If you’re planning on building a gaming PC then your graphics card is going to be the very heart of your rig. Combined with the CPU, the GPU is the deciding factor in what graphical settings you can run your game at and the frame rate it will be able to sustain. Keep an eye on all the Best Christmas tech deals.
Which graphics card should I buy?
Nvidia’s RTX range of graphics cards is the obvious choice for a current gen card. However, if you can’t afford one then there are still decent GTX GPUs on offer. Take a look at our review of the GTX 1080 and the 1060 Ti is a good choice, too. Was: £539.99 Now: £475 (12% off) There’s a decent £65 off this 2070 Super Jetstream with an impressive Boost Clock of 1815MHz. Was: £769.99 Now: £706.24 (£63.75 off) If you want the top of the line Nvidia, here’s a good discount on the RTX 2080. This Auros model has a Windforce Stack 3x 100mm cooling system. Was: £449.99 Now: £378.99 (£71 off) Get a great price on this RTX 2060 with a whopping 8G of GDDR6 RAM. Was: £989.99 Now: £949.99 (£40 off) Go all-out with the RTX 2080 Ti, which has a whopping 11GB of GDDR6 RAM and 4352 cuda cores. Now under £950. Was: £519.96 Now: £509.99 (£8.99 off) Get one of the latest high end cards from Nvidia complete with Ray Tracing at just over £500. Was: £214.43 Now: £124.98 (41% off) It might not be especially new, but if you need a graphics card without breaking the bank then the RX 580 is a great choice. You can over 40% off. Was: £269.99 Now: £239.99 (£30 off) If you can’t afford the high-end RTX cards, then perhaps the GTX 1660 Ti with 6GB of GDDR6 memory will do the job for under £240. Thanks to the influx of cryptocurrency mining and the increased production price of RAM along with Nvidia’s market dominance in this particular area, graphics cards have not been cheap over the past few years.
Things to consider
There are a couple of important factors to consider when purchasing a graphics card. First, you’ll need to think about what exactly you’re going to be using the card for. If you’re mainly playing World of Warcraft, League of Legends or Dota 2 then you’re not going to need a 1080 Ti to run those games on high settings at a decent frame rate. On the other hand, if you’re determined to play the latest and greatest games at the very highest settings then you’ll want a more powerful card. The resolution that you play your games at is very important when selecting a card. If you’re playing on a 1080p display then you’re not going to have much trouble getting solid performance, but if you’re using a 2k or 4k screen then you’ll need a faster card to cope with the demand from the monitor. The same goes with the refresh rate on your monitor. If you’ve gone out of your way to purchase a 120Hz or 144Hz monitor then you’ll need a machine that can reach those frame rates on your desired graphics settings, so it’s worth it to keep that in mind. Lastly, thinking about roughly how long you’ll be keeping your system is important too. You may think a 1080 Ti is more expensive but if it’s going to give you better performance and last longer in your rig before you replace it, in reality, it may be the better value purchase. A graphics card is not exactly an inexpensive purchase, so make sure you’re getting the most bang for your buck with the offers below.
When is Black Friday 2020 – should you wait for a better deal?
Black Friday will take place on Friday 27 November, immediately followed by Cyber Monday on 30 November. Traditionally the biggest sales event of the year, it may yet throw up some even greater tech deals – but with so much uncertainty around finance and retail, and no guarantees regarding what discounts we will see, we advise you not to wait: if you see a deal you like, on a product you need, and you can afford the outlay, buy it today. Was: £539.99 Now: £475 (12% off) There’s a decent £65 off this 2070 Super Jetstream with an impressive Boost Clock of 1815MHz. Was: £769.99 Now: £706.24 (£63.75 off) If you want the top of the line Nvidia, here’s a good discount on the RTX 2080. This Auros model has a Windforce Stack 3x 100mm cooling system. Was: £449.99 Now: £378.99 (£71 off) Get a great price on this RTX 2060 with a whopping 8G of GDDR6 RAM. Was: £989.99 Now: £949.99 (£40 off) Go all-out with the RTX 2080 Ti, which has a whopping 11GB of GDDR6 RAM and 4352 cuda cores. Now under £950. Was: £519.96 Now: £509.99 (£8.99 off) Get one of the latest high end cards from Nvidia complete with Ray Tracing at just over £500. Was: £214.43 Now: £124.98 (41% off) It might not be especially new, but if you need a graphics card without breaking the bank then the RX 580 is a great choice. You can over 40% off. Was: £269.99 Now: £239.99 (£30 off) If you can’t afford the high-end RTX cards, then perhaps the GTX 1660 Ti with 6GB of GDDR6 memory will do the job for under £240. Tech Advisor’s Reviews Editor, Chris has been reviewing all kinds of tech for over 10 years and specialises in audio. He also covers a range of topics including home entertainment, phones, laptops, tablets and more.
