More Processing power for your machine
The computer graphics card (also known as GPU) is the lifeblood of any gaming, content creation, or video editing machine. It's the primary component for handling video intensive tasks, taking over that process from the CPU to accelerate video processing workloads. In general, the more graphics processing power, the better the framerates and faster the render times. But with specs like clock speed, RAM, CUDA cores, and many others, even the most avid tech follower can be overwhelmed when choosing the right card for their needs and budget.
Here, we'll cut through the noise and break down some of the most popular graphics card options on the market today to help you choose what's right for your work or play.
Select Card
Nvidia Geforce RTX 3070 Founders Edition
The RTX 3070 represents one of the best values in the 30 series GPU lineup. This graphics card offers performance that rivals 20 series gaming king the 2080Ti, but at less than half the price ($499 MSRP).
The 3070 FE is also significantly more compact than the 3080 or 3090. It features a traditional single sided fan layout and a lower power rating of 220W for increased case/component compatibility.
System Recommendations
The RTX 3070 is a great graphics card for gaming up to 1440p. Competitive FPS players would do well with this card, as it is able to handle high refresh rate gaming fairly easily.
Users looking to build smaller compact ITX systems will want to consider this GPU as well. Its smaller dimensions and fan layout will allow it to fit more easily into high end compact cases with limited airflow.
The 3070 also only has a 220W power draw rating. This will allow it to run off less powerful PSU's than the 3080/3090.
RTX 3070 Equipped PCs
RTX 3070 Specifications
| Model | RTX 3070 |
|---|---|
| Cuda Cores | 5888 |
| Base Clock | 1.5 GHz |
| Boost Clock | 1.73 GHz |
| Memory | 8 GB |
| Memory Type | GDDR6X |
| Memory Interface | 256-bit |
| Architecture | Ampere |
| Dimensions | 9.5" x 4.4" |
| Slots | 2 |
| Power Draw | 220W |
| Power Connector | 1 x PCIe 8-pin |
Nvidia Geforce RTX 3080 Founders Edition
The new RTX 3080 FE is the second most powerful graphics card in Nvidia's current RTX 30 series lineup.
While the 3080 has less RAM and Cuda cores than its bigger brother, it still manages to offer similar gaming performance. The GPU also features the same updated dual sided, dual chamber cooling solution as the 3090.
The 3080's sub $800 price tag matched with its high end performance will make this the most popular card of the new generation.
System Recommendations
While the more expensive 3090 does offer slightly better performance, the RTX 3080 offers similar performance and the best price to performance ratio of the new 30 series cards.
You will still be able to play most titles at 4K with the 3080, but this card really excels at 1440p, ultra settings, high refresh rate gaming. If you have a 120Hz+ monitor this would be a fantastic card to pair with it.
RTX 3080 Equipped PCs
RTX 3070 Specifications
| Model | RTX 3080 |
|---|---|
| Cuda Cores | 8704 |
| Base Clock | 1.44 GHz |
| Boost Clock | 1.71 GHz |
| Memory | 10 GB |
| Memory Type | GDDR6X |
| Memory Interface | 320-bit |
| Architecture | Ampere |
| Dimensions | 11.2" x 4.4" |
| Slots | 2 |
| Power Draw | 320W |
| Power Connector | 2 x PCIe 8-pin |
Nvidia Geforce RTX 3090 Founders Edition
Nvidia's new RTX 3090 FE is the latest flagship graphics card from the manufacturer. Featuring ray tracing support and the new Ampere architecture, the 3090 FE was built for the ultimate gaming enthusiasts.
In addition to a boost in performance over the previous generations flagship, the 3090 FE also sports a brand new board layout and cooler design. Air is drawn from both the front and back of the card into 2 separate heat pipe/fin arrays.
The updates allow the 3090 FE to offer serious performance while staying quieter and cooler than past Nvidia GPUs.
System Recommendations
The RTX 3090 is the current king of graphics cards. with 10496 Cuda cores and 24GB of RAM, the 3090 is an amazing choice for games and rendering applications like blender.
Gamers looking for full 4K/60Hz or higher performance will definitely want to consider a system with the 3090 as it is the current king of high resolution gaming.
Additionally users working on rendering tasks that do not require Quadro drives will be able to take advantage of all the RAM and Cuda cores available in the 3090. This is currently the best all around GPU you can buy.
RTX 3080 Equipped PCs
RTX 3070 Specifications
| Model | RTX 3090 |
|---|---|
| Cuda Cores | 10496 |
| Base Clock | 1.4 GHz |
| Boost Clock | 1.7 GHz |
| Memory | 24 GB |
| Memory Type | GDDR6X |
| Memory Interface | 384-bit |
| Architecture | Ampere |
| Dimensions | 12.3" x 5.4" |
| Slots | 3 |
| Power Draw | 350W |
| Power Connector | 2 x PCIe 8-pin |
Nvidia Quadro RTX 5000
The Quadro 5000 graphics card is the 3rd most powerful GPU in the current Quadro lineup. With 3,072 Cuda Cores, 48 Ray Tracing cores, and 16GB of RAM, this 5000 is still a very powerful card for professionals.
At around $2,000, the 5000 offers a great price to performance ratio.
System Recommendations
The Quadro 5000 is a fantastic mid range option for professionals. While it doesn't offer the horsepower or VRAM of the 8000/6000, it still offers strong performance.
This would be a great GPU for video editing, and 3D modeling.
Quadro 5000 Equipped PCs
Quadro 5000 Specifications
| Model | Quadro RTX 5000 |
|---|---|
| Cuda Cores | 3,072 |
| NVidia Tensor Cores | 384 |
| NVidia RT Cores | 48 |
| Memory | 16 GB |
| Memory Type | GDDR6 |
| RTX-OPS | 62T |
| FP32 Performance | 11.2 TFLOPS |
| Dimensions | 4.4" x 10.5" |
| Slots | Dual Slot |
| Power Draw | 265W |
| Power Connector | 2 x 8-Pin |
Nvidia Quadro RTX 6000
The Quadro 6000 graphics card is a slightly trimmed down version of its bigger brother the 8000. It comes in with half the RAM at 24GB, outside of that all other specs are the same.
At $4,000 the Quadro 6000 graphics card is significantly cheaper than the 8000, while offering the same processing power.
System Recommendations
The Quadro 6000 offers the best balance between high end processing power with professional drivers, and price. As long as you don’t need the additional VRAM the Quadro 8000 provides, this is a fantastic option.
Quadro 6000 Equipped PCs
Quadro 6000 Specifications
| Model | Quadro RTX 6000 |
|---|---|
| Cuda Cores | 4,608 |
| NVidia Tensor Cores | 576 |
| NVidia RT Cores | 72 |
| Memory | 24 GB |
| Memory Type | GDDR6 |
| RTX-OPS | 84T |
| FP32 Performance | 16.3 TFLOPS |
| Dimensions | 4.4" x 10.5" |
| Slots | Dual Slot |
| Power Draw | 295W |
| Power Connector | 2 x 8-Pin |
Nvidia Quadro RTX 8000
The Quadro 8000 was Nvidia’s first Ray Tracing GPU. It was the flagship offering for professionals seeking a GPU with professional driver support and enough VRAM to handle intensive workloads.
The 8000 features 48GB of ECC memory making it ideal for detailed rendering projects. However at $5,500 the Quadro 8000 graphics card is not for entry level users.
System Recommendations
The Quadro 8000 is a great option for professionals looking to handle extreme workloads. This graphics card is a great option for people working in 3D rendering, or video editing.
Quadro 8000 Equipped PCs
Quadro 8000 Specifications
| Model | Quadro RTX 8000 |
|---|---|
| Cuda Cores | 4,608 |
| NVidia Tensor Cores | 576 |
| NVidia RT Cores | 72 |
| Memory | 48 GB |
| Memory Type | GDDR6 with ECC |
| RTX-OPS | 84T |
| FP32 Performance | 16.3 TFLOPS |
| Dimensions | 4.4" x 10.5" |
| Slots | Dual Slot |
| Power Draw | 295W |
| Power Connector | 2 x 8-Pin |
GPU F.A.Q.
This is an NVIDIA card — who is EVGA?
NVIDIA manufactures the GPU (the actual processing chip) but mainly relies on board partners like EVGA, MSI, and Asus to manufacture boards and coolers for those chips. This is why most cards appear to have two manufacturers.
What is Founder's Edition?
Formerly called Reference cards, these are the cards built by NVIDIA themselves to both sell direct to customers (usually in short suipply) and demonstrate to board partners their recommended cooling processes.
What is vRAM?
Video RAM is just one of several important specs that define how powerful a GPU is. Learn more about vRAM in this blog post
Should I choose Quadro or GeForce?
NVIDIA Quadro cards have drivers optimized for professional applications. For more on choosing what's best for you, check out this post
What about CUDA, Tensor, and RT Cores?
Modern GPUs do more than just speed up frame rates. Specs like CUDA, Tensor, and Ray Tracing cores are all measures of a GPU's ability to process specific types of data.
- CUDA cores — utilized in GPU computing to accelerate calculations by breaking larger processes into microprocesses these cores can handle.
- Tensor cores — Processing cores designed specifically for AI training.
- Ray Tracing cores — These cores render Ray Tracing, essentially how artificial light reacts to objects to create shadow and realism.
Do you sell components?
We offer these graphics options in our fully built desktops only. We do not sell components individually, but we do have an upgrade program for current customers. Learn more on that here.
Which card is best for me?
Choosing the right card depends on your work, gaming resolution, and budget. For direct assistance, give our sales team a call at 804-419-0900.
The World’s Fastest Hardware
We use only the very latest retail grade components from Intel, AMD, NVIDIA, Samsung, EVGA, and Crucial in our architecture and engineering workstations. Each component in our online configurator has been chosen by our expert engineering team for these specific applications to provide maximum performance and the utmost reliability, ensuring that your hardware never gets in the way of your design.
FIND THE RIGHT GPU FOR YOU
Why Velocity Micro
Velocity Micro’s heritage began 20-years ago building ultra-performance desktop workstations. Since then, we’ve won nearly every award possible for design, support, and quality there is, and continue to build incredible custom systems to this day. Our architecture and engineering workstations are simply without equal. A few reasons to choose Velocity Micro:
- Expert overclocking – free CPU power without risking reliability or longevity
- Lifetime, 100% US-based Support – never routed offshore
- Owned and operated in the USA – and always will be
- Meticulous build quality – there are no assembly lines here