AMD Mid-Range Gaming PC Build Guide: Summer 2020

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AMD Mid-Range Gaming Build: GPU

While all of the components we are selecting here today are what we would go with, and priced from vendors we trust, it is always a good idea to shop around as deals on these, or other good options, pop up from other reliable vendors all the time. With that said, let’s dive right into the next order of business.

XFX Logo
AMD Logo
MSI Logo
NVIDIA Logo

GPU

XFX Radeon RX 5600 XT THICC II Pro image

XFX Radeon RX 5600 XT THICC II Pro $279.99 (Currently $289.99)

60 FPS

  • Better Performance Than Reference Card
  • High End 1080p Gaming
  • Decent Overclocking Potential
  • Efficient Design For Its Segment

30 FPS

  • Value Versus RTX 2060 Is Very Price Dependent
  • This Is The Name That Never Ends, It Goes On And On My Friends

GPU Alternate

MSI GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER GAMING X

MSI GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER GAMING X $269.99 (Currently $264.99)

60 FPS

  • Better Performance Than Stock GTX 1660 Super
  • Decent Overclocking Potential
  • Very Good 1080p Gaming
  • Solid Design

30 FPS

  • Pricing Versus RX 5600 XT Is Tough
  • Performance Solidly Trailing The RX 5600 XT

In somewhat of a difference from what we have been seeing when it comes to GPU recommendations in our Enthusiast PC Gaming Build Guides to date, leading things off today we have an AMD based solution. While AMD still struggles to compete in the top end of the market when we move mid-market, where most sales exist, AMD is solidly competitive and even downright ahead at times.

So, our number one pick for a GPU for this build today is the RX 5600 XT based XFX Radeon RX 5600 XT THICC II Pro. For users looking for the “the 1080p gaming performance today,” this card has your name written all over it (along with a bunch of other words). As our own Brent Justice said when reviewing this card “Overall, we are extremely impressed with the XFX Radeon RX 5600 XT THICC II Pro. XFX has given it a factory overclock boost up to 1460MHz (now 1560MHz) versus 1375MHz on the reference design. However, thanks to the board power target and cooling this XFX video card runs at an average near 1600MHz while gaming (above 1700MHz with the new BIOS.) That’s a lot more performance than a reference video card, giving you a high degree of Radeon RX 5600 XT performance out-of-the-box.

Stepping back a little bit on the budget brings us to an NVIDIA option today. The MSI GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER GAMING X would be our second choice here if we are looking to pinch a few pennies as Brent Justice opined, “MSI has put together a well-made, robust and appealing video card for gaming enthusiasts. It looks the part, with an aesthetically pleasing look front and back, along with customizable RGB lighting. The custom PCB, hardware components and custom cooling work great to keep the GPU very cool while gaming. The video card operates at a very high boost clock out-of-the-box box that delivers performance well above reference specifications. The video card has overclocking potential, and that allowed us to gain about 8% more performance on average. The TWIN FROZR 7 cooling technology is not holding the video card back on overclocking, it is well made and does the job extremely well in our testing.” We do sacrifice a bit of performance by making this selection and move back away from the absolute top of the stack in 1080p gaming. However, when the pricing is right, like now, this is still a very viable option as the 1080p gaming experience we had with the card was still very very good.

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