With GPU prices going back down due to various reasons, now is a great time to upgrade your GPU or build a new PC. There are quite a few GPUs in the market, and if you aren’t updated, picking one can be a confusing affair. Don’t worry, though, since we are here to help you choose one that’s right for you. The list below features the best price to performance graphics cards so that you get the best value for your money.
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Best Graphics Cards Comparison Chart
NVIDIA RTX 3080
Best graphics card for 4K gaming
There are a couple of other NVIDIA cards that trump the NVIDIA RTX 3080 when it comes to overall performance. But those cards are very expensive and if you are looking strictly at price to performance, the RTX 3080 has them beat.
If you game at 4K, there’s nothing that the RTX 3080 can’t do. The performance uplift that you’ll get versus the previous gen is pretty substantial. The NVIDIA RTX 3080 outperforms the last gen RTX 2080 Ti by about 20 – 30%, at a much lower price point, so you’re getting a lot of value here.
NVIDIA’s RT and DLSS performance are better than what you’ll get with AMD cards right now, and there are more games that have these features than AMD’s offerings. As it stands, the RTX 3080 is the best value card for 4K and 1440p gaming. If you plan on playing at 1080p, it might be a bit overkill, unless you play with RT enabled and at extremely high framerates.
Alternative: AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT
The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is a good alternative if you prefer a graphics card from Team Red. It actually outperforms the RTX 3080 in rasterization in some games and it has more VRAM which is great for a bit of future proofing. However, the RTX 3080 still provides better value due to its better RT and DLSS performance. Also, it’s easier to find an RTX 3080 at lower prices currently than the RX 6800 XT.
NVIDIA RTX 3060 Ti
Best graphics card for 1440p gaming
For 1440p gaming, NVIDIA’s RTX 3060 Ti is our recommendation. It’s close between the RTX 3060 Ti and RTX 3070 here, but we ultimately went with the RTX 3060 Ti as it simply offers better value by being 20% cheaper while only being around 10% slower. The price to performance of the RTX 3060 Ti is very good.
In terms of performance, the RTX 3060 Ti beats the previous gen RTX 2080 Super and it’s close to the RTX 3070 in many games at 1440p. Performance is made even better with DLSS enabled. DLSS is NVIDIA’s trump card in the graphics card market since it makes games playable at high framerates even with settings turned way up.
The only downside with the RTX 3060 Ti, and the RTX 3070 as well, is their paltry 8GB of VRAM. As of now, you can make do with 8GB of VRAM, but in the near future, we see the number of games requiring more than that to increase in number.
Alternative: AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT
A good alternative to the RTX 3060 Ti is AMD’s Radeon RX 6700 XT. AMD’s card performs better than the RTX 3060 Ti when it comes to rasterization, but it has lackluster ray tracing support and AMD FSR is not yet as good as NVIDIA’s DLSS.
AMD Radeon RX 6600
Best graphics card for 1080p gaming
For 1080p gaming, AMD takes the crown as its RX 6600 is better than anything that NVIDIA currently offers. It delivers performance near to NVIDIA’s previous gen RTX 2070, which is impressive. At its current MSRP of $300, you’ll get excellent value from the RX 6600.
The RX 6600 is aimed at people that play at 1080p. Its ray tracing performance is not that good and at this resolution, FSR is not really effective, but it excels in rasterization. You’ll get high FPS on most games, even recently released ones, since it can handle 1080p fairly easily. However, if you want to play at 1440p, then this card will be outclassed by more expensive models.
Alternative: None
NVIDIA doesn’t have an answer to the RX 6600 currently as the RTX 3050 is simply a bad card that’s not worth buying. The RTX 3060 can be considered an alternative, but it’s too expensive right now, and at 1080p, NVIDIA’s DLSS isn’t too effective, so it doesn’t have any serious advantages over the RX 6600.
NVIDIA GTX 1650 Super
Best budget graphics card
If you are on a strict budget, or if you need a placeholder graphics card until the RTX 40 and RX 7000 series release, the GTX 1650 Super is a good choice. It won’t max out games even at 1080p, but it will offer good framerates if you scale the settings down.
The GTX 1650 Super is an older Turing card, so it doesn’t have ray tracing support and DLSS is unavailable as well. This card is simply for the budget-oriented that do not care about those features.
Alternative: AMD Radeon RX 570 or RX 5500 XT
Alternatives from AMD are the RX 570 and RX 5500 XT, but only if you can find them marked down, as there are still a lot of sellers that sell these cards at ridiculous prices.
Verdict
The RTX 3080, RTX 3060 Ti and the AMD Radeon RX 6600 are the best price to performance cards available right now.
RTX 3080
Best for 4K gaming
RTX 3060 Ti
Best for 1440p gaming
For 4K gaming, the RTX 3080 is the best value card. The RTX 3080 Ti, 3090, 3090 Ti and RX 6900 XT beats it in terms of overall performance, but these cards are way overpriced for the miniscule gains that they have over the RTX 3080. As it stands, the RTX 3080 is the best option if you want to get the best value for your money.
At 1440p, the RTX 3060 Ti, RTX 3070 and RX 6700 XT are all excellent options. But we pick the RTX 3060 Ti as the best when it comes to value for money as it’s cheaper than the RTX 3070 and it offers more features than the RX 6700 XT.
For 1080p gaming, the best card that you can buy is AMD’s RX 6600. It beats everything that NVIDIA has in this price bracket, and at 1080p resolution, DLSS and FSR are both ineffective, so that negates NVIDIA’s advantage.
If you need a budget card, NVIDIA’s GTX 1650 Super and AMD’s RX 570 and RX 5500 XT are all good options. As long as they can be purchased at reasonable prices and not at scalper prices.
FAQs
In terms of overall performance, NVIDIA’s RTX 3090 Ti is the best, but it’s too expensive. For the best value card, it’s either the RTX 3080 or the RX 6800 XT.
It’s a toss up between the RTX 3060 Ti and the RX 6700 XT. The RTX 3060 Ti has better ray tracing performance and it comes with NVIDIA’s DLSS while the RX 6700 XT offers slightly better rasterization performance, but worse ray tracing support.
RTX cards are better since they are based on the latest architecture.
Yes, ray tracing impacts FPS.