Getting the right graphics card for your needs is important. It’s easy for us to say the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 is simply the best GPU on the market right now, and that’s because it is. But it’s also one of the most expensive, and if you don’t actually need all of that power at your fingertips, then it’s not exactly money well spent.
Thankfully, it’s not all just about the tip-top, high-end options — there are lots of different GPU options on the market, with great choices for pretty much any price. We’ve highlighted some of the best graphics cards below, so you can get the best GPU for your needs.
Best high-end graphics card — Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090
There’s no hiding it, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 is simply the best GPU you can buy right now. It’s big, almost comically so, but there’s a reason for that enormous case size — it’s so it can better contain the raging inferno of power within.
Okay, so that’s a little poetic, but it’s no exaggeration to say this is a supremely powerful card. It was the first chance we had to see what Nvidia’s Ada Lovelace architecture could do, and it did not disappoint. It has a base clock of 2,235MHz, and the potential to boost that to 2,520MHz, as well as 24GB of GDDR6 RAM and 16384 Nvidia CUDA cores. It steams past its competition with ease, and even outdoes the previous generation with serious style, packing 170% more transistors than the RTX 3090 Ti.
Simply put, this will handle more or less anything you can throw at it, at least where consumer-level tech is concerned. 4K? It can go up 240Hz. 8K? Absolutely, and at 60Hz as well. It’s the best GPU around, but as you might expect, that comes with some downsides.
Yes, it’s the cost. The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 starts at a wallet-busting $1,600, which is a lot of money to be spending on a single PC component. It’s also worth keeping in mind what the capabilities of the rest of your rig are; if the CPU isn’t up to a similar standard, then the GPU won’t get a chance to shine. If you suspect that might be the case for you, check below for some more reasonably priced options.
Best mid-range graphics card — Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070
If you want to save a few hundred dollars, but still want 4K gaming within your grasp, then check out the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070. Prices for this last generation card have benefited hugely now the new generation is out, and so it’s not hard to find this card for a bargain price.
The real draw for this card is the excellent performance that opens up 4K gaming in a way that wasn’t really previously economical for a large number of gamers, and while it doesn’t benefit from the larger cooler we see on the GeForce RTX 3080, that also means it has a slimmer form factor that allows it to slip into more cases. The clock speed sits at about 1,500MHz, with a boost option for 1,725MHz, and there’s 6GB of GDDR6 RAM as well.
A great mid-range option for a mid-range rig that won’t decrease your overall chances of some truly incredible 4K gaming.
Best budget graphics card — AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT
AMD is lagging behind Nvidia a little at the moment, and that’s largely to do with the recent GeForce launches having monopolized the market for the time being. However, there are still plenty of AMD cards worth buying, and the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is one of the best budget GPUs you can buy today.
4K gaming is somewhat out of the reach of this particular card, but it blows away 1080p performance, and can put up a good showing when it comes to 1440p as well, making it a great graphics card for the more affordable gaming rig. 4K is only valuable if you have a monitor that takes advantage of it, and so this capable GPU is a good choice if you’re only looking to seal some great 1080p/1440p performance.
Available at a really great price now, the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is the best budget pick you can get.
Best value graphics card —Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080
So the RTX 3080 isn’t going to be able to take on the RTX 4080 in any way at all — except for one very specific point: Sheer value. The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 is still an exceptionally powerful card, even though its successor is here and available. In fact, that works in the 3080’s favor, as it means the older card is now available at a much lower price.
As you might expect for a headline GPU, the RTX 3080 is still an exceptionally powerful card, capable of 4K gaming with a base clock of 1,440MHz, boosted clock of 1,710MHz, and 10GB of GDDR6X RAM.
While it’s never going to be a "cheap" GPU, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 is still an exceptional piece of kit, and one that provides great value for money now the RTX 4080 has been released.
