If you are a PC gamer and love playing latest games then you do have to upgrade your graphics card some time in the future. This is because the latest AAA games are quite resource hungry and they have higher game system requirements compared to the older games. The main component that is required to run games is the graphics card only. Yes, processor and RAM do contribute to it, but if you already have a decent dual-core or quad-core processor and a sufficient amount of RAM installed in your PC but a relatively older graphics card then you won’t be able to run the latest AAA games on medium settings at 1080p with comfortable frame rates. Also, graphics cards do become outdated quite quickly compared to a CPU because games are becoming more and more graphics-intensive and require a lot of graphics processing power for their working.
Upgrading a graphics card can be a tough task because there are many GPUs and graphics card manufacturers to choose from. Also, you have to keep your budget in mind and whether your new card will be able to support your motherboard, case or your PSU is enough to power your new graphics card. There are some other factors involved too in upgrading your graphics card and here in this post, I am going to provide you a complete guide on upgrading your graphics card to the best one within your specified budget. You may also check out the new and refurbished graphics card buying guide from the links given below.
Must Read:
- Complete Graphics Card Buying Guide
- Top Places to Sell your Old Graphics Card
- Refurbished Graphics Card Buying Guide
- Frequently Asked Questions about Graphics Card
- Rebrand / Rebadge vs Refresh Graphics Card Difference
Guide on Upgrading Graphics Card for Gaming
Here are the major factors that you should keep in mind when upgrading your graphics card to a newer one. Follow this guide to choose the best graphics card upgrade for your gaming PC.
Budget & Requirement
Budget is one of the most important factors when it comes to upgrading a graphics card. Not everybody can afford the topmost or high-end graphics cards because they are very expensive. So, the first thing to do is to fix your budget for the graphics card. For a decent gaming graphics card, you should be willing to spend 100 dollars or more because graphics cards under $100 are not meant for running the latest AAA games at medium settings @ 1080p. They may be good for eSports gaming though.
For $100 to 200 dollars, you can get a good mid-range graphics card that can run the latest games on medium-high settings at 1080p, and for above 300 dollars, you can get a higher mid-range and high-end graphics card for 1440p gaming @60FPS. You can also sell your old graphics card on online portals or classified sites OLX, Craigslist, eBay, etc to up your budget for a better graphics card upgrade. Below you can check out the best graphics cards for different budgets or price range.
Check out:
- Best Graphics Cards under 100 Dollars
- Best Graphics Cards under 200 Dollars
- Best Graphics Cards under 300 Dollars
- Best Graphics Cards under 400 Dollars
- Best Graphics Cards under 500 Dollars
- Best High-end Graphics Cards for Gaming
GPU (Graphics Processing Unit)
The next step is to choose your GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) within your budget. Currently, AMD and Nvidia are the two largest GPU manufacturers in the world. The GPU you choose should have the latest GPU architecture whether it is from Nvidia or AMD. You should choose the GPU that will give you the maximum performance for your money and support sufficient video memory (VRAM) to run games at decent resolutions (900p or higher). You can also take the help of GPU comparison websites to compare Nvidia and AMD GPUs and assess their performance.
For Nvidia GPUs (in the same architecture), the higher the number of CUDA Cores the more powerful will be the graphics card. Similarly in AMD, the higher the number of Stream Processors, the more powerful the card is in the same GPU architecture. But you cannot compare CUDA Cores with Stream Processors because both are different technologies and have a different way of working in different GPU architectures.
Check out:
- Nvidia Pascal vs AMD Polaris GPU architecture comparison
- AMD Vega vs Nvidia Pascal GPU architecture comparison
- Volta vs Vega vs Pascal GPU architecture comparison
Video Memory (VRAM)
Make sure that the card you are getting has at least 2GB of video memory because this is the minimum amount of memory that you need to play the latest games on medium-high settings at 1080p. For a budget graphics card or GPU, 2GB is sufficient but if you are getting a decent mid-range graphics card then you must aim for 4GB or higher video memory. The latest games are becoming more and more video memory hungry and it is better to have higher VRAM on your card for upcoming AAA titles.
Check out:
- Best 2GB Graphics Cards for Budget Gaming PC
- Best 4GB Graphics Cards Cards for Mid Level Gaming
- Best 8GB Graphics Cards for High-end Gaming
Form Factor & Power Consumption
Form Factor and Power Consumption are also very important factors that you should keep in mind when upgrading your graphics card. The graphics card you are getting should be able to fit in your existing PC Case comfortably because if it does not then you have to upgrade your PC case for it. For low profile cases, you should get a low profile graphics card and for small form factor (SFF) cases, you will need an SFF graphics card for it.
Also, the power consumption of your new card should be in line with your power supply, because you have to upgrade your power supply if your graphics card power consumption is higher than the older one. Most of the Mid-range and all higher graphics cards do require external power (6-pin / 8-pin PCIe connectors) from the PSU. So, keep this in mind too when you are going for a graphics card upgrade.
Checkout:
Graphics Card Manufacturer
There are various graphics card manufacturers or board partners that make graphics cards for Nvidia and AMD. Some of the most popular and top graphics card manufacturers are Asus, Gigabyte, EVGA, and MSI. Graphics card manufacturers do offer different graphics card models for the same GPU. These models differ in form factor, features, cooling (heatsink & fans), and power consumption. If you are on a budget then you should pick the cheapest graphics card from any one of the various graphics card manufacturers but if budget is not an issue then you must get the model with the best cooler having a higher number of fans and heatsink with copper heatpipes. A graphics card with better cooling can be overclocked to higher frequencies and thus you can extract the most performance out of it.
Check out: List of Graphics Cards Manufacturers for Nvidia & AMD
Features & Support
Make sure that the graphics card you are getting supports the latest features and the latest version of APIs that include DirectX, OpenGL, Vulkan, etc., which are needed for the latest games.
Other Factors
Other factors include CPU bottlenecking and G-Sync / FreeSync Monitor support. If your CPU is underpowered then it is no point in getting a much more powerful graphics card, because you will not get the desired performance out of it. Also, if you are having a G-Sync monitor then you should for Nvidia graphics cards only (with G-Sync support) and AMD graphics cards for FreeSync support. Another thing to keep in mind is the output ports or display connectors. Your graphics card should have the required display ports for use in your monitor or for setting up multiple monitors.
Checkout:
- Used Graphics Card Buying Guide
- How to Find the Best CPU for Graphics Card
- Should I Upgrade CPU or GPU First for Gaming
- How to Find Right PSU for Graphics Card
- Best G-Sync and FreeSync Monitors for Gaming
Final Words
In the end, I would only like to say that if you follow the above-mentioned advice or tips then you will have no trouble upgrading your graphics card. But if you still have some doubts or want an extra opinion then you can ask me your queries regarding the graphics card upgrade by leaving a comment below. When commenting, please list your old graphics card model, power supply, graphics card budget, and the CPU you are having.
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Thanks for above suggestion.
But I have some doubt so I want your help
My Rig Details
I5 3570, 2 X DDR3 4 GB RAM, SSD 500 GB, 1080p 60Hz IPS Monitor with free sync, GTX 650 1GB, 550W PSU
I desperately need New Graphics Card for 1080p Gaming for next 4 to 5 years
So I chose some cards like RX 570 4GB, RX 580 8GB, GTX 1650 6GB (non Ti)
I Like very much Rx 570 for cheap price almost Rs. 14000/-
But want to buy GTX 1650 (Rs.20,000) over Rx 580 because almost same price
So due to my 60Hz monitor did it problem for high fps game play?
And which Graphics card I need to buy & u r Suggestion.
I think for your configuration, it is best to buy Radeon RX 570 4GB. It is quite a capable card and you can play latest games on high graphics settings at 1080p with playable frame rates. However, you need to upgrade your RAM to 8GB as 8GB is bare minimum for latest games.
Sir i already have 8 GB Ram (above i mentioned 2X 4GB Ram)
did this card good for next 4 years.
Thanks for quick reply.
I think it is good enough for next 3 – 4 years, if you don’t upgrade your processor.
Thanks sir you clear my headache for 1660, now i can buy Rx 570.
Thanks again… God bless You.
Hi dear Akshat Verma,
I have two questions;
1. Could you suggest a Highest Powerful VGA for Gaming according to my computer?
MB: Intel D975XBX2
CPU: Core2Quad Q6700
RAM: Geil 4x2GB DDR2 800 MHz Value series
VGA: MSi R5570-MD1G
PSU: CoolerMaster 600 watt 80+ Platinum
Favorite Games: EVE online, World of Tanks, Crossout, Civilization VI
2. What is your idea about install 2 More MSi R5570-MD1G On this System to make CrossFire?
Thank you
For your system, I would suggest GeForce GTX 1650. However, I think even a GeForce GT 1030 (GDDR5 version) would be enough for the games you want to play.
I guess there isn’t acceptable deference of benefits about installing two more 5570 to make Crossfire on my old M.B. and that cause you to didn’t write about.
Thank you again for answering to soon and at this time of day (~07:15 AM) !
Good luck Early bird. 😉
Have good days
You are most welcome.
Excellent guide, thank you. I have an Alienware 17 R3 notebook – Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6820HK (Quad-Core, 8MB Cache, 2.7GHz Dynamically Overclocked up to 4.4GHz. RAM: 16GB Dual Channel DDR4 2133MHz (8GBx2). Current GPU: NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) GTX 980M with 8GB GDDR5. It has an SSD which I use for the system and game installs with a bigger SATA drive for general media. I still get quite good performance from having bought it in Jan 2016 so I am able to run decently new games on high graphics (usually not ultra), though certainly shadows etc in some games really give a significant Frame rate hit. Problem is if I know a game can look better, I want to have that level of detail and appreciate the best it can offer – and this notebook is starting to struggle with that. I am aware its a laptop – and from what I’ve read, it seems that for alienware the graphics card is soldered to the motherboard so I can’t just simply swap it, however there are those external graphics units using thunderbolt 3 (and as its alienware, also has the option of the alienware graphics amplifier). I do not own one but would consider buying one. I would like to know if there is an NVIDIA card that would work well a eGPU. Budget-wise happy to splurge on a card, but no point in getting a card that simply far outmatches a system with 5 yr old CPU. Is 16gb RAM adequate and is it possible to increase ram from 2x 8gb cards to larger ones as well or are certain software or CPU constraints a limit to increase it too, not just physical space? Thank you for any insight/help you can provide! 🙂
Thanks for the appreciation. Well, you can get better performance using an eGPU enclosure like Razer Core X Aluminum External GPU Enclosure with a card like RTX 3060. However, your performance will be limited by your CPU in most modern games and you will not be able to fully utilize your eGPU graphics card. Regarding RAM, I think 16GB is enough for most of the AAA games today and upgrading to more will not benefit you in gaming performance. I think investing in an eGPU enclosure that costs around $400 and an RTX 3060 that can cost god knows what because of today’s inflated prices is not a wise decision.
Fantastic food for thought and thank you very much for your opinion. That is exactly what I wanted to know – whether my CPU would still be a bottleneck limiting what performance gains I could get with going all out on a new eGPU and it looks like it will. Good to know the RAM is still adequate for the times! Thanks again very much for your time and your help
You are most welcome!