Nvidia GeForce 256 was the first-ever GPU released in 1999. Since then, GPUs have become mainstream, and all the gaming hardware now either have dedicated or integrated forms of GPUs for graphics. As a result, we have two significant manufacturers in graphic processing technology for computers, AMD and Intel. In addition, loyalty groups have formed supporting either Team Red or Team Green. We list the best graphics card for gaming and provide an unbiased review of all the powerful hardware available in the market. GPUs can perform massive calculations within seconds, which makes them suitable for gaming and crypto mining. In addition, Ray tracing technology can make games like Red Dead Redemption 2, Borderlands 3, and CyberPunk 2077 result in gorgeous views in the virtual open world.
Gaming takes a considerable toll on computer hardware as many calculations are occurring within microseconds. The response is so fast that the total time for you to move your mouse, computer to calculate the virtual world movement, provide AI-based calculations, and show the result on the screen within milliseconds. The GPU is the heart of gaming hardware, and combining it with a high Hz and low response time monitor enhances the user experience. Many factors make specific GPUs stand out, like SLI, CrossFireX, DLSS, Ray Tracing, G-Sync, multi-display, etc. We will be mentioning each of them in our article, but let’s get into basics first:
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GPU Cores: Similar to the number of cores affecting the CPU performance, GPU ability to perform multiple tasks simultaneously is also affected by the number of processor cores. CUDA Core by Nvidia or Stream Processors by AMD both represent similar hardware specifications. However, they use their unique algorithm to deal with multi-cores hence the change in names.
Hash Rate: We have all heard of the shortage of GPUs due to crypto miners. It’s because graphic cards are faster in performing blockchain transaction verification. The massive encrypted codes that need to be verified by an iterative process are suitable for the GPU to perform. Etherium is the most profitable cryptocurrency for GPU mining, and the hash rate represents a GPU computational power per second. Therefore, the hash rate also indirectly means computational power.
Memory: Memory is crucial when it comes to gaming. The massive amount of data that needs to remain close to the GPU for continuous fetching at blazing speeds is kept in the memory. Therefore, if you want to add depth to gaming, then owning a larger memory GPU will improve your experience. Also, crypto mining Ethereum requires at least 6GB of GPU memory for storing data.
Ray-Tracing: Every gamer, GPU manufacturer, game producer, and reviewer talks about the ray tracing technology introduced by the pioneer Nvidia. It may be the best technology to enhance the visual aesthetics of the games. Raytracing enhances the way you interact with the surroundings. The light is simulated as rays and converted into pixels on the screen, making in-game light sources, reflections, and shadows appear realistic.
Top Gaming GPUs for the Money at a glance:
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090
- AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 OC
- AMD Radeon RX 6800
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070
- AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT
- GTX 1660 Super
The Top Gaming GPUs for the Money You Can Buy Today
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090
Fastest Graphics Card, Great for Creators
SPECIFICATIONS
GPU: NVidia | GPU Cores: 10496 | Boost Clock: 1800 MHz | Video RAM: 24 GB GDDR6X | TDP: 350 W
REASONS TO BUY
✓ 8K gaming with DLSS
✓ iCX3 improved cooling and noise
✓ Copper base cover GPU and RAM
REASONS TO AVOID
✗ Feasible for 4k screens
✗ No USB Type-C connection
We believe EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 FTW3 ULTRA GAMING is the best graphic card with Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 GPU in the market. It is the fastest graphics card, great for creators, and the only GPU to cross 10000 cores in a single unit. The new DLSS technology can drastically improve framerates by upscaling resolution for 8k screens. 4k gaming on this graphic card is possible at 60+ fps running some of the leading AAA titles like GPU intensive CyberPunk 2077.
The best graphics card incorporates RGB lighting, which cannot be synced with your motherboard and cannot be controlled via the software. So be sure that you are comfortable with constant RGB color patterns. The GPU also limits the 8k resolution to run at 60Hz, which means that 8k gaming beyond 60fps is irrelevant as this GPU also has G-sync capability. It has three slightly offset fans to target high heat zone areas, and they also run at different speeds for their targeted area heat.
Heat removal is equally essential, and EVGA has applied multiple techniques to achieve constant heat removal. They call their new version of heat removal system iCX3. It incorporates air flow pockets for smoother airflow, and the new 1800 heat pipe design allows more contact with the heat fins ensuring better response time. In addition, the patented copper base allows 25% more contact area and covers both the GPU and the RAM, thus keeping the graphic card temperatures lower and allowing a break for the fans.
AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT
Best AMD GPU, Forget About DLSS
SPECIFICATIONS
GPU: AMD | GPU Cores: 4608 | Boost Clock: 2360 MHz | Video RAM: 16GB GDDR6 | TDP: 300W
REASONS TO BUY
✓ GDDR6 16 GB memory
✓ USB Type-C connection
✓ 13 blade double ball bearing fans
REASONS TO AVOID
✗ No 8k gaming
✗ No ARGB lighting
AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is the best AMD GPU in the market in terms of its price/performance ratio. The key strength of AMD GPUs is that you can forget about DLSS. The heat pipes are aluminum-plated copper heat pipes to maximize looks while maintaining functionality. Lighting is simple and protruded to make sure everybody knows the beast GPU you own. It would be your smart choice because it is massive and has a lot of weight, which can cause the graphic card to creep with time. Therefore, XFX reinforced their card with a backplate made with all-metal aluminum material to ensure maximum toughness. Unfortunately, there is no DLSS alternative from AMD, which means 8k resolution gaming is not possible. Still, if we consider 4k gaming, this GPU is the best in the business, running games at 60+fps with no upscaling.
The GPU is made from their latest RDNA 2 architecture which features AMD FidelityFX. It is the spatial upscaling technique that allows high-resolution gaming at high FPS. More game production houses are now incorporating their games to support AMD FidelityFX. It provides all the elite features within a price range that beats all the alternatives. XFX has also introduced dual BIOS, standard mode, and a rage mode in which the clock speed is increased drastically.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080
Best Graphics Card Overall, for 4K and More
SPECIFICATIONS
GPU: NVidia | GPU Cores: 8704 | Boost Clock: 1710 MHz | Video RAM: 10GB GDDR6X | TDP: 320 W
REASONS TO BUY
✓ Gen on Gen price stability
✓ Premium aesthetic material
✓ 60+fps with ray tracing @1440p
REASONS TO AVOID
✗ No support for NV link
✗ 8K HDR restricted to 60Hz
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 is the best graphics card overall, with balanced features for 4K and more. We picked PNY GeForce RTX 3080 10GB XLR8 Gaming for this GPU as it’s a well-manufactured graphic card that will last long and requires lower power for operation compared to its competition. In addition, it features EPIC-X RGB lighting to improve the aesthetics of the whole setup. We selected the 10GB version as it is priced reasonably, and all the latest gaming titles do not require anything more than 10GB for stable operation.
When gaming on monitors that support 144Hz or 240Hz display, you need the best graphics card for gaming with a GPU that responds to those high refresh rates by providing similar framerates to improve in-game movement. The smoothness of the game drastically improves with G-Sync, but you need your GPU also to support high refresh rates. Unfortunately, this graphics card supports 4k at 120Hz HDR, which means going beyond 120fps shows the GPUs power, but it will not effectively improve your gaming experience in terms of smoothness. In addition, the 8K resolution is restricted to 60Hz HDR due to HDMI 2.1.
Despite being a graphic card with a high price tag, we believe it has a decent price tag. There is no GPU above RTX 3080 when it comes to ray tracing. It can handle some of the most advanced games in terms of ray tracing and provide solid framerates. If we turn off DLSS, it still manages to give 60+fps on top gaming titles like CyberPunk 2077, with ray tracing set to ULTRA and 1080p resolution. With DLSS, it will go beyond 80fps.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 OC
Best Bang for the Buck Graphics Card
SPECIFICATIONS
GPU: NVidia | GPU Cores: 3584 | Boost Clock: 1807 MHz | Video RAM: 12GB GDDR6 | TDP: 170W
REASONS TO BUY
✓ VR ready technology
✓ Three DisplayPort 1.4a
✓ IceStorm 2.0 for cooling
REASONS TO AVOID
✗ No Scalable Link Interface
✗ No generational performance improvement
If you are looking to save some bucks and build a gaming PC containing components enough for all the AAA gaming titles like Borderlands 3, Control, and Assassins Creed, you need to go for Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 OC. To top it off, we recommend the ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 3060 Twin Edge OC as the graphic card of our choice. It is the most suitable candidate for the RTX 3060 GPU. It is the best bang for the buck graphics card that can run games above 60+fps at 1080p resolutions.
Zotac’s new IceStorm 2.0 cooling system features 11 blade fans, allowing the airflow to increase 10%. In addition, the heat pipes are now more densely packed and in direct contact with the GPU to improve response against changing temperatures of the GPU. The system independently controls the two fans, or the user can change the fan flow to improve targeted space heat transfer. Overall the greater heat removal allows Zotac to operate at higher clock frequencies of 1807 MHz.
It is the best graphics card for the money that has amazingly low power requirements. If we compare the frame per second with the power consumption, this GPU will top the charts. This property allows it to be feasible for Ethereum mining, with hash rates around 50MH/s. It comes with three display ports and one HDMI port, and Nvidia’s ampere architecture makes ray tracing-based games playable at decent framerates. WatchDog Legion will run with 60+fps at 1440p resolution, medium ray tracing enabled, and DLSS turned on.
AMD Radeon RX 6800
Great 1440p Graphics Card, Okay Ray Tracing
SPECIFICATIONS
GPU: AMD | GPU Cores: 3840 | Boost Clock: 2190 MHz | Video RAM: 16GB GDDR6 | TDP: 250W
REASONS TO BUY
✓ 10+1 power phase VRM
✓ Leader in power efficiency
✓ 100+fps on AAA titles @1440p
REASONS TO AVOID
✗ No DLSS equivalent
✗ Raytracing lags behind the competition
AMD Radeon RX 6800 is an answer to Nvidia’s RTX 3070. AMD jumped back into the high-end graphics card market with the launch of this GPU in 2020. We believe that it’s the best GPU for a high-end gaming PC at a low cost. We picked XFX Speedster MERC 319 AMD Radeon™ RX 6800 as the great 1440p graphics card, with Okay Ray Tracing for this GPU. Its build quality is excellent, with high heat transfer and overclocking capabilities. Of course, you can never go wrong with a black n white theme and a side view that has the GPU name glowing through your PC case.
It is the best graphics card for the money manufactured for high-end gaming PCs, but due to the first generation of AMD hardware that supports ray tracing, the implementation is a bit rugged. As a result, GPU lacks to outperform its competition in ray tracing. Still, the RDNA 2 architecture allows its numerous other features like the FidelityFX and sampler rate feedback to improve the gaming performance and visuals. It has a 10+1 phase VRM that provides loads of overclocking headroom. XFX also backs its quality product with a three-year warranty.
XFX chose an aluminum-based design to keep the whole assembly intact. The solid backplate with cutouts allows smoother airflow and better heat transfer. It has triple ball bearing fans running at high rpm under stressed conditions and lowers their rotational speeds down to zero under idling mode. The thermal padding improves the overall heat transfer capability of the GPU. All these features, in return, allow superior overclocking stability reaching to 2190MHz.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070
Excellent 1440p Performance
SPECIFICATIONS
GPU: NVidia | GPU Cores: 5888 | Boost Clock: 1830 MHz | Video RAM: 8GB GDDR6 | TDP: 240W
REASONS TO BUY
✓ Anti-bending included
✓ TRI FROZR 2 cooling system
✓ 100+fps gaming @1440p resolution
REASONS TO AVOID
✗ No independent fan control
✗ Limited memory than competitors
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 lies in the sweet spot between high-end and mid-range GPU choices. MSI is one of the leading brands providing powerful gaming hardware that also speaks aesthetics. They have incorporated the Tri Frozr 3 cooling system for this GPU, consisting of Torx Fan 4.0. These fans consist of 10 blades, and every two blades are fused at the edge to ensure smooth airflow. Smoother airflow means lower power consumption and quieter operation.
This graphic card beats the founders’ edition card in benchmarks as the best graphics card for gaming. This GPU has Excellent 1440p Performance. Devil May Cry 5 runs at 170+fps at 1440p resolution, perfect for a 140hz display with G-sync capability. The performance per watt lies on top, just below the GTX 1660 ti. The incredible 60 MH/s Ethereum mining rate on phoenix miner makes it the most feasible GPU for gaming and mining. It’s the greatest GPU for gaming and perfect for earning some money when not gaming.
The heat pipes are machined to provide maximum contact with the GPU. The direct connection allows it to remove heat quickly. Wave-curved 2.0 is the fin edge design that disrupts unwanted airflow, reducing noise and improving heat transfer. The graphic card also has surge protection fuses to avoid any damage to the GPU. Due to its large size and powerful cooling system, the weight increases drastically, for that they have included Anti-bending support.
AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT
AMD's Fastest GPU, Severely Expensive
SPECIFICATIONS
GPU: AMD | GPU Cores: 5120 | Boost Clock: 2340 MHz | Video RAM: 16GB GDDR6 | TDP: 900W
REASONS TO BUY
✓ Switch for Dual BIOS
✓ LED illuminated rear ports
✓ Incredible 14+2 power phase VRM
REASONS TO AVOID
✗ 62mm thick card
✗ No ARGB lighting
We picked PowerColor Red Devil as the graphic card for AMD’s Fastest GPU, AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT GPU. Powercolor is slowly gaining market share with unbeatable prices and superior material quality. It consists of a triple-fan set up with the most giant, the substantial heatsink on a graphic card for RX 6900 XT. It has an incredible 14+2 power phase VRM for smooth GPU operation. The stable voltage supply will allow users to overclock the GPU to a whopping 2340MHz, amongst the highest achievable clock frequency on this GPU.
It is severely expensive, but it has high-end features like digital control for VRM for improved reliability and lower power loss. However, we are not particularly fans of the RGB implementation of the graphic card. It’s a static color RGB which goes with the attire of the whole graphics card, but it may not match with the entire system. The lack of sync and customization might trigger some users. The noise levels are a bit higher compared to the other competitors, but it features
Seven heat pipes are running through the heatsinks, ensuring that the GPU temperatures remain under control when overclocked. The high-quality polymer capacitors are used for long-lasting performance. It has all the premium features that any top brand product includes. It has double ball-bearing-based fans that ensure longevity. The vertical aluminum fin design improves heat transfer dramatically, and the copper base plate makes sure that the GPU is in complete contact with the heat transfer system.
GTX 1660 Super
Best Mainstream Esports/1080p High Graphics Card
SPECIFICATIONS
GPU: NVidia | GPU Cores: 1408 | Boost Clock: 1830 MHz | Video RAM: 6GB GDDR6 | TDP: 125W
REASONS TO BUY
✓ Top performance per watt
✓ 60+fps @1080p Ultra settings
✓ Superior aerodynamic performance
REASONS TO AVOID
✗ No DLSS
✗ No Ray Tracing
If you are not impressed by all the ray tracing hype that is the talk of the town, then the GTX 1660 Super is the perfect choice completes complete the best mainstream esports/1080p high graphics card. It is available at a price possible for everyone. In addition, enthusiasts can go for a dual GPU setup to improve their performance. Therefore, we picked the most eligible candidate to be named the top graphic card for this GPU. It is a PCIe 3.0 graphic card that is a generation older than PCIe 4.0, but it does not require high bandwidth for its operation.
MSI utilizes their TORX fan 3.0 for this graphic card allowing low noise and high performance. They have also used groundbreaking aerodynamic designing techniques to ensure smoother airflow, contributing to lower noise levels and better performance. In addition, it has the overclocking capability as a super card, which takes the clock frequency to 1830MHz, ensuring that the maximum performance is extracted from the GPU. The MSI Afterburner manages the clock speed in auto. However, you can manually tweak the frequency to enhance performance.
This GPU is the best graphics card for the money built for esports gaming. It gives above 240fps on games like Overwatch; It has the overclocking capability is where responsiveness and smoothness are a matter of win or lose. It maintained above 200+fps on CS: GO. It deserves the title as the best graphic card for esports gaming. Not only can you make money through esports gaming, but this GPU also has a decent payback period for running Ethereum mining code. It consumes the least amount of power for a high hash rate. It will pay back your GPU cost in months.
Conclusion
We have listed almost every best graphics card for gaming in the market depending on the gamer’s budget. Some of the leading technologies in the industry are Ray Tracing and FidelityFX, which can drastically improve the aesthetics of the game. However, esports gamers are not focused on the game’s visual aspect but require faster frame rates and lower response time. G-sync or AMD FreeSync is vital to esports gaming, and all of the GPUs that we mentioned are capable of running all the top esports games in the market. Therefore, we recommend you go for the best graphics card for the money, i.e., GTX 1660 Super for esports gamers.
Suppose! You are an esports gamer but sometimes casually play open-world games like Borderland 3, Red Dead Redemption 2, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and GTA V. Therefore. In that case, we recommend you go for RTX 3070 or RX 6800 as they can outperform others in Ray Tracing. The enthusiasts would want to get their hands on the best available product, which doesn’t compromise on performance because of price. For them, we have features RTX 3090 and RX 6900 XT, which are the GPUs from both Nvidia and AMD that are on top of their game. We hope you find a suitable GPU for your gaming.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which graphic card is best for gaming?
If you are a gamer who would not like to compromise on performance, we recommend that the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 be the best GPU. It has all the features of a high-end GPU like ray tracing and DLSS. It also offers a very decent performance per watt that makes it possible for Ethereum mining. RTX 3070 can run all modern AAA titles at 60+fps at 1440p ULTRA settings.
What's the best graphics card for 2021?
We have the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 as the clear winner for the best graphics card for the 2021 award. It leaves no stone unturned with its unprecedented performance in 8k gaming and unbeatable frame rates at 4k gaming. This GPU remains unbeatable whether it’s a budget of the game’s visual aspect of esports gaming or casual gaming. It even has the highest rate for Ethereum mining.
What graphics card is fastest?
If we talk about the fastest graphics card ruling out raytracing, a none other than the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT. It beats Nvidia in frames per second with the DLSS enabled and allows gaming at its true native resolution. Furthermore, with 4608 cores and a clock speed of 2360 MHz, this GPU crushes its competition in terms of performance/price ratio.
Which type of graphics card is best?
RTX graphic cards that are ray tracing enabled are the best graphic cards in the market. Depending on the user’s liking of the ray tracing technology, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 OC stands out as one of the most feasible entry-level ray-tracing GPU for graphic cards. Therefore, we recommend buying a graphics card with this GPU if you want to experience ray tracing and want high fps high-resolution gaming with DLSS.
