AMD High-End Gaming PC Build Guide: Spring 2020 Edition

The FPS Review may receive a commission if you purchase something after clicking a link in this article.

AMD High-End Gaming PC 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.

NVIDIA Logo

GPU

ASUS ROG STRIX RTX 2080 Ti O11G GAMING

ASUS ROG STRIX GeForce RTX 2080 Ti O11G GAMING $1299.99

60 FPS

  • Better Performance Than Reference Card
  • Best 4k Gaming Experience Available Today
  • Decent Overclocking Potential

30 FPS

  • Significant Price Premium

GPU Alternate

Gigabyte Aorus GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER

GIGABYTE AORUS GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER $839.99

60 FPS

  • Better Performance Than RTX 2080 FE
  • Mid Level 4k Gaming
  • Mid Level Ray Tracing Performance
  • Decent Overclocking Potential

30 FPS

  • Value Is Dependent On Usage
  • Not Worth Upgrading Over A Standard 2080 Super For Most Users

Similar to what we saw in our Enthusiast PC Gaming Build Guides (1,2), our GPU solutions are all NVIDIA. AMD still struggles to compete when we move above mid-market, where most sales exist. So while it would be nice to see some diversity here today, we can’t justify adding an AMD solution to the mix.

So, our number one pick for a GPU for this build today is the ASUS ROG STRIX GeForce RTX 2080 Ti O11G GAMING. For users looking for the best gaming performance currently on the market there is no substitute for the RTX 2080 TI. So, a factory overclocked unit like the ASUS ROG STRIX GeForce RTX 2080 Ti O11G GAMING is exactly what should be living in your build. As our own Brent Justice said in his review “The video card allows you to play today’s games at the best performance possible. It makes NVIDIA Ray Tracing viable at 1440p and gives you options. It is really the only solution for 4K gaming at the moment. If you have a 4K setup, the RTX 2080 Ti is your only choice. Even though we are one and a half years on with the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, it still offers the best gameplay experience in 2020. The ASUS ROG STRIX GeForce RTX 2080 Ti O11G GAMING has a high price premium and is currently $1279.99 at Amazon. If you want the best gaming performance though, this is what you’ll be spending.” That’s a lot of performance right out of the box with overclocking potential on top of it. There are no two ways about it, this is the GPU for your Threadripper today.

Stepping back a little bit on the budget brings us to looking at the GIGABYTE AORUS GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER. The RTX 2080 Super does, generally, outperform the RTX 2080 FE at a lower price point making it an obvious choice today when the price is a bit of a concern. This was pointed out by our own Brent Justice when he stated “Instead, the GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER is supposed to allow an upgrade path from older GPUs, or video cards like the older TITAN series. It offers faster performance than a GeForce RTX 2080 Founders Edition at a price that is $100 cheaper. That’s where its strength lies.” in his review of the standard card.

This card we have today in particular though is no bone stock RTX 2080 Super. Rather, the GIGABYTE AORUS GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER sees almost a 400Mhz increase in clock speed and memory speed over the base level RTX 2080 Super. That makes this card perfect for 1440p gameplay and definitely starts to make 4K gameplay viable in a way that will get a lot of users foot in the door here without paying the TI price penalty. So, while we did say “Instead, the GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER is supposed to allow an upgrade path from older GPUs, or video cards like the older TITAN series. It offers faster performance than a GeForce RTX 2080 Founders Edition at a price that is $100 cheaper. That’s where its strength lies.” in our review of the base 2080 Super, this card is a bit more special than that. Thus it is more at home in a build such as this than a bog-standard RTX 2080 Super.

Recent News