Mid-range options for solid performance
The following GPUs are generally the best options in relation to price for performance.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti
Nvidia’s RTX 3060 Ti is a fantastic graphics card for high-refresh 1080p, high-refresh 1440p, and even 4K gaming on high settings in 2022. Spring prices are finally better, too. At its MSRP of $399, this would be a card with a ton of value. Availability has never been great though, and finding one of these in stock even remotely near the MSRP remains difficult. Still, it offers incredible performance for using just 200W of power, managing to keep pace with the RTX 2080 Super in many titles. The fact you only need a single eight-pin power connector to get that level of performance is another plus.
Even at a price premium, The RTX 3060 Ti is not a bad pick. It will still perform just fine with a cheaper two fan design, but there are triple fan versions worth considering for improved thermals and quieter operation. However, you shouldn’t overspend on one of these cards unless you have a specific reason for wanting one. Higher tier options like the RTX 3070, 3070 Ti, and 6700 XT offer better price-to-performance value.
Pictured is the ASUS RTX 3060 Ti TUF Gaming. (Image credit: ASUS).
EVGA XC Gaming – Find it at EVGA for $479.99
This standard model from EVGA is now back in stock and the best deal you can get right now. It features performance similar to the reference Nvidia model but will get the job done for a great price. This two fan design measures out to 201.8mm and the model is two slots thick. The fans will make some audible noise under load, but the cooler is still plenty sufficient for the power consumption. It also comes with a metal backplate. You’ll possibly need to tweak the default fan curves to correct an error with the Zero RPM mode.
ASUS TUF Gaming – Find it at Newegg for $549.99
Products bearing the TUF branding from ASUS are well regarded for the excellent quality. We were fortunate enough to find one of these last year and used it during our Intel 12th gen CPU testing. Although a bit pricey and hard to find in stock, the build quality, performance, and looks are downright impressive. The triple fan cooling system is massive for just a 3060 Ti GPU, taking up 2.7 slots and measuring 301mm in length. What this cooling design enables though is near silent operation even when the card is pushed to its limits in the OC mode. In addition to this, the entire body is metal and you get some RGB to customize (bonus points for iCUE compatibility). ASUS includes a three year warranty with it.
MSI Ventus – Find it at Newegg for $559.99
For those who need something more compact, the MSI Ventus is another good option. Aesthetically, it’s fairly neutral and should blend in with most system builds. This two fan design measures out to 232mm in length and only takes up two slots. MSI notes that is has a factory OC, but you may find it to be a bit loud under load considering the 200W TDP on just a two fan model. If that doesn’t bother you, this card will serve you well enough. MSI includes a 3-year warranty with it.
Gigabyte Gaming OC – Find it at Newegg for $589
This is another triple fan model and we recommend these for the 200W TDP. The larger cooler helps to offset the minor factory overclock. The card measures out to 282mm in length and is a two slot width. It stays fairly quiet under load and includes some other extras like a metal backplate for improved heat dissipation and strength plus some customizable RGB. You’ll also get a 3-year warranty from Gigabyte.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070
Nvidia’s RTX 3070 was supposed to be a graphics card with an MSRP of $499, but it still remains grossly inflated in 2022 and the availability doesn’t look great. From what we can tell, it’s been somewhat replaced by the more expensive, and slightly more powerful RTX 3070 Ti. Either of these cards is great for high refresh 1080 and 1440p gaming, in addition to 4K 60 fps gaming in most titles.
As such, there aren’t a lot of affordable RTX 3070 options on the market compared to its more powerful successor. In fact, you can get some RTX 3070 Ti models for less than the RTX 3070 market prices now. The difference is that the standard RTX 3070 is more efficient thanks to slightly lower clock speeds and GDDR6 memory, requiring 220-240W of power depending on which model you get. The RTX 3070 Ti is clocked higher, features the full version of the same GA-104 chip for slightly better performance, and uses faster GDDR6X memory that requires far more power at 290-300W.
As it stands, performance between these two cards is only a few percentage points at best. If you don’t mind the additional power consumption and want more options to choose from, the RTX 3070 Ti is the best graphics card to choose out of midrange options at this point in 2022. However, the RTX 3070 may be worth the premium if your setup can’t handle the additional power and heat, but you still want big performance.
Pictured is the Gigabyte RTX 3070 Gaming, which is in stock now. (Image credit: Gigabyte).
EVGA XC3 Black – Find it at EVGA for $579.99
This one isn’t always in stock due to the low price, but EVGA occasionally has some. This basic triple fan design can easily handle the heat output of this card, measures out to 285mm in length, and is 2.2 slots thick. Additionally, you get a splash of RGB. Just note you may need to tweak the default fan curves to fix an infinite loop error with the zero RPM mode. EVGA provides a 3-year warranty.
ASUS KO V2 – Find it at Newegg for $629.99
This is another good deal for a 3070 that you shouldn’t miss out on. The ASUS KO V2 is a solid dual-fan card that comes to 275mm in length and 2.7 slots in thickness. It also comes packed full of RGB, along with a gold and silver design on the front that looks awesome. Thanks to the more compact dual-fan design, you’ve also got slightly more room to work with. This card comes with a 3-year warranty.
ASUS TUF V2 –Â Find it at Newegg for $659.99
The pricing isn’t superb, but this another card that’s worth checking out. ASUS’ TUF lineup of graphics cards do the job well and are designed excellently. The triple fan design and large cooler means the card will run quietly while keeping the temps down. It’s a big card though, coming in at 300mm in length and 2.7 slots thick. You’ll definitely want to double check that the card can fit inside your case. With this card you’ll get a 3-year warranty.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti
Availability is still difficult to come by on the cheaper models for the RTX 3070 Ti, but these premium models do have chunky coolers to keep the GDDR6X memory temps in check. Plus, you’ll get factory overclocks and some measure of RGB on all of these. So if you want to spend a little extra on a graphics card in 2022, these aren’t awful options.
Pictured is the ASUS RTX 3070 Ti TUF. (Image credit: ASUS).
ASUS TUF Gaming – Find it at Newegg for $699.99
This is not only an excellent deal for an RTX 3070 Ti, it’s also an excellent design that checks a lot of boxes. This model is factory overclocked slightly higher than the reference design, comes with a large cooler to handle the power consumption of this graphics card, and the build quality is solid. You get an aluminum shroud, a vented aluminum backplate, and triple fans that provide near silent operation. The card measures out to 300mm and is 2.7 slots thick. You’ll definitely want to run some measurements to make sure it fits in your case. To top it off, you get some RGB in the shape of the TUF logo (bonus points for iCUE compatibility). ASUS provides a 3-year warranty with this card.
EVGA FTW3 Ultra – Find it at EVGA for $759.99
The FTW3 branding is reserved for some of EVGA’s best graphics card variants. We recently upgraded our test system to this model and can generally recommend it. The build quality of the cooler is excellent, featuring a massive heatsink, thick copper contact plates, a metal ventilated backplate, and triple fans that produce little audible noise given the large power consumption. Additionally, the card features a thick RGB strip to help give your PC that showroom look. This model also comes with a decent factory overclock and a three year warranty from EVGA. At 300mm in length and 2.75 slots in width, you’ll want to make sure you have space for this one. Our only real gripes are the plastic fan shroud and the need to set a custom fan profile to prevent the fans from continuously clicking on and off.
MSI SUPRIM – Find it at Newegg for $779.99
This is one of the best models you can get from MSI, and it comes with all the bells and whistles. This card is built for maximum performance, coming with a decent factory overclock and increased power delivery up to 310W. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the cooler is massive. The card measures out to 335mm in length and nears about 3 slots in thickness. MSI pairs it with three fans that provide quiet operation thanks to the huge cooler. Additionally, it features a vented metal backplate and several RGB zones to solidify the notion that it’s a beast of a card. We can’t personally attest to the SUPRIM line, but we did review the MSI RTX 3070 Gaming X Trio and were thoroughly impressed by the experience. The SUPRIM series is considered an upgrade to that. This card comes with a 3-year warranty.
AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT and 6750 XT
AMD’s Radeon RX 6700 XT is an excellent mid-range graphics card in 2022. If you want something that can handle 1440p gaming without issue, this is a good card to go for. At the moment, prices are a little all over the place for the 6700 XT. Some listing have it coming close to its $479 MSRP, while others manage to overshoot by a fair bit. This card is excellent value at the right price though, and good for mid-range gaming systems. It sports the RDNA 2 architecture, 12GB of VRAM, and can even handle 4K very well in some titles. The 6700 XT has a moderate level of power consumption at 230W and requires two eight-pin power connectors in most cases (just an eight-pin plus six-pin for some models).
In terms of relative performance to the competition, the RX 6700 XT often comes close to the 3070. The upside is that the RX 6700 XT is a much cheaper option right now. If you want a card with comparable performance at a cheaper price, this might be your best option. The area it falters in the most is ray tracing, so Nvidia’s options take the lead there.
The 6750 XT benefits the most out of the Radeon 6000 Series refresh thanks to the higher clock speeds and faster memory. You can expect 5-9% better performance with these models, though the MSRP is higher. Fortunately, brands are actually respecting the MSRP for these refreshed models and many of these faster cards are priced similarly to existing options.
Pictured is the ASRock 6700 XT Challenger D. (Image credit: ASRock).
ASRock Challenger D – Find it at Newegg for $498.99
This 6700 XT from ASRock is one of the cheapest you can get right now. It has that signature angular design that a lot of ASRock cards have. Beyond that it’s definitely on the plainer side when it comes to aesthetics. It’s also a fairly large dual fan graphics card that comes to 269mm in length and two slots thick. If you’re planning on using this for a smaller case it’s a good idea to double check how much room you’ve got to work with. But beyond that, this is a good option that will get the job done if you want to save some money. This card comes with a 3-year warranty.
Sapphire Nitro+ – Find it at Newegg for $569
Sapphire’s 6700 XT is another great variant of this card that’s going for a decent price. Again, Sapphire is arguably one of the best brands for AMD graphics cards, so you can’t go wrong with this one. The triple fan layout means it’ll cool easily and quietly, but it is a much bigger card as a result. It comes in at 310mm and is a 2.5 slot design, so be doubly sure that your case can fit it properly. The reasoning for all this extra cooling power, is because this card is aggressively overclocked with a TDP up to 260W. You’ll definitely notice more fps with this one, so it may be worth the extra cash for something that also looks flashy. This card sports a nice two-tone black and silver color scheme, plus plenty of customizable RGB for a flashy look. Disappointingly, this card only comes with a 2-year warranty.
Gigabyte Gaming OC – Find it at Newegg for $549.99
Priced at the MSRP, this triple fan Gaming model from Gigabyte is your best bet for a cheaper RTX 3070 alternative. The card is factory overclocked and uses at least 250W. It comes with a hint of RGB on the side so you can customize your look. Additionally, it’s relatively quite under load. This card measures out to 281mm in length and takes up 2.5 slots. You’ll get a 3-year warranty.
Gigabyte Aorus – Find it at Newegg for $579.99
If you want your PC to look better, the Aorus 6750 XT might be worth a few extra bucks. This card is sleek and features customizable RGB rings around the fans. The subtle all-black design will also blend in better with most builds. Aside from that, this model boasts a slightly higher overclock along with a 296mm length and triple slot width. You’ll get a card that performs while also staying cool and quiet. It comes with a 3-year warranty.
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Published: May 2, 2022 02:00 pm