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AMD has launched their Zen 4-based eight-core Ryzen 7 7700X CPU in the market. The processor competes with the Core i9 12900K in modern games in an attempt to dethrone Team Blue's flagship offering with a cheaper octa-core design.
In practice, the Ryzen 7 7700X turned about to be almost similar or 1% faster than the Core i9 12900KS. Thus, the chip is a great option for gamers who want to build a high-end gaming rig.
However, since the new Ryzen 7 is a high-performance chip, users need to pair the CPU with a fast and capable GPU to be able to utilize 100% of its potential. With dozens of options out on the market, ranging from brand-new sealed cards to used GPUs, the process can be intimidating.
Note: This article is subjective and solely reflects the opinions of the writer
The AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT, Nvidia Geforce RTX 3080 Ti, and 3 other great graphics cards for the Ryzen 7 7700X
1) Nvidia Geforce RTX 3090 Ti ($1100)
The RTX 3090 Ti is currently the highest-end flagship offering from Nvidia. After a $800 discount from its original launch MSRP of $1999, buying this card now makes more sense than ever.
Users can also spot some used models for less than $1000. With 24 GB of fast GDDR6X memory based on a wide 384-bit bus and 10,752 CUDA cores, this GPU is a behemoth, at least by consumer graphics card standards. It can completely utilize the Ryzen 7 7700X's potential. When paired together, it will make for a solid high-end gaming rig.
2) AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT ($949)
The Radeon RX 6950 XT is AMD's answer to the RTX 3090 Ti. In an attempt to utilize the maximum potential of the Navi 21 GPU, the company boosted the core clocks and increased the power limits to create the highest-performing RDNA 2-based GPU.
The RX 6950 XT is a great value-for-money option coming in at $949 following the recent $150 price reduction. It can play games at 4K resolution without any performance hiccups. The video card will be great when used with the Ryzen 7 7700X.
3) AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT ($699)
The RX 6900 XT recently saw a massive $300 price cut. It was originally priced at $1000. However, the video card is now available at $700, which makes it a great value-for-money option.
Originally launched in 2020 as a direct competitor to RTX 3090, this graphics card, along with other RX 6000 options, was ridiculed for being terrible value. However, it is quite capable at 4K and can handle almost any title at the said resolution. Together with the Ryzen 7 7700X, this video card can form a capable gaming rig.
4) Nvidia Geforce RTX 3080 Ti ($750)
The RTX 3080 Ti is currently selling for around $750 at leading retailers. Nvidia initially launched this video card as a 4K gaming option. In several scenarios, this graphics card can beat the RX 6900 XT.
Now that the 6900 XT and the RTX 3080 Ti are priced similarly, users can opt for this graphics card and utilize the advantages of siding with Nvidia. The list includes comparatively better ray tracing performance, efficient DLSS 2.0 upscaling technology, and slightly superior rasterization performance.
Together with the Ryzen 7 7700X, the RTX 3080 Ti will also make for a premium 4K gaming rig.
5) AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT ($600)
The Radeon RX 6800 XT is AMD's answer to the RTX 3080 Ti. However, it is marginally slower than the option listed above. The card has also been built for 4K gaming. As expected, it has some key disadvantages when compared to the Nvidia offering.
However, considering the recent price reduction of RX 6000 video cards, this GPU offers solid value for the money it can be bought for. If users are looking to wrap up their Ryzen 7 7700X-based build for less than $1500, they can opt for this graphics card.
