What is the best graphics card?
Testing the latest generation of GPUs has been a frustrating experience over the last few months. Some of you may be thinking, “But wait, our graphics card review scores haven’t changed!” That’s true, but our opinions have changed dramatically over time due to the new GPU landscape.
In the latest generation of GPUs, most cards have been pretty weak from a consumer perspective. Sure, there are a few exceptions, but they’re few and far between. It’s not just the high end that’s been suffering either, with even AMD’s latest RDNA 3 RX 7000-series cards not filling in all the gaps left by the previous generation.
The latest graphics card releases from Nvidia, AMD, and Intel are all doing their best to win you over, but with the next generation of graphics cards just around the corner, which current card should you buy? We’ve tested the best graphics card options available right now to give you an answer.
The best graphics card in 2023 is:
Nvidia RTX 4090
The Nvidia RTX 4090 is the fastest graphics card, but it’s also the most expensive. It’s the only GPU from the company’s latest generation to feature GDDR6X, but it’s also the only GPU that uses standard GDDR6. It’s the only option in the range with more than 8GB of VRAM, but you also get a whopping 448 CUDA cores less than the RTX 4090 Ti.
In reality, the RTX 4080 is a worse prospect than the 4090, but pricing sees it sit above it. The RTX 4080 costs $999 (£999), which is $100 (£100) more than the 4090 and $200 (£200) more than the Ti.
There are a few ways to look at this. The RTX 4090 is the fastest graphics card and the most expensive, but it uses the same GDDR6 as the cheaper GPU. Meanwhile, the RTX 4080 is slower than the 4090, but it uses GDDR6X and costs more than both the 4090 and 4090 Ti.
It’s not a confusing message from Nvidia, but it is a confusing way of presenting products. The RTX 4090 is the best value option from the company, offering a 30% performance increase over the previous generation, but it’s also the slowest of the bunch.
Nvidia RTX 4080
The Nvidia RTX 4080 is the second fastest graphics card, and it sits at the top of the RTX 40-series GPU range. It’s also the slowest of the new generation, offering around 30% less performance than the RTX 4090. On paper, that sounds like a bad deal, but it’s actually a slightly better prospect than the RTX 4090.
If you’re looking at the most expensive option from the new range, you should also be considering the previous generation’s top products. The RTX 4080 is a better value option because it uses GDDR6X, which makes it cheaper to run than the 4090.
It’s also worth throwing the RTX 4070 into the mix, which is a better value prospect than the Ti models below it. The RTX 4070 offers a 30% performance increase over the previous generation, which is a significant boost for a card that costs less than the previous generation’s top products.
Nvidia RTX 4070 Ti 16GB
The Nvidia RTX 4070 Ti 16GB is the worst prospect from the company, but it still feels more like a product of the last generation than something worth your money in 2023. It’s $100 (£100) more expensive than the 8GB model below it, but it offers the same amount of VRAM and a fraction more performance.
It’s not a strong enough reason to spend more on the 16GB model, especially when looking at the RTX 4060 Ti, which is a much less impressive prospect. The 16GB model’s performance doesn’t feel like it justifies the higher price tag, and it feels like a lower-tier product compared to the 8GB model.
Nvidia RTX 4060 Ti
The Nvidia RTX 4060 is a slight improvement over the previous generation, but it still won’t blow you away. The Nvidia RTX 4060 Ti is a better prospect than the regular model, but it still feels like it’s trying to be a premium product in a lower-end price bracket.
The Nvidia RTX 4060 Ti 16GB is the worst prospect from the company, but the RTX 4060 is also a tough sell. The RTX 40-series GPUs are overpriced, and it’s likely down to cryptocurrency mining and GPU shortages. It feels like the RTX 40-series is trying to be premium, but the reality is that they should be mid-range offerings.
If you can wait until the next generation of graphics cards, you’ll have a much better experience, with the best graphics card options of 2024 potentially sitting at a lower price point.
AMD RDNA 3 RX 7000-series
The AMD RDNA 3 RX 7000-series is incomplete, but the company is doing its best to get the rest of its products into the hands of reviewers and consumers. The RX 7900 XTX and RX 7900 XT are already out, but there are still some GPUs that we’re looking forward to.
The AMD RX 7800 is the next on the menu, offering up a lower price point than the Nvidia RTX 4080 without the use of GDDR6X. It’s a GPU that AMD has been teasing for quite some time, but plans have changed, and we may not see the GPU land until 2024.
