The graphics card, also known as the GPU, is arguably one of the most exciting components in any PC build. Alongside the processor, your graphics card often has the greatest impact on the overall performance of your PC. That makes it a pretty high-stakes purchase, especially if you consider that GPUs can get pretty expensive.

The GPU market has a lot to offer, and that’s regardless of your needs and your budget. Whether you’re aiming for something super cheap to support some light browsing or a behemoth to handle the most GPU-intensive games, you have lots of options. In this guide, we’ll show you what to look out for so that you’re able to pick thebest GPUthat fits your budget and needs.

Nvidia, AMD, or Intel?

Consumer graphics cards are generally split into two categories — integrated and discrete graphics. Since you’re here, you’re most likely looking for a discrete (or dedicated) GPU, and that’s what we’re going to focus on in this article.

While an integrated graphics card is usually part of the processor, or at least is part of the same system-on-a-chip (SoC), a discrete GPU is a standalone component that you install within your PC case or find built into your laptop.

In this segment of the market, you have three manufacturers to choose from: Nvidia, AMD, and Intel.AMD and Nvidiaboth offer a wide range of cards, but Intel only has a few options. Regardless of manufacturer, you’ll find cards that drastically differ in performance, price, and performance per dollar — meaning how much value you’re getting out of the GPU.

Choosing between Nvidia, AMD, and Intel comes down to more than just liking a particular brand. The GPUs are fundamentally different on an architectural level, and each manufacturer decked them out with a different set of supporting software.

Let’s explore the differences between the trio of GPU makers to give you a better overview of what they have to offer.

Nvidia is the market leader by a landslide. It produces GPUs for both PCs and laptops, ranging from affordable options to premium models.

Compared to AMD, Nvidia is often praised for its superior GPU performance or, at the very least, its ability to push the envelope further. While AMD mostly targets the mainstream part of the market, Nvidia fills the gap and serves the high-end sector with beastly GPUs like theRTX 5090. That is not to say that it doesn’t have any midrange graphics cards — it has a robust lineup, although not allGPUs are worth their price, and some arebest avoided.

Over the years, Nvidia has had several generations of graphics cards, but if you’re shopping now, you’ll most likely be picking from among theRTX 40-seriesor theRTX 50-series. The latter is more likely, as RTX 40-series stock levels are low, which means that the prices are high. However, older generations still have some affordable options, such as the GTX 1650, but you’ll struggle to play many recent titles. More often than not, you’re better off buying newer cards due to the performance uplift and the performance-per-dollar ratio.

The RTX 50-series sports cards that range from $249 to $1,999 at base price, but it isn’t unusual for GPU prices to vary wildly, so keep an eye on ourprice trackerto check what might be a worthwhile pick during any given month.

Nvidia’s GPUs are solid for gaming, content creation, and even AI-related tasks, such as machine learning. In fact, Nvidia is often recognized as the superior option in theGPU AI battle.

It’s widely known (and we’ve seen it in our own tests, too) that Nvidia is also better at handlingray tracing. Ray tracing is a graphics technique that simulates how light behaves in the real world. Using it makes many games look better, but it’s also heavy on the GPU. There’s alsopath tracing, which is an even more modern method of simulating dynamic lighting in games.

Nvidia GPUs also come withDeep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS). This tech relies on AI to improve gaming performance and visuals by upscaling lower-resolution images. By generating additional pixels, DLSS creates higher-resolution images.

RTX 50-series graphics cards offer an even better version of DLSS — DLSS 4. Capable of generating multiple frames instead of just pixels, it can significantly boost frame rates in many games. It’s been a major selling point for Nvidia’s latest graphics cards.

In recent years, AMD has emerged from the shadows and become a force to be reckoned with — although Nvidia still maintains over 80% of the market share. At the time of writing, theRDNA 4-based RX 9000 rangeis the latest generation of AMD cards, but it only includes four GPUs: RX 9070 XT, RX 9070, RX 9060 XT, and RX 9060.

AMD certainly has some interesting GPUs in its recent lineups, and while Nvidia gets more attention, AMD plays an important role in making sure that Nvidia doesn’t fullymonopolize the market. It’s also often the more budget-friendly option, although the latest two generations have blurred those lines a little bit.

It’s hard to make any blanket statements about AMD’s pros and cons compared to Nvidia based on its latest generation. However, the GPUs generally tend to be cheaper while offering the same performance in rasterization as their Nvidia equivalents. AMD falls behind in ray tracing, although the RX 9000 series has brought improvements in that regard compared to the RX 7000 generation.

Much like Nvidia, if you’re buying an AMD card, you can also consider the previous generations. Unlike Nvidia, though, you’ll find cards from the last two gens to be reasonably priced. Mind you, this is not a blanket statement, and it very much depends on the model. The RX 6000 used to be a fantastic alternative back when RX 7000 was king, but now, you might find these cards harder and harder to come by.

In this current gen, AMD has cards ranging from $299 to $599, but those prices are only true on paper — the RX 9070 XT and non-XT always sell for more. This generation marked a step up for AMD in terms of the way it handles ray tracing, although Nvidia is still the undisputed leader there, as well as in AI tasks. Still, there’s been an improvement in that regard, so you can safely buy AMD and still get good results.

AMD’s answer to Nvidia’s DLSS is calledFidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR), which is now in its fourth iteration (FSR 4). Unlike Nvidia, AMD doesn’t lock FSR to a single generation of its GPUs, and FSR offers cross-vendor support. However, FSR 4 remains an RDNA 4 exclusive; you can get the previous generations on any graphics card.

AMD has four versions of FSR out simultaneously, and they don’t all appear in the same games. FSR 1.0 and FSR 2.0 both work quite differently, but the long story short is that they use an algorithm to upscale the image and apply a sharpening filter. FSR 1.0 does that after anti-aliasing, but FSR 2.0 does it beforehand, which produces a much better image quality.

AMD’s FSR 3.0 is the closest thing to Nvidia’s DLSS 3, but not quite — it inserts an additional frame between two frames that have already been rendered. Lastly, FSR 4.0 has sharper, cleaner visuals than FSR 3, but requires RDNA 4 GPUs and has fewer supported games so far.

The problem with FSR is thatits adoption has been very slow, but in the few titles that do support it, the tech does a good job. FSR 2.0 is widely available, but it also doesn’t offer the level of performance of FSR 3.0 or FSR 4.

Intel makes some of thebest processors, but in the GPU arena, it’s a tiny fish in a very big pond. While it followed up its first-gen discrete GPUs with the excellentIntel Battlemage, it barely dents Nvidia’s and AMD’s market share right now. Thelatest estimates put its share at 0%. With that said, if you’re looking for a budget GPU and you don’t need the best of the best, Intel shouldn’t be overlooked.

For years, Intel’s only venture into graphics was related to integrated GPUs on its processor chips. However, in 2022, it launchedArc Alchemist— a small lineup of discrete graphics cards. That includes the Arc A380,Arc A580, theArc A750, and Arc A770. It then followed up those cards with the fantasticIntel Arc B580andArc B570. We’re still waiting for more additions to the Battlemage lineup.

Many people had fairly low expectations for Intel’s GPUs, and in a way, they were right — the Arc Alchemist generation had its fair share of troubles, especially at launch. However, Battlemage has been doing great, to the point wherethe B580 is the one GPU I recommend most often this year. At $249, it’s excellent value for gamers on a budget.

Still, performance was never the main target, and Intel has been clear from the get-go that it wasn’t trying to beat Nvidia and AMD in that regard. Instead, itaggressively targeted performance per dollar, keeping the product pricing relatively competitive. For a more budget-oriented build, Intel makes a good alternative to Nvidia, with its more expensive graphics card only costing around $280.

Intel has its own version of DLSS and FSR, referred to asIntel Xe Super Sampling (XeSS). Much like the other two, it’s an upscaling feature, and it’s only available on Arc Alchemist GPUs. It renders your game at a lower resolution and then relies on machine learning and AI to upscale the image. The end result is an increase in frame rates without doing too much damage to image quality.

1080p, 1440p, or 4K?

If you’re a gamer, one of your main points of consideration is going to be whether you want to play games at 1080p, 1440p (2K), or 4K. This applies to other users too, as a higher display resolution means more screen real estate, and that’s nice for just about anybody. Be it for productivity or for entertainment, the switch from 1080p to 1440p is noticeable, and scaling up to 4K bears even more impact.

Screen resolution is an important thing to keep in mind when you shop for a GPU. Let’s imagine that you buy a 1440p graphics card, like theRTX 5070 Ti, in the hopes of using it for games. Unless you buy a monitor that matches it, you’ll essentially be wasting some of the performance your card could be putting out.

The same goes for monitor refresh rates — if your GPU can run above 60 frames per second (fps), buying a matching monitor that goes up to 75Hz or even 144Hz is a sound idea. Conversely, using one of thebest monitorswith a budget GPU also doesn’t quite add up, because your graphics card is not strong enough to power up that expensive display.

So, which resolution do you need?

It all comes down to preference and your budget, but let’s go over this quickly to give you a better idea of what to go for.

Casual users don’t really need to go above 1080p. It makes things more expensive, both the GPU itself and the monitor. There are plenty of decent 1080p GPUs in this generation and the previous one, including cards like theAMD Radeon RX 7600or theNvidia GeForce RTX 4060, as well as Intel’s Arc B580. Current-gen options include the RX 9060 XT and the RTX 5060 or the RTX 5050.

For gamers, 1440p is increasingly becoming more popular, and that’ll require a slightly better graphics card. This current generation may not be teeming with 1440p GPUs, but there are options to choose from. From AMD, look for the RX 9070 XT and non-XT. The previous gen has some gems too, provided you may find them near MSRP, including the excellentRX 7800 XT, but the RX 7700 XT is an acceptable alternative. TheRX 7900 GREmarks an even better but slightly pricier option.

Nvidia has a lot to offer, too. We’d recommend the RTX 5070 Ti if you’re shopping from the current generation, although the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB should be enough for gaming — provided you don’t mind playing at lower settings.

Gaming at 4K is a next-level feature right now, and only the mostpowerful GPUscan run that resolution seamlessly. For Nvidia, the options that make sense right now include the RTX 5090 and the RTX 5080. Older gen cards are massively overpriced, so we recommend steering clear. you’re able to also make it work with the RTX 5070 Ti, again, with some compromise on settings.

AMD doesn’t have a 4K gaming GPU in this generation; the closest thing is the RX 9070 XT. However, the RX 7900 XTX will still do the job just fine, albeit with worse ray tracing than what the current generation can offer.

All the fun bells and whistles of various GPUs don’t matter if they don’t fit into your budget. Most of us are held back by monetary constraints, and choosing how to allocate your PC building budget plays a big part in how it performs later.

You might be tempted to adopt a “go big or go home” approach and just buy the best GPU you can get, but go cheap on other components. However, it’s better to balance things out and choose adecent processorpaired with a solid graphics card. Don’t try to save money on the power supply and cooling, either. Ultimately, your PC is only as strong as its weakest parts.

Below, we’ll explore various options based on GPU price.

Under $300

At $300 and under, you’re shopping for a 1080p graphics card. It can be something to game on, but it can also just be a GPU to support daily work and entertainment. You won’t get insane performance, but it’s perfectly possible to play most AAA games on these GPUs as long as you don’t need max settings.

These graphics cards have another perk outside of being cheap — they also don’t consume much power. This means you won’t need a beefy PSU and will be able to save a little more money there, too.

For Nvidia, we recommend theRTX 5060as the go-to at 1080p, although the RTX 4060 often costs about the same. Still, between the two, you’re better off buying the newer card due to the performance increase and access to DLSS 4. Especially at the lower end, frame generation can really help you stretch your budget. There’s also theRTX 5050, but if you can afford it, it’s definitely better to buy the RTX 5060.

AMD’s only option here is the RX 9060 XT 8GB, which we don’t really recommend buying. You’re better off spending an extra $50 to $70 tobuy the 16GB version of the card instead.

Intel’s Arc B580 is by far the best value here, with 12GB of VRAM and a$280 to $300price tag. It gives you the most future-proofing, but with no DLSS, it might also fall behind in newer games. TheArc B570 is cheaperif you just want a daily driver type of GPU.

Under $1,000

Increasing your budget to up to $1,000 opens a lot of doors when you’re shopping for a GPU. Of course, there’s a pretty big gap between, let’s say, $400 and $1,000, and that’s also reflected in the performance of these cards.

Let’s start near the lower end. The RTX 5060 Ti 16GB is a solid option for 1080p to 1440p gaming with a lot more performance headroom than the cheaper RTX 5060, andit can be bought at MSRP, meaning $429. Again, the RTX 5060 Ti is also available in an 8GB version, but please steer clear — modern games call for more than 8GB video memory, and at this price point, you shouldn’t be getting 8GB for nearly $400. Older-gen options include the RTX 4060 Ti 16GB or the RTX 4070/RTX 4070 Super, but they’re increasingly hard to spot at MSRP.

TheRTX 5070 is a great $550 pickfor 1080p and 1440p. Now that it’s finally sold at MSRP, we can recommend it without any caveats.

AMD’s RX 9060 XT 16GBfits into this pricing bracket. This is more of a 1080p GPU, though, so keep that in mind. At the higher end, the RX 9070 XT and non-XT cost$600and$720, respectively, at the time of writing. Those prices are higher than what AMD intended, as the cards launched at $549 and $599. They’re extremely solid GPUs, but you might want to wait for the prices to drop.

This is where AMD’s current-gen GPUs come to an end. Some older cards are still available in stores, but the only one that can offer something that the newer generation doesn’t is theRX 7900 XTX, which can typically be found for around $950. Keep an eye out for the RX 7800 XT, RX 7700 XT, and the RX 7900 GRE — if they’re cheaper than the RX 9070, you can go ahead and buy them.

At this point, nearing the $1,000 mark, we’re left with only Nvidia options to choose from. TheRTX 5070 Ti is the only current-gen option that costs less than $1,000, and it’s a super solid GPU that’ll let you game at max settings at 1440p or at medium-to-high settings at 4K.

Over $1,000

In the current GPU landscape, only two options are really available at this stage, unless you buy aGPU to overclock it.

If you’re spending over $1,000 on a graphics card, you should aim for the best of the best. Something that gives you smooth 4K gameplay even with a dual monitor setup. To that end, the RTX 5090 is your absolute best bet, but it does cost an arm and a leg, too. Thecheapest RTX 5090 I could find costs $2,399, which isa lotcheaper than it was just a few months ago, but it’s still a lot. The MSRP is at $1,999, and chances are we won’t see the RTX 5090 hit that level for a long time, if ever.

The RTX 5080 is your second-best option. While still overpriced (the MSRP is at $999), the card is a lot more affordable to most people. It won’t play every title at max settings at 4K, but it’ll last you for years and breeze through most games.I spotted one for $1,264.

Things to watch out for

Before we leave you to start your shopping spree, here are a couple more things to watch out for if you’re buying a new graphics card. They won’t matter if you’re gaming on a laptop and reading this guide to choose a model with decent graphics, so you’re able to skip right past this if that’s the case. If you’re a PC builder, this very much applies, so be sure to check it out.

Power consumption

Modern graphics cards feast on electricity like it’s candy, so it’s important to make sure your PC is prepared to handle whatever you’re about to put into it. This is where the power supply (PSU) comes in.

A PSU is an often overlooked component in a PC, but having one that’s too weak can cause all manner of issues, be it poor performance, crashes, or even a permanent breakdown. That’s why it’s important to do your research beforehand and grab agreat PSU.

Each graphics card comes with its own recommendation as to how much power it consumes. Nvidia refers to this as total graphics power (TGP), AMD calls it total board power (TBP), but they’re essentially the same thing. For example, the RTX 5090 sits at 575 watts, and can be overclocked past that, but the more power-conservative RTX 4060 will only need 115 watts.

Manufacturers will tell you what kind of PSU they recommend for a particular graphics card. Still, you need to account for the other components in your PC. If you’re using one ofIntel’s best processors,for example, which can eat up quite a bit of power, you may need to add some extra wattage just to be safe. The general rule of thumb is always to get a better PSU than you need — that way, if you upgrade in the future, you can rest assured that your PC will handle it just fine.

If you’re not surewhich PSU to buy,Newegghas a handy calculator that helps you add up and pick.

If you’re a gamer looking for a GPU that will last you a good few years, VRAM is now a specification you need to pay close attention to. This is the memory on your GPU, responsible for storing and rapidly accessing data related to graphics. It plays a critical role in the way your GPU performs, as it stores textures, shaders, frame buffers, and other data necessary for rendering high-resolution images, videos, and 3D graphics.

As is often the case with PC gaming, the more VRAM you have, the better. However, it’s not as simple as that anymore. Some of the latest games have shown us that theVRAM capacity on some graphics cards is simply not enoughanymore, which means that even if they’re okay for now, they’ll be struggling in a couple of years.

This is why we advise you against buying the RTX 5060 Ti with 8GB of VRAM. While it’s a decent card in its own way, it only has 8GB of memory across a 128-bit memory bus — it’s simply not enough to justify its price tag. Instead, it’s safer to buy GPUs that have more VRAM, and there are plenty of such options. Even the humble Arc B580 comes with 12GB of VRAM. Nvidia has the 16GB version of the RTX 5060 Ti or the 12GB RTX 5070. AMD has the RX 9060 XT 16GB or both the RX 9070s.

If you’re a casual gamer who’s more into indie titles, this won’t be an issue — but if you want to play games likeCyberpunk 2077, then even thebase game now calls for 12GB VRAM.This situation isn’t likely to change anytime soon, so for the sake of future-proofing, go for 12GB or more.

Choosing the right GPU for you

Ultimately, instead of choosing by the manufacturer alone, try to think of buying a GPU in terms of what you want to have and how much you’re willing to pay for it.

If you want the best possible performance and you don’t care about the money, Nvidia is still the way to go here. If you want a good blend of performance and affordable pricing, go for AMD — but only if you can find a GPU at the recommended price. Even then, it’s not as black and white as that because if you’re more worried about the budget but want to try out DLSS 4, that means you’ll need to stick to Nvidia. It’s all about weighing the pros and cons and deciding what matters to you more.

Intel only really fits into budget-oriented builds right now, but if that’s what you’re aiming for, the Arc B580 is fantastic.

With all that said, most, if not all, of the GPUs in the last two generations will run modern games at an acceptable level. The cheapest options will require a lot of compromise on settings, but they’ll still run them. Don’t worry too much, and attempt to pick what works well for your budget.

If this is your first time upgrading your PC’s graphics, make sure you knowhow to install a graphics cardbefore buying one.