We will help you find the most suitable graphics card for your needs.
Most people buying a new graphics card on the market will have one major question in mind: Which graphics card offers the best value for money? Clearly, the answer varies depending on your budget. Additionally, there are many factors to consider: raw performance is crucial, but power efficiency and supplementary features are also significant. Are you willing to pay extra for the visually stunning but performance-intensive effects of real-time ray tracing?
Let us make it easy for you. We’ve tested nearly every major GPU released in the past few years, from budget cards at $100 to high-end models at $2,000. Nvidia, AMD, Intel Arc – we’ve benchmarked them all. Our knowledge has been distilled into this article, a buying guide that provides recommendations on which graphics card to purchase, no matter what kind of experience you’re looking for. In general, AMD dominates in the sub-$500 range, while Nvidia leads in the high-end segment, although the situation isn’t always so cut and dry.
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The Best graphics card for PC gaming
① AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT – The Best Graphics Card
When it comes to PC gaming, 1440p gaming is widely regarded as the best choice. It offers stunning visual effects that are clearer than 1080p gaming without the high-end hardware cost associated with 4K gaming. When it comes to 1440p gaming, AMD’s $500 Radeon RX 7800 XT is the only true 1440p choice worth considering.
The Radeon RX 7800 XT delivers incredible 1440p performance, outperforming its GeForce RTX 4070 competitor by a significant margin, despite Nvidia’s card being $100 more expensive. What’s even better is that it comes with ample 16GB of memory and a wide memory bus suitable for 1440p gaming. Nvidia’s competing RTX 4060 Ti GPUs, on the other hand, have compromised memory configurations (and slower performance), making them less appealing for long-term gaming at this resolution. If you have an AMD Ryzen processor, the company’s excellent Smart Access Memory feature can further boost performance.
AMD’s GPU offers respectable ray-tracing capabilities. There’s no doubt that the RTX 4070 excels in ray tracing, efficiency, and rich additional features like DLSS 3 and Nvidia Broadcast. But considering the significantly faster raw gaming performance of the Radeon RX 7800 XT and its lower cost, it’s undoubtedly the best 1440p graphics card and the overall best graphics card you can buy.
② AMD Radeon RX 6600 – Best Budget Graphics Card
If you’re on a budget, AMD’s Radeon RX 6600 is the best graphics card, especially as Nvidia is no longer competitive in this price range. It’s currently available for around $200 to $220. With 8GB of fast GDDR6 memory, stable power efficiency, and AMD’s Radeon Super Resolution, the Radeon RX 6600 is an excellent choice for those who want to play games at 1080p resolution with 60 fps without compromising visual fidelity.
However, it lags behind in ray tracing performance. If you prefer playing AAA games that utilize ray tracing or modern DirectX 12 API, you might also consider Intel’s Arc A750. It comes at a similar price point. This GPU easily outperforms Radeon cards in both of these aspects but provides inconsistent results when running games using the more common DX9 and DX11 APIs. Intel’s engineers are making significant strides in improving Arc drivers, but we still commend the Radeon RX 6600 for its overall consistency.
If your budget is below $200, we recommend trying to save a bit more for the Radeon RX 6600. However, if you can’t find one, consider the Radeon RX 6500 XT, which is priced at around $170 – but be sure to read our review to be aware of its limitations.
③ AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT – Best 1080p Graphics Card
If you’re seeking the best 1080p gaming experience, AMD once again stands out as your top choice. The performance of the Radeon RX 7600 is, on average, 35% higher than its predecessor, the Radeon RX 6600. This means that even in the most demanding modern games, you can achieve “high” or “ultra-high” visual settings. Its 8GB memory buffer is common in this price range but may fall slightly short in some memory-intensive games, necessitating a downgrade to “high” settings. After years of lackluster 1080p graphics cards, the Radeon RX 7600 is a breath of fresh air. While it retails for $270, you can typically find it for less than $260 on the market.
However, it performs poorly in terms of ray tracing. If ray tracing and DLSS 3 frame generation are your top priorities, Nvidia’s $300+ GeForce RTX 4060 is an alternative choice, offering significantly better ray tracing performance and only slightly lagging behind in non-RT games. At 1080p, upgrade technologies like DLSS 2 and FSR 2 do not look as appealing, so they are not worth considering at this resolution.
If you can find the latest generation Radeon RX 6700 XT for $300 or less, we actually recommend opting for it. It can deliver comparable gaming performance (excluding ray tracing) to these GPUs but comes with a more future-oriented 12GB VRAM. However, its retail price is usually around $330 or higher, so you would need to pay extra for the additional memory compared to these more modern GPUs.
④ Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti – Best High-End 1440p Graphics Card
Spending $800 or more on a 1440p graphics card is indeed absurd. Our review states that Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is “overpriced.” However, if you want outstanding performance in 1440p gaming (and only support 1440p gaming, as Nvidia limits this $800 GPU’s performance at 4K), then the 12GB RTX 4070 Ti is a decent choice. It’s super-fast, highly efficient, excels in ray tracing performance, and supports Nvidia’s cutting-edge DLSS 3.0 Frame Gen technology. Nevertheless, most people would opt for the more affordable Radeon RX 7800 XT or save some money to consider the next option in this list.
⑤ AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX – Best 4K Graphics Card
If you own a 4K display and want to make the most of all those pixels, AMD’s flagship Radeon RX 7900 XTX graphics card is your best choice. This beast, priced at $999, effortlessly keeps a 4K/60 display at peak performance and often attempts to push the 4K display at higher refresh rates. Yes, this is with all graphics options enabled except for ray tracing. For AMD, the Radeon RX 7900 XTX has long been a battle they’ve struggled with and still lags behind Nvidia’s newer GeForce RTX 40 series GPUs in ray tracing capabilities. However, its ray tracing prowess is still slightly better than Nvidia’s previous flagship product, the RTX 3090 Ti. That’s quite impressive.
If you do video editing or run Minecraft with loads of mods, you’ll also appreciate the Radeon RX 7900 XTX’s generous 24GB of memory capacity. The prices of the $800 GeForce RTX 4070 Ti, the $900 Radeon RX 7900 XT, and the $1,200 GeForce RTX 4080 are all in a similar range to the 7900 XTX, but the performance they offer comes with exceptional value. Get this, and you get the previous-gen card… or you can splurge on our next choice.
⑥ Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 – Best High-End Graphics Card
A $1000 graphics card used to be unheard of in the past, but now it’s quite common. All of these provide an immersive 4K gaming experience. However, if you want the best performance, regardless of the price, the GeForce RTX 4090 Founders Edition will undoubtedly leave you highly satisfied. It’s the first graphics card capable of fully supporting 120Hz 4K displays in many modern games, a milestone achievement. Its competitors can power 60Hz 4K displays but can’t maintain high refresh rate displays. The GeForce RTX 4090 embarrasses all previous GPU contenders in every game, bringing them to a complete halt. It’s so fast that using this GPU may even result in a CPU bottleneck, even when gaming at 4K/Ultra. You’d need a new Radeon 9 7950X or an Intel Core i9-13900K to truly harness its power.
Beyond raw speed, the RTX 4090 also provides content creators with ample 24GB of GDDR6 memory, top-notch ray tracing capabilities, and the new DLSS 3 technology that significantly boosts frame rates using AI – think double or more in some cases. Responsiveness may be affected in some games, though. The RTX 4090 is an absolutely outstanding GPU that delivers the best performance for gaming.
Related:
- Radeon RX 9070 XT vs RTX 4080: Gaming Showdown!
- Unlocking Gaming Potential: GTX 1060 Revisited
- Exclusive: Dive Into GeForce RTX 4090D by NVIDIA-Full Scoop
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