6 Best GPUs for Ryzen 5 2600: Tested & Reviewed

Introduction

The Ryzen 5 2600 is a popular processor featuring 6 CPU cores, 12 threads, and a clock speed reaching as high as 3.9 GHz. Three years after its release, demand for the Ryzen 5 2600 is still strong. That’s because of two things: exceptional value for your money, and the ability to produce top performance while doing CPU-intensive tasks. 

Although the Ryzen 5 2600 can do small wonders on its own, it still can’t run all those games without a graphics processing unit (GPU). Unfortunately, the Ryzen 5 2600 doesn’t come with an integrated GPU, so this article will explore and uncover the best GPU for a Ryzen 5 2600 processor.

The GPU is the part that makes all the difference in the world to your gaming system. Often, it is even more important than the CPU. Simply put, it is the part that manages and enhances graphics and video performance. The better the GPU, the better your gaming experience will be. A low-quality graphic card can’t even run the most modern and newest PC games. You can have a high-flying processor such as the Ryzen 5 2600, but unless a high-flying graphic card supports it, you can’t accomplish a thing. The graphic card needs to be as good as the processor so that you can enjoy the best possible experience. If you’re looking to round out your Ryzen 5 2600 build, with the best motherboard for Ryzen 5 2600 or the best RAM for Ryzen 5 2600, make sure you read around!

Fortunately, for everyone interested in a high-quality GPU, we have a list of some pretty great GPUs compatible with the Ryzen 5 2600. So, gamer or not, here are the best GPUs we found during our testing for this AMD processor.

• MSI Gaming GeForce GTX 1660 – Best Overall GPU for Ryzen 5 2600
• EVGA GeForce RTX 2070 – Best Value GPU for Ryzen 5 2600
• XFX Radeon RX 580 GTS XXX Edition – Best Cooling Technology GPU for Ryzen 5 2600
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti – Best FHD Gaming GPU for Ryzen 5 2600
• ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1070 Mini – Best VR Gaming GPU for Ryzen 5 2600
• MSI Gaming GeForce RTX 2060 – Best Budget GPU for Ryzen 5 2600

Quick Summary:

Image	Motherboard	Features	Price
Best Overall Pick	MSI Gaming GeForce GTX 1660 Great performance at 1920 x 1080 6GB GDDR6 video memory Top thermal solution 192-bit memory interface Refresh rates up to 240 Hz Based on Turing architecture	9.8	Check Price
Best Value	EVGA GeForce RTX 2070 2304 CUDA cores 36 RT cores Tuning utility monitors for easy overclocking Dual HDB fans 4K gaming Low energy consumption	9.7	Check Price
Best Cooling Technology	XFX Radeon RX 580 GTS XXX Edition Double dissipation cooling technology for best possible cooling Great 1440p performance Boost clock: 1439MHz LiquidVR technology for amazing VR experience Video Output Interface: HDMI and DVI Polaris architecture	9.7	Check Price
Best for FHD Gaming	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 1440p capabilities Pascal architecture NVIDIA CUDA Cores 2432 8 GB GDDR5 Excellent cooling system Straightforward installation	9.6	Check Price
Best for VR Gaming	ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1070 Mini 1920 CUDA cores 256-bit Bus Interface VR ready Boost Clock 1708 MHz 8GB GDDR5 VRAM Twin Fan cooling solution	9.4	Check Price
Best Budget Pick	MSI Gaming GeForce RTX 2060 1710MHz boost clock Excellent for 4K @ 30fps gaming Boost Clock: 1710 MHz 6G Video Memory Raytracing Turing Architecture	9.2	Check Price

The GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is one of the best GPUs for the Ryzen 5 2600 available today in terms of cooling ability. That’s mainly because its Windforce cooling setup is very effective in dissipating heat. So even when you will be running your machine at full load, the WindForce cooling will keep the heat at bay at all times. 

It is one of those cards that keep performing no matter what game you throw at it. The GTX 1660 Ti has that profound ability to push 1080p imagery at 60FPS consistently, even during high-pressure situations thrown at the card during our testing.

The Ryzen 5 2600 and the GTX 1660 Ti can do wonders when combined. Not only do they complement each other, but both come at reasonable prices and work especially well for casual and part-time gamers.

The lack of ray tracing is probably the only thing missing from the GTX 1660 Ti. But, that is not something that is a dealbreaker for most gamers. This shortcoming may come to the fore in some 3D games, but it is not a dealbreaker for other games. Overall, this is a minor issue compared to everything else the GTX 1660 Ti brings to the table in terms of value. 

The RTX 2070 is one of the cheapest RTX graphic cards on the market, and it really packs a serious punch. Compared to its predecessors, it packs way more transistors, additional 20% CUDA cores, and GDDR6 VRAM that is six times faster than previous versions. However, compared to other cards from the Nvidia Turing lineup, it has fewer Tensor cores and fewer RT cores which do decrease performance – especially for larger displays and higher-intensity games.

The Nvidia RTX 2070 has shown some impressive performance in 4K gaming at even super-high frame rates during our testing. In a series of synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 2070 was significantly better than GTX 1080, GTX 1070 TI, and the GeForce GTX 1070. Full HD gaming with this card tends to range between 120 and 220 fps. Playing different titles at 2,560 x 1,440 resolution kept the frame rates around 120 fps which is commendable.

Another important thing to note is that this GPU comes with dedicated tensor cores and real-time ray tracing. These are essential elements responsible for deep-level sampling and temporal anti-aliasing. By doing so, the Nvidia RTX 2070 can deliver incredible visual smoothness. Even though not many new games support this new technology, many new ones promise to incorporate it. In a way, that makes this GPU future-proof and a good bet for the future. 

The Dual HDB fans offer excellent cooling performance even when playing the most demanding games. Furthermore, the HDB fans, on average, tend to be way quieter than most of their competitors. 

The new utility monitors allow you to overclock your GPU with ease. The base clock is set at 1410 MHz, whereas the boost clock is 1620 MHz. Its 8 GB of GDDR memory features a bandwidth of 448GB/s. The Nvidia RTX 2070 is designed to support the 64bit versions of both Windows 7 and Windows 10 and is a great graphics card given its price.

Even though the RX 580 is considered a mid-range graphics card, it can help you run all AAA games at 1440p resolution. It comes with a 1340MHz boost clock speed and 8GB of GDDR5 memory. With overclocking, you can upgrade its 1340MHz up to 1386MHz.

This graphics card is also praised for its Polaris architecture which includes FinFET 14 process technology, a new display engine, fourth-generation GCN graphic cores, and multimedia cores which set it apart from competitors.

Those that enjoy VR would be pleased to know that this graphic card features AMD LiquidVR technology. That means you can enjoy a low latency, stutter-free VR experience – making this GPU one to watch out for in the future. 

The dual fans are armed with Fan Stop technology. Thanks to this, the units completely stop spinning when the GPU is not under any load at all. The LED lights are also a nice touch, and you can customize them to match your gaming setup.

The 1070 Ti is based on Pascal architecture; however, it should not be confused with the Pascal architecture used on the 1070 and 1080 as it is significantly different. Pascal architecture uses fabrication nodes that are 16nm in size, unlike its predecessor, the Maxwell architecture that used 28 nm fabrication nodes. Because of the smaller nodes, the 1070 Ti has more transistors stacked onto a smaller piece of silicon, improving overall performance and lowering power consumption. That is the prevailing reason why this GPU comes with only 180W thermal design power. That’s considered pretty decent, based on Ti standards. 

Another great thing about the 1070 Ti is that it features a total of 2432 CUDA cores making this a GPU to be reckoned with. This is because CUDA cores do all the heavy lifting in terms of computations. 

The 1070 Ti comes with 7GB of GDDR5 memory that runs at 8 Gbps and a 1683MHz boost clock. That puts it quite near its successor, the 1080s. For comparison, the 1080s features a 1733MHz clock speed and 10 Gbps memory speed. The card’s ports are also highly rated as it comes with Dual-Link DVI connectors, 3x Display Ports, and 1x HDMI 2.0. 

The card doesn’t have a second HDMI, which might discourage some HTC Vive or Oculus Rift fans. However, a DisplayPort converter is an easy fix to this issue, as are other adapters easily available on the market today.

Overall, the 1070 Ti is a solid card that can run some of the most demanding AAA games at 60fps and 1440p. Also, keep in mind that the 1070 Ti is made to run on a 64-bit Windows 10, and our testing found especially stellar results on this Operating System (OS).

All in all, the fans and the RGB pump make a great combination on this GPU. The arrangement will never fail to keep your CPU cool while you play your favorite games. It was brought to market three years ago, and the number of positive reviews is overwhelming to date.

This GPU card is based on NVIDIA’s Pascal™ architecture that is the core of its performance. The GTX 1070 provides immersive gaming for all AA games, superior cooling, and admirable power efficiency. In addition, it supports DirectX 12 for the smoothest and fastest gaming experience. The high-bandwidth implementation of GDDR5 technologies and super-fast FinFET play a huge role in that. 

Even though the card is small, it packs a truly sophisticated cooling system with an extended aluminum radiator, two 90-mm fans, two heat pipes, and a copper base. Consequently, the cooling system needs quite a bit of space which is not the case for other similar graphic cards. However, most of the builds that use this card have enough space for a GPU of this size in our experience, and its performance for VR gaming made it qualify for this shortlist.

The GTX 1070 draws a total of 150 W, which is considered a decent amount of energy and can rack up your electricity bill over time. The card is doing rather well from a connectivity point, as it comes with an HDMI 2.0b port, 3x DisplayPort 1.4 connectors, and a dual-link DVI port. Its 8GB of GDDR5 memory works at 8 Gbps and can deliver a total of 256 GB/s bandwidth.

The card comes with an extended warranty provided by ZOTAC – showing the manufacturer’s belief in their own product. To enjoy this extended warranty, you need to register at ZOTAC’s website. The GTX 1070 is designed to work with 64 bit Windows 10. 

The GeForce RTX 2060, on the market since 2019, is based on the Turing architecture and comes with both ray tracing and DLSS (deep learning super-sampling). That makes it one of the best graphic cards in its class. There might not be too many games that use ray tracing and DLSS, but they are almost certainly will be in the future. That makes the RTX 2060 future-proof, and a great card to pick up now and last many, many years. 

The 6GB of DDR6 video memory in this card plays a huge role in Full HD gaming. In addition, the RTX 2060 is built on the 12 nm processor and supports Direct 12 Ultimate. It comes with 48 ROPs, 120 texture mapping units, and 1920 shading units. The 240 tensors cores are there to support machine learning applications. The GPU’s default operating frequency is set at 1365 MHz and can be boosted to 1680 MHz. All of this makes for a stellar performance GPU – especially given its price.

The RTX 2060 is a dual-slot card that can draw as much as 160 Watts through its 1 x 9-pin power connector. Its dimensions are 8.9 x 5.1 x 1.6 inches. The list of display outputs includes one of each HDMI, DVI, and a USB Type-C output. There are also two DisplayPorts. Finally, the PCI-Express 3.0 x16 interface is there to connect with the rest of the system.

Its only downside is that there isn’t any SLI support or an NVLink connector. But in most instances, you should be fine without it.

Here at OvrClock, we are committed to keeping our editorial and product recommendation processes completely independent from our monetization — so, you can always be sure we are recommending the best PC Parts for you without any partiality.

The OvrClock team has been reviewing all parts of a PC build for years now, and we use our expert opinion and experiences when making recommendations. We try to get our hands on and actually test all of the products we recommend, in addition to the dozens of alternatives that are not on the final list. This allows us to provide insights beyond what you can find from reading other online reviews, and get a true and more clear understanding of the best options. Our diverse team and vast experience also allow us to highlight each product’s ideal use cases, as well as the perfect customer profile for any given product.

For Graphics Cards, we test things including but not limited to: video memory, memory bandwidth, clock speedcore count, connectivity, core count, power connector size, and build quality, among many other factors. Our experience allows us to translate these insights into actionable conclusions and purchase recommendations for you, without you having to test all the products, or having to sift through piles and piles of data from our testing. All of the recommended GPUs and dozens of others not in this roundup have been tested with a Ryzen 5 2600 processor, and the aforementioned GPUs have been shortlisted based on their stellar performance with the Ryzen 5 2600 processor.

For any questions about our product selection and recommendation process, feel free to contact us.

Now, you probably have a clue or two about the best GPU for Ryzen 5 2600. You are probably also aware that the MSI Gaming GeForce RTX 2060 is the best budget GPU for Ryzen 5 2600. The EVGA GeForce RTX 2070 Black may provide the best value for your money, but it is the GeForce RTX 2060 that comes with one of the most advanced gaming GPU architectures.

All in all, it all comes down to your budget, as well as meeting your expectations. The world of gaming is ever-changing as new games are more and more demanding. Keeping up with all new PC Parts can often be costly and even demanding. In regards to that, if you want to be a bit ahead of time, then you might want to consider a GPU featuring things such as DLSS (deep learning super-sampling) and ray tracing.

For the moment, there isn’t much use of this tech. But considering everything, there are a lot more high-end games coming soon that will require this tech. Therefore, if you are a bit forward-looking, the recommendation is to buy a graphics card that incorporates both ray tracing and deep learning super-sampling.