The Core i9-10900K is the most powerful 10th gen Intel CPU and the best overall gaming processor you can get right now. It’s perfect for any game you throw at it, and it won’t cause a CPU bottleneck no matter which graphics card you pair it up with.
But not everyone needs the best GPU of today, the RTX 2080Ti. Why pay a four-digit price when you can get a graphics card that suits your needs for much less, saving some cash while keeping the optimal gaming experience?
Today, we will cover the best graphics card to pair with the 10900K for various potential use cases. We have the best GPUs for high refresh rate gaming, for 1440p 60fps gaming, for playing eSports titles, and more. Check out the best graphics cards for Core i9-10900K down below.
Best Graphics Cards for i9-10900K – Our Picks
| Award | Model | |
|---|---|---|
| Best Graphics Card for 4K 60 FPS Gaming | EVGA RTX 2080 Ti Black Gaming |  |
| Best Graphics Card for 1440p High Refresh Rate Gaming | EVGA RTX 2080 Super Black Gaming |  |
| Best Graphics Card for 1080p High Refresh Rate Gaming | Sapphire Pulse RX 5700 XT |  |
| MSI RTX 2070 Super Ventus GP OC |  |
|
| Best Graphics Card for Playing eSports Titles at 1080p | Zotac Gaming GTX 1660 Super |  |
| Best Graphics Card for Playing eSports Titles at 1440p | Sapphire Pulse RX 5600 XT |  |
| MSI RTX 2060 Ventus XS OC |  |
|
| Best Graphics Card for SFF Builds | EVGA RTX 2080 Super Black Gaming | |
| Best Graphics Card for a Gaming Build Under $2000 | EVGA RTX 2080 Super Black Gaming | |
Best Graphics Card for 4K 60FPS
EVGA RTX 2080 Ti Black Gaming
| Memory | 11 GB GDDR6 |
| Base Clock | 1350 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 1545 MHz |
| Outputs | 3× DisplayPort 1× HDMI 1× USB-C |
There’s only one GPU that can achieve 60 frames per second at 4K resolution with max details in most games and that card is the RTX 2080 Ti. Sure, the RTX Titan is technically the best graphics card to get right now but that one is way too expensive for us to recommend it to anyone sans users who don’t know what to do with their money.
If you want to get the best 4K graphics card for most users, get the EVGA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Black Edition Gaming. You will be able to achieve steady 60 frames per second with all or most settings maxed in a large number of titles, with esports games achieving much higher performance. If you have a 4K 144Hz monitor you will be able to run esports titles at the max refresh rate of your monitor, with many shooters also working at over 100fps. And when it comes to AAA single-player titles, you will be able to reach steady 60fps in most games except in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey or Red Dead Redemption 2.
If you want to save some cash the RTX 2080 Super is the only worthy alternative. All other cards will fall short of reaching 60fps at 4K unless you’re ready to play games on medium to low settings.
Best GPU For 1440p High Refresh Rate Gaming
High refresh rate gaming usually includes two resolutions – 1440p and 1080p. there are high refresh rate 4K monitors out there but we already covered those. As we’ve said, just get the RTX 2080Ti or 2080 Super, if you’re ready to lower graphical details in AAA games. When it comes to 1440p and 1080p high refresh rate gaming, we have three very good choices.
EVGA RTX 2080 Super Black Gaming
| Memory | 8 GB GDDR6 |
| Base Clock | 1350 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 1815 MHz |
| Outputs | 3× DisplayPort 1× HDMI 1× USB-C |
The 2080 Super is the best card for 1440 high refresh rate gaming you can get right now. Sure, there’s the RTX 2080Ti but the price difference between the two is too high to justify the 10-12 percent performance increase. The RTX 2080Ti is a 4K card and it isn’t the best choice for 1440p gaming due to its price.
With the RTX 2080 Super, you will reach 100 or more frames on every esports title and in most FPS games. The only first-person shooter that won’t run at 100 frames or higher is Metro Exodus. On the other hand, AAA games will run like a charm at 60fps or (in many cases) nearly at 100 frames per second. Even graphic hogs such as RDR 2 will run like a charm at 1440p, albeit not on every setting being on ultra.
Best GPU For 1080p High Refresh Rate Gaming
Sapphire Pulse RX 5700 XT
The best graphics card for 1080p high refresh rate gaming is the RX 5700 XT. Sure, you can get the RTX 2080 Super if you don’t care about the price. But that card, despite being the technically best choice for 1080p high refresh rate gaming, is an overkill for that resolution. Except if you own a 240Hz 1080p display and want to max it out.
The RX 5700 XT can run any AAA game above 60fps at 1080p with maxed-out settings. FPS and eSports titles will run at 100 frames or higher, depending on the game. Overall, this is an excellent card for 1080p high refresh rate gaming.
MSI RTX 2070 Super Ventus GP OC
| Memory | 8 GB GDDR6 |
| Base Clock | 1605 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 1785 MHz |
| Outputs | 3× DisplayPort 1× HDMI |
The alternative is the RTX 2070 Super. If you want extra eye candy in the form of ray tracing effects and are ready to pay the higher price, the 2070 Super is an excellent choice. Its performance is similar to RX 5700 XT. Some games will run better, some worse, some will have the same performance on both cards.
These two cards are also great for 1440p 60fps gaming. They can reach silky smooth 60 frames per second in virtually every AAA title with settings cranked out to the max. On the other hand, most first-person shooters and every esports title will run at much higher frames. Performance-wise, they are both excellent choices for 1440p 60fps gaming.
Ultimately, it comes down to the price, ray-tracing effects, and ease of use. The RX 5700 XT is cheaper but it doesn’t support Ray Tracing. Also, AMD’s drivers aren’t as stable as Nvidia’s. There’s a higher chance you’ll have driver-related issues with the RX 5700 XT than with the RTX 2070 Super.
Best Card for Playing eSports Titles At 1080p
Zotac Gaming GTX 1660 Super
| Memory | 6 GB GDDR6 |
| Base Clock | 1530 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 1785 MHz |
| Outputs | 3× DisplayPort 1× HDMI |
If you bought the 10900K for work, however unlikely that might be, and just want a graphics card capable of running esports titles at high refresh rates, you should get one of the best price to performance ratio GPUs on the market. For 1080p we recommend the GTX 1660 Super. It’s capable enough to run AAA titles with all or most settings maxed at 60 frames or higher. And it’s also capable of running esports titles at high settings and more than 100 frames or so.
If you don’t want to pay so much for a card you’ll only use occasionally, get the GTX 1650 Super. The GTX 1650 Super is much cheaper and another great solution for playing esports titles at 1080p with high performance. Just remember that some games will require lowering settings to reach 100 frames or more.
Best Card for Playing eSports Titles At 1440p
Sapphire Pulse RX 5700 XT
| Memory | 6 GB GDDR6 |
| Base Clock | 1130 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 1750 MHz |
| Outputs | 3× DisplayPort 1× HDMI |
When it comes to cards for 1440p esports gaming, either get the RX 5600 XT or the RTX 2060. You’ll have an amazing gaming experience with any of these two cards. You’ll also be able to play most AAA titles at 60 frames and with high settings. Just remember to look for a 14GBps version of the RX 5600 XT. If you want something cheaper and are ready to lower the visuals, get the 1660 Super. That’s the bare minimum for AAA 1440p gaming and a high refresh rate 1440p esports gaming.
MSI RTX 2070 Super Ventus GP OC
| Memory | 6 GB GDDR6 |
| Base Clock | 1365 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 1710 MHz |
| Outputs | 3 × Display Port 1 × HDMI |
Best GPU for Cyberpunk 2077
The recent Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay demo, which was available to select press outlets, ran on a PC powered by an RTX 2080Ti. The video featured full RTX effects and it ran at 1080p at 60fps. That means that the most expensive mainstream graphics card of today can run Cyberpunk 2077 with all ray tracing effects sans reflections at 60fps but only at 1080p. And let’s not forget that the game supports DLSS 2.0, which was utilized for the RTX 2080Ti to achieve steady 60 frames per second.
While we understand that the game isn’t as optimized as it’ll be once it comes out, the performance with the RTX 2080Ti is a bit disappointing nevertheless. Remember that DLSS 2.0 produces a great 1080p image even if the original rendering resolution is 540p. This means that, even in the final build, the RTX 2080Ti could not be enough for a smooth 4K gameplay with DLSS enabled.
So, if you have a decent graphics card but want to upgrade to play Cyberpunk 2077 in all its glory, wait for Nvidia to release its new RTX 3000 series of graphics cards. Rumors say they will offer massive improvements in ray tracing performance. Even a card like the RTX 3060 could offer the level of performance of the RTX 2080Ti albeit with better ray-tracing performance. So, it’s best to wait in case you want to have the best Cyberpunk 2077 experience. And in case you don’t have a decent GPU at the moment, you can check which card to get while waiting for next-gen GPUs below.
Best Graphics Card for Playing eSports Titles at 1440p
Sapphire Pulse RX 5600 XT
| Memory | 6 GB GDDR6 |
| Base Clock | 1130 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 1750 MHz |
| Outputs | 3× DisplayPort 1× HDMI |
Any of these cards are great at 1080p and decent enough at 1440p to enable a pretty good gaming experience. We’re talking about medium-high settings at 1440p and 60fps or ultra-settings at 1080p with higher than 60fps performance, at least in AAA games.
If you don’t want to shell that much cash but still want to have solid experience, get the 1660 Super. That card is noticeably cheaper than both the RX 5600 XT and RTX 2060 while being amazing at 1080p. You can run almost every AAA title at 60fps and will have all settings cranked to the max. At 1440p you will have to disable a fair share of effects but achieving a 60fps experience is possible.
MSI RTX 2060 Ventus XS OC
| Memory | 6 GB GDDR6 |
| Base Clock | 1365 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 1710 MHz |
| Outputs | 3 × Display Port 1 × HDMI |
You’ve probably noticed that our 10900K recommendations are more expensive than the cards we’ve recommended for the 10600K. It’s because the 10900K is noticeably more expensive. And if you already bought the best gaming CPU we think you’re ready to pay a bit more to get a solid gaming experience that includes 60 frames per second and high or ultra settings. If you’re not, then just get the GTX 1650 Super we’ve recommended in that other article.
Best Graphics Card For SFF Builds
Unless you plan on building an ultra-portable SFF gaming PC based on something like the Cooler Master Elite 110 or MasterCase H100, or any other ultra-portable HTPC case that only supports low profile graphics cards, the RTX 2080 Super is the best pick for a beastly SFF gaming PC. The model in question, EVGA RTX 2080 Super Black Gaming, features two fans and has a total length of only 279mm.
EVGA RTX 2080 Super Black Gaming
| Memory | 8 GB GDDR6 |
| Base Clock | 1350 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 1815 MHz |
| Outputs | 3× DisplayPort 1× HDMI 1× USB-C |
The card’s short enough to fit into compact SFF cases such as the Loque Ghost S1 or Fractal Design Node 202 and its cooling solution isn’t too massive for the card to be too thick to be fitted inside a Mini-ITX case. The card’s performance is in line with the reference RTX 2080 Super card. That means the card’s capable of high refresh rate 1440p gaming and even 4K@60fps with adjusting graphics settings.
If you need an even shorter card that can fit into virtually any Mini-ITX case while offering lots of gaming performance, check the Zotac RTX 2070 Super Mini. That card is only 210mm in length and has performed in line with regular RTX 2070 Super models.
Best GPU For A Gaming Build Under $2000
EVGA RTX 2080 Super Black Gaming
| Memory | 8 GB GDDR6 |
| Base Clock | 1350 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 1815 MHz |
| Outputs | 3× DisplayPort 1× HDMI 1× USB-C |
If you want to build a gaming PC for less than $2,000 based on the i9-10900K the best card you can get is the RTX 2080 Super. The rig includes a 1TB SSD, a solid Z490 motherboard (something like the MSI Z490 Tomahawk), 16GB of fast memory, a quality 750W PSU, and a nice case (something like the Fractal Design Meshify C). Also, when it comes to cooling, we reserved enough money either for a top-of-the-line air cooler or for a solid budget AIO cooler. Whichever you pick, remember that the Core i9-10900K requires a quality cooling solution.
