Best Graphics Cards for PC Gaming in 2021 – Top 7 GPUs

Last Updated on March 3, 2021 by Sohail Qaisar

2020 has gone for revolutionary graphics card releases and now might be the best time to upgrade your gaming PC as well. These robust GPUs are packing jaw dropping, ray tracing and AI improvements that help bring up in-game performance by a significant proportion.

So, in this article we are going to talk about seven of the best graphics cards that have been released for gaming in 2021.

7. AMD RX 6800

Starting at number 7, we have the AMD RX 6800, finally a ray tracing enabled card from AMD’s side that offers decent 2K gaming and rendering performance. Rx 6800 is equipped with an effective cooler that shows greater cooling performance from the previous generation.

Performance wise this card shows a great deal of blow to its NVIDIA counterpart when ray tracing and DLSS is disabled. This card outperformed RTX 3070 with 92 FPS Metro Exodus 2K ultra settings. Overall, the RX 6800 is a huge step up from the AMD side as they have introduced ray tracing and will suit gamers of most criteria quite well.

6. NVIDIA RTX 3070

Next up at number 6, we have the RTX 3070 by NVIDIA, a reliable card with promising 1440p gaming potential that you can get to future proof your gaming PC. The RTX 3070 is a remarkable combination of price and performance that can be just the thing you need for 1440p gaming. It lets you save up 80 dollars while gaining you more performance compared to the Radeon RX 6800.

Furthermore, this card is utilizing NVIDIA’s ray tracing and DLSS technology to provide you with comparably higher frames per second in 1440p resolution without sacrificing the image quality. It delivers overall better performance with just 220 watts TDP.

5. NVIDIA RTX 3060 Ti

At number 5, we have the RTX 3060 Ti, an affordable edition of the RTX 30 series that streamlines outstanding ray tracing and DLSS performance for gaming. Now in comparison with the 3070, the 3060 Ti delivers almost the same gaming performance. At a 100 dollars discounted price range, the FPS difference among these cards are quite narrow in games like GTA 5 and Overwatch where you’ll experience a drop of only 10 to 20 FPS on the 3060 Ti side.

If you want to leap into next-gen gaming without spending a fortune on it, the GeForce RTX 360 Ti is the one you should go for.

4. NVIDIA RTX 3090 Founders Edition

Coming up at number 4, we have the RTX 3090, NVIDIA’s big ferocious GPU as they’re calling it that delivers a great deal of 8K gaming and rendering performance as well. This thing can run plenty of AAA titles in 8K resolution and up to 60 FPS including death standing and new maternal. If you want the best of both worlds including 8K gaming and intense rendering, the GeForce RTX 3090 is a worthy card if you have the luxury to pay the heavy price.

3. AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT

Making our way to number 3, we have an outstanding GPU for both hardcore gamers and content professional that rivals the RTX 3090 brilliantly. Based on the NAVI 21 and DNA 2.0 architecture, this card is AMD’s most powerful and fastest GPU to this date at a price tag of 1000 dollars. It has extracted an average of 85 FPS on 13 games including Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Borderlands 3 on 4K resolution and 136 on 1440p ultra settings.

2. AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT

At number 2 spot, we have the RX 6800 XT, a beast of a card with perfect blend of performance and price from AMD’s latest GPU lineup. To give you a clearer picture of this GPU performance, it is basically a beefed up version of the Xbox series X and PS5 or DNA2 GPU that will provide you with greater performance on AMD optimized games such as the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Red Dead Redemption 2.

RX 6800 XT has outstanding DirectX 11 performance on software like 3DMark. If you often play lots of DirectX games and are engaged in rendering tasks as well, the Radeon RX 6800 XT is a powerful GPU that is less likely to disappoint you.

1. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 FE

Finally at number 1, we have the RTX 3080 FE, a monstrous card with performance intensive features that has potential for 8K gaming and immense productivity as well. A couple of years earlier, when NVIDIA released their RTX 2080 GPU it had a price tag of 699 dollars, and now at the same price tag you can almost get double the performance from the RTX 3080. Apart from gaming usage, it also helps to run applications side by side so that you don’t have to switch between windows to see what’s happening with your models.

For a verdict, the RTX 3080 is a powerful GPU that is setting up benchmark for 4K gaming as well as productivity that you should consider for your next upgrade.

Sohail Qaisar

Sohail Qaisar is the founder and managing editor of TechBead, he founded TechBead in 2011. He is a tech geek, social media enthusiast and gaming addict. Contact him on the following email address: contact@techbead.com

View all posts by Sohail Qaisar →