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Right now, 8GB graphics cards are the sweet spot for high-resolution gaming, especially if you want to push the resolution up to 1440p. Also, the most demanding game titles on PC require you to have at least 8GB of VRAM for stunning visuals and gameplay.
To be honest, 8GB is the standard if you want a decent graphics card for gaming. Especially if you want to play open-world games that eat a lot of VRAM, going for a GPU with more VRAM can give you enough headroom to maximize your game settings.
So in this guide, we’ve rounded up the best 8GB graphics cards from Nvidia and AMD to game on. There isn’t a single solution that fits the needs and budget of everyone. So, we have researched the chips based on their performance, value, effectiveness, and price in this guide.
Quick Tips
When going for an 8GB gaming CPU, it’s wise to consider the following:
Resolution and VRAM
As soon as you maximize the resolution, you force your GPU to use more VRAM. For gaming at 1080p or even 1440p resolution, an 8GB graphics card could be enough. If you want to push the resolution up to 4K, then you will need at least 10GB of VRAM.
Power Supply
The GPUs that come with higher VRAM tend to draw more power. So make sure you have enough power to juice your graphics card. Also, some cards use an extra 6 or 8 pin power connector as well. Therefore, you will need a branded PSU that comes with enough power connectors to power up your graphics card.
Ray-Tracing/DLSS
Modern graphics cards come with ray-tracing technology to enhance the visuals of your gameplay. Also, you will find DLSS in Nvidia cards that improve frame rates while playing demanding games. However, ray-tracing and DLSS are only present in the Nvidia RTX Series cards.
We have tested and ranked the GPUs on the basis of their price-to-performance ratio.
The Best 8GB Graphics Card for Gaming on the List
Add one of these graphics cards to your machine and witness the stunning visual performance in games.
ASUS ROG Strix NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti – Best Overall 8GB Graphics Card
Specifications
- 5888 GPU Cores
- 1875 MHz OC Boost Clock Speed
- 8GB GDDR6X
- 256-bit Memory Interface
- 19Gbps Memory Clock
- 750W PSU Requirement
Reasons to Consider
The ASUS ROG Strix RTX 3070 Ti is a powerful graphics card with a boost clock speed of 1875 MHz. Moreover, it comes with 3 powerful fans for efficient heat dissipation. This card provides excellent value for the money you pay for it.
Now, this isn’t one of those RTX 3070’s that were using the DDR5 interface while sitting in the Nvidia’s flagship RTX 3000 series. The ASUS ROG Strix RTX 3070 Ti comes with a powerful GDDR6X interface and a boost clock speed of 1875 MHz. Also, this is one of those GPUs that have beaten the RTX 2080 Ti in many demanding titles.
The normal RTX 3070 was not a powerful contender, but that also managed to go one on one with RTX 2080 Ti in many games. However, this GPU can be overclocked to a higher clock speed on an 8GB GDDR6X interface for better performance in 1440p gaming.
The only downside is that it’s a power-hungry card. Unless you have a high-end 750W power supply to fuel this GPU, search for alternatives with low power consumption.
Overall, the ASUS ROG Strix 3070 Ti is a great GPU for playing demanding titles at 1080p or 1440p. It delivers the right value for each buck you pay for it. We managed to play some demanding titles like Resident Evil: Village and Red Dead Redemption 2 at 1440p, and it didn’t let us down.
Nvidia RTX 2080 Super – Best Mid Range 8GB Graphics Card
Specifications
- 2994 GPU Cores
- 1515 MHz Base Clock Speed
- 8GB GDDR6 Memory
- 256-bit Interface
- 14Gbps Memory Clock
- 650W PSU Requirement
Reasons to Consider
The RTX 2080 is one of the best cards in the RTX 2000 series. If you are buying an 8GB GPU for playing games at 1440p or even 4K, this might be the card you are looking for. It shows improved performance over the RTX 2080 basic version and the GTX 1080 Ti. Moreover, there’s a slight difference in the cost of a normal RTX 2080 and the RTX 2080 Super.
At the moment, the RTX 2080 Super is one of the top-rated mid-tier GPUs in terms of price to performance ratio. The RTX 2080 Super shows up to 10% improvement in performance as compared to its predecessor, the RTX 2080. Whereas the latest version of this card, the RTX 2080 Ti promises more performance at a higher price tag. To be honest, for a card that just gives you somewhere between 20 to 30 percent improved performance by paying over $400 isn’t worthy.
Well, the RTX 2080 Super sits on the sweet spot between the normal RTX 2080 & the RTX 2080 Ti. Going for a Ti version will surely promise improvement in ray-tracing and the DLSS capability of a GPU. But the market right now has fewer game titles that fully support the ray-tracing and DLSS.
The RTX 2080 Super also offers you a scoop of ray-tracing and DLSS, so why would you spend piles of cash to buy an RTX 2080 Ti for tasting premium features. The RTX 2080 Super is still one of the best mainstream 8GB graphics cards on the market with higher memory clock speed and bandwidth.
Even with its default specs, it crushes most of the demanding games in the market. You can overclock this GPU by using MSI Afterburner as well, but keeping in mind its overall, it doesn’t feel as if you would ever need to overclock it.
AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT – Mid-Tier AMD GPU for Gaming
Specifications
- 2560 GPU Cores
- 1605 MHz Clock Speed
- 8GB GDDR6 Memory
- 256-bit Interface
- 14 Gbps Memory Clock Speed
- 650W PSU Requirement
Reasons to Consider
The Radeon RX 5700 XT is a high-efficiency RDNA GPU that has given a tough time to entry-level cards in the Nvidia’s RTX family. At the same price level, this RX 5700 XT outperforms the Nvidia RTX 2060 in many games. Even if you don’t find the original RX 5700 XT from AMD in stock, you can rely on third-party manufacturers like ASUS, XFX, and Power Color to buy this card.
The RX 5700 XT is one of those GPUs that somehow can claim to be powerful than some of the entry-level cards in the Nvidia RTX 2000 series. Especially, if you make this card perform toe to toe with the RTX 2060 in games that do not support ray-tracing or DLSS, you will see the difference by yourself.
However, as you switch back to games that employ ray-tracing and tensor cores, you will see this GPU trailing the RTX 2000 cards. But if we talk about the pure performance (without ray-tracing/DLSS), then RX 5700 XT steals the show. It performs 10% better than the RTX 2060 in titles like the Red Dead Redemption 2 and Call of Duty: Warfare.
Also, this is one of the most power-efficient 8GB GDDR6 graphics cards with a 7nm chip and AMD’s test RDNA architecture. The card also holds the AMD Image Sharpening feature that improves the images without lowering down your frame rates.
If you don’t care about the ray-tracing and DLSS, then it’s the right card with great specs to install in your gaming rig.
EVGA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER – A Low Budget Graphics Card with Ray-Tracing
Specifications
- 2,176 GPU Cores
- 1,470MHz Base Clock Speed
- 8GB GDDR6 Memory
- 256-bit Interface
- 14Gbps Memory Clock
- 650W PSU Requirement
Reasons to Consider
The RTX 2060 Super shows improved performance over the RTX 2070 at the same price. It’s an 8GB graphics card with a solid performance in 1440p gaming. If you want to enter the world of ray-tracing and DLSS, this GPU is a doorway to it.
The RTX 2060 Super is one of the cheapest graphics cards to have the taste of Nvidia’s ray-tracing and DLSS capabilities. If you want to get your hand on 1080p or even 1440p gaming, this might be the less expensive GPU to accomplish that endeavor.
If you are moving up from a lower-end graphics card like the GTX 1050 or GTX 1660 to an RTX 2060 Super then you will surely witness a huge spike in performance.
The EVGA RTX 2060 Super comes with enough clock speed and VRAM to let you play your favorite games at least at 1080p settings. Also, there’s enough headroom to overclock this card to 1650 MHz. Thanks to EVGA for putting two powerful fans to take care of extra heat at a higher clock speed.
With this card, you also get 3 years of technical support from EVGA. If you really want to make your gaming rig future-proof, at least for a few more years, go for this chip.
AMD Radeon RX 580 8GB – Best Budget Graphics Card
Specifications
- 2304 GPU Cores
- 1257 MHz Clock Speed
- 8GB GDDR5 Memory
- 256-bit Interface
- 8Gbps Memory Clock
- 500W PSU Requirement
Reasons to Consider
Even if the other GPUs are out of stock, the RX 580 is one of those cards that’s always available in stock. It’s an affordable graphics card when compared to its powerful specs and value.
The AMD RX 580 is a great option for those who are budget-conscious and want to play games at 1080p resolution. The RX 580 8GB is an incredibly powerful and well-priced graphics card in the RX Series. The overall gaming performance of the RX 580 is slightly less than that of the new RX 590 card. The RX 590 tends to deliver a bit more frame rates as compared to the RX 580.
The real fight of the RX 580 goes on with the Nvidia GTX 1060. But we don’t want to dive into the technical details of both GPUs at this point. Just to let you know, the AMD RX 580 chip performed better than the Nvidia GTX 1060 in many games.
Again, the RX 580 takes advantage of an extra 2GB of VRAM and 256-bit interface to beat Nvidia GTX 1060. Now it really doesn’t mean the GTX 1060 is a bad graphics card, but keeping in mind the overall performance, price, and value, the RX 580 shines out.
How We Tested These Graphics Cards
In order to get the best performance out of the cards, we built a high-end gaming PC. Our build was made up of Core i9 9900K, MSI Z390 Motherboard, 16GB of DDR4 Corsair Ram clocked at 3600 MHz, and Samsung Evo 1TB NVMe SSD.
We tested these GPUs by playing different game titles like the Red Dead Redemption 2, PUBG, Overwatch, Resident Evil: Village, Fortnite at 1080p, and 1440p settings.
Benchmark Results
| Asus Rog Strix RTX 3070 Ti 8GB | RTX 2080 Super 8GB | AMD RX 5700 XT 8GB | EVGA RTX 2060 Super 8GB | AMD Radeon RX 580 8GB | |
| PUBG | 180 High/148 Low | 151 High/128 Low | 123 High/101 Low | 117 High/99 Low | 70 High/57 Low |
| Overwatch | 205 High/170 Low | 170 High/140 Low | 129 High/97 Low | 119 High/98 Low | 79 High/66 Low |
| Fortnite | 186 High/144 Low | 169 High/131 Low | 141 High/106 Low | 131 High/107 low | 84 High/66 Low |
Bottom Line – Which 8GB Graphics Card is Right For You
Finally, these were the highest-performing 8GB GPUs on our list. If we had to pick from these cards, then the EVGA RTX 2080 8GB would be our first priority. It is because the RTX 2060 Super 8GB sits on the sweet spot between price and performance. Also, with this card, you get ray-tracing and DLSS, which adds more look to your gameplay.
Hi, I’m the author and founder of this blog. I have more than 10 years of experience in the industry. Throughout my journey I’ve tested and reviewed hundreds of graphics card for custom PC builds. I believe my knowledge and experience will help you choose the card that really falls to your needs and budget.
