4 Best Graphics Cards for Gaming in 2024

When it comes to gaming, having the right graphics card can make all the difference. Whether you’re a competitive gamer or simply enjoy immersive gaming experiences, choosing the right GPU is crucial. In this blog post, we’ll explore some of the best graphics cards available in 2024, catering to various budgets and performance needs.

I will help simplify your decision-making process by presenting the best graphics card options for your upcoming PC build. Whether you have a budget of $200 for an average graphics card or are willing to spend up to $2000 for a high-end GPU, I have provided some quick recommendations for cards that excel at various resolutions, such as 1080p, 1440p, and 4K gaming.

Quick Recommendations

Best AMD GPU for Gaming?

• Best for 4K: 7900 XTX
• Best for 1440p: RTX 3060 Ti or RTX 3070 Ti (If you can spend more)
• Best for 1080p: MSI RTX 3060

Best NVIDIA GPU for Gaming?

• Best for 4K: RTX 3080 (Budget option) or RTX 4090 (If you can spend more)
• Best for 1440p: RX 6700 XT
• Best for 1080p: RX 6600 or RX 6650 XT (If you can spend more)

AMD is the winner when it comes to 1080p gaming – AMD 6650XT is even better than Nvidia RTX 3060 in terms of performance.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super

This GPU strikes an excellent balance between performance and affordability. With ray tracing capabilities and solid frame rates, it’s a top choice for most gamers.

• Performance Boost: The RTX 4070 Super delivers an expected boost in performance compared to the standard RTX 4070. On average, it offers 16% higher performance across various test scenarios.
• Pricing: Interestingly, this enhanced performance comes at the same $599 price point as the vanilla RTX 4070. As a result, the existing RTX 4070’s price has been adjusted down to $549.
• Mid-Cycle Refresh: While not surprising, the 4070 Super serves as a solid mid-cycle refresh. It maintains the stealthy aesthetics of the Founders Edition and includes features like DLSS, AI, AV1, and ray tracing.
• Pros and Cons:
  • Pros:
    • Good overall performance.
    • Excellent efficiency.
    • Ray tracing capabilities.
    • Sleek Founders Edition design.
  • Cons:
    • 12GB VRAM may feel limited.
    • No bling on the Founders Edition (which some users prefer).
    • The 16-pin adapter for non-ATX 3.0 PSUs isn’t aesthetically pleasing.

In summary, the Nvidia RTX 4070 Super is a worthy upgrade option for those considering the RTX 4070. It’s a solid choice for gamers seeking enhanced performance without breaking the bank.

AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT

If you’re on a budget, the RX 7800 XT delivers impressive performance without breaking the bank. It’s perfect for 1080p gaming and offers great value for its price.

Let’s take a closer look at the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT:

• Performance and Value: The RX 7800 XT offers superb value across various resolutions. It’s optimal for 1440p gaming, with enough power to stretch to 4K if needed.
• Memory and Bandwidth: With 16GB of memory, it ensures smooth gameplay and ample VRAM for modern titles.
• Efficiency: It boasts lower power requirements compared to its predecessor, the RX 6800 XT.
• Rasterization Performance: The RX 7800 XT delivers strong performance in traditional rasterization tasks.
• Architectural Improvements: Features like DP2.1 and AV1 enhance its capabilities.
• Cooling and Noise: The reference card runs fairly cool, but it’s not the quietest option.
• Ray Tracing and AI: While it excels in rasterization, it’s still weaker in ray tracing and AI performance compared to some competitors.

In summary, the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT strikes a balance between performance and affordability, making it an excellent choice for gamers seeking a midrange GPU. 

AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE

Sitting comfortably in the mid-range segment, the RX 7900 GRE provides excellent performance for both gaming and productivity tasks. Its versatility makes it a solid choice.

Let’s take a closer look at the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE:

• Positioning: The RX 7900 GRE fills the gap between the RX 7800 XT and the RX 7900 XT. Priced just 10% higher than the former, it offers about 10% better performance, making it a good overall value—though not exceptional.
• Sapphire Pulse: Sapphire’s RX 7900 GRE Pulse model stands out for its well-designed build and exceptionally quiet operation. It’s a reliable choice for gamers seeking top-tier performance without exceeding their budget.

In summary, the RX 7900 GRE strikes a balance between affordability and performance, making it a solid option for those looking to upgrade their gaming rig.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090

For those who crave cutting-edge visuals, the RTX 4090 is a ray tracing powerhouse. It delivers stunning graphics and smooth gameplay, especially in titles optimized for ray tracing.

Let’s take a closer look at the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090:

• Performance and Technological Leap: The RTX 4090 delivers on both the technological and performance fronts, easily surpassing previous generation offerings. With major enhancements to all core hardware components and significantly higher clock speeds, it sets a new standard. Features like DLSS 3 address CPU bottlenecks, making it excellent for content creation as well.
• Price and Value: However, the RTX 4090 comes with an equally high price tag. At $1,599, it’s not for the faint of heart. While it ranks among the best graphics cards, its extreme pricing and power consumption may give some pause.
• Resolution and Use Case: The RTX 4090 shines at 1440p and 4K resolutions. It’s not designed for 1080p gaming, where CPU bottlenecks can still be a concern due to its sheer speed.
• Looking Ahead: As we await AMD’s RDNA 3 offerings and the inevitable RTX 4090 Ti, the RTX 4090 currently reigns supreme as the queen of GPUs.

In summary, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 is a beastly GPU, delivering futuristic performance and features—albeit at a steep cost.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super

If you’re looking for high-end performance without the premium price tag, the RTX 4080 Super is an excellent option. It’s a great choice for gamers who want top-tier features without breaking their budget.

Let’s take a closer look at the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super:

• Performance and Technological Leap: The RTX 4080 Super delivers on both the technological and performance fronts, easily surpassing previous generation offerings. With major enhancements to all core hardware components and significantly higher clock speeds, it sets a new standard. Features like DLSS 3 address CPU bottlenecks, making it excellent for content creation as well.
• Price and Value: However, the RTX 4080 Super comes with an equally high price tag. At $1,599, it’s not for the faint of heart. While it ranks among the best graphics cards, its extreme pricing and power consumption may give some pause.
• Resolution and Use Case: The RTX 4080 Super shines at 1440p and 4K resolutions. It’s not designed for 1080p gaming, where CPU bottlenecks can still be a concern due to its sheer speed.
• Looking Ahead: As we await AMD’s RDNA 3 offerings and the inevitable RTX 4090, the RTX 4080 Super currently reigns supreme as the queen of GPUs.

In summary, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super is a beastly GPU, delivering futuristic performance and features—albeit at a steep cost. 

AMD Radeon RX 7600

Need an affordable entry-level GPU? The RX 7600 provides decent performance for casual gaming. It’s a wallet-friendly option that won’t disappoint.

Let’s take a closer look at the AMD Radeon RX 7600:

• Performance and Value: The RX 7600 hits the sweet spot with sub-$300 pricing but ultimately delivers similar performance as the previous generation RX 6650 XT. It’s an okay card, but like most mainstream GPU launches, it doesn’t bring anything truly new or revolutionary to the graphics card landscape — it’s yet another 8GB and 128-bit solution.
• Compact Design: The reference design features a compact and understated appearance.
• Gaming Performance: Works fine for 1080p gaming.
• MSRP: Reasonable $269 MSRP.
• Additional Features: Supports DisplayPort 2.1 and AV1.
• Cons: Not much faster than the RX 6650 XT, but for more money. Also, the last-gen TSMC N6 process node and lack of bling on the reference card might disappoint some users.
• Thermal and Noise: The reference card runs a bit warm and loud.

In summary, the AMD Radeon RX 7600 offers decent performance within its price range, but it faces tough competition from existing models. Street prices and availability will play a significant role in its success.

Buyer’s Guide

Every gamer asks himself the same question, how vital a graphics card is for better gaming. GPUs are somewhat overrated by players, but for a gaming PC, the graphics card is the essential hardware component. Unfortunately, when it comes to the performance of a graphics card, gamers are confused about the features and specifications that affect its performance.

The description of GPUs given by manufacturers is often so overwhelming with technical stuff that it’s hard for someone to make a choice or compare them. Thus, the best solution is that you search for reviewers on google rather than manufacturers. The performance of GPUs is calculated with different aspects, and many sites will let you compare cards with almost every possible detail.

In this guide, we will break down some of the most important aspects of how to choose a graphics card according to your requirements. We will try to provide you a basic understanding of what is the difference between the different models and what kind of performance they deliver. Whether you are thinking about buying the AMD RX 5700 or one of the best Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti, we will help you select the one that fits your requirements.

Understanding the Brands

There are countless graphics cards from different companies you may not even hear of. Like when I started building a gaming PC, I only knew about AMD and Nvidia. This guide will help you understand the difference between GPUs and graphics cards, and once you know the difference, choosing the best option for yourself won’t be a problem.

GPU is a processor that handles the rendering of graphics in games. The actual difference in the performance of a GPU won’t be much in different models. Pick a GPU that is relevant to your gaming needs and compare it with the GPUs you are looking at.

Intel has shown its interest in entering the graphics card market this year. While there are only two big names AMD and Nvidia with the biggest shares in the market right now, both companies have some excellent performing graphic cards, and both have their niches in which they perform better than each other.

• In terms of sheer raw power, graphics cards with Nvidia GeForce GPU quickly takes the lead. Powerful GTX 1080 Ti by Nvidia can deliver hands down the best performance over any card that AMD has to offer, and Nvidia still has more powerful cards than that. Performance-wise the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti is the best video card out there for gaming. These high performing cards by Nvidia don’t come cheap and will cost you more than $1000, and the price can go higher for more advanced ones.
• Most of the gamers try to build the whole PC under $1000, and these cards by Nvidia alone cost that much money. Gamers with a limited budget are not going to spend that much money on a graphics card alone. AMD is not on the same level as Nvidia in delivering high performance, but they have enough power at a lower price. AMD provides the best value for gamers who are seeking out the best in a budget.

Slot Size

How much space does your motherboard have for a graphics card? Space in your motherboard will have an impact on which graphics card you will be able to fit there. A larger graphics card will lessen the space for other hardware components on your PC. Make sure that your PC has enough space for that card before making a purchase. Fortunately, there aren’t that many choices available.

• Usually, graphics cards need a dual-slot for connection, and you will need two PCIe ports and two expansion slots to function. It seems like a lot, but you should know that the gaming graphics card is the most crucial hardware component in a gaming PC that you are going to fit in. Getting the right card is worth it, even if you have to make sacrifices with other components.
• Some graphics card takes 2.5 slots and doesn’t need the 3rd PCIe slot, but they cover half of the 3rd slot leaving not enough space for another component to be connected. This is where you got to be creative to use utilize all of the slots and make most of the area.
• Some graphics cards take 2.7 slots, and they are bigger than the cards that take 2.5 slots. They will leave even less space to use the 3rd PCIe slot.

GPU should be your number one priority when building a Gaming rig rather than the motherboard. Scale up your motherboard when you want a specific card to get the performance you wish to rather than scaling down the graphics card because graphics cards are a more important part of your PC when it comes to the quality of gaming than the motherboard.

Which slot should you choose for your GPU? Sometimes it matters, and sometimes it doesn’t. The slot that is closer to CPU is considered the primary slot, and you should try to install your graphics card there. Make sure you PC casing supports the card you are purchasing.

Dual Card Setups

Some of the latest motherboards have the capability to install two cards and combine their power and performance. We believe that installing a single powerful card is better than installing two weaker ones. But if you already have two cards and don’t want to purchase a new one. Then you can buy a motherboard that will happily fit both cards.

Price

How much should you spend on a graphics card for your gaming PC? It all depends on your requirements. You will get what you pay for, but high-end graphics cards won’t matter to the majority of the gamers. We’ll break the most common graphics cards down below in different price ranges.

• Cheapest price range includes the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1030 and the AMD Radeon RX 550. Both graphic cards didn’t make it to our list because they are not up to the mark in terms of performance. These cards are for casual gamers who occasionally play games and want the cheapest card to have some fun.
• Entry-level graphics cards can handle almost all the best and latest games, but you shouldn’t expect outstanding performance at higher settings. Entry-level cards include the AMD Radeon RX 560, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050, and GTX 1050 Ti model, and you can expect a price range of $100 to $200. These cards can efficiently deliver 1080p HD performance.
• There is barely a little difference between the entry-level graphic cards and the AMD Radeon RX 570, AMD Radeon RX 580, and AMD Radeon RX 590. While the NVIDIA GTX 1060 and NVIDIA GTX 1070 represent the first substantial financial disparity between NVIDIA and AMD card design. In either case, these mid-range cards are the types of cards we recommend for most gamers. While you’ll still mostly be gaming in 1080p, they offer about the smoothest performance you could want at Full HD as well as compatibility with the current generation of VR headsets.
• The market is getting day by day, crowded with high-end graphics cards. The NVIDIA GTX 1070 Ti and 1080 Ti stands between mid-range and high-end cards, while the GeForce RTX 2060, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070, and GeForce RTX 2080 sit comfortably in the expensive high-end category. This is where AMD’s starts to the left behind, RX Vega 56 and the RX Vega 64 are the best examples. These graphics cards can easily play games and stream video on144 Hz curved gaming monitor at 60 FPS.
• Top shelf cards are not for every gamer, but the pro gamers and those who can afford it. These top of the line best graphics cards require heavy specs in all of your gaming PC. These cards efficiently cost over $1000. This is where the NVIDIA is the lone wolf with little to no competition. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, and the NVIDIA Titan V provide the best power and graphics performance, and these are the only GPUs reasonably good for playing games at decent 4K settings. They also come with the latest ray tracing technology.

Memory

One of the advantage is that they have their dedicated ram, which allows your CPU to make the most out of its processing power. This helps it render graphics smoothly. RAM is used for multi-purposes like storing textures, performing anti-aliasing, and post-processing. To play games on full 1080p or 14400p, 4GB of VRAM is more than enough. 8GB of VRAM is overkill, and you don’t need that much of a RAM to play even the latest games on 4K settings.

How much memory is required for the best performance? A general thumb of rule is that if you have a graphics card with 2GB VRAM of then, you need 4GB of RAM. So, you need double the amount of VRAM, but that is just for the best performance. If you are playing games on 4K settings, then make sure you have the right Monitor for the job.

Clock Speeds

GPU clock speed indicates how fast the cores of a graphics processing unit (GPU) are. Clock speeds are an indicator of what sort of performance you’ll get out of your graphics card. All the cards use standard core GPUs, which makes it easier for you to know exactly what you’re going to get from a model name.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX will perform better than NVIDIA GeForce GTX. Every GPU has its clock speed mentioned for easier understanding. There’s an almost entirely direct correlation between clock speed and frame rate for each video resolution. Overclocking helps you squeeze out better performance from a graphics card. The function of these cores is to render graphics; therefore, the higher the GPU clock speed, the faster the processing.

Cooling Systems

Cooling systems are used to prevent GPUs from overheating. Manufacturers use different techniques and components to cool their GPUs. Usually, fans are used to avoid the overheating problem, but some companies also use heat sinks and some other factors to keep the heat to a minimum. There are plenty of sites that let you evaluate the cooling system in terms of numbers, which makes it easier for you to compare the cooling system of different cards.

Also Read: Water Cooling Kits for Gaming PC

Ray Tracing & A.I.

The latest new technology is ray tracing and artificial intelligence, but you will need a top of the line card like the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 or RTX 2080 Ti to get the most of it. Nvidia has included this in the latest graphics cards, but AMD doesn’t have it in any of the cards at all. These new features have started to become noticeable in GeForce RTX 2070 models.

Nvidia is using these new features for its marketing strategy to sell its top of the line graphics card. At this point, it’s tough to tell how important these technologies are in the cards. RT is a new rendering process that allows for more elegant and realistic lighting and rain effects. Artificial intelligence can similarly be used to make asset generation more spontaneous and detailed.

Let’s see how many manufacturers use these features in the upcoming months. For now, we recommend that you consider performance and don’t worry about these new features. By the time these new technologies become common, it will be time for you to upgrade your card for the best performance anyway.