The best graphics card for you depends on your specific needs and budget. A powerful GPU is not necessarily the best option if it exceeds your needs or if you cannot afford it. You need to consider factors such as the games or applications you want to run, the resolution you want to run them at, and your budget. The best GPU is the one that offers the right balance of performance and cost for your specific needs. Additionally, factors such as power consumption, compatibility with your system, and cooling capabilities are also important to consider when choosing the best GPU for your setup.
The Best Graphics Cards for 2023
OVERVIEW
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Super
Best Graphics Card for Budget 1080p Gaming (AMD or Nvidia).
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$172.99
at Amazon
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti
Best Graphics Card for Mainstream 1080p Gaming (Nvidia).
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$339.00
at Amazon
AMD Radeon RX 6600
Best Graphics Card for Mainstream 1080p Gaming (AMD).
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$486.97
at Amazon
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050
Best Graphics Card for High-Refresh 1080p Gaming (AMD or Nvidia).
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$324.99
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Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti
Best Graphics Card for Mainstream 1440p Gaming (Nvidia).
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$469.99
at Amazon
MSI Radeon RX 6750 XT Gaming X Trio 12G
Best Graphics Card for Mainstream 1440p Gaming (AMD).
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$619.95
at Amazon
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070
Best Graphics Card for High-Refresh 1440p Gaming (AMD or Nvidia).
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$579.99
at Amazon
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080
Best Graphics Card for Mainstream 4K Gaming (AMD or Nvidia).
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$1,103.99
at Amazon
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 Founders Edition
Best Graphics Card for High-Refresh 4K Gaming (Nvidia).
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$2,389.00
at Amazon
AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT
Best Graphics Card for High-Refresh 4K Gaming (AMD).
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$790.00
at Amazon
OVERVIEW
A video card is a crucial component for PC gamers and content creators who require fast graphics performance for their software. Our guide will assist you in finding the best video card options for your desktop PC, how to upgrade your system, and evaluate the value of a card. Additionally, we will address future trends in the market that may impact your purchasing decision. With prices for consumer video cards ranging from low to high, it can be easy to overspend or underinvest, but our guide will help you avoid making these mistakes.
A Deeper Dive: Our Tested Top Picks
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Super
Best Graphics Card for Budget 1080p Gaming (AMD or Nvidia)
4.0 Excellent
The GeForce GTX 1650 Super is a better and stronger GPU than the regular GTX 1650. It is a good choice for budget gamers who play at 1080p and can compete with similar priced AMD cards.
PROS
- Much faster than original non-Super GeForce GTX 1650 in 1080p and 1440p gaming.
- Runs quiet.
- Priced competitively.
- Impressively small in our Zotac test sample.
CONS
- Underperforms on some games.
- Runs hotter than the non-Super GTX 1650.
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti
Best Graphics Card for Mainstream 1080p Gaming (Nvidia)
4.0 Excellent
The GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is a great GPU for budget-conscious gamers who want smooth gameplay at 1080p without advanced features like ray-tracing.
PROS
- Great price-to-performance ratio for 1080p gaming.
- Beats previous-generation GTX cards on both sides of its price.
- Exceptional cooling.
- Solid overclocking potential.
CONS
- Not great for 4K gaming.
- MSI’s upclocked card closer in pricing to RTX 2060 Founders Edition than most GTX 1660 Ti cards.
AMD Radeon RX 6600
Best Graphics Card for Mainstream 1080p Gaming (AMD)
3.5 Good
The AMD Radeon RX 6600 is a good, efficient GPU for 1080p gaming, but it’s only the best choice if you mostly play new DirectX 12 games.
PROS
- Competitive with GeForce RTX 3060 in frame rates and list price
- Lower power requirements
CONS
- Better with newer games than old
- No significant overclocking headroom
- Ran hot during our stress testing
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050
Best Graphics Card for High-Refresh 1080p Gaming (AMD or Nvidia)
4.0 Excellent
The GeForce RTX 3050 is a strong and affordable GPU from Nvidia’s powerful RTX 30 Series lineup. It’s great for 1080p gaming at a low cost, but it may be hard to find.
PROS
- Not as far ahead of AMD’s Radeon RX 6500 XT in some tests as we would have hoped
- Relatively high power consumption for its class
CONS
- 6fps burst shooting at highest quality settings
- Omits Pixel Shift multi-shot mode
- Rear display not as crisp as competitors
- Eye detection focus isn’t spot-on with current firmware
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti
Best Graphics Card for Mainstream 1440p Gaming (Nvidia)
4.5 Outstanding
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is a great option for 1440p and light 4K gaming, offering a good balance of price, performance, and features. The Founders Edition model has been tested and is highly rated. The only better option is the more expensive RTX 3070.
PROS
- Beats the RTX 2080 Super in most benchmarks
- Great price-to-performance ratio
- Stable launch drivers
- Runs cool
- Short PCB, redesigned cooling system make for a compact card
CONS
- RTX 3070 gives an extra margin for 4K today and tomorrow
MSI Radeon RX 6750 XT Gaming X Trio 12G
Best Graphics Card for Mainstream 1440p Gaming (AMD)
3.5 Good
MSI’s version of AMD’s Radeon RX 6750 XT is good for cooling and performance, but its price needs to be competitive.
PROS
- Solid gaming performance
- Large triple-fan cooler
CONS
- Not significantly faster than RX 6700 XT
- Steep $549 price point
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070
Best Graphics Card for High-Refresh 1440p Gaming (AMD or Nvidia)
4.5 Outstanding
The NVIDIA RTX 3070 is a high-performance graphics card designed for gaming. It is an improvement over the previous generation RTX 3080 and is suitable for high-resolution gaming at 1440p or 4K. The RTX 3070 Founders Edition is well-designed and has been tested to deliver exceptional performance.
PROS
- Incredibly fast for the price
- Beautiful design
- Great 4K gaming results
- Innovative cooling system
- Doesn’t run too hot
CONS
- Expect a run on this card to rival the one on the RTX 3080
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080
Best Graphics Card for Mainstream 4K Gaming (AMD or Nvidia)
4.5 Outstanding
The NVIDIA RTX 3080 is a top-of-the-line graphics card designed specifically for 4K gaming. It offers exceptional performance and is the best choice for those who want to play games at 4K resolution. The Founders Edition model has been tested and delivers excellent results.
PROS
- Chart-topping performance for the price
- Whisper-quiet operation
- Innovative cooling system
- Gorgeous shroud design
- Tons of complimentary software features
CONS
- No DLSS 3.0 (yet)
- Not much overclocking headroom
- Gains in 1080p and 1440p are less impressive than in 4K
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 Founders Edition
Best Graphics Card for High-Refresh 4K Gaming (Nvidia)
4.0 Excellent
The NVIDIA RTX 4090 Founders Edition is a very powerful graphics card with the latest “Ada Lovelace” architecture. However, it may not be necessary for everyone, as it offers an immense amount of power that might not be required for some users. The decision to buy this card depends on the individual’s specific needs and demands for gaming or other graphic-intensive tasks.
PROS
- Ferociously powerful for a single-GPU card
- Power consumption is relatively low for this level of raw GPU performance
- Usual exceptional Founders Edition build quality
CONS
- Pricey
- Almost impractically enormous
- Raw power appears, at times, to bottleneck a Core i9-12900K CPU
AMD Radeon RX
6800 XT
Best for Vlogging
3.5 Good
The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is a high-performance graphics card that performs well in some benchmark tests, breaking records in some cases. However, it is not as powerful as the best graphics cards from NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX series.
PROS
- Lots of overclocking headroom
- Laden with new features
- Beats competing Nvidia GeForce RTX options in select benchmarks
CONS
- Inconsistent results across multiple games
- Driver-stability issues in the early going
- Runs hotter than most GPUs
| GeForce Cards | NORMAL RANGE (MSRP) | FAMILY | VR SUITABILITY | GAMING RESOLUTION SUITABILITY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GeForce GT 1030 | $70 to $100 | Pascal | No | Low-detail 720p gaming; multi-display situations |
| GeForce GTX 1050 | $125 to $160 | Pascal | No | 720p or low-detail 1080p |
| GeForce GTX 1050 Ti | $150 to $200 | Pascal | Borderline (Rift); No (Vive) | Moderate-detail 1080p |
| GeForce GTX 1650 | $150 to $180 | Turing | No | Moderate-detail 1080p |
| GeForce GTX 1650 Super | $160 to $180 | Turing | No | Moderate-detail 1080p |
| GeForce GTX 1660 | $220 to $250 | Turing | Yes | High-detail 1080p |
| GeForce GTX 1660 Super | $210 to $290 | Turing | Yes | High-detail 1080p, moderate-detail 1440p |
| GeForce GTX 1660 Ti | $280 to $330 | Turing | Yes | High-detail 1080p; moderate-detail 1440p |
| GeForce RTX 2060 | $350 to $470 | Turing | Yes | High-detail 1080p or 1440p |
| GeForce RTX 2060 Super | $379 to $499 | Turing | Yes | High-detail 1080p or 1440p; moderate-detail 4K |
| GeForce RTX 2070 | $500 to $700 (end of life) | Turing | Yes | High-detail 1080p or 1440p; moderate-detail 4K |
| GeForce RTX 2070 Super | $499 to $699 | Turing | Yes | High-detail 1080p or 1440p; moderate-detail 4K |
| GeForce RTX 2080 | $700 to $900 (end of life) | Turing | Yes | High-detail 1080p, 1440p, or 4K |
| GeForce RTX 2080 Super | $699 | Turing | Yes | High-detail 1080p, 1440p, or 4K |
| GeForce RTX 2080 Ti | $1,000 to $1,500 | Turing | Yes | High-detail 1080p, 1440p, or 4K |
| GeForce RTX 3050 | $249 to $489 | Ampere | Yes | High-detail 1080p, medium-detail 1440p |
| GeForce RTX 3060 | $299 to $399 | Ampere | Yes | High-detail 1080p, 1440p, or low-detail 4K |
| GeForce RTX 3060 Ti | $399 to $499 | Ampere | Yes | High-detail 1080p, 1440p, or low-detail 4K |
| GeForce RTX 3070 | $499 to $649 | Ampere | Yes | High-detail 1080p, 1440p, or 4K |
| GeForce RTX 3070 Ti | $599 to $899 | Ampere | Yes | High-detail 1080p, 1440p, or 4K |
| GeForce RTX 3080 | $699 to $799 | Ampere | Yes | High-detail 1080p, 1440p, or 4K |
| GeForce RTX 3080 Ti | $1,199 to $1,699 | Ampere | Yes | High-detail 1080p, 1440p, or 4K |
| GeForce RTX 3090 | $1,499 to $1,799 | Ampere | Yes | High-detail 1080p, 1440p, or 4K |
| GeForce RTX 4090 | $1,599 | Lovelace | Yes | High-detail 1080p, 1440p, or 4K |
Top Recommendations: Best Graphics Cards | 2023
Best Graphics Card for the Money?
When buying a pre-built desktop PC, the focus is usually on the CPU, RAM, and storage, rather than the graphics card. This is especially true for non-gaming PCs. These machines often have an integrated graphics processor (IGP) built into the CPU, which is sufficient for basic tasks but not ideal for gaming or graphic-intensive work. If you’re a gamer or a creator, it’s important to have a dedicated graphics card to ensure the best performance.
A modern graphics solution, whether it’s a separate graphics card or an integrated graphics processor (IGP), is responsible for showing 2D and 3D content, desktop display, and video content decoding and encoding in programs and games. The consumer market for separate graphics cards is dominated by two companies, AMD and NVIDIA, who produce the large graphics processing chips (GPUs) used in these cards.
Who Need a Separate Graphics Card?
Professional workstation users, such as those working with CAD software or video and photo editing, can benefit from a separate graphics card. Applications that use the GPU’s resources instead of or in addition to the CPU’s resources, such as video transcoding, may result in faster processing. The extent of this benefit depends on the application, the specific GPU and CPU, and other factors.
People who require multiple displays may also benefit from a separate graphics card. A discrete GPU and integrated graphics processor (IGP) can work together to support multiple displays on a single system. This can be useful for those who want to use several displays with one computer.
Gamers need a powerful GPU for smooth and high-quality gaming experience. A good GPU is more important than the latest RAM or CPU. If given the choice, it’s better to have a modern GPU with an older system than a high-end system from a few years ago with an outdated GPU.
Do Monitor Refresh Rates Matter for Gaming?
The refresh rate of a gaming monitor, measured in Hz, refers to how many times per second the display is refreshed with new images. A higher refresh rate means smoother and more fluid gameplay, as the monitor can keep up with the fast-paced action. Some gamers prefer to play at higher resolutions for greater accuracy, while others prefer lower resolutions and higher refresh rates for a more fluid gaming experience. It all comes down to personal preference and the type of games being played.
Why G-SYNC better than FreeSync?
FreeSync and G-Sync are technologies that help prevent visual problems in games, like stuttering. They allow the monitor to change its refresh rate to match the output of the video card, so the screen only displays a full frame when the video card is ready. This helps provide a smoother and more immersive gaming experience.
The choice between FreeSync and G-Sync is up to personal preference, but both serve the same purpose: to eliminate screen stuttering, and other visual artifacts during gaming. FreeSync is a more common option as it is built into the monitor, while G-Sync requires special hardware, but both are supported by either AMD or Nvidia GPUs. Ultimately, the decision between the two may come down to compatibility and cost, but with advancements in technology, the differences between them may become less significant.
