Having a decent graphics card is an important component when it comes to game development and design.
Because you can’t do without them when developing games.
In this article, we list the best GPU for game development and design.
Get this if you want the best performance in game development.
A factory overclocked card that rivals the NVIDIA RTX cards. That's the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT
The best GPU for those on a tight budget. The price-to-performance ratio on the RX 580 is insane.
Get this if you want the best performance in game development.
A factory overclocked card that rivals the NVIDIA RTX cards. That's the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT
The best GPU for those on a tight budget. The price-to-performance ratio on the RX 580 is insane.
Last update on 2024-04-25 at 21:33 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Software Used in Game Development
There are software that game developers and designers use. And each of them has their own system requirements. Here are the most popular game development software:
- Unity
- Unreal Engine
- CRYENGINE
- Vulkan
- Game Maker
NVIDIA Quadro or GeForce For Game Development?
Go with NVIDIA GeForce graphic cards. Because they have been designed and optimised for playing and handling games.
NVIDIA Quadro, on the other hand, has been optimised for handling professional graphic applications such as Rhino, SolidWorks, Autodesk Revit, etc.
You will get much better performance when you use a GeForce card for game development and design.
Which Graphics Card is Best for Game Development? Buyer’s Guide
So you are looking for a GPU that will give you the best performance when developing and designing games? Here are a few things to look out for.
Clock Speed
Just like CPUs, GPUs also have clock speeds. Clock speed is how fast a GPU can complete instructions and it’s measured in GHz or MHz.
The faster the clock speed the faster an instruction is completed and powerful GPUs have high clock speeds. However, you can’t depend solely on clock speed to judge the performance of a GPU.
For example, the RTX 2060 has a clock speed of 1365 MHz. The GTX 1650 has a clock speed of 1485 MHz which is high than the RTX 2060.
But, we all know which graphics card is more powerful. Don’t only look at clock speed when judging the performance of a graphics card.
NVIDIA CUDA Cores or Stream Processors
Just like how CPUs have their own cores. GPUs also have cores except that GPU cores are far more numerous than CPU cores. Furthermore, the more powerful the GPU. The higher number of cores it has.
For example, the RTX 2060 has 1920 NVIDIA CUDA Cores whiles the RTX 2070 Super has 2304 NVIDIA CUDA Cores.
Also, NVIDIA calls their cores NVIDIA CUDA cores whiles AMD refer to theirs as Stream processors.
VRAM
Just like how having a lot of RAM helps in system performance and multitasking. VRAM is RAM specifically used by the GPU.
That means the more VRAM a GPU has the more it can handle graphical loads. At the same time, it allows you to game on multiple monitors and higher resolutions.
Graphic cards with a high amount of VRAM are more often powerful cards.
For example, the RTX 2060 has 6GB of VRAM whiles the GTX 1650 has 4GB VRAM. The RTX 2080 Ti has a whopping 11GB RAM.
Memory Bandwidth
To put it simply, it’s how fast the GPU can transfer data. The higher this number (measured in GB/s) the more powerful the graphics card and the faster the data transfer.
How To Really Determine Which GPU Is Best For Game Development?
Your level of expertise, budget and how demanding the game you are designing greatly determines the GPU for game development.
If you are an experienced game developer. You might develop lightweight, demanding games or both.
If you are a beginner, it doesn’t make sense to get an NVIDIA RTX Titan. An NVIDIA GTX 1650 or 1050 Ti will suffice. In most cases, an integrated graphics card will suffice especially when it’s a 2D game.
Next is your budget. In a way, your budget influences the type of game you will develop.
Games that are going to be very high detail will need a powerful graphics card. And those are quite expensive.
So you need to determine how much you are willing to spend in order to create an awesome game.
Finally, how demanding you want the game to be for players. Don’t expect to design a game using an NVIDIA RTX 2080 Ti and expect players to run it smoothly with a mid-range graphics card.
They have to reduce the graphic settings for it to run smoothly. Which might or might not work.
Unless you want it to be demanding. You can use a GPU as a baseline for system requirements.
Once you get these three right. You will know which GPU is best for your game development needs.
What Graphics Card Do Game Developers Use?
The graphics card used by game developers depends on how demanding they want the game to be.
A 2D game developer is going to use a different and less powerful graphics card than a 3D game developer.
Best Graphics Card (GPUs) For Game Development (Unity, Unreal Engine, Houdini, etc.)
➕ Pros
- Top-notch performance
- Excellent choice for 4K game development
➖ Cons
- Pricey
Clock Speed: 1440 MHz | NVIDIA CUDA Cores: 8704 | VRAM: 10GB | Memory Bandwidth: 912GB/s
The NVIDIA RTX 3080 is an expensive card and for a good reason. This card is for game developers who want to design the best and most beautiful games in terms of detail.
Furthermore, with the NVIDIA RTX 3080, you will be able to design games on 4K resolution since it is a card that can handle 4K gaming.
The ray-tracing feature also makes the graphics more realistic. However, the software is still in its infancy.
Overall, the RTX 3080 is the best GPU for game development and design. The performance it has make it easy to develop and design games.
Games played by gamers with powerful PC rigs.
➕ Pros
- Great performance
- Amazing value
- Solid build quality
- Runs cool
➖ Cons
- Driver issues
- Limited ray-tracing performance
Clock Speed: 2321 MHz | Stream Processors: 2560 | VRAM: 12GB | Memory Bandwidth: 384GB/s
Comparable in performance to the NVIDIA RTX 3060 Ti. The AMD Radeon 6700 XT is the rival to NVIDIA RTX cards but at the same time being more affordable.
A solid card that can be used for developing demanding games that are to be played on 1080p and 1440p resolution.
The only thing holding the AMD Radeon 6700 XT from its full capability are the incomplete drivers from AMD. Hopefully, AMD is working hard on making their drivers better.
Overall, if you want a great alternative to the NVIDIA RTX cards. Then the AMD Radeon 6700 XT is the best graphics card for game development you can start with.
Where To Buy
➕ Pros
- Excellent Performance
- Great price-to-performance ratio
➖ Cons
- None
Clock Speed: 1320 MHz | NVIDIA CUDA Cores: 3584 | VRAM: 12GB | Memory Bandwidth: 360GB/s
The NVIDIA RTX 3060 is the most popular RTX card and for a good reason. It provides excellent performance and it’s quite affordable. Not too expensive to break the bank.
The RTX 3060 is a solid choice for developing games that you want it to be played in 1080p and 1440p resolutions.
In addition to that, games designed on this card can be played by several players.
Coupled with its ray tracing technology you can pretty much develop some awesome looking games.
To sum it all up, the RTX 3060 provides the best bang for the buck when looking for a GPU to develop games. Highly recommended if you have the budget for it.
Where To Buy
➕ Pros
- Affordable
- Great Performance
➖ Cons
- None
Clock Speed: 1530 MHz | NVIDIA CUDA Cores: 1408 | VRAM: 6GB | Memory Bandwidth: 192GB/s
The NVIDIA GTX 1660 is the best budget card for starting out and at intermediate levels when developing 1080p games.
The performance is high enough to create fairly demanding games whiles at the same time not worrying about getting a new GPU.
In other words, you have a GPU that can be used from having a beginner to intermediate expertise. However, this might be overkill for 2D games.
Still, this is one of the best budget GPUs for game development and design.
Where To Buy
➕ Pros
- Best performance for those on a tight budget
➖ Cons
- None
Clock Speed: 1257 MHz | Stream Processor: 2304 | VRAM: 8GB | Memory Bandwidth: 256GB/s
There are no downsides when you get the AMD Sapphire Radeon RX 580 for game development. Because this has the best performance to dollar ratio.
That means for the price, you have a very powerful card. It is 9 per cent slower than the GTX 1660. And for under $200 that is a steal. Plenty of VRAM and fast clock speed.
The AMD Sapphire RX 580 is a monster at that price. Overall, a solid option if you want an affordable graphics card with amazing performance to design 1080p games.
➕ Pros
- Very affordable
- Can be overclocked
➖ Cons
- Not suitable for developing demanding 3D games
Clock Speed: 1168 MHz | Stream Processor: 2048 | VRAM: 8GB | Memory Bandwidth: 224GB/s
The AMD Radeon RX 580 is another great card for those on a tight budget. But, still want to develop games.
This 1080p gaming card has better performance than the GTX 1650. And so in designing low to mid-demanding games. You wouldn’t have a problem.
This makes it perfect for a beginner and someone who just entered the intermediate level in game development. A solid card for game developers who want gamers to run their games on 1080p 60fps.
Final Thoughts
A great GPU will go a long way in developing games. However, the best GPU will not only go a long way but will make sure your player’s PC or laptop can handle the games you develop.
That’s it for the best GPU for game design and development.
