Best GPU for Ryzen 5 5600X in 2024: top graphics cards for 5600X
More budget orientated options don't mean you miss out on performance
WePC is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Prices subject to change. Learn more
AMD’s Ryzen 5 5600X belongs to one of the best CPU generations that AMD released, if you ask us. This Zen 3 CPU offers a fantastic price-to-performance ratio for all budget PC builders. The 5600X is armed with 6 cores and 12 threads, making it an “entry-level” pick on TSMC’s 7nm process, especially by today’s standards. But don’t let that fool you into thinking it’s not worth putting in your system. Pairing this AM4 CPU with the best graphics card is paramount to extracting all of its potential.
AM4 might be the generation of yesteryear, but it still holds a lot of value for those looking to save a few dollars on a respectable gaming experience. AM4 is said to be in support for the foreseeable future, and with AMD recently releasing the 5800XT and the 5900XT alongside the Ryzen 9000 series CPUs, we believe it.
In this guide, we explore the best GPU choices for the Ryzen 5 5600X, taking all of the important elements into consideration, including price, performance, cooling, and aesthetics.
Products at a glance
- Best
ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 4070 Super OC
- Core clock speed: 2565 MHz boost, 1980 MHz base
- CUDA count: 7,168
- Memory: 12GB GDDR6X
- Dimensions: 301 x 139 x 63 mm
- PSU required: 750W
- TBP: 220W
-
Next BestGIGABYTE Radeon RX 7800 XT GAMING OC
- Core clock speed: 2,565MHz boost, 2,254MHz game
- Stream processors: 3,840
- Memory: 16GB GDDR6
- Dimensions: 302 x 130 x 56mm
- PSU required: 700W
- TBP: 263W
- Value Pick
Sapphire Pulse AMD RX 7700 XT
- Core clock speed: 1,900MHz, 2,171MHz Game, 2,544MHz max
- Stream processors: 3,456
- Memory: 12GB GDDR6
- Dimensions: 280 x 128.75 x 52.57 mm
- PSU required: 700W
- TBP: 245W
- Budget Pick
ASUS ROG Strix RTX 4060 OC
- Core clock speed: 1,830MHz base, 2,670MHz boost
- CUDA cores: 3,072
- Memory size: 8GB GDDR6
- Dimensions: 311.4 x 133.5 x 61.9mm
- PSU required: 550W
- TBP: 115W
How we test the best GPUs for the Ryzen 5 5600X
We put all of the hardware we receive at WePC through its paces, as a solid benchmarking and testing routine is the foundation that allows us to bring you the best advice on PC hardware. Going so in-depth ensures that we can bring a user the best picks based on any use case.
For the best GPU for the Ryzen 5 5600X, we reviewed every GPU on this list using the 5600X to ensure that the GPU is a good fit. We ran each GPU through a series of benchmarks, both gaming and synthetic, to give us an idea of how each GPU performed in a multitude of different workloads. At the end of the day, when pairing PC hardware, limiting bottlenecks is the name of the game. If you want to see how we test GPUs, we have a dedicated page for that.
When all the benchmarking is complete, we round up the results, and factor in secondary considerations like build quality, design, and value for money. Finally, we use all the information we collect to decide which GPU would be best to pair with the Ryzen 5 5600X. Below is the results of our testing.
Best GPU for Ryzen 5 5600X
Here are what we consider to be the top GPU picks for the 5600X as per our testing. We’ve included a variety of performance, aesthetic, and price options so you’re sure to find a GPU that not only pairs well with the 5600X but suits your needs fully.
- Core clock speed: 2565 MHz boost, 1980 MHz base
- CUDA count: 7,168
- Memory: 12GB GDDR6X
- Dimensions: 301 x 139 x 63 mm
- PSU required: 750W
- TBP: 220W
- Memory clock: 21Gbps
- Memory bus: 192-bit
- Card bus: PCIe 4.0 x16
- Output : 1x HDMI 2.1a, 3x DP 1.4a
- Power connectors: 1x 16-pin
This is a GPU that can get the job done, it’s very powerful and capable of playing games at 4k but it is recommended by NVIDIA for maxed out 1440P gameplay. In supported games you can practically double frame rates thanks to DLSS 3, and the list of supported games is growing by the day.
- TUF design makes for fantastic cooling capacity
- Great performance across a variety of games in 1440P
- DLSS 3
- Still can be pricy
- Superseded by the 4070 Ti
The RTX 4070 Super is an amazing value GPU and can be utilized by the 5600X for a variety of workloads. Thanks to the specifications of this GPU, it’s practically a 4070 Ti, except for 4 SM. The 4070 Super is based on NVIDIA’s new Ada Lovelace graphics architecture, which brings general performance improvements, and efficiency improvements thanks to the 5nm foundry process.
This card lives and breathes AAA titles and provides an all-around great choice for your gaming needs. Thanks to the ASUS TUF design, the card stays cool under even the most intensive of workloads and manages to stay fairly quiet for a GPU of this caliber. Thanks to the inclusion of DLSS 3, you’ll also be able to enjoy staggering frame rates in supported titles, adding value to the GPU as it ages. primarily because you won’t have to swap it out for something else as early.
- Core clock speed: 2,565MHz boost, 2,254MHz game
- Stream processors: 3,840
- Memory: 16GB GDDR6
- Dimensions: 302 x 130 x 56mm
- PSU required: 700W
- TBP: 263W
- Memory Clock: 19.5Gbps
- Memory Bus: 256-bit
- Card Bus: PCIe 4.0 x16
- Output: 2x HDMI 2.1, 2x DP 2.1
- Power connectors: 2 x 8-pin
The 7800XT is truly the top end value pick from AMD. It serves as a direct competitor to the 4070, and manages to be faster an cheaper too, and does well in the performance per Watt category. If you’re looking to score some extra frame rates with this GPU then FSR can help you there too, just like DLSS, it helps by using AI to upscale games.
- Fantastic build quality from a vender you can trust
- Great cooling performance thanks to three fan design
- FSR makes card futureproof
- Superseded by 7900 XT
- Not as much punch as NVIDIA cards
The RX 7800 XT manages to be both faster and cheaper than the RTX 4070, if that’s not a tagline then I don’t know what is. This GPU is built on the Navi 32 graphics processor, offering not only more performance, but better efficiency than the processor generations that came before it. Also based on the chiplet design that made Ryzen as successful as it is. If you need another comparison, the 7800 XT is around 25% faster than the RTX 4060 Ti.
This GPU is fantastic for 1440p performance, it’s not quite there in terms of 4k gameplay, but if you’re willing to turn down the settings and crank up the upscaling, it’s possible. As you’re pairing the 7800 XT with the 5600X, you have the option of enabling SAM, which might help you squeeze out an extra couple of FPS, if you really want to squeeze the most out of this GPU.
- Core clock speed: 1,900MHz, 2,171MHz Game, 2,544MHz max
- Stream processors: 3,456
- Memory: 12GB GDDR6
- Dimensions: 280 x 128.75 x 52.57 mm
- PSU required: 700W
- TBP: 245W
- Memory Clock: 18Gbps
- Memory Bus: 192-bit
- Card Bus: PCIe 4.0 x16
- Output: 2x HDMI 2.1, 2x DisplayPort 2.1
- Power connectors: 2 x 8-pin
The 7700 XT is the RDNA 3 value GPU that’s set to redefine the “middle of the pack” GPU space. it’s perfect for 1440P gaming if you don’t mind having the settings hovering around high rather than ultra, capable of 4k in older games or with the help of FSR.
- Great price to performance ratio
- Surprising cooling that operates quietly despite open design
- Superseded by 7800 XT
The RX 7700 XT, like the 7800 XT ahead of it is comprised of the Navi 32 GPU, as we state in our review, meaning it has 54 out of its 60 compute units available. Being RDNA 3, it offers around a 17% IPC increase over RDNA 2, which is noticeable when you have 54 units of 17% gains. Couple this with the 18 Gbps GDDR6 memory and you have yourself a party. Speaking of party, ray tracing essentially gets a 50% buff over RDNA 2 thanks to the 2nd generation Ray accelerator.
If you want to game at 1440p and only want to spend a semi-reasonable amount of money, then the 7700 XT might just be the GPU for you. You can find this GPU for roughly $380 and it’s worth every penny. Besides this, the design is pretty standard to what you’d expect from a dual-fan CPU. Yet it still manages to stay cool under load.
- Core clock speed: 1,830MHz base, 2,670MHz boost
- CUDA cores: 3,072
- Memory size: 8GB GDDR6
- Dimensions: 311.4 x 133.5 x 61.9mm
- PSU required: 550W
- TBP: 115W
- Memory Clock: 18Gbps
- Memory Bus: 128-bit
- Card Bus: PCIe 4.0 x8
- Output: 1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DP 1.4a
- Power Connectors: 1x 8-pin
ROG Strix’s have a reputation of being the best of the best, and this is no exception. You do pay for the privilege of owning the best, bear in mind. RTX 4060s are kind of the “budget” end of the scale, relatively speaking to the 40 series, but there’s nothing budget about it’s performance.
- Great performance in games at 1080P
- DLSS can make 1440P playable
- Superseded by RTX 4060 Ti
- ASUS “tax” means you pay a little more
The RTX 4060 is based on the Ada Lovelace architecture, as is the rest of the 40 series. This means you get access to DLSS 3 frame generation which is currently the cutting edge in upscaling technology. This also means that the power consumption is lower thanks to the added efficiency of the 5nm manufacturing process and the AD107 silicon. The 4060 only has half the TDP of the 3060, bringing massive value to the power consumption conscious among you.
If you need a 1080p gaming GPU badly and you’re on a tight budget, clutching your wallet desperate for a GPU to pair with your 5600X, then this Graphics card is perfect for you. The Strix variant might be a little overkill, but you can find other more standard variants for less with similar performance.
Does the 5600X need a GPU?
The 5600X is part of AMD’s Zen 3 lineup, so it does not have integrated video processing. As such you’re going to need a dedicated GPU to get a video output from your PC. The only CPUs that have onboard graphics on the AM4 platforms are the CPUs with the G suffix. However, these are not meant for much more than basic video output. And if you’re still looking for a gaming experience they aren’t the best choice.
What GPU won’t bottleneck the 5600X?
For the best GPU for the Ryzen 5 5600X, we have chosen the RX 7700 XT with good alternatives being the RTX 4070 Super and RTX 3060 Ti. They provide a great price-to-performance ratio to match the value of the processor These will certainly not bottleneck the 5600X and provide great performance all round.
Is a Ryzen 5 5600X good with an RTX 3060?
The RTX 3060 is a good pairing with the Ryzen 5 5600X. As they are both budget-focused components, it’s unlikely that pairing these together will cause any significant bottleneck in your system, the exact thing you want to avoid when building a PC. We would recommend updating to the RTX 4060 though, as this provides a great generation improvement, and as we already covered, has 50% less TDP.
Final word
Finding the best GPU to pair with a specific CPU can be tricky if you aren’t sure what you’re looking for. The best thing to do is to figure out the use case you have and plan a full system or component around that. It’s all well and good getting X GPU for X CPU, but does it fit what you need? We have comprised the best GPUs for the 5600X here in hopes that the variety we have provided will fall into your use case. Don’t forget to check out the individual reviews of each GPU to get further insight into its performance and features.
