Best graphics cards 2023: how to get a great GPU now
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Windows Central)
Join our newsletter
All the best features, news, tips and great deals to help you live a better life through technology
Thank you for signing up to T3. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
If you’re looking for the best graphics card of 2023, we’ve got the guide for you: a carefully curated list of the very best graphics cards on the market for every kind of setup and every budget.
In our guide you’ll find budget graphics cards that deliver a great gaming experience and superb value for money, and you’ll also discover the latest, greatest graphics cards that are packed with cutting-edge pixel-pushing tech from Nvidia and AMD.
As you’ll discover, there’s more to picking the perfect graphics card than looking at its specs: there’s also the issue of whether you can actually get your chosen graphics card at all, though supply chain issues are now starting to ease. Keep checking back to this guide to see which cards are actually in stock.
In this guide you’ll discover graphics cards so powerful they make grown adults weep with joy, and graphics cards that can make environments such as Cyberpunk 2077’s Night City look utterly realistic. Next-gen eye candy? Ray tracing? 4K, 8K and QHD? All here.
Whether you want to buy the best graphics card for gaming, the best budget graphics card or the best graphics card combining power and value for money, this page means that finding it will be easier than ever.
We’re huge gamers at T3 and we’ve got plenty of other guides for you too: lists for the best gaming mouse, the best gaming keyboards, and the best gaming chairs. If you’d like to ensure you’ve got the edge over your rivals in every possible way, check out the best gaming headsets and best gaming monitors too.
When it comes to graphics cards, here are our top three picks, followed by the best of the rest.
We think the best graphics card for most people is the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070. It offers high-end 4K gaming without breaking the bank – or at least not as much as the more powerful cards ahead of it in terms of expense.
Our pick for the best premium graphics card is the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080. It’s more costly than the RTX 3070 of course, but it also brings with it a significant boost in terms of performance and frame rate.
If you don’t want to spend too much, the best budget graphics card right now is the AMD Radeon RX 590. Improved thermals and efficiency mean that you get a lot of bang for your buck when it comes to this card.
The best 3 graphics cards available today
Nvidia RTX 3070
£679
View
See all prices
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080
£1,337.
17
View
See all prices
MSI RX 590 Armor
£699
View
See all prices
The best graphics cards to buy today
Why you can trust T3
Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
The best graphics card for most people? That’s the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070.
(Image credit: Nvidia)
1. Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070
The best graphics card for most people
Specifications
Nvidia CUDA Cores: 2,304
Core Clock: 1.5 GHz (1.73 GHz boost)
Memory: 8GB GDDR6
Memory interface width: 256-bit
Ports: 1 x HDMI 2.1, 3 x DisplayPort 1.4a
Today’s Best Deals
Reasons to buy
+
Good performance for the price
+
Goes all the way up to 4K
+
Support for ray tracing, DLSS
Credited with making 4K gaming affordable for the masses for the first time, the GeForce RTX 3060 is going to appeal to a whole host of people, even if it can’t quite equal the performance levels of the 3080 or 3090 models above it.
You get ray tracing and Nvidia’s Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) technology, plus that graphical horsepower, all for a relatively reasonable fee.
Keep your eye on prices though, because with the RTX 3060 Ti below it and the RTX 3080 above it, this may not be the best Nvidia card for your gaming rig, depending on how much you’re having to pay. While the RTX 3070 is undoubtedly a major jump over the generation that came before it, in terms of current-gen cards it’s a more crowded field.
Everyone is going to be at a different point along the price vs performance graph when it comes to picking out a graphics card upgrade, but we think the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 is going to win a lot of fans even with some stiff competition. It could be the Ampere graphics card that suits your budget and your gaming requirements the best.
To see how this graphics card compares to our number one premium choice, then check out T3’s Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 vs Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 comparison feature.
The best premium graphics card is the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080.
(Image credit: Nvidia)
2. Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080
The best premium graphics card for serious gamers
Specifications
Nvidia CUDA Cores: 8,704
Core Clock: 1.44 GHz (1.71 GHz boost)
Memory: 10GB GDDR6X
Memory interface width: 320-bit
Ports: 1 x HDMI 2.1, 3 x DisplayPort 1.4a
Today’s Best Deals
Reasons to buy
+
Packs in plenty of graphical power
+
Performance vs price sweet spot
+
Goes up to 60 fps at a 4K resolution
The GeForce RTX 3080 from Nvidia is quite simply a powerhouse of a graphics card, offering 4K, 60 fps next-gen gaming performance for your rig. It strikes a price vs performance balance between the RTX 3070 and the RTX 3090, and is the way to go if you want to be able to ramp up the graphical bells and whistles without completely clearing out your bank account (depending on the size of your bank account balance).
In fact the card is so popular that it’s proving rather hard to get hold of at the time of writing. If you don’t want to pay an inflated sum to a reseller – and we wouldn’t recommend doing so – then you’re going to have to be patient and committed in your pursuit of one, keeping a close eye on retailers and their stock levels. Thankfully, the shortage does now seem to be easing a little.
Specs-wise you get a significant improvement over what the RTX 3070 can offer, so if you’re able to pay the premium price (and find one in stock) then you get to enjoy those AAA games at the best resolutions and frame rates. As with all the newer Nvidia Ampere cards, you get ray tracing and Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) included to really make your games pop.
The best budget graphics card available today is the AMD Radeon RX 590.
(Image credit: XFX)
3. AMD Radeon RX 590
The best budget graphics card
Today’s Best Deals
Reasons to buy
+
Excellent performance up to 1440p
+
Won’t break the bank
+
Noticeably improved efficiency
It might not be one of the newest graphics cards around any more, but the AMD Radeon RX 590 is certainly able to still pack a punch – it’s one to weigh up if the prices on the top-level Nvidia and AMD cards are leaving you a little dizzy.
More than specs, this is a card about improved thermals and efficiency, and it holds up very well against both Nvidia and other AMD cards at this particular price point.
Built on 12nm, you get 2,304 GPU cores, a top boost clock speed of 1,545MHz, and 8GB of (GDDR5) VRAM to power through your games with, making this undoubtedly one of the best value AMD graphics cards you can pick up right now.
While there’s not a massive performance boost over the cards that came before the Radeon RX 590, there is a performance boost, and you’re not going to be left disappointed by the frame rates you’re getting out of this card (especially at the sort of prices it’s now going for).
(Image credit: AMD)
4. AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT
The best premium AMD graphics card
Specifications
Stream processors: 5,120
Core Clock: 2.015 GHz (2.25 GHz boost)
Memory: 16GB GDDR6
Memory interface width: 256-bit
Ports: 1 x HDMI 2.1, 1 x DisplayPort 1.
4
Today’s Best Deals
Reasons to buy
+
Excellent top-end performance
+
We like the design
+
The best you can get from AMD
AMD graphics card technology, pushed to the absolute max: that’s the story of the Radeon RX 6900 XT, which sets a new high bar for AMD graphics cards and ray tracing whilst looking the part as well (not that you’ll be able to admire the card much if it’s safely installed inside your PC).
While the cost of the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT versus the performance gains you get over the 6800 series might be too difficult to justify for a lot of gamers, if you’re ready to get the best graphics performance that AMD has to offer and you have the budget to be able to back it up, then this is definitely worth a place on your shortlist of the best graphics cards on the market at the moment.
Keep an eye on the prices of the Radeon RX 6900 XT (the widgets on this page should help), as price drops will instantly make this a more appealing buy, as you would expect.
This also functions as an excellent graphics card for creatives who have a serious amount of data in their workflow too.
The best mid-range graphics card? Step forward the superb value Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti.
(Image credit: Nvidia)
5. Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti
The Ampere champion of the mid-range graphics card market
Specifications
Nvidia CUDA Cores: 4,864
Core Clock: 1.41 GHz (1.67 GHz boost)
Memory: 8GB GDDR6
Memory interface width: 256-bit
Ports: 1 x HDMI 2.1, 3 x DisplayPort 1.4a
Today’s Best Deals
Reasons to buy
+
A superb bang-for-buck option
+
Respectable ray tracing performance
+
Compact and stays cool
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is hardly the cheapest graphics card on the market, but it does give you the most affordable way into the GeForce RTX 30 series – and yet it still performs to a level that’s going to be more than enough for gamers that find they can do without the top-tier 4K and 8K resolutions available on the cards that are further up in the Nvidia Ampere range.
This card won’t get you top-tier 4K performance in the very best games on the market at the moment, but it will bring with it very decent frame rates in even the most demanding games at 1080p, and you get the power of ray tracing and Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) acceleration. As long as you have a more modest display, this graphics card is going to do you proud.
If you’re shopping at this price point, there’s nothing really that competes with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti for the time being, even if the 8GB of on-board RAM is a little on the low side. It’s the card that proves once and for all that you can get very decent performance from a graphics upgrade without spending too much.
Want the most bang for you buck in terms of AMD graphics cards? Then plump for the RX 6800.
(Image credit: AMD)
6. AMD Radeon RX 6800
The best AMD graphics card for price vs performance
Specifications
Stream processors: 3,840
Core Clock: 1.
815 GHz (2.105 GHz boost)
Memory: 16GB GDDR6
Memory interface width: 256-bit
Ports: 1 x HDMI 2.1, 1 x DisplayPort 1.4
Today’s Best Deals
Reasons to buy
+
Excellent top-end performance
+
We like the design
+
The best you can get from AMD
Welcome back to the big leagues, AMD: the Radeon RX 6800 marks the tech giant’s return to the high-end graphics market, where it’s looking to compete head-to-head with Nvidia. Like the slightly more powerful (and expensive) XT variant, the AMD Radeon RX 6800 brings along with it some powerful 4K gaming chops.
There’s plenty of video RAM to play around with here, as well as some specialised AMD tweaks that should make your gaming titles absolutely zip along. It might not get the absolute top scores in terms of benchmarks, but if you’re looking to get some heavy duty frame rates on the best games without paying a heavy duty price, then this card is definitely worth a place on your shortlist.
Thanks to the impressive performance improvements ushered in with the arrival of the Big Navi (or Navi 21 or RDNA2) technology from AMD, you don’t have to worry about performance being an issue with this card installed in your rig. There’s decent overclocking performance here as well, if you’re keen to push your card even further once it’s installed.
Creatives and ultra-high-end enthusiasts will love the ridiculous raw power of the RTX 3090.
(Image credit: Nvidia)
7. Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090
The best graphics card for creative projects
Specifications
Nvidia CUDA Cores: 10,496
Core Clock: 1.4 GHz (1.7 GHz boost)
Memory: 24GB GDDR6X
Memory interface width: 384-bit
Ports: 1 x HDMI 2.1, 3 x DisplayPort 1.4a
Today’s Best Deals
Reasons to buy
+
Top-tier performance levels
+
Eye-watering GPU specs
+
Resolutions up to and including 8K
If you’ve got very deep pockets and want GPU performance that’s second to none, there’s the GeForce RTX 3090 – nothing beats this powerhouse, which can push out stellar frame rates at resolutions up to 8K.
There isn’t a game on the market or a video editing project that will slow down the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090, it really is that powerful.
Something you definitely get with the RTX 3090 is future-proofing – we don’t think this is going to be dethroned as the best GPU in Nvidia’s line-up for quite some time yet. Thanks to its 24GB of VRAM and other parts of its configuration, it might actually be an even better graphics card for creatives than gamers, but whatever your use case scenario is, you’re guaranteed to be blown away by the performance.
It is expensive, and it is going to be more power and performance than a lot of people need, so bear that in mind before splashing the cash on this one – you might be able to find better value for your particular setup further down the scale (it costs a lot more than the RTX 3080, but isn’t massively more powerful). It’s also a physically large graphics card, which is something else to consider.
(Image credit: Nvidia)
8.
.png)
Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Super
A great option for ray tracing on a budget
Specifications
GPU cores: 2,176
Clock: 1,470MHz base / 1,650MHz boost
Memory: 8GB GDDR6
:
Today’s Best Deals
Reasons to buy
+
The cheapest RTX for ray tracing and DLSS
+
Outperforms the 2070
+
Great with a G-Sync display
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Super offers the same (and in some tests, better) performance as the RTX 2070 for less money, and while it’s not up to 4K gaming it’s fantastic at FHD resolution and pretty great at QHD too. If you don’t need the very best performance, it’s worth considering.
With 14Gbps memory, 2176 stream processors, 136 texture units and 272 tensor cores it’s hardly a shoddy specification, and with ray tracing support it’s one of the cheapest ways to bring ray tracing tech to your rig. If you’re currently using a 970 or lower, the difference it’ll make to your system will be dramatic and its specification means it should deliver a top-notch gaming experience for a good few years into the future.
Of course the biggest appeal here is the price: it means you can get gaming for a very affordable sum, and you still get all of that Nvidia expertise and reliability. Absolutely still one of the best graphics cards around.
(Image credit: AMD)
9. AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT
Big Navi technology delivers with AMD
Specifications
Stream processors: 4,608
Core Clock: 2.015 GHz (2.25 GHz boost)
Memory: 16GB GDDR6
Memory interface width: 256-bit
Ports: 1 x HDMI 2.1, 1 x DisplayPort 1.4
Today’s Best Deals
Reasons to buy
+
Strong gaming performance
+
Effective power management
+
Supports ray tracing
Sitting between the 6800 and 6900 XT in terms of graphical prowess, the 6800 XT is therefore worth a look for anyone who wants to strike a certain balance between how much they spend and how high their frame rates get.
In terms of the Nvidia series, this card is essentially up against the RTX 3070.
You get AMD’s ray tracing implementation here, as you would expect, and solid performance across the board no matter what you’re trying to put your card and your system through. It’s been some time since AMD was competing right up at the top end of the market, but the RX 6800 XT shows that Nvidia does have something to worry about.
As always with graphics cards and the market at the moment, pricing and availability is key: while the RX 6800 XT offers a serious performance boost over previous generation AMD cards, there’s less of a margin between it and the other Big Navi (RNDA2) cards in the AMD line-up, in either direction.
(Image credit: AMD / MSI)
10. AMD Radeon RX 5700
The best AMD graphics card from the last generation
Specifications
Stream Processors: 2,304
Core Clock: 1,465 MHz (1,725 MHz boost)
Memory: 8GB GDDR6
Memory Clock: 14Gbps
Power Connectors: 1 x 8-pin and 1 x 6-pin
Outputs: 1 x DisplayPort 1.
4 with DSC, 1 x HDMI with 4K60
Today’s Best Deals
Reasons to buy
+
Very strong performance
+
Incredibly affordable price point
+
Excellent 1440p frame rates
With unbelievable benchmark scores when it launched and a price point that sits very firmly at the affordable end of the market, the AMD Radeon RX 5700 remains a great graphics card choice. Retailing for much less than comparable high-end cards, the 5700 doesn’t miss a beat, and at a 1440p resolution allows modern AAA games to be run at high if not max settings.
Indeed, the RX 5700’s benchmark performance has been so strong that it has eclipsed most other mid-range GPUs, thanks in part thanks to an extra 2GB of VRAM. What is worth noting here, though, is that while the RX 5700 out-performs other models in terms of speed, it does not feature its real time ray tracing capabilities.
This lack of ray tracing aside, though, and there literally isn’t anything to dislike about the AMD Radeon RX 5700 — and especially not its low price point.
And, for that reason, we find it easy to recommend as one of the best mid-range graphics card picks for most people.
Graphics cards: what to consider
Searching for the right graphics card often means trawling through specs and benchmarks for hours on end, as well as dealing with buckets of confusing jargon, but not only have we picked out the key graphics card models you need to know about in this guide, but we’ve also explained why they’ve been chosen.
In other words, we’ve done most of the hard work of choosing the best graphics card for you: you can simply get on with making the right choice for you and then benefiting from the higher frame rates, additional processing power and a far more immersive and spectacular gaming experience.
And, right now is a great time to be shopping for a graphics card deal. Major online GPU retailers like Amazon and Walmart have plenty of bargains on offer, while more specialist computer hardware stores like Newegg.com , Overclockers.
co.uk and Scan.co.uk are slashing prices as new 2023 cards arrive. As such it really is a great time to pick up a new GPU.
If you need more information to make your decision, we’d recommend taking a look at the benchmarking figures you can find online. They don’t tell the whole story when it comes to the performance of a GPU, but they can certainly help you differentiate between the various models.
- Check out the best PC gaming headsets
Rob has been writing about computing, gaming, mobile, home entertainment technology, toys (specifically Lego and board games), smart home and more for over 15 years. As the editor of PC Gamer, and former Deputy Editor for T3.com, you can find Rob’s work in magazines, bookazines and online, as well as on podcasts and videos, too. Outside of his work Rob is passionate about motorbikes, skiing/snowboarding and team sports, with football and cricket his two favourites.
9 Best Graphics Cards for Fortnite 2023
Epic Games’ successful esports title, Fortnite, was released nearly six years ago.
Despite its age and many competitions, the game shows no sign of slowing down and is still one of the most popular games in the Battle-Royale genre.
Due to Fortnite’s massive popularity, Epic Games decided to add cross-platform gameplay to allow players across PCs, consoles, and even mobile devices to compete against each other. No matter what your platform of choice is when playing this type of game, you can bet that Fortnite can run it and get you to battle hundreds of players worldwide.
- Can it Run Fortnite?
- Best Graphics Cards for Fortnite
- Nvidia Geforce GTX 1660 Ti
- AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050
- AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti
- AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080
- AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090
- What Can Fortnite Players Expect With the Release of Unreal Engine 5.1?
- Nanite
- Lumen
- Virtual Shadow Maps
- Temporal Super Resolution (TSR)
- In Conclusion
Can it Run Fortnite?
There’s an old gag that you know a graphics card is good for gaming if it can run Crysis.
However, you’ll be glad to know that Fortnite is not a very demanding game, and most players should be able to run this game even on a paltry 4GB RAM, as per Epic Games’ minimum requirement for this game.
Of course, to get the best gaming experience in Fortnite (or any other games). We recommend getting the best-dedicated graphics card your budget can afford for a gaming PC.
For gamers that can’t afford to upgrade or purchase a new graphics card, Fortnite’s Performance Mode can be utilized to get a decent amount of FPS, albeit on a lower resolution, on older hardware. It even works better with the current generation graphics cards but at a slight graphical downgrade.
Sign up for ggCircuit Updates!
Best Graphics Cards for Fortnite
Here’s ggCircuit’s list of the best graphics cards that you can have to play Fornite.
Nvidia Geforce GTX 1660 Ti
GTX 1660 Ti
The GTX 1660 Ti is a reliable graphics card released back in 2019.
Moreover, it provides good performance at a relatively reasonable price back then. Comparatively, it has a similar performance to the GeForce RTX 3050 despite having lesser CUDA cores (sometimes even outperforming the newer Nvidia card).
Playing Fortnite with the Nvidia GTX 1660 Ti on High settings can yield an average of 110 FPS on 1080p resolution. Note that this is the only previous generation card on the list, and we are suggesting this as an option if you can get this at a good price in the secondhand market.
AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT
As far as budget GPU goes, the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT is a good option to consider if you are on a low budget and prefer buying new hardware instead of getting secondhand. Pricing starts at around $200, which is a great value if you need a new video card in a pinch.
Performance-wise with playing Fortnite, the RX 6500 XT will give an average FPS of 85 on high settings in 1080p resolution. Not too shabby, but it may leave some players wanting more.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 is a solid entry-level graphics card with ray tracing that has a great price-to-performance ratio that will not hurt your bank account. It is comparable to GTX 1660 Ti, which has better performance than the RX 6500 XT.
The RTX 3050 also boasts 8GB GDDR6 VRAM and supports ray tracing, though using that feature with this graphics card is debatable. However, DLSS may help some games achieve higher frame rates. Playing Fortnite on high settings in 1080p resolution should give a solid 100+ FPS gameplay.
AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT
RX 6600 XT
The Radeon RX 6600 XT is a decent graphics card with a boost clock speed of 2,589 MHz that should give a great gaming experience when playing Fortnite. However, RX 6600 XT’s ray tracing leaves a lot to be desired; not many gamers use this feature in competitive gaming such as Fortnite anyway.
This offering from AMD should be able to provide high-quality graphics on Fortnite on Epic settings with averages of 106 FPS on 1080p and 65 FPS on 1440p, respectively.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti
The GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is a great graphics card with excellent performance at under $400 price point! In addition, it is capable of delivering higher resolution graphics settings that are guaranteed to hit the sweet spot when playing modern games.
Gamers will be able to get the best of both worlds in gaming with the RTX 3060 Ti, as it can deliver high resolutions and high FPS when they play Fortnite. This video card can run Fortnite with an average of 130 FPS on 1440p resolution on Epic settings!
AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT
RX 6800 XT
Our list is now in the 4k resolution territory, and AMD’s contender, the RX 6800 XT, is no slouch. Boasting 16GB GDDR6 of VRAM, which should handle the most demanding games with great efficiency. Just make sure to have a power supply between 650W to 750W to meet the minimum requirements of this high-end graphics card.
The RX 6800 XT’s 4k performance with Fortnite on Epic settings will provide comfortable 80-90+ FPS gameplay.
However, turning on ray tracing can dent a player’s gaming experience, but lowering the resolution to 1080p may give a somewhat playable framerate.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080
The GeForce RTX 3080 is one of the best Nvidia GPUs for Fortnite that you can find. This juggernaut from Nvidia has 10GB GDDR6X of video memory, which is more than enough to play Fortnite and most modern games available today, making it the best option on this list. However, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 has a thermal design power of 320W, which is slightly higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT’s 300W, which means that it consumes more power.
Of course, the RTX 3080 can handle the maximum screen resolution of 4k on Epic settings with 80-90+ FPS showing almost similar performance to the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT. However, unlike the RX 6800 XT, the RTX 3080 can be played on 4k and 1440p with ray tracing.
Configuring Fortnite to Epic settings at 4k resolution with RTX on and DLSS set to Performance can yield a playable average of 36 FPS.
On the other hand, changing the resolution to 1440p with ray tracing and DLSS set to Performance can run Fortnite at an average of 68 FPS!
Click here to test the ggLeap client!
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
Hot on the heels of Nvidia’s RTX 4000’s series, Team Red released the AMD RX 7900 XTX mid of December 2023 for the high-end GPU market. It has an RDNA 3 architecture and comes with AMD Infinity Cache technology. This graphic card offers fast clock speeds and high refresh rate gaming experiences. You can also enjoy high-performance levels even at 4K and beyond with its massive 24GB of GDDR6 memory.
For a fully immersive experience, the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX also comes with high-performance rendering with its AMD FidelityFX. This, coupled with the AMD Radiance Display Engine and DisplayPort 2.1, lets you enjoy stunning visuals along with its top-notch performance.
For example, running Fortnite at 4k resolution can yield an average of 70+ FPS on Epic settings, with TSR set to Performance and Lumen set to Epic.
The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is one of the best-performing graphics cards for Fortnite available right now. As a result, this GPU is a great choice for competitive players looking for a current-gen flagship card on a limited budget.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090
RTX 4090
The Nvidia RTX 4090 is currently the best graphics card among Nvidia’s offerings and probably this entire list. This powerful GPU comes with 24GB of GDDR6X memory and 16,384 NVIDIA CUDA cores, meaning it’ll be able to handle anything you throw at it.
It has an Ada Lovelace architecture and a boost clock of 2.52GHz. In addition, the RTX 4090 also has dedicated ray tracing cores, NVIDIA DLSS 3, and the NVIDIA Reflex low-latency platform. As such, it can run Fortnite above 80 FPS at 4k on Epic settings, TSR set to Quality, and Lumen set to Epic!
However, great performance often comes at a great cost (MSRP is $1,599), and the RTX 4090 is no exception.
But if you have the means and want to play Fortnite in the best possible way, the RTX 4090 is an unstoppable beast that will never let you down!
What Can Fortnite Players Expect With the Release of Unreal Engine 5.1?
Fortnite players can expect a lot with the release of Unreal Engine 5.1. With this release, there will be many new things that players can experience. One of the most important things players can expect is increased graphical quality.
As such, it requires a powerful graphics card to provide a smooth and realistic experience. Take note that the power consumption will also be higher, so a more powerful PSU will be necessary.
These are the features you can expect with Unreal Engine 5.1:
Nanite
Nanite allows players to enjoy highly-detailed architectural geometry. With this, buildings are no longer just a shell with a few interior details.
Unreal Engine 5.1 renders buildings, along with natural landscapes, from millions of polygons in real time.
Players can see every detail in the environment, whether it’s the blades of grass or the cracks in a wall.
Lumen
The new engine continues to improve on the game’s reflections and lighting system, Lumen. This system is designed to bring more dynamic and realistic lighting in real-time to the game while reducing the number of lights needed to render a scene.
Note that Nanite has to be enabled to access Lumen in Global Illumination and Reflections settings under Graphics Quality in Video Settings.
Virtual Shadow Maps
Virtual Shadow Maps improve the way the game’s shadows are rendered. This means that every object in the game will cast shadows.
Another cool aspect of this feature is that it enables minor details on a character to cast shadows accurately. So if your character is wearing something in the game that stands out, it will cast a shadow.
Temporal Super Resolution (TSR)
Temporal Super Resolution (TSR) serves as an upgrade over Fortnite’s Temporal Anti-Aliasing feature.
As a result, players can now enjoy high-framerate gameplay without compromising visual quality. This can vastly improve the experience for players, especially those who want to enjoy the game at a high level of detail.
In Conclusion
Looking for a graphics card for Fortnite is not a particularly difficult undertaking. Generally, Fortnite can run even on an older graphics card, provided that the game is on medium or the lowest settings.
Our data from 2021 shows that a good majority of esports venues in our network used GTX 1060 6GB, and Fortnite has been consistently one of our top-played games. This means that previous-generation graphics cards will still perform well and may even get extended usage with the help of Fortnite’s Performance Mode.
However, if you are on the prowl for a graphics card for playing Fortnite, we hope that our list will make things a lot easier.
ggCircuit is a part of Esports Entertainment Group (GMBL).
Top 7 best graphics cards in 2023
Contents
- Which graphics card to buy in 2023?
- Best graphics card: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080
- Best AMD graphics card: AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT
- Best value graphics card: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti
- Best performance graphics card: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4009 9009
- Best graphics card for 1440p gaming: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070
- Best entry-level graphics card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Super
- Best Intel graphics card for gaming: Intel Arc A770 Limited Edition 16 GB
The problems caused by the lack of semiconductors still persist.
On top of that, cryptocurrency miners have been pushing the GPU market to the max lately. However, the situation is now beginning to change. Ethereum mining on GPUs is no longer possible, stocks are rising and prices are falling. nine0004
While graphics card prices have continued to fluctuate wildly, both Nvidia and AMD are bringing new graphics cards to the market.
Our roundup of the best graphics cards reflects the ever-evolving GPU market. We’ve included several options, from the best overall to the best value for money graphics cards. Here’s our pick of the best graphics cards in different categories:
Before we get into the individual models, let’s take a quick look at a few important things to keep in mind when buying a new video card:
- Buy the graphics card that suits your needs, not because it’s new or the fastest.
- Before buying a power supply, check the manufacturer’s «recommended power requirement» and not the «total graphics power» (TGP) of the GPU.
- A GPU is more than just its clock speed and total memory. Check the spec sheet for details like memory bandwidth, TGP, and more. nine0009
- Check if your PC case is big enough for the graphics card you want to buy. GPU length clearance is usually specified by the chassis manufacturer.
- Research your gaming needs before choosing a graphics card to save money. For example, an RTX 3080 for 1080p gaming would simply be overkill.
- Buying the best graphics card alone won’t be enough for gaming. Make sure your other core components are also good enough to avoid any issues in overall performance. nine0009
- All graphics cards mentioned in this list are based on the reference model, also known as the «Founders Edition», or base model with standard speeds.
- RT, DLSS, and other acronyms: Not all GPUs support ray tracing (RT), deep learning supersampling (DLSS), etc. Look carefully at the specifications of a particular graphics card to learn about these subtleties.
Best graphics card: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080
nine0005
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 graphics card is the best GPU you can buy right now. It delivers a huge performance boost over the previous generation RTX 20 series cards.
The
RTX 3080 is based on Nivida’s Ampere architecture and supports next-generation Ray-Tracing and Tensor cores. The RTX 3080 GPU has a base clock of 1.44GHz and a boost clock of 1.71GHz.
The
card has 10GB of GDDR6X video memory to handle even the most demanding AAA games. Not as much video memory as RTX 3090, but it is quite enough for texture processing at 4K resolution.
GDDR6X runs at 19 Gb/s on the RTX 3080, which combined with the 320-bit interface, delivers 760 GB/s of bandwidth.
The
8nm GPU has 8704 CUDA cores and 68 RT cores to improve overall performance. Even with ray tracing enabled, the RTX 3080 delivers higher frame rates than, say, a top-notch RTX 20-series GPU without it. nine0004
The
RTX 3080 supports a long list of features such as PCI Express Gen 4, Nvidia DLSS, Nvidia Reflex, Vulkan RT API, OpenGL 4.6, VR and more. The GPU has one HDMI 2.1 port and three DisplayPort 1.4a ports.
The RTX 3080 GPU will take up to 2 PCI slots in your PC case and has a maximum length of 285mm. The total area of the card is relatively large, so make sure your PC case has enough space to accommodate this graphics card before purchasing. nine0004
Nvidia rates the RTX 3080 card’s maximum GPU temperature at 93°C. This is not surprising considering its TGP rating is 320W. You may need to upgrade your PSU as Nvidia recommends using a 750W PSU for an RTX 3080 system.
The
GeForce RTX 3080 isn’t the most powerful GPU in Nvidia’s current 30 series lineup. The RTX 3090 holds the lead with 20% more performance on paper. If you have a good CPU, this performance improvement will be somewhere between 10-15 percent in real use cases. nine0004
We think the RTX 3080 is the best high-end graphics card on the market for the money. It provides high performance without a significant increase in cost. This graphics card will be a major upgrade for anyone still running a GTX 1080 Ti or below.
Best AMD Graphics Card: AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT
- GPU Navi 21 | XT
- GPU cores 4608
- Base clock 2.01 GHz
- Memory 16 GB GDDR6
- Memory bandwidth 512 GB/s
- Memory interface width 256-bit
- Kernels RT 72
- Rated power (W) 300
- Required system power (W) 750
- GPU length 267mm
nine0006 2.25 GHz boost clock
The
Radeon RX 6800 XT is the top contender for AMD’s best graphics card.
This is our pick of the second best graphics card you can buy on the market right now. The GPU is clocked at 2015 MHz, boosted up to 2250 MHz. nine0004
We expect both gaming clocks and boost clock to increase slightly with Rage Mode enabled. Rage Mode is a performance preset for the RX 6800 XT and RX 6900 XT.
It allows the card to run at higher clock speeds using whatever headroom is available for both power limiting and fan speed limiting.
The
RX 6800 XT ships with 16GB of GDDR6 memory with a 256-bit bus. The 7nm GPU has a total memory bandwidth of 512 GB/s, slightly behind the RTX 3080’s pure 760 GB/s memory bandwidth. nine0004
The
RX 6800 XT has a TGP of 300W with a recommended PSU of 750W. It also supports ray tracing, however RT performance is probably better on an RTX 3080 with DLSS enabled.
The
RX 6800 XT loses out to Nvidia’s level 2 Ampere card. But it costs less, delivers good 4K performance, and has more VRAM than the RTX 3080.
The
RX 6800 XT has good specs and it makes us expect even more from the RDNA 3 based 7000 series GPUs coming in the future.
nine0004
Until then, the RX 6800 XT is in our opinion the best graphics card from AMD. Nvidia currently has the advantage in ray tracing performance.
The
RX 6800 XT is barely ahead of the RTX 3070 when it comes to ray tracing. Hopefully this will change as more games are optimized for AMD cards.
There’s also RX 6900 XT , AMD’s most powerful GPU this year. We didn’t pick the Radeon RX 6900 XT as the best option for the same reasons we didn’t pick the RTX 3090.
A real increase in performance, say up to seven percent, is not enough to justify a decent price increase. On the other hand, there’s the even cheaper RX 6700 XT graphics card — it’s just as solid a card that can handle games at 1400p and even 4K if you don’t mind tweaking some settings.
Best value graphics card: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti
- GPU Ampere | GA104
- GPU cores 4864
- Base clock 1.41 GHz
- 1.
66 GHz boost clock - Memory 8 GB GDDR6
- Memory bandwidth 448 GB/s
- Memory interface width 256-bit
- Kernels RT 38
- Rated power (W) 200
- Required system power (W 550
- GPU length 242mm
«Ampere for everyone!» — the slogan for the RTX 3060 Ti. This GPU takes the focus away from the RTX 3060, and further closes the gap between midrange cards and the RTX 3070.
The
RTX 3060 Ti features a GA104 GPU with 4864 CUDA cores. This is not only a significant increase from the RTX 2060 Super, but also having more CUDA cores than even the RTX 2080 Super. It has a base clock of 1415MHz and a boost clock of 1665MHz. Graphics cards like the Zotac RTX 3060 Ti Twin Edge OC also have overclocking in the menu.
The
RTX 3060 Ti has 8GB of GDDR6 memory with a bandwidth of 448GB/s. This is the same memory bandwidth as the RTX 3070. With this GPU, we also get 38 RT cores and 152 Tensor cores. It has a TGP of 200W and uses a 12-pin Nvidia connector.
nine0004
All specs come together to help the RTX 3060 Ti deliver impressive gaming performance. The GPU is capable of running games at 1080p, 1440p, and even 4K with minimal loss in graphics settings. Modern games smoothly overcome the mark of 60 frames per second at 1440p resolution.
It’s safe to say that the RTX 3060 Ti is similar to the RTX 3070 in many ways. The RTX 3070 offers, in many cases, an improvement of, say, 10-20 fps over the RTX 3060 Ti. Although in some cases the gap is smaller, since both GPUs produce almost the same number of frames. nine0004
The
RTX 3060 Ti also benefits significantly from DLSS. This is the best graphics card to buy unless you’re into 4k gaming.
The
RTX 3060 Ti will give you 60+ frames per second in almost all modern PC games at 1080p or 1440p at maximum graphics settings. It’s also 20 percent cheaper than the RTX 3070, making it the best graphics card you can buy right now.
Best performing graphics card: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090
- GPU Ada Lovelace | AD102
- GPU cores 16,384
- Base clock 2235 MHz
- 2520 MHz boost clock
- Memory 24 GB GDDR6X
- Memory bandwidth 1018 GB/s
- Memory interface width 364-bit
- Kernels RT 128
- Rated power (W) 450
- Required system power (W) 850
The Nvidia RTX 4090 is the most powerful consumer graphics card you can buy today.
It represents the best that Nvidia has to offer and easily outperforms everyone else on the market when it comes to raw performance. nine0004
The
RTX 4090 is so insanely powerful that neither 4K nor ray tracing in current games can push it to its limits. Most of the time it works in medium gear.
The
RTX 4090 is more suited to content creators and those running apps that will benefit from powerful GPU acceleration. This is the first Nvidia GPU with an AV1 hardware encoder, though the NVENC encoder isn’t bad either.
For example, using RTX 4090 with DaVinci Resolve, we were able to encode a 4:30 4K60 video at 40,000 bitrate using NVENC in just 96 seconds.
The
‘s massive power also means you won’t experience slowdowns when clearing timelines and applying edits, even without using proxies or lower resolution timelines.
The
RTX 4090 is built on Nvidia’s new Ada Lovelace architecture and features an AD102 GPU with 16,382 Cuda cores, 24GB GDDR6X VRAM, a base clock speed of 2.
23GHz, and 3rd generation Nvidia ray tracing cores. nine0004
This is the first Nvidia GPU that also supports DLSS 3.0 and has HDMI 2.1 outputs on the back. DisplayPort is limited to 1.4, which is fine for now, and is powered by a PCIe 4 x16 slot on your motherboard.
The RTX 4090 GPU is rated at 450W TGP, so it draws a lot of power and uses the new 12VHPWR power connector.
In the long run, you’ll have an advantage because a single cable from an ATX 3.0 power supply (capable of delivering up to 600W) will suffice, but so far Nvidia has bundled a much needed but still unfortunate adapter. You’ll need at least an 850W PSU, though we recommend at least 1000W to have headroom. nine0004
This «monster» is also physically huge. The Founders Edition is probably the smallest of them all, but even so it uses three PCIe slots and will fill a Mid-Tower case with ease. Third-party graphics cards are even bigger, some ridiculously so.
Overall, the Nvidia RTX 4090 is certainly not for the general public.
It’s overkill for today’s games and currently makes sense for professional work and content creation. Now there is simply nothing on the market that could compete with this video card. nine0004
Best graphics card for 1440p gaming: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070
- Ampere GPU | GA104
- GPU cores 5888
- Base clock 1.5 GHz
- 1.7 GHz boost clock
- Memory 8 GB GDDR6
- Memory bandwidth 512 GB/s
- Memory interface width 256-bit
- Kernels RT 46
- Rated power (W) 220
- Required system power (W 650
- GPU length 242mm
If you want to play at 1440p, then the RTX 3070 graphics card will do just fine. It comes with a GA104 GPU and has 5888 CUDA cores. This is a significant improvement over the RTX 2080 Ti and its 4352 CUDA cores. It also has 46 RT cores and 184 Tensor cores.
With a clock speed of 1725MHz and 8GB of GDDR6 VRAM, the RTX 3070 approaches the RTX 3080 in the 30-series family.
However, it has the same 448GB/s memory bandwidth as the RTX 3060 Ti we talked about earlier in this roundup. nine0004
The
RTX 3070 has a 220W TGP and Nvidia recommends a 650W PSU for any companion builds. It comes with a 12-pin connector, but you will get one 8-pin to 12-pin adapter in the box.
What’s most impressive about the RTX 3070 is that it outperforms the RTX 2080 Ti in more ways than you can imagine. We’re talking about a level 3 GPU from the Ampere family that is up against the top-end Turing GPU. nine0004
It’s not the most affordable graphics card on the market, but it can compete with the top-end GPU of the previous generation. DLSS is particularly impressive at higher resolutions, and makes these already impressive cards look better with it. While the RTX 40 series will inevitably replace the RTX 3070, you can still buy it knowing you’ll be perfectly equipped for years to come.
Best entry-level graphics card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Super
- Turing GPU | TU116
- GPU cores 1408
- Base clock 1.
5 GHz - 1.8 GHz boost clock
- Memory 6 GB GDDR6
- Memory bandwidth 336 GB/s
- Memory interface width 192-bit
- RT core no data
- Rated power (W) 125
- Required system power (W 450
- GPU length 144mm
We understand that not everyone is looking for the very best when it comes to graphics cards. There are gamers who still enjoy spending their time playing casual or esports games that don’t necessarily put a lot of strain on your GPU. nine0004
We think the RTX 1660 Super is perfect for this case. It’s not the best graphics card on the market, but it’s good enough to last you a few years if you don’t play demanding games at 1400p.
With the GTX 1660 Super, we’re also considering a significantly lower cost than the other graphics cards on our list. The GTX 1660 Super is based on the Turing architecture and uses the TU116 variant of the 1660. It is based on the 12nm FFN process and consists of 6.
6 billion transistors. nine0004
The
GTX 1660 Super has a base clock of 1530MHz and a boost clock of 1785MHz. It has 6GB GDDR6 video memory and 336GB/s bandwidth.
It is recommended to use it with a 500W or higher power supply because it has a TGP of 125W. You don’t need a powerful PSU to run a PC with this GPU, so that’s an advantage too.
Its power consumption is identical to that of AMD Navi 14 chips fabricated using TSMC’s 7nm FinFET. The GTX 1660 Super also features improved Turing NVENC, making it a great choice for streaming. nine0004
Rising prices for slightly higher performing cards like the RTX 2060 or RX 5500 XT are making them less attractive. The GTX 1660 Super now offers more options, especially if you don’t want a jump in performance.
It lags behind the more expensive 1660Ti graphics card with its 1080p performance. Games like League of Legends, Valorant, CS:GO, etc. will run great on this GPU.
The best thing about this GPU is that it does not require a complex cooling solution./cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/18367714/twarren_190730_3576_0018.jpg)
Any build with decent airflow should be enough to not push this graphics card to its limit at stock settings. nine0004
As a GTX series card, 1660 Super does not support ray tracing. It doesn’t have RT cores to deliver ray-traced graphics. But beyond that and the lack of DLSS, you get a lot of features at a very attractive price.
Best Intel Graphics Card for Gaming: Intel Arc A770 Limited Edition 16 GB
- Alchemist GPU | DG2-512
- Xe core 32
- Base clock 2100 MHz
- 2100 MHz boost clock
- Memory 16 GB GDDR6
- Memory bandwidth 512.0 GB/s
- Memory interface width 256-bit
- Kernels RT 32
- Rated power (W) 225
- Required system power (W) 550
What is it? Video card from Intel?! Now, in the constant competition between the two manufacturers Nvidia and AMD, a third player has appeared, and in fact their video card is much better than many expected.
The best is Intel’s own «limited edition» Arc A770, which isn’t really limited, but Nvidia has already coined the phrase Founders Edition.
So Intel needed something else. nine0004
It’s not the only A770 GPU on the market, but it’s the only one that comes with 16GB of VRAM right now, which is definitely worth the small price premium. This extra memory will come in handy for more demanding games as well as complex tasks.
This is definitely a mid-range GPU, but it also comes with a lot of modern features. It consists of 32 Xe cores, 8 render tiles, 32 ray tracing units, and 512 XMX engines. Simply put, this means that the graphics card is ideal for high frame rate gaming at 1440p even with graphics settings turned on. nine0004
The
A770 handles ray tracing surprisingly well. In some games that support DirectX 12 ray tracing, the A770 can match or outperform some of Nvidia’s older but high-end RTX GPUs.
For creative work, the A770 is just as good. It supports HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 2.0 external displays and is one of the first desktop graphics cards to feature an AV1 hardware encoder.
AV1 is still limited in use at this time, but the new codec will see widespread adoption in the future, and Intel offers an affordable way to do so.
nine0004
The only other AV1-encoded graphics card currently on sale is the RTX 4090, which costs more than four times as much as the A770.
The
A770 Limited Edition is quiet, even at a rather high 225W TBP. Out of the box, it will be set to 190W, and increasing the power limit along with some simple performance tweaks can improve performance quite a bit.
There are some shortcomings such as lack of hardware support for DX9, and performance in DX11 games may be inconsistent. But this GPU promises performance on par with the RTX 3060.
Which video card is better for games — Selection by parameters
Today, many gamers are wondering which video card is best for games, which model is best suited for the constant load of the graphics component of the computer. nine0004
In 2017, there are a huge number of video cards, including those from nVidia, AMD and other brands.
Contents:
Therefore, it would be useful to understand which model modern gamers should focus on.
To do this, we will analyze the characteristics that determine how good this or that video card and the leader in the market for each parameter.
Parameter #1. Graphics core
nine0003 This parameter is usually determined by the clock frequency — the higher the better.
Usually, a parameter called «frequency» determines how fast a device can process various operations.
In the case of video cards, the situation is the same — the frequency of the graphics core determines how much information the card can process per unit of time.
So, at the moment there is a video card on the market called Inno3D GeForce GTX 960 with 1329 MHz «graphic» frequency. On Yandex.Market, this is the largest indicator. nine0004
In addition, it also has 7200 MHz memory frequencies.
If the frequency of the graphics core directly determines the number of frames, then the memory frequency works with graphics operations.
This pleasure costs only 339 dollars.
Inno3D GeForce GTX 960 graphics card
Among those video cards that are currently on sale, two models share the second place at once — Inno3D GeForce GTX 980 and EVGA GeForce GTX 960.
Both of them have 1304 MHz graphics core frequencies. nine0004
The first costs about 640 units of US currency, and the second costs only 250.
Also a good model is the ASUS GeForce GTX 980 Ti. It is really popular in the market. It has 1266 MHz graphics core frequency.
This model will already cost about 1100 dollars.
Graphics card ASUS GeForce GTX 980 Ti
The truth is that for most modern games 1000 MHz is more than enough. Take for example one of the heaviest games of our time, Crysis 3.
This game works on video cards of the Geforce GTX 680 family, most of them at 1006 MHz, and some at 680 MHz.
In any case, 1000 MHz graphics frequency is quite enough for games that are only expected to be released, and even more so for all modern ones.
Proceeding from this, it is possible to draw up a criterion for selecting the best video card.
But then we will look at what other parameters determine the leader in the race for the title of «best video card» and most of the above models will lose their leading positions. nine0004
back to content ↑
Parameter #2. Memory
Another important parameter is the amount of memory. It determines how much the device “remembers”, and performance depends on this, in turn.
Today, its maximum value is 24576 MB. The PNY Tesla K80 model has this amount of video memory.
Video card PNY Tesla K80
But, speaking of memory, it’s best to have a combination of volume and the aforementioned frequency. In the aforementioned PNY Tesla K80, the memory frequency is 5000 MHz, which is very good. nine0004
But its core frequency is only 560 MHz.
For a device that costs $6,300, this is very, very little. Perhaps the developers were trying to win at the expense of good volume and frequency, and therefore sacrificed the «graphics» component.
This approach is very doubtful, so this model is clearly not worth buying.
But again, 4096 MB of video memory is enough for Crysis 3. And this is at maximum settings! Therefore, there is simply no point in buying a card with a crazy amount of megabytes of video memory. nine0004
The second card selection criterion is obtained.
You can, of course, take a card «for the future.» Then you should look for models with 10,000 MB of video memory. For the most part, it doesn’t really make sense.
On the other hand, manufacturers are trying to promote their products by issuing cards with an indecently large and, most importantly, unnecessary amount of megabytes.
back to content ↑
Parameter #3. Tire
Another important parameter is the so-called data bus width. This bus itself, in fact, is a kind of buffer that stores the information that enters the device. nine0004
Accordingly, it is the bus that determines how quickly and in full the information will be transmitted.
In scientific terms, this parameter sounds like “bus width”.
So, today the largest bus size is 4096 bits. An example of a graphics card with this setting is the PowerColor Radeon R9 FURY X, which costs just over $1,000.
PowerColor Radeon R9 FURY X graphics card
In this and other video cards with such a large number of bits in the bus, you can notice one feature — a very low memory frequency. nine0004
Again, this is probably just a publicity stunt — we have a capacious bus, so video memory is not important to us.
This approach is incorrect, because even with the most capacious bus in the world, the video processor must still process the operations occurring inside it, and if it does not have enough resources for this, then the processes will slow down, and some will even be skipped.
A very simple worker-peasant example can be given here. Let’s say our bolt factory has an employee named Vasya who can make 2 bolts per hour. nine0004
There is a table next to him, on which another worker named Petya is placing blanks for bolts.
In this example, the bus is a table with blanks, and Vasya is a video memory with its own speed.
What difference does it make how much Petya puts on the workpiece table if Vasya can only make two bolts in an hour? No! And the size of the table itself does not matter.
It is better to put two blanks there every hour. Accordingly, the size of the table can be such that it would accommodate only two workpieces. nine0004
Therefore, when choosing which is the best video card of 2017, you should take some average bus width parameter — 256 bits. For the same Crysis 3, this is quite enough.
back to content ↑
Best graphics cards under $100
Sapphire Radeon R7 240
If you don’t have a lot of money in your pocket, you can choose a quite good sample from video cards in the price range up to $100.
For example, a solid representative of its class Sapphire Radeon R7 240, which has the following characteristics:
- Video memory — 1 GB;
- Core clock 780 MHz;
- Memory frequency 1600 MHz;
- Can work with two monitors at once;
- Maximum resolution — 4096×2160;
- Bus width — 64 bits;
- Support for DirectX 12 and OpenGL version 5.
Of course, this model does not meet most of the criteria described above, but among video cards under $100, it occupies a leading position.
nine0003 Yes, and it costs an average of a little less than $100.
Video card Sapphire Radeon R7 240
ATI Radeon HD 6570
There is an ATI Radeon HD 6570, but it only has 650 MHz core clock and 1000 MHz memory clock.
Other characteristics are almost identical — 1 GB of video memory, work with two monitors and everything else, with the exception of support for DirectX 11 and OpenGL 4.1, that is, only older versions.
True, the bus width is slightly higher — 128 bits. But the maximum resolution is also less — 2560×1600. At the same time, its price is the same. nine0004
ATI Radeon HD 6570
Inno3D GeForce GTX 650
But still, the leader in this category is the Inno3D GeForce GTX 650. The model was released quite a long time ago, but still holds the brand.
It has 1058 MHz graphics core frequency and as much as 5000 MHz video memory frequency.
The bus width is 128 bits.
In terms of frequency, this is definitely the best sample in the proposed price category.
True, due to the fact that the video card was released relatively long ago, it supports only DirectX 11 and OpenGL 4.3, although so far this is not so important. nine0004
Still, this is the best video card in the price category under $100, based on the frequency of the processor and video memory. Something better is yet to be found.
Inno3D GeForce GTX 650
Sapphire Radeon R7 250E
A model slightly inferior to the Inno3D GeForce GTX 650 is the Sapphire Radeon R7 250E with 925MHz GPU and 4500MHz VRAM.
The bus width here is also 128 bits, as in the ATI Radeon HD 6570.
The maximum resolution is 4096×2160. The amount of video memory is 1024 MB — quite standard. Such a pleasure costs exactly $ 100, no less.
A very good video card that can handle most modern heavy games like NFS or GTA.
Although, of course, in the future it may not be able to meet the requirements of game developers, but it is quite possible to use it for another 2 years.
Sapphire Radeon R7 250E
nine0003 Also noteworthy is the design of the Sapphire Radeon R7 250E. It looks like some kind of racing car.
Although it makes absolutely no difference to performance.
In any case, the conclusion from all of the above is the following: if you have $100 in your pocket, you need to buy Inno3D GeForce GTX 650 or Sapphire Radeon R7 250E.
It’s bad, of course, that they have only one cooler, because games consume a huge amount of computer and video card resources, so it’s important for it to cool down in time. nine0004
But $100 graphics cards don’t have dual cooler samples.
But in the next price category there is.
back to content ↑
Top models under $500
GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 970
Without further ado, let’s say that the GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 970 wins in this category, in which 1190 MHz graphics core and 7010 MHz memory frequencies are the best indicator of all video cards in this price category.
Yes, as for models with a memory frequency of 7010 MHz, there are a huge number of them on the market, this is the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 970, and ASUS GeForce GTX 970, and MSI GeForce GTX 970, and many other models.
But the video card from GIGABYTE wins solely due to the core frequency. In addition to this characteristic, it has many other features that will delight gamers. Among them:
- 4 GB VRAM;
- DirectX 12 and OpenGL 4.5 support;
- Maximum resolution 5120×3200;
- Ability to work with four monitors;
- Bus width 256 bits. nine0009
It is interesting that it is only a little short of our today’s absolute winner and loses to it in one single significant characteristic, namely in the frequency of the graphics core.
Although, loses, of course, significantly.
But they both have three coolers! This means that cooling will occur properly even under the most severe loads.
GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 970
As for other models that you should pay attention to, some of them were named above.
nine0004
The truth is that they all differ only in minor features and design, and significant characteristics (criteria listed above) remain almost the same.
Below you can see a comparison table of video cards priced under $500, all of which are quite suitable for the heaviest modern games.
If one of these is not available in your area, the other one offered is fine.
| Name | Core frequency, MHz | Memory frequency, MHz | Bus width, bit | Video memory size, GB | Price, dollars |
| MSI Radeon R9 390X* | 1100 | 6100 | 512 | 8 | 510 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 390X | 1050 | 6000 | 512 | 8 | 490 |
| ZOTAC GeForce GTX 970 | 1152 | 7010 | 4 | 475 | |
| ASUS GeForce GTX 970 | 1114 | 7010 | 256 | 4 | 465 |
We could not recognize the MSI Radeon R9 390X video card as the leader of the race for the title of the best, because the main importance is still given to the frequency of the graphics core and memory frequency, and not to the amount of video memory.
These characteristics are more significant in terms of performance. nine0004
Matrox M9138 PCI-E
We could also pay attention to video cards with passive cooling. For example, the Matrox M9138 PCI-E performs well. But it has only 1 GB of video memory and a bus width of 128 bits.
The truth is that it doesn’t matter to any game whether the video card has passive cooling or active cooling, in order for it to work properly, high performance is needed.
And since there are no frequencies here, the performance is determined depending on the amount of video memory, and it is very small here. Matrox M9138 PCI-E can only be bought out of interest or for the sake of experiment.
Matrox M9138 PCI-E
We also recommend reading:
- Which Windows is better for games — A detailed comparison of
- What is the best processor for games — Overview by parameters
- Buying a laptop! Which one to choose for games?
systems
to content ↑
Absolute winner
It should be said right away that there are many other parameters, such as the frame rate (fps) that the video card can produce when playing at FullHD resolution, the number of connectors, the cooling system, and much more.