What’s the absolute best graphics card for gaming? Purchasing for a brand new GPU can imply wading via an ceaselessly baffling set of numbers in specifications lists, in addition to weighing up the professionals and cons of the other function units from Nvidia, AMD, and Intel. That’s the place we will be able to lend a hand, as we’re no longer handiest authentic PC {hardware} fans who know our flow processors from our flow decks, however we’re additionally avid gamers.
Your selection of GPU may have a larger affect to your gaming revel in than another PC element and by way of an extended, good distance. Sure, it’s at all times price ensuring you’ve got the absolute best gaming CPU for your machine, in addition to the absolute best gaming RAM you’ll have the funds for, however it’s the mighty graphics card that in reality sits at the throne for your gaming rig, so you want to be sure to nail this selection.
Your GPU is the principle driver in the back of the body fee for your video games, and it additionally determines the decision and graphics settings you’ll be capable of use, together with ray tracing and a few GPUs are a lot better at dealing with those settings than others. There also are options which are unique to Nvidia GeForce and AMD Radeon GPUs, akin to Nvidia DLSS and AMD FSR, which additionally want to be regarded as.
We’ve examined the entire graphics playing cards indexed on this information in various other video games ourselves, so we will be able to say authoritatively which GPU you must purchase in your wishes, and why. There also are some new GPUs looming at the horizon, with Nvidia’s new RTX 5090 quickly anticipated to be the brand new king of the graphics card global, and the brand new RTX 5080 optimistically providing first rate 4K gaming functionality for a far inexpensive worth when it launches.
The brand new AMD RDNA 4 GPU lineup could also be anticipated to release later in 2025, even if AMD is rumored to be principally specializing in mid-range functionality quite than high-end 4K gaming with this differ.
Within the period in-between, those graphics playing cards are the perfect ones you’ll purchase for gaming at the moment, with costs beginning at simply $249.99 for a super 1080p card, and going the entire approach as much as the mammoth Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 if you wish to play video games at 4K with the entire eye sweet enabled.
Why you’ll agree with our recommendation ✔ At PCGamesN, our mavens spend hours trying out {hardware} and reviewing video games and VPNs. We proportion truthful, independent reviews that can assist you purchase the most efficient. In finding out how we check.
Absolute best graphics card in 2024:
Absolute best graphics card for many
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Tremendous specs:
| GPU die |
AD104 |
| CUDA cores |
7,168 |
| Tensor cores |
224 |
| RT cores |
56 |
| Base clock |
1,980MHz (1.98GHz) |
| Spice up clock |
2,475MHz (2.48GHz) |
| VRAM |
12GB GDDR6X |
| Reminiscence Bandwidth |
504GB/s |
| TDP |
220W |
Causes to shop for
- RTX 4070 Ti-like functionality for $600
- Higher worth than RTX 4070
- DLSS 3 give a boost to
Causes to steer clear of
- Rasterization functionality may well be higher
- Can’t rather deal with 4K gaming
The GeForce RTX 4070 Tremendous is a outstanding midrange graphics card. It will provide you with unprecedented ray tracing functionality for its worth and isn’t unhealthy at rasterization both. Naturally, body charges for each forms of rendering get considerably boosted due to Nvidia DLSS 3, to mention not anything of its unbeaten symbol high quality by means of upscaling.
The non-super GeForce RTX 4070 remains to be available for purchase for much less, however going for the GeForce RTX 4070 Tremendous will in the end supply extra bang in your dollar. You’re getting GeForce RTX 4070 Ti-like functionality, which is difficult to argue with.
The principle pitfall of the GeForce RTX 4070 Tremendous is its VRAM capability, topping out at simply 12GB. That is extra ceaselessly than no longer sufficient for each 1080p and 1440p, however it will probably unfortunately provide issues at increased resolutions, akin to 4K.
Learn our GeForce RTX 4070 Tremendous overview.
Absolute best graphics card beneath $500
AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT specs:
| GPU die |
Navi 32 XT |
| Circulation processors |
3,840 |
| RT cores |
60 (2nd Gen.) |
| Base clock |
1,624MHz (1.62GHz) |
| Sport clock |
2,124MHz (2.12GHz) |
| Spice up clock |
2,430MHz (2.43GHz) |
| VRAM |
16GB GDDR6 |
| Reminiscence bandwidth |
624GB/s |
| TBP |
263W |
Causes to shop for
- Exceptional reminiscence bandwidth for $500
- Smashes the GeForce RTX 4070 in rasterized eventualities
- Higher worth than the Radeon RX 7700 XT
Causes to steer clear of
- Massive ray tracing functionality gaps vs the RTX 4070
- Nonetheless no signal of FSR 3 body technology
- Some generational downgrades
The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT can have been a very long time coming, however it was once no doubt definitely worth the wait. For many who aren’t too fussed about ray tracing, that is the graphics card to get.
With 16GB of VRAM hooked up to a 256-bit reminiscence interface, you get a tight reminiscence configuration for the cash. This uniquely positions the 7800 XT as the one card on the $500 mark that’s in a position to 1080p, 1440p, or even some 4K gaming.
It’s the extra smart purchase vs the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, for the reason that there’s handiest $50 isolating the 2. In our trying out, the RX 7800 XT in fact beat the costlier RTX 4070 at each decision as much as 4K with ray tracing disabled, once in a while by way of up to 17% on moderate. Alternatively, once ray tracing results input the body, it falls in the back of and has no solution for DLSS 3 both.
Learn our AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT overview.
Absolute best mid-range graphics card
AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE specs:
| GPU die |
Navi 31XL |
| Circulation processors |
5,120 |
| RT cores |
80 |
| Sport clock |
1,880MHz |
| Spice up clock |
2,245MHz |
| VRAM |
16GB GDDR6 |
| Reminiscence bandwidth |
256-bit |
| TBP |
260W |
Causes to shop for
- Superb worth for the spec
- Beats RTX 4070, even in ray tracing
- 16GB of reminiscence
Causes to steer clear of
- No longer massively faster than RX 7800 XT
- FSR can’t compete with high quality of DLSS
- Tremendous is quicker at ray tracing
Prior to now unique to the Chinese language marketplace, the surprising global release of the Radeon RX 7900 GRE (the GRE stands for Golden Rabbit Version) has shaken up the mid-range GPU enviornment. This graphics card is in keeping with the similar Navi 31 GPU utilized in AMD’s top-end Radeon RX 7900 XT and XTX, however with one of the portions disabled, and it’s an immensely tough GPU for the associated fee, despite the fact that it has a lot decrease clock speeds than AMD’s two entrance runners.
At $550, it has the similar MSRP because the Nvidia RTX 4070, however the 7900 GRE eats the RTX 4070 for breakfast in each approach, even together with ray tracing in maximum of our recreation assessments. When you don’t activate ray tracing, the RX 7900 GRE is even quicker than the costlier RTX 4070 Tremendous. AMD has priced this GPU aggressively, and the end result is a $550 GPU that nails all our recreation assessments at 2,560 x 1,440 and too can deal with some 4K gaming, due to its 16GB of VRAM.
The one downer is that AMD’s FSR upscaling generation can’t compete with Nvidia’s DLSS Tremendous Solution relating to symbol high quality, and AMD’s FSR 3 body technology tech isn’t supported by way of just about as many video games as Nvidia’s DLSS 3 body technology. Plus, the marketplace is now very crowded on this worth phase. If you’ll’t pass increased than $550, the Radeon RX 7900 GRE is the cardboard to shop for at the moment.
Learn our AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE overview.
Absolute best ray tracing graphics card
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 specs:
| GPU die |
AD102 |
| CUDA cores |
16,384 |
| Tensors cores |
512 (Fourth Gen.) |
| RT cores |
128 (3rd Gen.) |
| Base clock |
2,235MHz (2.24GHz) |
| Spice up clock |
2,520MHz (2.52GHz) |
| VRAM |
24GB GDDR6X |
| Reminiscence bandwidth |
1,008GB/s |
| TDP |
450W |
Causes to shop for
- Unequalled ray tracing functionality
- 24GB GDDR6X VRAM
- Superb 4K gaming possibility
Causes to steer clear of
- Intimidatingly pricey
- Calls for a suitably large PC case
- Worse worth than RX 7900 XTX in rasterization
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 is an absolute monstrosity of a graphics card, in each sense of the phrase. There’s no different GPU available in the market that may compete with its worth, functionality, or dimension.
When you’re the type of one that desires to play the most efficient PC video games on the absolute best settings, on the greatest decision, and with minimum fuss, the RTX 4090 is for you. This is, in fact, if you’ll abdomen its staggeringly excessive $1,599 MSRP and feature room sufficient for your case to accommodate it.
Ray tracing or rasterization, the RTX 4090 can’t be crushed, particularly when blended with the body fee boosting powers of DLSS 3. It isn’t the most efficient worth possibility within the RTX 40 collection, however that’s not anything new relating to flagships.
Learn our Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 overview.
Absolute best graphics card beneath $1,000
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Tremendous specs:
| CUDA cores |
10,240 |
| RT cores |
80 |
| Base clock |
2.29GHz |
| Spice up clock |
2.55GHz |
| VRAM |
16 GB GDDR6X |
| Reminiscence bandwidth |
256-bit |
| TBP |
320W |
Causes to shop for
- Absolute best ray tracing velocity beneath $1,000
- Superb rasterization body charges
- Helps DLSS 3
Causes to steer clear of
- Quite slower than RX 7900 XTX out of doors ray tracing
- Small positive aspects vs unique RTX 4080
- Massive generational worth soar
The RTX 4080 Tremendous replaces the unique RTX 4080, offering a somewhat increased stage of functionality however, extra importantly, a considerably extra reasonably priced price ticket. With an MSRP of $999, there may be merely no higher GPU available in the market for not up to a grand.
The one graphics card in a position to outperforming the RTX 4080 Tremendous in ray tracing is the a lot more pricey RTX 4090, making it your best option for RT results if you happen to’re hoping to spend round $1,000. This does nonetheless make it a lot more pricey than the RTX 3080, however its worth stays excessive.
The RTX 4080 Tremendous is slower than the RX 7900 XTX in usual rasterization, however this hole isn’t just about as large as when ray tracing enters the image for those two playing cards. Blended with DLSS 3, although, we’re speaking a complete new stage of functionality.
Learn our GeForce RTX 4080 Tremendous overview.
AMD Radeon RX 7600 specs:
| Circulation processors |
2,048 |
| RT cores |
32 (2nd Gen.) |
| Base clock |
1,720MHz (1.72GHz) |
| Sport clock |
2,250MHz (2.25GHz) |
| Spice up clock |
2,655MHz (2.66GHz) |
| VRAM |
8GB GDDR6 |
| Reminiscence bandwidth |
288GB/s |
| TBP |
165W |
Causes to shop for
- Lower than $300
- Unusually excellent rasterization functionality
- First rate TBP
Causes to steer clear of
- 8GB of VRAM
- Subpar ray tracing functionality
- No solution to DLSS Body Era
In case your price range can’t stretch to a midrange graphics card, the AMD Radeon RX 7600 is how one can pass. There isn’t a really perfect GPU within the price range area at the moment, however the Radeon RX 7600 is the least compromised possibility for the cash.
Each the RX 7600 and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 include simply 8GB of VRAM. This capability is okay for esports titles at 1080p however can create issues when higher-resolution textures are enabled. Naturally, 1440p and 4K are off the desk for this GPU.
Given its low worth, we’re shocked how perky this pixel pusher is in the appropriate instances. Body charges are spectacular at 1080p with ray tracing disabled, in large part beating the GeForce RTX 4060, even if we don’t suggest turning on ray tracing results in difficult video games with this graphics card.
Learn our AMD Radeon RX 7600 overview.
Step one to working out which graphics card is best for you is equal to each different element: price range. The RTX 4090 is handiest the quickest possibility in your machine if you’ll have the funds for it, and realizing how a lot you’ll spend on a pixel pusher will lend a hand very much slim down your choices.
Your goal decision, body charges, and rendering priorities must additionally information you. Whilst Nvidia GeForce graphics playing cards will be offering awesome ray tracing functionality, AMD Radeon GPUs would possibly supply better worth in usual rasterization.
You’ll get a basic sense of what body charges you’ll be expecting from every graphics card functioning at other resolutions by way of studying our critiques. Listed here are some guiding rules although, to get you began:
- 1080p: 60 and 600 elegance graphics playing cards (e.g. RTX 4060 and RX 7600).
- 1440p: 70 and 700/800 elegance graphics playing cards (e.g. RTX 4070 and RX 7800 XT)
- 4K: 80/90 and 900 elegance graphics playing cards (e.g. RTX 4090 and RX 7900 XTX)
What does a graphics card do?
Graphics playing cards are an integral part of any PC, particularly gaming PCs. It’s your graphics card that allows your PC to render and show photographs. They play an enormous position in a PC’s skill to play any explicit recreation.
The extra tough graphics playing cards use ray tracing generation and AI to procedure data as temporarily as conceivable and make your video games visually shocking.
What’s VRAM?
VRAM is an acronym for ‘video random get admission to reminiscence’ and refers back to the integrated reminiscence utilized by graphics playing cards. Its function is to supply your GPU with a separate, high-speed pool of reminiscence that it will probably use to retailer knowledge.
Extra VRAM at your disposal is at all times a favorable because it makes your machine much less reliant on usual RAM to plug any gaps must your graphics card’s capability transform saturated, thereby lowering the risk of stutters. Alternatively, capability is handiest a part of the tale, with the velocity of your GPU’s reminiscence and its bus width influencing reminiscence bandwidth.
Most present graphics playing cards now include a minimum of 8GB of VRAM which is typically sufficient for 1080p gaming, with some exceptions. Upper-quality results and textures call for increased swimming pools of video reminiscence, although, so we’d recommend choosing a 12GB possibility if you’ll have the funds for it.
For the ones of you gaming at 1440p, 16GB is perfect however 12GB will fit you for probably the most phase. Likewise, 20GB is beneficial for 4K, however 16GB will serve.
What’s ray tracing?
Ray tracing refers to real-time gentle tracing to provide extra lifelike and higher-quality lights results than conventional rasterized tactics. It has a number of use circumstances, together with advanced shadows, ambient occlusion, reflections, and international illumination.
The primary ray-tracing-capable graphics playing cards arrived in 2018, with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 20 collection. AMD joined in at the a laugh with its Radeon RX 6000 collection in 2020, with Intel following with its Arc discrete GPUs in 2022.
Toggling on ray tracing choices very much will increase GPU load and will dramatically affect body charges. As such, it’s generally sensible to make use of them along side performance-enhancing equipment akin to Nvidia DLSS, AMD FSR, or Intel XeSS.
What’s rasterization?
Rasterization is the method during which three-D fashions are transformed into the pixels you notice at the monitors of the absolute best gaming screens. The easier a graphics card is at doing this, the smoother your revel in of taking part in your favourite video games – when carried out smartly, video games will glance implausible, when carried out poorly, video games can glance blurry and washed out.
Is a GTX or RTX graphics card higher?
GeForce RTX graphics playing cards be offering a extra feature-rich revel in than the ones wearing a GTX badge and supply awesome functionality. Evaluating GPUs of the similar elegance (e.g. a GTX 1080 in opposition to an RTX 2080) will at all times want the more moderen RTX style.
The principle distinctions between GTX and RTX graphics playing cards are ray tracing and DLSS give a boost to. Each and every RTX GPU is in a position to the use of DLSS Tremendous Solution to spice up body charges by means of upscaling, along with making improvements to visuals via ray-traced results. In the meantime, GTX pixel pushers don’t have get admission to to both.
As such, we don’t suggest selecting up a GTX graphics card if it may be helped as RTX choices supply higher worth.
Does ray tracing paintings on all video games?
Actual-time ray tracing has handiest been part of video games since 2018, which means that each recreation launched earlier than then received’t function the generation except it’s been patched in since then. Alternatively, it’s no longer a for the reason that each recreation unencumber after that point will function ray-traced results.
Many giant video games, akin to Fortnite and Cyberpunk 2077 be offering ray-tracing choices, and the selection of examples continues to develop. With the appearance of RTX Remix, it received’t be lengthy earlier than many classics sign up for more moderen releases in basking within the gentle of ray tracing.
