Buying an AMD graphics card – which one is worth it for me?

Which AMD graphics card for gaming? Which AMD graphics card is the best for Full HD, WQHD or 4K? MeinMMO explains what you need to know when buying a GPU and which graphics card is best for you.

New graphics card: You want to buy a new graphics card and have already decided on AMD? In our guide, we explain what you need to consider when buying a graphics card and which AMD GPU is best suited to your system and preferences.

Buying a graphics card – tips before you buy

Even before you buy a graphics card, you should give it some thought. Because otherwise you pay a lot of money and later get annoyed about the expensive investment. Or you are annoyed because your new GPU is too weak and you have to buy another one in 2 years.

• How much money do I want to spend on the system?
• screen resolution
• refresh rate
• space and power supply
• Ray tracing and DLSS
• Which games?

budget issue

From the beginning you should be sure how much money you want to spend on your system. Because the finished PC consists not only of a graphics card, but also of processor, RAM and Co. If you combine a high-end graphics card with an entry-level processor, you lose a lot of performance.

screen resolution

In which resolution are you currently playing and how will it look for you in the future? The resolution determines how much power you need. Because the higher the resolution, the more pixels your graphics card has to calculate and the more your GPU sweats. The most common resolutions are:

• Full HD (1,920×1,080)
• WQHD (2560×1440)
• 4K (3840×2160)

Frame rate (FPS)

It is also important how much FPS you want to play with. 60 FPS is the absolute minimum we would recommend gaming in 2023. Many games, such as shooters, no longer look smooth below 60 FPS. The more FPS you want to display, the more power you need.

A high resolution, combined with high FPS, requires a significantly faster graphics card than if you only want to play on Full HD with 60 FPS.

space and performance

Every graphics card needs space in the computer. In addition, the power supply must be strong enough. Pay attention to this before you buy, otherwise you will buy a graphics card that is too big for your case or you will have to buy a more powerful power supply later. This can also affect your budget.

You can find important information in the operating instructions for your case, for example about the maximum size of the graphics card. You should not overlook the case when planning a PC anyway.

Ray tracing and DLSS

Since the RX-6000 series, AMD graphics cards have also offered ray tracing. However, AMD’s ray tracing performance is still slightly worse than Nvidia’s. With FSR, AMD now also offers an alternative to Nvidia’s DLSS, and Nvidia is currently still slightly ahead here.

If you don’t want to do without ray tracing or DLSS under any circumstances, then you have to use an Nvidia graphics card. If these features are only optional for you, then you can easily buy an AMD graphics card.

What games do you want to play

Be aware of what games you want to play. If you only play indie games or classics from 10 years ago, you don’t need a high-end graphics card. If you want to play competitive shooters instead or play current top titles, then there is no way around a good and fast model.

Beginners, gamers and enthusiasts – Which graphics card do I really need?

At the current time (February 2023) AMD has 13 graphics cards that you can buy for your system. In addition to the RX 6000 series, the first RX 7000 cards have also been available since December 2022.

Beginner (Full HD)

Which graphics card for Full HD? For beginners who are on the go in Full HD, the RX 6600 XT or the RX 6650 XT is currently the best price-performance recommendation. AMD has now replaced the RX 6600 XT with its successor. The RX 6650 XT offers sufficient performance for high frame rates and enough reserves for future top games.

If you want to save money, you could alternatively use the RX 6500 XT, which is currently the best option under 200 euros. But you have to be aware that the graphics card offers fewer features and the performance is sometimes quite weak. On top of that, the controversial RX 6500XT only offered 4 GB of video memory, meanwhile there is also an option with 8 GB. It is therefore really only a budget option. We would definitely advise against the weak RX 6400.

Gamers (Full HD, 144 Hz or WQHD)

Which graphics card for Full HD 144Hz? If you want to play in Full HD with 144 Hz or are mainly in WQHD, then we recommend the RX 6700 XT. Here you can currently get a fair offer for sufficient performance for around 500 euros. The RX 6750 costs around 80 euros more, but that is only partially worth it for the 4% additional performance.

If you don’t currently know whether you want to use 4K in the future, then we recommend the RX 6800. This offers a lot of performance for WQHD, but also reserves for 4K.

Enthusiast (WQHD, 144Hz or 4K, 60Hz)

Which graphics card for 4K 60 Hz? You can already play properly in 4K with the RX 6800 XT. Here, however, you should be aware that you will not reach three-digit FPS values ​​in new games. The prices are between 650 and 700 euros.

However, if you want to take full advantage of 4K, then you should go straight to the new RX 7000 series. For around 900 euros you can currently get the RX 7900 XT, which is currently the most sensible recommendation if you are looking for an AMD graphics card for 4K and want to achieve a stable 60 FPS in the highest settings.

The RX 7900 XTX is currently too expensive at around 1,200 euros and can therefore only be recommended to a limited extent.

AMD Radeon RX 6000 and RX 7000 at a glance (February 2023):

Model (Radeon)	Base/Boost Clock (in MHz)	Storage (in GB)	TDP (in watts)
RX 6400	1923/2321	4	53
RX 6500XT	2310/2815	4/8	117/113
RX 6600	1626/2491	8th	132
RX 6600XT	1968/2589	8th	160
RX 6650XT	2055/2635	8th	180
RX 6700XT	2321/2581	12	230
RX 6750XT	2150/2600	12	250
RX 6800	1700/2105	16	250
RX 6800XT	1825/2250	16	300
RX 6900XT	1825/2250	16	300
RX 6950XT	1890/2310	16	335
RX 7900XT,	1500/2400	20	315
RX 7900 XTX	1900/2500	24	355

Further questions: FAQ about AMD graphics cards

More on the subject of graphics cards: If you are basically interested in the differences between AMD and Nvidia, then take a look at the following article. Here we explain the similarities and differences between the two chip manufacturers and tell you how important the differences are today:

When it comes to a graphics card, how important is it if I buy AMD or Nvidia?