memory – 6 GB GDDR6
- CUDA Cores – 1920 CUDA Cores
- Clock Boost – up to 1680 MHz
- Architecture – NVIDIA Turing
This graphics card is small in size but a powerhouse of a performer when it comes to gaming. The NVIDIA Turing architecture and GeForce RTX platform combine beautifully to offer innovative features like real-time ray tracing, programmable shadows, and AI through deep learning.
Real-time ray tracing is becoming the trend today because of the fast, action-packed games that people play. It becomes a challenge to locate the adversary in dark conditions in games like PUBG.
Ray tracing allows for optimum lighting, reflection, and shadows, whereby it becomes easy to trace the adversary and knock them off to gain the upper hand over your competitors.
The twin fan structure is excellent for cooling the graphics card and enhancing its overall performance. Though small, it spreads out evenly and ensures coverage of more surface area to reduce heat dissipation to the minimum.
The 6 GB GDDR6 memory bandwidth should be enough to play the latest online games comfortably. You should ensure to have a compatible CPU to match with the GPU and ensure optimum performance.
This graphics card enables smooth gaming at 1080p and 1440p. It is also compatible with VR and Microsoft DirectX 12. One can also run this graphics card at 4K at the lowest settings. The 1440p display is the best when it comes to delivering optimum performance at the highest game settings.
It comes equipped with adequate connectivity ports to connect to the latest monitors with HDR facility. A good-quality CPU can help this graphics card to unlock its true potential and play games at high frame rates.
- Exceptional performance
- The sturdy build quality to ensure sufficient longevity
- Worth the dough you spend on it, especially with the discounts available freely
- Can run at 4K resolution at the lowest settings
- Makes noise when running at overclocked speeds
7. MSI GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Ventus XS 6G OC
At one point in time, the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti was the best graphics card available. The introduction of the RTX 20-series changed that completely. However, even today, the GTX 1660 Ti runs perfectly on many PCs across India. It is one of the best mid-range graphics cards available today in India.
- Memory – 6 GB GDDR5X
- Clock Boost – 1750 MHz
- Fans – Torx Fan 2.0
- Connectivity ports – Three DisplayPort 1.4 and one HDMI 2.0
This mid-range graphics card is a proven performer on this stage. It comes with adequate 6 GB GDDR5X memory. Though it is not as fast as those graphics cards with GDDR6 memory, the clock boost of 1750 MHz makes it a speedy performer in its niche.
The Ventus design is a proven one that costs more than the Founder’s Edition. It is because of the new dual fan design capable of delivering an excellent cooling performance. The award-winning Torx 2.0 fan design is a sturdy one that can provide many years of top-notch performance.
This graphics card allows users to have an excellent GeForce experience where capturing and sharing videos, screenshots, and live streams with friends are comfortable. Users should ensure to keep the GeForce drivers up to date and optimise their game settings to get the best out of these graphics cards.
The GTX 1660 Ti competes with the older version GTX 1070 and delivers an excellent experience on the latest online PC games. This card is good for gaming on 1080p resolutions and is compatible with VR headsets.
The NVIDIA Turing Shaders enable excellent performance as they highlight the dark areas on the screen to make your adversaries more visible. Though these shaders are no match for ray tracing, they can help you to play efficiently and overcome your adversaries with ease.
This graphics card comes equipped with four connectivity ports that include three DisplayPort 2.0 and one HDMI to connect to 1080p resolution monitors.
- One of the best mid-range gaming cards in India
- Can handle almost all games at 1080p with the least stuttering and FPS drops
- The Torx 2.0 fan design delivers excellent cooling.
- Needs an 8-pin power cable to run the fan
- Does not work well with a 6-core processor
8. ZOTAC Gaming GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Twin Fan
The ZOTAC Gaming GeForce GTX-1660 Ti graphics card comes in two editions, the AMP, and Twin Fan edition. This specific model is the Twin Fan Edition model and is one of the best mid-range graphics cards in India because of its impressive features.
- Memory – 6 GB GDDR6
- CUDA Cores – 1536 CUDA Cores
- Clock Boost – Up to 1770 MHz
- Connectivity Ports – Three DisplayPort 1.4 and one HDMI 2.0
- Compatibility – Microsoft DirectX 12 and Vulkan API
This graphics card is one of the fastest and most reliable cards in the mid-range graphics card segment. It comes with a 6 GB GDDR6 RAM for improved gaming performance.
The NVIDIA Turing Architecture enhances the overall gaming performance of this graphics card by providing compatibility to NVIDIA Ansel and G-Sync. It is also HDCP compliant, whereby you can connect it to four displays simultaneously.
Though the GTX 1660 Ti series cards do not come with ray tracing, these cards are powerful enough to let your share videos, screenshots, and live streams with your friends.
GTX 1660 Ti enables you to play the latest games with ease as it highlights the dark areas and makes them easily visible. However, you should ensure to have the latest drivers on your PC to optimise your gaming experience.
It is a better idea to download your drivers from the NVIDIA website and keep updating them at regular intervals to get the highest performance levels. This graphics card is compatible with VR because of its low latency levels. It also shows plug-and-play compatibility with all the leading VR headsets.
This graphics card comes with high-quality cooling features because of the unique fan design. The copper heat pipes allow maximum heat extraction, whereas the aluminium heatsink ensures maximum heat dissipation.
The curved fan blades improve airflow staying power, and the wide fan blades maximise the airflow to keep the gaming card cool, even if used extensively.
ZOTAC introduces Firestorm Utility with this graphics card. It allows you to enjoy an intuitive and minimal interface where you can get in and out quickly. Firestorm also enables you to fine-tune your graphics card with enhanced intelligence. You can also adjust Spectra lighting and monitor the hardware status comfortably.
- Best performance on 1080p monitors
- Firestorm is an excellent utility tool.
- Get 60 FPS or more at the highest setting.
- Not the best GPU to have if there is not enough ventilation
- As better configurations are available, the pricing of this graphics card needs a revision.
9. Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660 OC – GV-N1660OC-6GD
Gigabyte is another reputed graphics card manufacturer along with ZOTAC and MSI. This graphic card works on the NVIDIA GeForce platform.
This GTX 1660 graphics card is one of the best mid-range graphics cards available in its niche.
- Memory – 6 GB GDDR5
- Connectivity Ports – Three DisplayPort 1.4 and one HDMI 2.0
- Cooling system – Windforce 2X Cooling technology
- Architecture – NVIDIA
Gigabyte is a renowned brand with a sizeable market presence. They specialise in manufacturing graphics cards that promise an excellent gaming experience to casual and intensive gamers.
This specific graphics card model is a mid-range card that is compatible with VR headsets.
One can play some of the latest games on 1080p monitors at the highest settings comfortably. The 6 GB GDDR5 memory is a fast one. However, it is not as speedy as the GDDR6 RAM found on some of its contemporary models.
The Gigabyte GC N1660OC-6GD graphics card comes equipped with three DisplayPort 1.4 and one HDMI 2.0 port. Thus, it is capable of playing games at higher resolutions but with the lowest gaming settings. However, one can watch videos at high resolution comfortably.
The Windforce 2X cooling technology is innovative with alternate spinning fans to enhance the cooling effect.
Though it is a good graphics card for gaming, it delivers better performance when you use the PC for other tasks like AutoCAD Photoshop and files related to 3D videos. Although it works well with 450W power supply, it would be better to have a minimum 500 to 550W SMPS with an 8-pin connector for better performance.
- Good performance when compared to its pricing
- Excellent graphics card for AutoCAD
- Efficient cooling system
- Some people have complained of noise when functioning.
10. ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1050 Ti OC Edition ZT-P10510B-10L
Among the budget graphics cards, the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1050 Ti takes pride of place being the best available on display in India. This card is compatible with 1080p monitors and delivers optimum gaming experience for all levels of gamers. However, gaming addicts would not love to go for these configuration settings.
- Memory – 4 GB GDDR5
- Clock Speed – A base speed of 1392 MHz with a boost capacity of 1506 MHz
- CUDA Cores – 768 CUDA Cores
- Connectivity Ports – One DisplayPort, one HDMI, and one DL-DVI
- Compatibility with – DirectX 12
- Fans – Dual fans
These settings might not be the most ideal for compulsive gamers, but they should prove enough for occasional players. It is possible to play the latest online games with this configuration. One would not get the efficiency that is possible with the higher-end cards because the action-packed games might not work at the highest settings.
The overclocking ability of this GPU enables a faster performance when you consider the CUDA Cores effect. However, this card cannot compete with the latest ones available today. Among the lower-end cards, the GTX 1050 Ti is the best available on the market.
This graphics card comes with three connectivity ports in a DisplayPort 1.4, an HDMI 2.0, and one DL-DVI port. Thus, one can connect three display units simultaneously and have enjoyable gaming experience.
The dual fans present on the graphics card provide ideal cooling. Though it might not be an excellent card for compulsive gaming, it is better than the Integrated Graphics that the lower-priced PCs come equipped with. These graphics allow you to stream live video and watch them without screen stuttering or lag.
This card is compatible with Windows 7 OS and above up to Windows 10. As it is compatible with DirectX 12 API, it provides for a decent gaming experience. It is available in three configurations including the 1050 Ti Mini and 1050 Mini with 2 GB RAM.
- Budget wise, one of the best graphics cards
- Excellent performance for occasional gamers
- Ideal for watching videos and live streaming without lag
- Gaming addicts will not go for this configuration.
- Need to register with ZOTAC for an extended warranty
11. Gigabyte GeForce GT 1030 Low Profile – GV-N1030D5-2GL
Amongst all the graphics cards discussed in this article, this Gigabyte GeForce GT 1030 is the lowest-priced.
- Memory – 2GB GDDR5
- Clock speed – 1468 MHz in gaming mode and 1506 MHz in OC Mode
- Overclocking – One-click overclocking via AORUS Graphics Engine
- Form Factor – Low Profile
The GeForce GT 1030 is a low-end graphics card that is better than the Integrated Graphics you get on PCs with no GPUs. Thus, this graphics card is ideal for casual gamers. Intensive gamers will not find these configurations to their liking. However, this graphics card offers a decent experience for people who use it for their casual gaming activities.
Besides gaming, one can also use the card for streaming and watching videos comfortably. You can watch videos and live telecasts on your PC with ease without any lag. However, it depends on your internet connectivity quality.
This graphics card comes with a single fan for cooling and heat dissipation. As it is not possible for indulging in substantial gaming activities, the card does not heat up quickly.
The single fan cooler is enough to cool down the card and reduce the noise. The fan comes with ergonomically designed blades to offer comfortable airflow.
The AORUS graphics engine allows you to overclock, thereby improving the gaming experience. Depending on your requirements, you can adjust the clock speeds using the one-click overclocking feature vis the AORUS graphics engine.
- The ideal budget-level graphics card for casual gaming
- Low power consumption
- Easy to install as you can plug it into the PCIe slot
- Overclocking feature is an excellent benefit
- Users have complained of viewing a blank screen when overclocking the card.
- The installation requires an update that is available on the internet.
Graphics Card Buying Guide
It is easy to become confused by computer lingo when you venture to purchase the ideal gaming PC/laptop for your children.
You encounter various technical terms like CPU processor/chipset, RAM, SSD, HDD, graphics cards, and so on.
Each component has its significance. In this buying guide, we shall discuss graphics cards and the aspects to look at when deciding the ideal configuration to have.
Before we proceed with the buying guide for graphics cards, let us understand its concept and functions.
Graphics Cards – The basics
The graphics card renders an image to your monitor/screen by converting data into signals that your monitor can comprehend.
The better the graphics card, the smoother is the image on the screen. Graphics card is necessary for seeing pictures/images, watching videos, and playing games on the laptop/PC.
Gamers and video editors require high-configuration graphics cards.
Thus, you can infer that the graphics card or the GPU (graphics processing unit), as people refer it to, is more significant than the CPU if you are purchasing a gaming PC/laptop.
Figuring out the ideal graphics card can be a challenge. It depends on various factors like the monitor type, the size of your PC case, your CPU, the motherboard configuration, and the game’s settings you plan to use.
One needs to look at many aspects before zeroing on the ideal graphics card. Let us now rush through the following basics before discussing the graphics cards in detail.
Useful tips you can rely on
Graphics card – Which one to buy, AMD or NVIDIA?
Graphics cards are available dime a dozen on the market. However, you should know that AMD and NVIDIA are the only two companies manufacturing the GPUs that power these cards. Intel is coming out with its Intel Xe Graphics soon.
As far as the budget GPUs and the upper-mid-range graphics cards are concerned, AMD and NVIDIA are competitive with the latest RX 5000 series cards proving to be the ideal foil to the NVIDIA GeForce products.
However, in the high-end band, nothing can beta the NVIDIA GeForce RTX cards today.
Maybe, there will be competition with AMD planning to introduce the Big Navi cards soon.
However, NVIDIA is also gearing up with its NVIDIA Ampere GPUs to surge ahead of the competition. The NVIDIA Ampere A100 has the distinction of being the fastest ever GPU tested worldwide, more than 43% faster than the Turing architecture.
However, before choosing from AMD or NVIDIA, you should better check out whether your monitor supports AMD FreeSync or NVIDIA G-Sync.
These technologies synchronise the graphics card refresh rate with that of the monitor to eliminate screen stuttering or screen tearing.
If your monitor does not support either of these technologies, you are free to choose any one of the two. However, you should note that NVIDIA is now certifying specific FreeSync monitors to work with specific NVIDIA graphics cards.
Graphics Card – Mind your budget
Graphics cards can be expensive, especially those with high-configurations can cost more than a lakh of rupees.
However, graphics cards are also available for amounts below Rs 20,000. If you have a flexible budget, you can go for the cards costing the range of Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000.
Therefore, a lot depends on your budget. This table will help you decide which graphics card should suit your budget.
| GPUs – in order of performance | Class | Recommended Use |
| NVIDIA GeForce GT 1030 AMD Radeon RX 550 | Cheapest (Below Rs 10,000) | Casual gaming or if your CPU does not come with integrated graphics |
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Super, GTX 1650 AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT Older versions – NVIDIA GTX 1060, GTX 1050 Ti, GTX 1050 and AMD RX 590, RX 580, RX 570, and RX 560 | The Budget graphics cards (Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000) | Ideal for gaming at 1080p or lower resolutions at low-to-medium game settings |
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti, GTX 1660 Super, GTX 1660 AMD RX 5600 XT Older versions – NVIDIA GTX 1070 Ti, GTX 1070 AMD RX Vega 56 | Mid-range graphics cards (Rs 20,000 to Rs 40,000) | These cards are good for gaming at 1080p and compatible with VR headsets |
| NVIDIA RTX 2070 Super, RTX 2070, RTX 2060 Super, RTX 2060 AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT, RX 5700 Older versions – NVIDIA GTX 1080 Ti, GTX 1080 AMD Radeon VII, RX Vega 64 | High-end graphics cards (Rs 40,000 to Rs 75,000) | Compatible with VR headsets Ideal for gaming at 1440p resolutions and high-refresh 1080p monitors |
| NVIDIA RTX 2080 Ti, RTX 2080 Super, Titan RTX Older versions – NVIDIA Titan V, Titan Xp | Premium graphics cards (in the range of Rs 1 lakh and more) | These graphics cards are best for 4K gaming The RTX cards support AI technology and ray tracing. |
Factors to consider when purchasing graphics cards
This section will navigate you through the terminologies that graphics card manufacturers use. One should know the significance to understand the performance of these cards better.
Graphics Card Memory – Top Priority
Similar to CPUs, graphics cards also come with memory. The ideal GPU memory for a good gaming experience is 4 GB.
A 6 GB memory would be excellent for gaming at 1080p.
The gaming performance also depends on the gaming settings. If you play with high settings or high-resolution texture packs, the GPU needs more memory. Similarly, gaming at high resolutions like 4K will need a minimum memory of 8 GB.
Connectivity Ports – Top Priority
The connectivity ports on your monitors play a critical role in the selection of your GPU. The earlier day monitors used to come with DVI ports.
The latest ones come with HDMI and/or DisplayPort. Your graphics card should have compatible connectors to be able to play on your monitor screen.
Otherwise, you can go for an adapter. Alternatively, you can purchase a new display if it does not have DisplayPort or HDMI.
The graphics card size – Very Significant
Graphics cards are big devices that require considerable space inside your PC case. You should note down its specifications such as height, length, and thickness.
Some graphics cards come in a slim design (half-height), whereas the gaming-focused cards are usually, full-height. These cards can occupy a single slot, dual-slot, or even triple slots on your motherboard.
The full-height cards take up two expansion slots. You should also note that graphics cards come with heatsinks and fans, whereby it can block an adjacent slot and render it useless.
Therefore, the motherboard size plays a crucial role in your graphics card selection. If you have a tiny motherboard, you can look for the mini cards that are generally 8 inches long or even less than that.
Power Connectors – Significant
The high-end and premium graphics cards draw more than the maximum of 75W provided by the x16 PCIe slots.
Therefore, these cards require supplemental PCIe power connectors in six or eight-pin configurations.
It will be a fantastic idea to check out the card specifications if they come with these connectors. Some cards have either one or two such connectors. If the power supply does not have these supplemental connectors, it is advisable to upgrade.
Thermal Design Power (TDP) – Significant
Graphics cards can emit considerable heat. Hence, they come with heatsinks or fans. The amount of heat dissipated is the TDP of the specific card. It is also an estimate of the power supply required to run these cards at stock settings.
The ideal requirement is a 600-watt Power Supply Unit (PSU). It can handle almost all the graphics cards available today.
An 800-watt PSU would be more than sufficient for handling one GPU without overclocking.
On the other hand, if you have a 400-watt PSU along with a 95-watt overclocked CPU, you will need an upgrade to connect the GTX 1080 Ti that comes with a TDP of 250 watts.
TFLOPS/GFLOPS – Significant
The maximum theoretical performance of a graphics card is indicated in GFLOPS or TFLOPS (Billions of floating-point operations per second or trillions of FLOPS).
The formula for TFLOPS is the Core count multiplied by the clock speed multiplied by 2. It is an indication of how one chip is compared to the other.
Clock Speed – Somewhat significant
Compared to the parameters discussed above, the clock speed does not have much significance.
Some graphics cards come with overclocking at slightly higher speeds. One can also call it a marketing gimmick because the overclocked speeds do generally not exceed 10%.
At most, it can make a modest difference in the frame rates. One should not look at clock speeds in isolation but factor in other issues like core counts and architecture.
Stream processors or CUDA Cores – Somewhat significant
Similar to clock speed, the CUDA cores or stream processors are not as significant because they do not provide the ideal picture of the GPU performance level.
One should also note that it is of no use, comparing core counts between different architectures. Yes, you can compare if the graphics cards belong to the same architecture.
Bandwidth or Memory Speed – Somewhat significant
A faster memory can make a specific graphics card faster than another. It is similar to the higher clock speed concept.
For example, GDDR6 is faster than GDDR5 by around 15% because of the enhanced memory bandwidth.
Ray Tracing / Tensor Cores – Not that significant today
As on date, this parameter is the least significant of what we have discussed up to now.
Ray Tracing and Tensor Cores are the latest concepts that are available in the NVIDIA RTX 20-series graphics card.
They are available on the high-end and premium graphics cards priced above Rs 40,000 (example – RTX 2060).
This concept is gaining ground with rumours abounding that the second-gen ray tracing cards might render the first-gen cards obsolete. Under such circumstances, this aspect should be the least on your mind when shopping for a graphics card. However, things could change in the future. It is better to know the concept, as of now.
Supplementary Features
As we have already stated, technology is improving rapidly. The latest games come with features like VR and AI. One should do better to invest in graphics cards that offer features like VR, Ray Tracing, and AI.
Virtual Reality
If you use the two leading PC VR platforms, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, your graphics card should support VR.
NVIDIA RTX 2060 Super or AMD RX 5700 or their higher versions are the best graphics cards to deliver optimal performance.
Some of the lower-end cards like the NVIDIA GTX 1060 and AMD Radeon RX 570 allow you to use VR headsets.
Ray Tracing and Artificial Intelligence
Real-time ray tracing and Tensor cores that aid AI-assisted supersampling are the latest developments today.
NVIDIA’s Turing-based RTX cards include RT cores that enable ray tracing. However, these features are still in its infancy. It will take time for technology to improve. Until then, you need not concentrate on these features.
Though this technology is not much prevalent today, it does not cause any harm to be future-proof, especially if you opt for the high-end and premium graphics cards.
The next generation Play Station 5 and Xbox Series X will support ray tracing, but it will be a while before ray tracing becomes the norm.
Third-Party Designs
If you look at the graphics card reviews earlier in the article, you will find some third-party designs other than NVIDIA and AMD. Though there are third-party graphics card manufacturers, the GPU has to be from either NVIDIA or AMD.
Such third-party designs come with additional features like extra fans, extensive cooling, and even higher clock speeds. Thus, you might also find that these third-party designs to be more expensive than the reference graphics card.
Concluding thoughts
We have discussed almost every aspect of graphics cards that one should know when shopping for the same. Our reviews also show that the premium-end cards are the best when it comes to performance, but they can be expensive.
Gaming addicts and professional graphics designers generally opt for these premium-end graphics. Otherwise, the budget cards can deliver a decent gaming experience.
Keep watching this space for updates because technology is moving much faster than what we perceive.
