Best Graphics Card for Graphic Design
A graphic card is a hardware component whose only purpose is to provide images and display them to the monitor. The Graphics card is known as the GPU, or Graphics Processing Unit and a dedicated ram to process data efficiently. GPUs are specially built to enable the display of 3-D images, image rasterization, higher pixel density, display of a larger range of colours and more. Having a Graphics card also helps free from CPU and RAM of workload.
The good thing for Graphic Designers is that the bulk, if not all, of their tasks, aren’t GPU intensive. Most Graphic Design assignments are handled by the CPU and system RAM. As a result, the best graphics card should be used for graphic design as a graphic designer. A buying guide to the best graphics cards (GPU) as graphic designers for Graphic Design on all allowances. Any changes in graphic design are done by the graphics card. In this article, we will know about the best graphics card for graphic design.
Do you want The Best Monitors for Photo Editing
How To Choose A GPU For Graphic Design
● Operating System: If you have a Mac computer, you will have to go with an AMD graphics card and your Mac also will have to be a 2019 Mac Pro or newer. The purpose being, AMDs modern GPUs are only supported by new Mac Operating systems.
● Generally speaking, Nvidia GPUs perform a touch better in Adobe Software and this is why all my recommendations are from Nvidia. However, if you would like an AMD GPU for Mac, the AMD Radeon Pro WX 8200 may be a highly regarded powerful GPU.
● PC users will have more flexibility. NVIDIA or AMD GPUs will both work. However, for Graphic Design and any video editing or 3D work, I like to recommend NVIDIA GPUs over AMD.
● The screen will have to simply put, monitors range in size, resolution, and quality. If you have a 4K screen or multiple screens, a more powerful GPU with more VRAM is preferred (Ideally 8 GB of GPU VRAM) and displaying resolution HD 2K 4K 5K 8K.
● Save money for the CPU and RAM. Graphic Design PC builds need powerful processors and memory to store many data. How that data is provided on screen is vital, no doubt. But for designers that mainly design in 2D, your money is best spent on a CPU and RAM.
You May Read Best Graphics Card For 4K Video Editing
Best Graphics card for Graphic Design
Here are a few best Graphics Cards recommended for Graphic Designers listed below:
● Geforce GTX 1050 Ti (Budget Build)
● GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (Mid Range)
● GeForce RTX 3070 (Mid Range +)
● NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000 (High End)
● Quadro RTX 5000
● Quadro RTX 4000
● GTX 1660 Ti
1. Geforce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB
This graphic card is for budget builds and also good for 2D design work. As a graphic designer looking for a capable GPU, the GTX 1050 Ti is a great choice. It’s worth noting that this graphic card is running on the older Pascal architecture. Also, with a small budget-minded card, you get 4GB of GDDR5 128-bit memory bus. This is ok for most graphics designers that this graphic card works purely in 2D and it is the best graphic card for graphic design.
PROS
● This graphic card has a capable performance for the money.
● Small form factor
● The running system is cool & quiet
CONS
● This graphic card is not ideal for dual 4K or 3D work for graphic design.
Specs:
Core Clocks: Boost 1480 MHz
VRAM: 4 GB GDDR5
GPU Tensor Cores: 0
Cuda Cores: 768
RT Cores: 0
Interface: PCI Express 8
Connections: 3x DisplayPort, 1x HDMI
Dimensions: 3.04 x 11.43 x 23.11 cm
2. GeForce RTX 3060 Ti
This graphic card has amazing value for money and mid-range GPU. If you are looking at the mid-range of budget the RTX 3060 Ti is the best graphic card for graphic design and also represents the new value benchmark in this price range. This card is best for graphic design and it will easily feed dual 4K monitors and handle light 3D work and video editing. Overall, the RTX 3060 Ti is an excellent choice for those who want good performance but have budget restrictions and it can easily handle multiple graphic design projects at the same time at high resolutions.
PROS
● Great performance and best value for the money
● Affordable price
● RT & Tensor Core features
● Decent cooling system
CONS
● Slightly high power consumption
● No USB Type-C
Specs:
GPU Tensor Cores: 152
Cuda Cores: 4864
RT Cores: 38
Core Clocks: Boost 1695 MHz
VRAM: 8 GB GDDR6
Interface: PCI Express 16
Connections: 3x DisplayPort, 1x HDMI
Dimensions: 5.35 x 12.45 x 23.11 cm
3. GeForce RTX 3070
The RTX 3070 is a high-performance best value graphics card for graphic design depending on price movement. This card is perfect for those looking for a powerful graphic card for graphic design working on higher resolution. This card is better than RTX 2080 Ti in performance and comes at a lesser price than it. This is a fairly power efficient graphics card thanks to the Ampere architecture. It runs quietly without being hot. So, you can work on multiple intensive tasks without worrying about overheating or noise.
It has an 8 GB GDDR6 VRAM with bandwidth of 448GB/s which is helpful enough for graphic designers. It has a massive 5888 Cuda Cores running 1500 MHz, 184 Tensor Cores, and 46 RT cores, this GPU goes above-and-beyond typical graphic design needs. Overall, this card is the best graphic card for graphic design and it will satisfy with its performance.
PROS
● Great performance
● Good value for money
● Dedicated ray-tracing cores
● Power-efficient
● Best for 4K resolution
CONS
● No USB Type-C
Specs:
Core Clocks: Boost 1755 MHz
Interface: PCI Express 16
Connections: 3x DisplayPort, 1x HDMI
Dimensions: 4.32 x 11.13 x 27 cm
4. NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000
Although the Quadro graphic cards are pricier than the GeForce, there are some benefits and it comes down to peace-of-mind and dependability. Quadro graphics cards are built mainly for design professionals. It has 288 GPU Tensor Cores, 2034 Cuda Cores, 8GB GDDR6 VRAM and fully ISV certified this professional-grade GPU is suitable for graphic designers who use Adobe apps like After Effects, Premiere Pro, and other 3D programs.
A couple more benefits with the Quadro RTX 4000, because it produces a USB Type-C and single-slot form factor. If performance, stability, and dependability are your preferences, you can’t go wrong with the Quadro RTX 4000. Although this graphic card is expensive, it is the best graphic card for graphic designers for its benefit and better performance.
PROS
● Solid performance
● Durable
● RT & Tensor Core features
● Single-slot form factor and quiet
● Competitive pricing
● 1x USB Type-C
CONS
● Expensive
● Limited availability
Specs:
RT Cores: 36
Core Clocks: Boost 1545 MHz
Interface: PCI Express x 16
Connections: 3x DisplayPort, 1x HDMI,
Dimensions: 5.8 x 10.2 x 20.3 cm
5. Quadro RTX 5000
This card is the best graphic card for professional graphic design. The Quadro RTX 5000 is a superb choice for professional graphic designers performing on high-end projects. It comes at an upscale price but it delivers excellent performance on par with industry standards. This card is not for everyone but if anyone wants to be an individual working on huge projects that require more computing power that is the best choice for a graphic designer.
This card is based on Turing architecture and it contains 3070 Cuda Cores running at 1620 MHz. They can be boosted up to 1815 MHz when needed and it has a huge 16 GB GDDR6 VRAM with 448 GB/s bandwidth. It is a more reliable and stable graphic card. Although it is expensive but is worth it in the long run.
PROS
● Best for creatives
● Excellent performance
● 1x USB Type-C
● More reliable and durable
CONS
● Expensive
Specs:
RT Cores: 36
Core Clocks: Boost 1545 MHz
Interface: PCI Express 3.0 x 16
Connections: 4x DisplayPort
6. Quadro RTX 4000
This card is the perfect choice for most graphic designers and it is the editor’s choice for graphic design. It is a knowledgeable graphics card that comes at a reasonable price and offers an uncompromised performance. It is also power-efficient and also maintains less space.
This card is a single-slot card. It has 2304 Cuda Cores running at a maximum clock speed of 1545 MHz. It also has Tensor cores 288, 36 RT cores and 8 GB GDDR6 VRAM that has a bandwidth of 416 GB/s. Its display outputs include 3x DisplayPort. Overall, this card is the sweet spot for those who can’t afford high-end cards.
PROS
● Value for money
● Affordable price
● Single-slot card
● Power-efficient
CONS
● Still expensive when compared with an RTX card.
7. GTX 1660 Ti
This card is the best budget graphics card for graphic design and it is a performance segment card that was launched keeping in mind the budget and affordability. This card is best for hobby beginners serious about graphic designing. It has the right balance of price and performance and would be more than enough for 1080p editing.
This card has no RT cores and hence can’t support real-time ray tracing and other features present in RTX cards. It has 1536 Cuda Cores that operate at 1500 MHz. They can be boosted up to 1770 MHz and it also uses a 6 GB GDDR6 VRAM with a bandwidth of 288 GB/s. It is a dual-slot card and uses a PCI- Express 3.0 x 16 interface to attach to a motherboard. Its display outputs include 1x DVI, 1x DisplayPort, 1x HDMI. Overall, it is a great card for graphic designers and also offers acceptable performance for those working in 1440p resolution.
PROS
● Price to performance ratio
● Dual-fan cooling system
CONS
● No advanced features offer
What Should a Graphic Designer look for in a graphic card:
● Memory size: Memory size is an important consideration. This is because memory size affects anti-aliasing operations, quality of the texture and render time. Having higher memory also allows it to operate at a higher resolution. If you are running multiple displays, you will want more VRAM.
● Bandwidth: Bandwidth is that the amount of memory a GPU can access at a given time. Besides, the higher the bandwidth, the higher the performance. That is the system of edit and render at a faster rate.
● Shader cores: Also called Cuda Code. It helps improve render quality and decrease render time and they bring 3D objects to life by adding light and dark effects.
● Clock speed: This is the frequency in which the GPU is running and the higher the clock speed, the higher the performance. This also varies due to the architecture of cards, but that is not a problem, just see that the GPU you select has a higher clock speed.
● Connections: Most GPU’s features are DVI, HDMI, and DisplayPort. It will know that what connections are needed on graphics cards will depend on the monitor set-up. You might want to feature a display, as designers often run two or maybe three monitors for better multitasking.
● Interface: Modern graphics cards plug into the motherboard using PCI Express slots (peripheral component interconnect express). PCIe slots come in the configurations including: x1, x4, x8, x16, and x32. Most GPUs need a PCIe x16 slot to run at their full ability.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be said that looking for the best graphics card for graphic design is very tough. We hope that you simply have enjoyed our guide for the best graphics card for graphic design. It is very difficult to find those graphics cards and is also the most important consideration that you are looking for. So sit down and give some thought to the type of features important to your device and which feature is suitable for your work and which card provides better performance for graphic design and then go through our guide to find a graphic card that you think is best. We are confident that you will find the best that will have you working in comfort for a long time to come.
