3 Best Graphics Cards in 2022 – Reviews and Buying Guide

If you are considering buying a new computer, the main steps are without a doubt choosing a graphics card. We’ve included the top 3 best graphics cards 2022 in our testing that are worth buying. If you play challenging games or work with complex programs, you are in the right place! Finally, you can read what you need to think about when buying a graphics card.

How to choose the right graphics card?

Before visiting the store, think carefully about what you need a graphics card for. The type of graphics chip used and the amount of memory also play an important role. Be sure not to forget the core frequency or the width of the memory bus. Consumption and noise also have a major impact on gaming comfort and payment. Last but not least, we recommend taking into account compatibility, cooling method and connectivity.

Use of graphics cards

Although we have graphics performance associated mainly with playing demanding games, there are a number of other activities in which the presence of adequate chip performance is essential. In principle, there are three basic uses, according to which you should also choose the price range and parameters of the selected card. See the following table for more information:

Office work:        Designed for browsing websites, writing documents and watching movies.          Do $150

Playing games:   With these cards you can play demanding games smoothly, you can easily stream, they are characterized by higher performance, consumption, but also dimensions.              From $200 to $1000

Professional work with multimedia:     This category is designed for professional multimedia work, which includes 2D / 3D graphics, video editing and animation activities, and can handle continuous operation.   From $1,000 to $4,500

Are you considering using a game chip for professional video editing and custom programming? Think about this plan, because the two types of chips are definitely not interchangeable. While game models cope well with a significant load for a short time, they can’t handle marathons lasting several tens of hours. In addition, you pay extra for their operation, because they are not very economical in terms of energy consumption.

Graphics chip type

If you choose a graphics card from any manufacturer, it will always contain a chip from the workshop of a pair of companies AMD / ATI or NVIDIA. Both companies have been organizing competitions in the design and creation of more powerful, more economical and smaller chips for more than 15 years. Each maintains its own advantages and disadvantages:

AMD / ATI graphics chips

Pros

• Perfect price / performance ratio
• Production of dedicated cards for cheap equipment

Cons

• Lower performance in the long run
• Fewer optimized games

NVIDIA graphics chips

Pros

• Highest performance on the market
• Virtually unlimited offer of optimized games

Cons

• Higher price

Graphic memory and bus width

Although it may seem strange at first glance, graphics memory is one of the most important parameters. It indicates how much data flow it manages to process the model at a given point in time. Its lack leads to delays in operation manifested by mowing.

In general, the more memory, the better. Even 2 GB is enough for office work or playing less demanding games. Challenging players should then look at at least 6 GB. The most powerful machines for professional players or graphic workers have up to 12 GB of memory for smooth processing of everything you need.

In addition to size, consider speed. Previously widely available GDDR3 is not enough today and we recommend looking at the type of GDDR5.

The amount of data that the device is able to transfer from a memory to a processing chip per unit of time is determined by the width of the memory bus. We currently consider 128 bits to be the minimum, more demanding individuals can look for 256 or 384 bits. However, it should be noted that this parameter has very little effect on performance.

Core frequency

Like the processor cores, the graphics chip has a certain frequency. It is given in MHz and defines the number of operations that the chip will process in one second. In general, the performance of a given card also increases with increasing frequency.

However, be vigilant in conjunction with the processor. If you do not have a good enough CPU, it will not be able to send the corresponding number of commands to the graphics card and a lot of the card’s performance will be wasted. Both components should be in perfect harmony, or their performance difference should be as small as possible.

Consumption and noise

Every farmer is interested in how much he spends on the operation of his electronics. Power consumption of each device is given in Watts and graphics cards are no exception. Keep in mind that there is a direct relationship between power and electricity bills.

Do you tear your ears after a while and look to see if you accidentally left the vacuum cleaner on? This is probably due to the high noise level emitted by the stressed graphics card. Noise usually increases when running demanding applications as the cooling system turns on. Due to the fact that the “graphics” themselves are usually equipped with several separate fans, they also contribute significantly to the resulting noise.

Compatibility

If you are buying a new piece for an older computer, check their compatibility properly. Each component boasts different dimensions and therefore may not fit into all types of cabinets. In addition, if you have a historical exhibit at home, with a board equipped with old AGP slots, you will not connect the new model. Today, graphics cards only support the PCI format.

Also, make sure that the current source can tighten the new piece of hardware. Therefore, check the power consumption of the card and calculate it with the complexity of all other computer components. If the resulting number exceeds the power of the source, you have no choice but to select another piece or replace the entire source.

Cooling method

If your computer warms up during a long time so that you can fry eggs on it, there is something wrong. If you expose your pet to such temperatures for a long time, you will probably destroy its individual components soon. Therefore, you should pay attention to its quality cooling.

Less powerful chips use the so-called passive cooling by means of aluminum blocks. These are characterized by really quiet operation and efficient heat dissipation, but they are certainly not enough to cool powerful game models.

Active cooling takes the form of one or more fans mounted directly on the graphics card. Although they are noisier and swirl more dust, they can boast significantly higher performance, thanks to which they can lower the temperature even with properly stressed equipment.

Consequential Graphics

Modern times bring with them the constant interconnection of all conceivable electronics. Computers are no exception, and instead of a small monitor, you can watch your gaming on huge TV screens. However, the graphics card must offer sufficient connectivity to connect additional devices.

The standard is the presence of at least two HDMI ports, with which it is possible to transmit video and audio to virtually all possible devices. You can connect a TV, monitor, home theater, in short, anything. In recent years, they have replaced and completely replaced the older DVI standard, which is only present in case you want to connect your card to an older piece of electronics. A specific analogy of HDMI are the so-called DisplayPorts are often better known as DP. They usually appear on monitors and also support high quality picture and sound.

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3 Best Graphics Cards in 2022