The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X is everything you need in a gaming PC with an AM5 processor. It has 12 physical cores that can be boosted up to 5.6 GHz with the right CPU cooler. Combined with the best GPUs you can afford, it will transform your PC into a powerful gaming rig with plenty of processing power in reserve. I recommend spending as much as you can on the GPU to avoid upgrading early. It's always better to buy an overkill GPU than an underpowered one for your monitor and overall setup.
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Source: AMD
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
The Editor's Choice
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Source: Asus
ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 4090 OC Edition
Premium selection
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Source: Nvidia
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super FE
Best value for money
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Source: Gigabyte
AMD Radeon RX 7600
AMD with the best price-performance ratio
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Source: AMD
AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT
Best 1440p AMD card
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The Editor's Choice
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
$910 1000 US dollars Save $90
I would recommend the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX as the best overall choice for the Ryzen 9 9900X. It's not as powerful as the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090, but it doesn't need to be. The 4090 is too powerful for most gaming PCs. This thing can handle 4K gaming with 24GB of VRAM, and you'll enjoy shared memory access with the AMD platform.
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Premium selection
ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 4090 OC Edition
Speaking of the devil! The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 is by far the most powerful GPU. It's incredible and best suited for advanced 4K and some 8K gaming. Asus' TUF line is a top-notch range with a good balance between affordability and performance. With three fans and a huge heatsink, it might not fit in every PC case, but if you have the space, it will give you the best gaming performance you can get.
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Best value for money
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super FE
Just behind the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is the RTX 4070 Super. It's one of the better Nvidia GeForce RTX 40 series cards in terms of value for money. It's also small enough to fit in almost any case with its two-slot design and stays cool and quiet even under full load, which is pretty impressive considering it supports 4K gaming.
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AMD with the best price-performance ratio
AMD Radeon RX 7600
The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X is not a flagship processor and so you can get by with a slightly more conservative GPU. AMD's own Radeon RX 7600 is a great choice with its slim profile and low power consumption. 8GB of VRAM is still enough for 1440p gaming and you'll have a lot of fun with an Adaptive-Sync monitor.
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Best 1440p AMD card
AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT
The overall best 1440p GPU for the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X is the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT. This is a capable GPU that doesn't cost a fortune. Like other GPUs in this segment, it's a dual-fan card that supports smaller PC cases without sacrificing performance.
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Best value for money 4K Nvidia card
PNY GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER 16GB Verto OC
4K gaming is becoming more commonplace as more affordable UHD monitors become available to PC gamers. I recommend the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 over the RTX 4090 for 4K gaming unless you need the extra power.
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Best 4K AMD Card
XFX Speedster MERC310 RX 7900 XT Black
Just behind the Radeon RX 7900 XTX is the RX 7900 XT (just an “X”). It offers similar performance to the 7900 XTX but has less VRAM. It's not quite as good for 4K but will save you some money if you're on a tighter budget but still want one of the best AMD GPUs.
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Best Intel GPU
ASRock Phantom Gaming Intel Arc A770
Intel makes discrete GPUs! The Intel Arc A770 isn't a bad GPU either. It has 16GB of VRAM, supports XeSS upscaling, and offers good driver support. It's a capable 1440p gaming card that's also great for video editing or other productivity tasks.
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Cheapest 4K capable card
PowerColor Hellhound Radeon RX 7900 GRE
I'm a fan of the Radeon RX 7900 GRE and gave it a positive review for its 4K gaming capabilities. It's also incredibly affordable: it's half the price of the RX 7900 XTX and a third of the price of most GeForce RTX 4090 cards. That's an amazing value for anyone on a tight budget.
Which GPU is best suited for the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X?
Choosing the best GPU for the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X is easy, as virtually any GPU can take full advantage of all 12 cores, although not many games can. If you only want to play games at 1440p and 4K, I'd go with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX. It's the best match for the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X with Smart Access Memory support and a whopping 24GB of VRAM. It's also significantly cheaper than the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090, but can still deliver more than enough frames at 4K. The Radeon RX 7900 XT is another great choice for 4K, as is the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super.
For gaming at lower resolutions, the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT is solid, as is our preferred GPU, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super. And if you want something different, there's always the Intel Arc A770, which is great for productivity but not as capable for gaming as the other cards on this list. Intel still has some work to do to effectively compete with AMD and Nvidia at the top end of the GPU market, but its initial GPU launch went well and the cards were well received. You can save as much as you can and opt for a cheaper GPU over the 9900X, but you bought a Ryzen 9 CPU and it's only right to pair it with an equally capable card.