When it comes to GPUs and graphics cards, we go in full depth. Year after year, we test dozens of GPUs from Nvidia, AMD, and Intel, to determine which are worth your money and which are dead on arrival.
Unfortunately, the PC graphics card market is currently in a state of stagnation, which is not something we've been used to seeing for the last couple of decades. While current GPU technology is impressive, new chip releases have slowed down, and pricing is not great from a value perspective, with little change over the last 6 to 12 months. However, if you're building a new gaming PC, getting into PC gaming for the first time, or if your existing graphics card is starting to feel a bit old, it's still worth discussing the best GPU options available right now.
To simplify the process of choosing a new graphics card, TechSpot's guide to the best GPUs aims to answer one simple question: Given a specific budget, which graphics card should you buy?
Should You Buy a GPU Right Now?
But before we get there, the first question that needs to be answered is whether you should consider purchasing a graphics card at all, the classic "should you buy or should you wait?" Naturally, this depends on your situation and how capable your existing GPU is – or whether you have one at all – but generally speaking, the higher-end the GPU you are thinking of buying, the more you should consider waiting.
This is because next-generation GPUs are expected to be unveiled within the next six months. We're currently at the end of the current generation product cycle. Nvidia's RTX 50 series is expected to launch in the fourth quarter of 2024, although recent rumors suggest this could be pushed to a January 2025 release. Similarly, AMD's RDNA 4 generation is set to be unveiled at CES 2025 in January, with actual availability still uncertain, ranging from a week to a few months after the announcements.
As is typical for new GPU generations, the top-end products will be the first to arrive on shelves, followed by lower-tier models in the months after. This means you'll wait a shorter time to get a new high-end GPU and a longer time for more affordable products. This is further complicated by the expectation that RDNA 4's best GPU will be a mid-range offering. With all that context upfront, our recommendations are as follows...
For high-end buyers, consider waiting for new GPUs, as the RTX 50 series (starting with the RTX 5080 and 5090) is expected to arrive within the next six months. Upper-mid-range buyers should also consider waiting, as AMD's RDNA 4 series is set to launch in January. Even if you normally prefer one GPU brand, it's worth waiting in these product segments to see how competition and pricing are affected around the launch.
For the lower parts of the mid-range, new models likely won't be available for 9+ months, which is a long time to wait, so it's easier to justify buying in this tier. The same can be said for the budget and mainstream segment, as we're unlikely to see new GPUs until mid-2025. We aren't saying you definitely should buy a new graphics card right now – waiting is fine – but if you're putting together a new budget PC, you're probably not going to be burned by new GPUs immediately making your purchase obsolete.
Ultimately, if you've decided to buy, what are the best options? We've organized this guide from top to bottom, presenting the recommended GPU picks at each price point, starting from the most expensive one to the most affordable options and working our way down.
- $2,000
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090
- $1,000
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super
- $700 - $800
Radeon RX 7900 XT or GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super
- $450 - $600
GeForce RTX 4070 Super or Radeon RX 7800 XT
- $350 - $400
Radeon RX 7700 XT or Radeon RX 6800
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Radeon 6750 XT or GeForce RTX 4060 or Radeon 7600
- $200
AMD Radeon RX 6600
Money Means Nothing: The $2,000 GPU
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 ($1,700+)
The best-performing graphics card on the market remains the GeForce RTX 4090, currently priced above its MSRP at $1,700. This is a huge amount of money to spend on a GPU, but it is the best.
In fact, the RTX 4090 wins the ultimate high-end GPU category by default. There's no competition from AMD as it offers ~25% more performance than the Radeon 7900 XTX, and while it might cost 100% more at retail, select gamers who want the best there is appear more than happy to pay the premium. It's also ~32% faster than the GeForce RTX 4080 Super, making the 4090 over 80% more expensive. Not a significant concern if you have plenty of money to spend on a premium gaming graphics card, but typically, the 4080 Super is a more sensible choice.
That means the RTX 4090 has been a massive success for Nvidia, so don't expect the next generation of extreme GPUs to be any cheaper – if anything, the safe bet would be for prices to increase, oh my.
The Best $1,000 GPU
GeForce RTX 4080 Super ($960)
There are two key options in this price range: the GeForce RTX 4080 Super, starting at $960, and the Radeon RX 7900 XTX at $910. For rasterization, the Radeon model is the better buy as it's about 10% faster and slightly cheaper. However, if you value ray tracing, the RTX 4080 Super is over 30% faster on average in our testing. GeForce GPUs also offer a superior feature set and DLSS is the best upscaler.
We believe ray tracing is more important at the high-end than it is for budget GPU models, and generally, features like DLSS and frame generation also work better on higher-tier parts. With that in mind, we think the RTX 4080 Super is the overall better buy, though if you don't care about ray tracing or Nvidia's features, the 7900 XTX does offer good value.
Benchmarking Your Budget at $700+
Radeon RX 7900 XT ($690) or GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super ($780)
The next tier down is the $700 range, which includes the $780 GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super, the $730 RTX 4070 Ti, and the $690 Radeon RX 7900 XT. We can eliminate one of those GPUs from contention straight away: the 4070 Ti is ~10% slower than the Ti Super, but it's only 6% cheaper and has less VRAM at 12GB vs 16GB. So, the 4070 Ti is a bad purchase given current pricing.
There is a reasonable price gap between the remaining GeForce and Radeon models: the 4070 Ti Super is 13% more expensive than the 7900 XT but is 6% slower in rasterization at 4K. On the other hand, the Ti Super is much faster for ray tracing, with a 30% advantage. However, on a performance-per-dollar basis, the GeForce model is only 15% better.
In this price segment, the choice is less obvious than at the tier above, as there's a larger pricing gap between the Nvidia and AMD models. The Radeon 7900 XT being faster than the 4070 Ti Super in many game configurations while also being nearly $100 cheaper makes it a good value purchase, and we lean towards it here. However, the GeForce model is clearly better if you value ray tracing or features like DLSS, which is understandable when spending at least $700. Your preferences and gaming style will be significant factors in deciding which way to go.
Mid-range-Plus Performance: $450 to $600
GeForce RTX 4070 Super ($590) or Radeon RX 7800 XT ($480)
Between about $500 and $600, there are four models to consider: the $580 GeForce RTX 4070 Super, the $540 RTX 4070, the $550 Radeon RX 7900 GRE, and the $480 RX 7800 XT.
With this pricing structure, the RTX 4070 stands out for its poor value. For just $40 more, the GeForce RTX 4070 Super offers nearly 20% more performance. The reverse is true for the Radeon models, where the higher-priced card offers worse value. The RX 7900 GRE costs 15% more than the 7800 XT but only provides 6 to 8% more performance, making the Radeon 7800 XT a better buy.
When comparing GeForce and Radeon, we come to a similar conclusion. The 7900 GRE makes no sense at $550 when it has similar rasterization performance to the 4070 Super, yet for just $30 more, the GeForce card is much faster at ray tracing. If you have a $600 budget and want to get the most out of your money, the GeForce card is the way to go.
The Radeon RX 7800 XT is in an interesting position. It's $100, or 17%, cheaper than the RTX 4070 Super and 11% cheaper than the 4070, while sitting in the middle of those models in rasterization performance. If you don't care much about ray tracing, this is a tempting position for the Radeon card. However, if you do care about ray tracing, the 4070 Super is clearly better value, offering a 20% lower cost per frame than the 7800 XT simply because it's 50% faster in this area.
If we extend this comparison to include $450 GPUs, we can bring in the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 16GB and the Radeon RX 6800 XT (which is still available). The 6800 XT is basically a slightly slower, slightly cheaper 7800 XT. The 4060 Ti 16GB, though, is poor value at $450, offering the same VRAM capacity as the 7800 XT but providing substantially less rasterization performance: the 7800 XT is 40% faster and has a 24% lower cost per frame. Even for ray tracing, both models offer similar performance, so the Radeon is an overall better pick.
Overall, the Radeon RX 7800 XT is a great buy if you have about $500 to spend and can't stretch the budget any higher to include models like the RTX 4070 Super; it's simply better than its competitors at this price. The RTX 4070 Super is also a decent mid-range buy if your budget stretches to $580, particularly if you plan on utilizing its ray tracing and DLSS capabilities.
Mid-range Performance: $350 to $400
Radeon RX 7700 XT ($390) or Radeon RX 6800 ($350)
The lower mid-range GPU market has several options. There's the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB at $365, along with the $390 Radeon RX 7700 XT and the $350 Radeon RX 6800.
The 4060 Ti 8GB can be immediately removed from contention due to its inadequate 8GB VRAM buffer, which we believe is insufficient at this price point. The 7700 XT offers 12GB and the RX 6800 offers 16GB, which is much more suitable when spending over $300.
As for which Radeon model you should buy, this will depend on availability. The RX 6800 is still available but not everywhere. If it is available in your region, the RX 6800 is slightly faster than the RX 7700 XT while including more VRAM, and right now it's $40 cheaper as well – a great value choice for just $350. If it's not available, the RX 7700 XT is still decent, as it's generally faster than the RTX 4060 Ti 8GB and offers similar ray tracing performance. It also provides an adequate amount of VRAM at 12GB.
Mainstream GPU: $300
Radeon 6750 XT ($300) or GeForce RTX 4060 ($290) or Radeon 7600 ($260)
At around $300, there are a ton of competitors. All of these are within $60 of one another, which makes the discussion of which way to go somewhat complex... there's the $290 GeForce RTX 4060, the $280 RTX 3060, the $320 Radeon RX 7600 XT, the $260 RX 7600, the $300 RX 6750 XT, and the $270 Intel Arc A770 16GB.
Let's narrow things down. The RTX 4060 is only 7% faster than the RTX 3060, it's 4% more expensive, it has less VRAM at 8GB versus 12GB, though it does support DLSS frame generation. We would much prefer the extra VRAM over DLSS frame generation, so GeForce buyers should opt for the RTX 3060 over the newer model while it's still available.
From Team Red, the best contender right now looks to be the older RX 6750 XT or 6700 XT (while it's still available). It's 13% faster than the RX 7600 XT while costing $20 less, and while you do have to sacrifice 4GB of VRAM, dropping down from 16GB to 12GB, that's still sufficient at this performance tier and price point. It's also about 20% faster than the RX 7600 while costing 15% more, and it features more VRAM, as the RX 7600 is an 8GB model. This puts the value equation firmly in the camp of the older 6700 XT series.
Meanwhile, the Intel Arc A770 16GB isn't especially good value, offering similar performance to the Radeon RX 7600 but with some issues around game compatibility that we recently discussed.
Bottom line, the main battle at $300 is between the Radeon RX 6750 XT versus the GeForce RTX 3060, or if only new cards are available, Radeon RX 7600 series vs GeForce RTX 4060.
- The Radeon 6750 XT is over 30% faster than the RTX 3060 for just $20 more, which is a no brainer. Radeon wins.
- The Radeon 7600 is less competitive as it's only slightly faster and slightly cheaper than the RTX 4060, while the 7600 XT is passable thanks to its small performance increase and double the VRAM at a higher price. The last-gen 6750 XT is far ahead of the pack, but if it's not available, it's a tossup between the newer Radeon and GeForce cards. The most future proof option would be the 7600 XT with its 16GB of VRAM, but we hesitate to call it the best.
Entry-level GPUs: $200 or less
AMD Radeon RX 6600 ($180)
Finally, the budget GPU tier where we have the $180 GeForce RTX 3050, the $230 Radeon RX 6600 XT (although they're becoming hard to find), the $190 Radeon RX 6600, and the $200 Intel Arc A750.
First things first, let's remove the RTX 3050 from contention because it offers much less performance than all the other GPUs around this price. Seriously, it's 25% slower than the RX 6600 at the same price, don't buy it.
The Radeon RX 6600 remains the standout of the group as we've been recommending for the past year or two, offering the best cost per frame. The RX 6600 XT has a slight price premium but is also a good choice if you have $40 more to spend and want a faster GPU. The Arc A750 isn't a bad-performing model; it's a little faster than the RX 6600 in our benchmarks at a $10 premium, but we don't think this is enough of a price-to-performance proposition to mitigate any game compatibility issues; Radeon cards are more likely to work well across a broad variety of games.
The $190 Radeon RX 6600 is also the cheapest GPU we can recommend. Below this mark you will find the RX 6500 XT and RX 6400, but both are poor GPUs in many ways. The same can be said of the GeForce RTX 3050 6GB, which is far too slow to justify a $175 price tag, and the Arc A580 suffers a similar fate to other Intel GPUs in that it just isn't cheap enough at $170.
We would love to say there's a worthy graphics card available for just $150 brand new, but there isn't. So if you can't quite afford the RX 6600, your best bet is the used market.
