When it comes to powerhouse CPUs, selecting the right GPU is important. So when considering the best GPU for the AMD Ryzen Ryzen 9 5900X and 5950X, we’ve focused on parings for the best performance. As you set out to build a system capable of heavy-duty productivity tasks and high-end gaming, the right GPU will make all the difference. The powerful CPUs we’re looking at here need the right GPU support, which is exactly what we want to ensure you have.
This article seeks to guide you through choosing the right GPU for these Ryzen 9 workhorses. It focuses on performance, compatibility, longevity, and price points, as aim is to help you balance power and value while maximizing the potential of your processor.
- Best GPU For Ryzen 9 5900X And 5950X
Gigabyte RTX 4080 Super Windforce V2
- Best AMD GPU For Ryzen 9 5900X And 5950X
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
- GPU: Navi 31
- Stream Processors: 5,376
- VRAM: 20GB GDDR6
- Bandwidth: 800GB/sec
- Memory bus width: 320-bit
- Base clock speed: 1,387 MHz
- Best GPU For Ryzen 9 5900X And 5950X For Most Users
ASUS TUF RTX 4070 Super OC Edition
- GPU: AD104
- CUDA cores: 7,168
- VRAM: 12GB GDDR6X
- Bandwidth: 504.2 GB/sec
- Memory bus width: 192-bit
- Base clock speed: 1,980 MHz
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Sapphire Radeon Pulse RX 7700 XT
- GPU: Navi 32
- Stream Processors: 3,456
- VRAM: 12GB GDDR6
- Bandwidth: 432 GB/sec
- Memory bus width: 192-bit
- Base clock speed: 1,435 MHz
How did we pick the Best GPU for Ryzen 9 5900X & 5950X?
We’ve spent hours testing the Ryzen 9 5900X, so check out our review for our overall thoughts. Using this knowledge, and the differences between it and the 5950X, To select the best GPU for the Ryzen 9 5900X & 5950X, we looked at the specifications of each GPU available today, considering performance, cooling technology, compatibility with CPU, motherboard, and monitor, and market price too.
Using our expertise and benchmarks of the 5900X and considered graphics cards – including Nvidia Ti and Super variants – we’ve compiled a comprehensive and unbiased evaluation of each GPU. We’ve given considerable weight to the GPUs’ real-world performance in games and productivity too, since synthetic benchmarks are useful but do not always accurately reflect a GPU’s performance.
AMD’s Zen 3 stand-out chips deserve the best pairings out there, and they’re highly-capable options, so you’ll find no GTX cards here, nor older AMD or low-end options (although we have considered budget constraints). The best products are always the ones that suit you best, but we’ve worked to ensure our best GPUs for the Ryzen 9 5900X and 5950X guide is as fair and balanced as possible.
One final thing: while this guide is targeted towards more specific CPU and GPU pairings, if you still need oa motherboard, check out our best motherboard for Ryzen 9 5900X guide. And if you’re still undecided on which GPU to buy, check out our overall best graphics card article. Or if you want a system that is capable of beyond Full HD 1080p gaming, check out our best GPU for 1440p 144Hz gaming.
Gigabyte RTX 4080 Super Windforce V2
We reviewed the RTX 4080 a while back, and despite it only offering a small uplift in performance over its predecessor, it’s still managed to land our top spot for any user building around the Ryzen 9 5900X or 5950X.
Best GPU for Ryzen 9 5900X and 5950X in 2024 – our top picks
- GPU: AD103
- CUDA Cores: 10,240
- VRAM: 16GB GDDR6X
- Bandwidth: 736.3 GB/s
- Memory bus width: 256-bit
- Base clock speed: 2295 MHz
- Boost clock speed: 2550 MHz
- Able to deliver smooth 1440p and 4K gaming
- Excellent pairing option for content creation, editing and encoding
- Impressive power efficiency given its capabilities
- May be overkill for users not wanting 4K
- Expensive owing to being Nvidia’s ‘second best’ 40-series GPU
It can be tempting to recommend the 4090 for everything. But in balancing performance, price, and power, we feel the RTX 4080 super is the best GPU for Ryzen 9 5900X and 5950X. If you’re opting for a Zen 3 Ryzen 9 then the RTX 4080 Super is the right pick for high-end capabilities and just makes sense over a previous winner here – the 3080.
The 4080 Super has a base clock speed of 2.29GHz and a boost clock speed of 2.55 GHz, so ample speed alongside its 3rd generation ray tracing cores and 4th generation tensor cores, making it an absolute monster of a GPU. Designed for seamless fantastic 1440p and seamless 4K gaming, it benefits from DLSS 3.5 support and is capable of blitzing demanding productivity tasks.
We rated the 4080 Super 4 out of 5 in our review, and if you want a system that won’t need attention any time soon this card makes absolute sense. One thing though, is to check your PSU requirements. The 4080 Super is power efficient, but it can also draw 320W and needs multiple PCIe connectors.
- GPU: Navi 31
- Stream Processors: 5,376
- VRAM: 20GB GDDR6
- Bandwidth: 800GB/sec
- Memory bus width: 320-bit
- Base clock speed: 1,387 MHz
- Boost clock speed: 2,394 MHz
- Capable of smooth 4K and excellent 1440p resolution in gaming
- Even better value since its price drop from a high MSRP
- Top future-facing graphics card that will keep your system going for years
- Lacks Nvidia exclusive features like DLSS 3 and Nvenc encoding
- Power users would be better with the XTX variant
Nvidia not your style? How about an RDNA 3 card in the shape of the RX 7900 XT? If you’re going for an all-AMD build then we’d say, similar to the 4080 Super, the 7900 XT offers the best (AMD) mix of performance promise and price. Although not initially a cheap card, with an MSRP of $899, a price drop has seen it available for around $700.
That price drop has skewed its value in the best way, making the 7900XT an excellent choice for gamers and professionals in terms of value for money. The card offers 5,376 Stream Processors, alongside 20GB GDDR6 with a 320-bit memory bus.
Essentially, it’s not messing around. It supports FSR for AI upscaling, the newer AV1 codec for content creators, is fairly modestly sized (next to Nvidia’s top-tier options), and skips 1440p and 4K gaming along without issue. If you were considering an RX 6950 XT, value-wise and future-facing considered we’d go for this. We’ve rated it as a 4.5 out of 5, and the best AMD GPU for Ryzen 9 5900X and 5950X.
- Great for 1440p gaming
- Good improvement over RTX 4070
- Works for 4K gaming with DLSS
- Better pricing compared to RTX 4070
- High power consumption
- Expensive for a mid-range GPU
If you’re looking for the best NVIDIA GPU or Ryzen 9 5900X and 5950X, then we think the NVIDIA RTX 4070 Super is a strong mid-range choice.
The RTX 4070 Super comes with 7168 CUDA cores, which is 1280 cores more than the base model GeForce RTX 4070. Of course, if you go for tweaked versions from other manufacturers, like the ASUS TUF GeForce RTX 4070 Super OC here, then clock speeds will be different. This specific model ramps up to 2,475 Mhz as an OC model, which can deliver better performance overall.
In our 4070 Super review, the card proved it can deliver great framerates with 2K and even work well in 4K resolutions. For instance, Assassin’s Creed Mirage and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora both delivered 119fps and 80fps respectively at 1440p. The same games were playable at 4K with average framerates. That means pairing with the 5900X or 5950X makes complete sense, as these CPUs will be well-supported across these resolutions.
However, if you want to experience more 4K gaming, then the newer RTX 4070 Ti Super may be a better pick, although there is a clear additional cost of an extra $300 in terms of MSRP.
The RTX 4070 Super also works well in productivity for video editing and rendering. Again, we wouldn’t recommend it for high-end creative work if that’s what you want to do with your system. But overall it’s a well-priced and capable pairing.
- GPU: Navi 32
- Stream Processors: 3,456
- VRAM: 12GB GDDR6
- Bandwidth: 432 GB/sec
- Memory bus width: 192-bit
- Base clock speed: 1,435 MHz
- Boost clock speed: 2,544 MHz
- Affordable for tighter budgets and a step beyond RX 6000 series equivalent
- Offers good 1440p gaming and supports AMD FSR
- A bad pairing for full potential of 5900X and 5950X in 4K gaming
- Not for power users or professional content creators
If a more budget-friendly GPU is your focus then we’d recommend a look at the RX 7700 XT from AMD’s 7000 series. On a tighter or tight budget, it’s a highly-capable card and able to deliver reliable graphics performance at 1440p for gaming (60fps at max settings), as well as perform for productivity and video-editing needs.
We’d think of the RX 7700 XT as the best GPU for Ryzen 9 5900X and 5950X for lower budgets. In our review, we called the 7700XT a solid card, but we do also note that buying one in 2024 will likely cover you for a couple of years at the level the card is aimed at.
So if you’re upgrading from an older card – say a Radeon RX 6000 series – then this could certainly extend your system life. But at the same time, it won’t deliver what other cards on this list can in terms of overall system performance – and let’s not forget that 4K and ray tracing are off the table.
Features and considerations
The Ryzen 9 5900X & 5950X processors are high-performance CPUs that can handle demanding tasks effortlessly. So, it’s essential to pair them with a GPU that can keep up. The GPU’s performance becomes a significant factor here.
Frame rates
Any GPU should be able to handle high frame rates in games at high settings and resolution, as well as demanding graphics-related tasks. Ryzen 9 CPUs are the elite of AMD’s offerings, and even the 5000 series Ryzen 9s are very capable. More powerful GPUs will drive more value from these processors.
Power changes
Adding a new GPU to a system will always be the deciding factor in the PSU you need. Whether you’re upgrading to a new GPU to pair with your processor, or building a new system altogether, check out a PSU calculator, like this one from BeQuiet!
Cooling
A powerful GPU generates a significant amount of heat, so a good cooling mechanism is vital to ensure the GPU’s longevity and stable performance. Consider the GPU’s cooling technology: whether it’s air or liquid cooling, the size and quality of the fans, and the overall design for heat dissipation.
It may be worth adding additional fans into your case to ensure a good flow of cool air.
Is Ryzen 9 5900X a high-end CPU?
Yes, the Ryzen 9 5900X is indeed a high-end CPU. It’s a part of AMD’s flagship Zen 3 architecture, offering 12 cores and 24 threads, making it ideal for both high-end gaming and professional workloads. Its impressive multi-threaded performance and power efficiency make it a fantastic choice for anyone seeking top-tier processing power.
