Our predicted best GPU for Payday 3
Time to plan out more heists in the next title of Payday with these GPU options
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Payday 3 It finally has a release date after plenty of rumors floating around about this existence, and we couldn’t be more excited. Now we have the system requirements, we can start to predict what the best GPU for Payday 3 might be, depeening on what your budget is and of course, desired resolution.
Now with the game moving over to Unreal Engine, compared to the older Diesel Engine (not the one in your car), we should see some better performance. Along with better compatibility and variation in what cards are supported. And we can see that with the system requirements.
What GPU might you need for Payday 3?
According to the requirements, you aren’t going to need all that much power to run this game smoothly. The minimum requirement requires just an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650, with four gigabytes of VRAM. Whereas the recommended option goes for a more potent GTX 1080. These provide the power of just an RX 6600/7600 or RTX 3060.
Picking out the level you should aim for also depends on your monitor and desired experience. As if you’ve got a 1080p monitor only at 60Hz, you’re not needing anything too powerful than a low-end choice. But for the higher-end option of 4K and high refresh rates, you’re still going to need a strong card to reach those, especially when playing with high graphics settings.
Our GPU predictions for Payday 3
Now since the game is not yet out, we don’t have the actual performance of the game on differing GPUs. However, with the requirements and our expertise, we can offer up a good recommendation as to what hardware you should aim for.
Our top end GPU pick for Payday 3
XFX SPEEDSTER MERC 310 AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
Core Clock Speed
1,855 MHz base, 2,455 MHz game, 2,615 MHz boost
Stream processors
6,144
Memory Size
24GB GDDR6
Dimensions
344 x 128 x 57mm
PSU Required
850W
TBP
355W
Now for a high-end experience, whether that is high framerates, or high resolutions such as 4K, you will want one of the best GPUs money can buy. And for that, the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is a great choice to go for, as it will be able to push UHD graphics and high frame rates on that level. While for an alternative you do get the choice of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 which performs on a similar level.
Our mid range GPU pick for Payday 3
ASUS RTX 4060 Ti 8GB TUF Gaming OC
Core Clock Speed
2,310MHz base, 2,655MHz OC boost
CUDA cores
4,352
Memory Size
8GB GDDR6
Dimensions
300 x 139 x 62.4mm – 3.12 slot
PSU Required
650W
TBP
160W
Now for something in the middle of performance, with an aim at 1440p performance at a decent framerate, the RTX 4060 Ti is potentially a good GPU to go for. As it offers entry for the Ada architecture with a solid performance for the price, although not much improved over the previous generation it has some stuff to offer alternatively like DLSS 3.
While the alternative option from AMD is the RX 6700 XT, a good RDNA card. And an older architecture offers up a better price point since its launch. We also recommend the RTX 3060 Ti, although you may need to tweak settings to hit a desired framerate with modern games at 1440p. For 1080p, the RX 6700XT and RTX 3060 Ti are both solid.
Our budget GPU pick for Payday 3
XFX Speedster QICK308 Radeon RX 7600 Black
Core Clock Speed
1,875 MHz base, 2,755 MHz boost, 2,355 MHz game
Stream processors
2,048
Memory Size
8GB GDDR6
Dimensions
274 x 114 x 50 mm
PSU Required
550W
TBP
165W
Now for those on the lower end of the hardware spectrum, the RX 7600 is very affordable. This GPU will play every game in 1080p and can provide a decent gaming experience when playing less demanding games such as esports titles.
A possible alternative would be the RTX 3050 from Nvidia. Both the above offer a great entry point for gaming at the lower end, however, you should limit your expectations.