The Best GPU Recommended by Experts in 2024

In terms of gaming and content creation, the best GPU will provide you with lightning-fast performance, but that alone does not make it the best. What use is a graphics card that performs just a little bit better but costs twice as much?

Furthermore, even though obtaining the greatest AMD and Nvidia GeForce graphics cards has gotten easier, they can still be highly expensive. Fortunately, costs have begun to decline significantly from their recent highs, making this the ideal moment to purchase a new graphics card.

1. Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080

Product’s Specifications

• Graphics Coprocessor: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080

• Brand: EVGA

• Graphics Ram Size: 10 GB

• GPU Clock Speed: 1755 MHz

• Video Output Interface: DisplayPort

• Chipset Brand: NVIDIA

Product’s Highlights

For a high-end gaming PC, the RTX 3080 offers the best performance per dollar, at least for a little while longer. And only the 10GB one is under discussion at the list price. There is also the 12GB RTX 3080, however it costs considerably more money.

We are aware that there are many factors to take into account when purchasing a high-end GPU at the moment, and this is partly because we are about to enter a new GPU generation after a period of GPU shortage.

However, the RTX 3080 offers a significant generational performance improvement over the RTX 20-series. That's amazing whether compared to the RTX 2080 or 2080 Super, but it really sinks in when you realize that this nominally $699 card can not only match but much surpass the $1,200 RTX 2080 Ti.

Since turning on ray tracing in the first generation of ray tracing-capable cards required such a significant frame rate compromise, this is no longer the case in the second generation.

Pros

• Amazing generational performance

• 2080 Ti looks like a mid-range GPU

• No longer a sacrifice, ray tracing

• It was one of the greatest launches in PC gaming history

Cons

• Requires a robust PSU

• In great demand

• A superior 12GB model is available

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2. AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT

Product’s Specifications

• Graphics Coprocessor: AMD RX 6800 XT

• Brand: XFX

• Graphics Ram Size: 16 GB

• Video Output Interface: HDMI

• Chipset Brand: AMD

• Graphics RAM Type: GDDR6

Product’s Highlights

There haven't been many red team alternatives to Nvidia's top-tier graphics cards better than the RX 6800 XT. Any PC gamer aiming for 4K should seriously consider a very competitive card that comes close to its competition and has a negligible performance difference from the RTX 3080.

Although there have been many other cards since the RX 6800 XT entered the market as the first AMD RDNA 2 GPU, it is the one that performs the best and is the most cost-effective. At least if you take into account its MSRP, and given that AMD's GPUs are more quickly returning to realistic pricing points than Nvidia's, this might really give the red team the advantage.

In this generation, the memory front—which addresses both bandwidth and capacity—has been a major area of conflict between Nvidia and AMD. A 256-bit bus and 16GB of GDDR6 provide the RX 6800 XT with a total bandwidth of 512GB/s. As a result, AMD is able to outperform Nvidia's 10GB RTX 3080 in terms of capacity but trails somewhat in terms of raw bandwidth due to the RTX 3080's 760GB/s.

Pros

• 4K excellence

• Cheaper than an RTX 3080

Cons

• Ray tracing performance that is average.

• Slower at 4K than the 3080

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3. Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti

Product’s Specifications

• Graphics Coprocessor: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti

• Brand: Gainward

• Graphics Ram Size: 8 GB

• GPU Clock Speed: 1665 MHz

• Video Output Interface: DisplayPort, HDMI

• Chipset Brand: NVIDIA

Product’s Highlights

The RTX 3060 Ti is extremely similar to the RTX 3070 and is currently the greatest value Ampere available. The RTX 3060 Ti has fewer SMs enabled, but both use the same GA104 GPU and 8GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus.

The RTX 3060 Ti makes up for its 17% lower core count than its more expensive brother with some intelligent GPU Boost frequencies. That helps to explain why, while operating at a chip disadvantage, the RTX 3060 Ti can be within 17% to only single digits of the RTX 3070's performance. For a $399 card, not bad (if you can find it for that price).

If you haven't done the math already: Since the RTX 3060 Ti costs $20 less than the RTX 3070 and is 20% smaller, its performance per dollar is increasing. This is why we adore it so much; in addition to being an excellent GPU for the complete range of resolutions, it also boasts respectable ray tracing capabilities thanks to second-generation RT Cores.

Pros

• Something a little more budget-friendly

• 2080 Excellent performance

• Larger GPU than the RTX 3060

Cons

• Not quite good enough for 4K in all instances

• 8GB VRAM is less than AMD offers

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4. Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070

Product’s Specifications

• Graphics Coprocessor: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070

• Brand: MSI

• Graphics Ram Size: 8 GB

• Video Output Interface: DisplayPort

• Chipset Brand: NVIDIA

• Graphics RAM Type: GDDR6

Product’s Highlights

The RTX 3070 is notable for its ability to match the top-tier Turing graphics card, the RTX 2080 Ti, for less than half of its price, making it maybe the only high-end Ampere remotely reasonable. The RTX 3070 brings ultra-enthusiast gaming performance down to a much more acceptable pricing point, even though it's not a cheap graphics card. Additionally, it's making 4K gaming and high-end ray tracing relevant to a far wider audience.

At $499, it's still a substantial investment by any means—we're talking next-gen console price here—but it's not outrageously expensive when compared to the best graphics hardware available for PC gaming right now. In exchange, you receive a graphics card with 4K support that doesn't need much tweaking to achieve playable, if not high, framerates. And there is no doubt that it will succeed in 1440p.

One 8-pin to 12-pin adapter is included in the packaging of the RTX 3070 Founders Edition because it still uses the 12-pin power connector of the RTX 3080. However, Nvidia has once again provided a remarkably small PCB with this FE card, making the entire shroud far smaller than the RTX 3080.

Pros

• Frame speeds that surpass Turing

• Very little power

• FE card is smokin'

Cons

• frequently seen for a price that is significantly higher than an RTX 3060 Ti, especially in pre-built PCs

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1. Do I require a graphics card with 4K support?

Simply said, "Only if you have a 4K gaming monitor" (opens in new tab). But there are other factors to take into account here, like the types of games you play. If you enjoy really competitive shooters and frame rates are your absolute top priority, you should strive for extremely high fps numbers. And, for now, you're better placed to achieve that at either 1440p or 1080p resolutions.

Having said that, more Nvidia GPUs will be able to provide close imitations of 4K images on your 4K monitor at greater frame rates when more titles, like CoD: Warzone, implement DLSS.

2. Founders Edition graphics cards: what are they?

In contrast to the graphics cards created by its partners, the Founders Edition cards are purely Nvidia's own designs. Typically, these operate at stock clocks because they are reference cards.

In a nutshell, Nvidia chose to offer Founders Editions with factory overclocks for the RTX 20-series. As Founders Edition cards provide us with a performance baseline, they have made it a little more challenging to evaluate cards, but Nvidia has now started making them once more as a standard.

3. Do you prefer GTX or RTX?

Older Nvidia graphics cards without the additional AI and ray tracing silicon that the RTX-level cards do are now identified by the GTX prefix. With the RTX 20-series, this prefix was introduced three years ago, and it identifies cards with GPUs that include both the Tensor Cores and RT Cores required for real-time ray tracing and Deep Learning Super Sampling.

The fact that the long, dark night of GPU shortages and exorbitant prices is finally ending is currently the best news. The profitability of cryptocurrency mining plummeted, and last month's average price of graphics cards decreased by an additional 6%. All of the best GPUs are currently in stock at online retailers, and most of them can be bought for less than the listed MSRPs.