Best graphics cards for PC gaming 2021

Most people who find themselves out there for a brand new graphics card have one main query in thoughts: Which card will give me probably the most bang for my buck? Clearly, the reply will fluctuate relying in your finances. Past that, there are a selection of things to think about: Uncooked efficiency is essential, however so are issues like noise, the motive force expertise, and supplemental software program. And do you wish to pay a premium to get in on the bleeding fringe of real-time ray tracing?

Allow us to make it simple for you. We’ve examined practically each main GPU that’s hit the streets over the previous couple of years, from $100 finances playing cards to $1,800 luxurious fashions. Our data has been distilled into this text—a shopping for information with suggestions on which graphics card to purchase, it doesn’t matter what type of expertise you’re in search of.

Notice: There are custom-made variations of each graphics card from a bunch of distributors. For instance, you should purchase totally different GeForce GTX 3080 fashions from EVGA, Asus, MSI, and Zotac, amongst others.

We’ve linked to our full evaluate for every advice, however the shopping for hyperlinks result in fashions that hew carefully to every graphics card’s MSRP. Spending additional can get you hefty out-of-the-box overclocks, beefier cooling programs, and extra. Take a look at our “What to search for in a customized card” part under for tips about how to decide on a custom-made card that’s best for you.

Graphics card information

It’s all however unattainable to search out graphics playing cards proper now, particularly at sane costs. Our explainer of the proper GPU storm reveals why. The GeForce RTX 30-series and Radeon RX 6000-series bought out immediately and stay scarce within the face of overwhelming demand, with scalpers and bots snatching them up simply as greedily as lovers. Demand is so excessive that even older-generation graphics playing cards are promoting for greater than they price new, years in the past, most often. For those who’re caught with out a graphics card, think about attempting Nvidia’s free GeForce Now cloud streaming or a next-gen gaming console as a substitute to tide you over. Nvidia simply launched a brand new RTX 3080 tier for GeForce Now that not solely provides you unique entry to stated {hardware}, but in addition provides nifty options like longer 8 hour play classes and 1440p, 120Hz streams, in addition to 4K HDR streams on Nvidia’s Defend TV console. It prices $100 for six months—steep, to make certain, however so much cheaper than the $1,500 to $2,000 you’d drop on a brand new RTX 3080 on Ebay lately.
Extra graphics playing cards could begin to fill out this era quickly. Nvidia launched the GeForce RTX 3050 and 3050 Ti for mainstream laptops—the primary time in current reminiscence a brand new GeForce GPU debuted in laptops moderately than desktops—however rumors recommend a desktop model will debut in January 2022. Moreover, Videocardz and different “leak” websites declare a GeForce RTX 3090 Ti with a full GA102 GPU and even sooner GDDR6X reminiscence, in what ought to be a real prosumer beast. Nvidia additionally just lately revived the RTX 2060, however wielding 12GB of reminiscence as a substitute. It’s wonderful at mining and prices as a lot as an RTX 3070 on the streets, nevertheless. Not content material to let Staff Inexperienced hog the highlight, current Eurasian Financial Fee filings by PowerColor recommend we lastly see extra reasonably priced AMD Radeon RX 6400 and 6500 XT graphics playing cards coming quickly.
Extra reduction can be on the way in which quickly (although not too quickly) within the type of a 3rd contender. Intel just lately took the wraps off its hotly anticipated “Arc Alchemist” GPUs, constructed on the corporate’s Xe structure. These gamer-focused graphics playing cards—Intel’s first stab at discrete shopper GPUs—someday within the first quarter of 2022, full with hardware-based ray tracing assist and XeSS, an AI-based picture upsampling device constructed to rival Nvidia’s DLSS tech.
For those who’re fortunate sufficient to discover a fairly priced Radeon graphics card, AMD will now toss in a free month of Xbox Recreation Cross for PC.
Wish to dive even deeper into your {hardware}? We’ve just lately printed guides explaining find out how to benchmark your graphics card and find out how to activate AMD’s Sensible Entry Reminiscence for sooner gaming efficiency, in addition to an explainer on Nvidia’s “Lite Hash Fee” anti-mining expertise.

Finest finances graphics card

Editor’s be aware: Demand is thru the roof for graphics playing cards proper now. Newer fashions promote out immediately and infrequently price a whole bunch of {dollars} greater than MSRP. Even older-generation graphics playing cards are promoting for greater than what they price new, years in the past. We will’t suggest individuals purchase graphics playing cards at these markups, however in the event you’re fortunate sufficient to search out inventory at MSRP, this information ought to assist. Notice that costs under talk about MSRP, because it’s unattainable to remain present with at this time’s unstable pricing.

The subsequent-gen Nvidia GeForce RTX 30-series and AMD Radeon RX 6000-series have but to trickle right down to finances markets, an comprehensible twist given how a lot graphics playing cards at the moment promote for. And with even historic used graphics playing cards promoting for a whole bunch of {dollars}, it’s just about unattainable to snag a graphics card on a finances proper now. Take into account attempting Nvidia’s free GeForce Now cloud streaming or a next-gen gaming console as a substitute to tide you over. The brand new RTX 3080 tier of GeForce Now delivers a top-shelf gaming expertise in case your Web connection can sustain, however prices $100 for six months, so it is probably not the perfect finances choice. Happily, the Precedence tier with RTX 2080-class efficiency prices half that, and there’s additionally a free tier that runs on roughly RTX 2060-grade {hardware}.

For those who want a neighborhood PC gaming answer these clearly gained’t minimize it although. Your greatest wager is to select up one in all AMD’s game-ready Ryzen 5000G APUs, which stay in inventory in each DIY kind and inside quite a few prebuilt programs. “You’ll be able to construct a Ryzen 5 5700G machine at this time and get excellent CPU efficiency together with OK gaming efficiency,” we stated in our evaluate. Sure, you’ll must dial down some graphics choices for the perfect efficiency, however you’ll have the ability to play esports video games and even triple-A titles at an honest clip at 720p or 1080p decision. At $259 for the Ryzen 5 5600GTake away non-product hyperlink and $369 for the Ryzen 7 5700GTake away non-product hyperlink, they aren’t precisely low-cost, particularly because you’ll additionally want a motherboard to plop them into, however keep in mind that you’re getting each a CPU and a doable GPU stand-in for the worth. And hey, they’re really in inventory.

Finest 1080p graphics card

Editor’s be aware: Demand is thru the roof for graphics playing cards proper now. Newer fashions promote out immediately and infrequently price a whole bunch of {dollars} greater than MSRP. Even older-generation graphics playing cards are promoting for greater than what they price new, years in the past. We will’t suggest individuals purchase graphics playing cards at these markups, however in the event you’re fortunate sufficient to search out inventory at MSRP, this information ought to assist. Notice that costs under talk about MSRP, because it’s unattainable to remain present with at this time’s unstable pricing.

The subsequent-gen Nvidia GeForce RTX 30-series and AMD Radeon RX 6000-series have but to trickle right down to extra mainstream value factors, an comprehensible twist given how a lot graphics playing cards at the moment promote for. That stated, the Radeon RX 6600 is an effective choice for wonderful 1080p gaming at 60 frames per second or greater, assuming you’re keen to spend $330 or extra for 1080p gaming, a value that will be thought-about completely outrageous pre-pandemic. (You is perhaps higher off shopping for a console or turning to cloud gaming as a substitute.) AMD’s GPU is the primary true 1080p/60 graphics card of this era, and it boasts excessive energy effectivity that helps preserve it working cool and quiet in your system, although it isn’t the most suitable choice in the event you’re hoping to flip on ray tracing.

The (ostensibly) $330 GeForce RTX 3060 is an honest choice for top refresh price 1080p gaming if you will get your fingers on one, whereas the $379 Radeon RX 6600 XT is even sooner but. They’re overkill in the event you’re gaming on a regular 60Hz show, nevertheless, and going for $500 to $800 on the streets, so you will have a greater time discovering a Radeon RX 6600 or an older, much less highly effective GPU in the event you’re missing a excessive refresh price show. Each would even be uninspiring on account of their excessive sticker costs if the GPU market wasn’t completely bonkers proper now. If you will discover an RTX 3060 at MSRP, it’s a greater choice than the identically priced Radeon RX 6600—it’s sooner, has 4GB extra VRAM, and handles ray tracing higher—however in the actual world you’re in all probability going to should spend $675 or extra to get one. Gross.

The GeForce RTX 1660, 1660 Tremendous, and 1660 Ti are all good 1080p gaming choices for 60Hz panels, as is AMD’s older Radeon RX 5600 XT and 5700. The GeForce RTX 2060 can be value contemplating if you need ray tracing and DLSS capabilities. Even older choices just like the Radeon RX 580 and 590 or Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 1060 can do in a pinch, although you’ll must make some visible compromises as they’re actually beginning to present their age.

Finest 1440p graphics card

Editor’s be aware: Demand is thru the roof for graphics playing cards proper now. Newer fashions promote out immediately and infrequently price a whole bunch of {dollars} greater than MSRP. Even older-generation graphics playing cards are promoting for greater than what they price new, years in the past. We will’t suggest individuals purchase graphics playing cards at these markups, however in the event you’re fortunate sufficient to search out inventory at MSRP, this information ought to assist. Notice that costs under talk about MSRP, because it’s unattainable to remain present with at this time’s unstable pricing.

For those who’re seeking to drive a 1440p show at 60-plus frames per second (and infrequently a lot greater) with no graphical compromises, Nvidia’s $400 GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is a “just about flawless” choice. It’s sooner than final era’s $800 RTX 2080 Tremendous—the second strongest GPU on the planet till a couple of months in the past. “That efficiency paired with 8GB of GDDR6 reminiscence makes the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti a implausible 1440p gaming choice,” we stated in our evaluate. “It exceeds the hallowed 60-frames-per-second mark in each recreation examined at that decision, even with probably the most strenuous visible settings enabled. It flies nicely past that mark in a number of video games, and it should not have any drawback holding 90 fps+ at 1440p in most titles in the event you don’t thoughts performing minor tuning on graphics choices.”

The GeForce RTX 3060 Ti performs ray tracing higher than AMD’s costliest GPUs, thanks in no small half to Nvidia’s implausible DLSS 2.0 expertise. It’s additionally able to nice 4K gaming, however the 8GB of reminiscence may maintain it again future 4K video games.

When you have a 120Hz+ 1440p monitor, the $500 GeForce RTX 3070 can be value contemplating, but it surely’s solely 9 % to fifteen % sooner than the RTX 3060 Ti at 1440p relying on the sport for 25 % additional cash. That makes the RTX 3060 Ti a greater choice for most individuals, although the RTX 3070’s efficiency increase could also be worthwhile in the event you maintain onto your graphics playing cards for an particularly very long time earlier than upgrading once more.

The $600 GeForce RTX 3070 Ti could be very barely sooner than that, though it comes with a lot sooner GDDR6X reminiscence. Most individuals ought to get the 3060 Ti if they will discover one at a semi-reasonable value.

The GeForce RTX 3070 (and 3060 Ti) solely has 8GB of GDDR6 reminiscence. Which may not be sufficient for 4K gaming going ahead, but it surely’s nice for 1440p in most eventualities—however not all. Watch Canines Legion, for instance, makes use of greater than 8GB of VRAM at 1440p in the event you crank up the graphics settings and activate real-time ray tracing. For those who’re leery, think about shopping for the $580 Radeon RX 6800 as a substitute. You pay a bit extra for a bit sooner efficiency, however extra importantly, AMD loaded the Radeon RX 6800 with an ample 16GB of GDDR6 reminiscence. Nvidia’s RTX 30-series playing cards are a lot, a lot higher at ray tracing, nevertheless—and $80 cheaper.

The step-down AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT comes with 12GB of VRAM. It delivers nice 1440p gaming efficiency that’s slightly bit sooner than the RTX 3060 Ti, however at $479 and up, it’s priced extra in-tune with the RTX 3070, and that comparability does it no favors.

Turning again to Nvidia, the $330 GeForce RTX 3060 additionally presents an ample 12GB of reminiscence (thanks for the market stress, AMD!) together with an excellent entry-level 1440p expertise. Chances are you’ll want to show down the graphics settings a bit in particularly intense video games to hit 60fps, however this should not have any drawback surpassing that hallowed goal in each title.

For those who’re seeking to max out a excessive refresh-rate 1440p monitor, or drive a 3440×1440 ultrawide monitor, Nvidia’s $700 GeForce RTX 3080 and AMD’s $650 Radeon RX 6800 XT are stellar choices that commerce blows in uncooked efficiency. Even with all of the visible settings cranked to Extremely, these monstrous playing cards ship above 100fps at 1440p decision throughout the ten+ video games we examined, and infrequently nicely above. The RTX 3080 and Radeon RX 6800 XT ship over 50 % extra efficiency than the RTX 2080 as a baseline throughout the board and beat even the RTX 2080 Ti by a wholesome margin.

All of those choices are additionally quick sufficient to play ray traced video games at a clean clip at 1440p—one thing you couldn’t say with older RTX 20-series playing cards. Chances are you’ll must tweak some visible choices again when enabling ray tracing on AMD’s playing cards, nevertheless, whereas sooner RT cores and DLSS expertise imply you gained’t must make the identical sacrifices with Nvidia’s GPU. AMD holds the reminiscence capability edge as soon as once more, nevertheless, at 16GB of GDDR6 versus 10GB of GDDR6X within the RTX 3080, however that shouldn’t matter an excessive amount of at 1440p decision.

Don’t purchase the RTX 3080 or Radeon RX 6800 in the event you solely have a 60Hz 1440p monitor. They’re costly overkill except you’ve got a 120Hz-plus 1440p monitor that may put it ludicrous speeds to good use. They’re a nice pairing with a 60Hz 3440×1440 ultrawide show, although, as that greater decision is extra demanding.

Finest 4K graphics card

The identical issues we listed about last-gen playing cards in our 1440p part proceed right here. The arrival of the brand new era of Radeon and GeForce GPUs instantly turned most high-end playing cards from earlier than into horrible values, and costs for all graphics playing cards are loopy proper now, however you’ve got extra choices amongst premium GPUs in the event you’re fortunate sufficient to get your fingers on one.

The most important issues between AMD and Nvidia up right here within the excessive finish? Ray tracing and reminiscence capability. AMD’s Radeon 6000-series GPUs include huge 16GB reminiscence swimming pools that ought to deal with all the pieces video games throw at them for the foreseeable future. In contrast, Nvidia wasn’t fairly as beneficiant with the reminiscence in its RTX lineup, and a few uncommon, particularly strenuous video games are already pushing GeForce VRAM limits. However the RTX 30-series supply vastly superior ray tracing efficiency, each in uncooked horsepower and with the massive uplift supplied by DLSS 2.0 supersampling, which AMD at the moment has no reply for. Ray tracing is selecting up steam now that it’s within the next-gen consoles however stays comparatively uncommon in at this time’s video games, nevertheless.

Choose your poison; these are all nice graphics playing cards.

For those who’re on a $500 finances, or attempting to energy a 60Hz 4K monitor, the $500 GeForce RTX 3070 is value contemplating. It’s simply as quick as the previous $1,200 RTX 2080 Ti flagship and exceeds or flirts with the 60fps mark in most—however not all—video games at 4K decision with graphics settings maxed out. Be warned that you just’ll must dial the visuals in some video games again to hit 60fps, although, and the cardboard can wrestle in the event you activate ray tracing in video games that assist it.

The RTX 3070’s modest 8GB reminiscence buffer isn’t more likely to be very future-proof both, as some video games already exceed that capability at 4K, so we think about Nvidia’s $500 card higher for top refresh price 1440p gaming, or 4K gaming with some small potential high quality compromises. Excessive graphics settings nonetheless look nice at 4K, although the 8GB of VRAM would make me leery about shopping for the RTX 3070 as a long-term 4K gaming answer.

The $600 GeForce RTX 3070 Ti has sooner GDDR6X reminiscence and barely extra horsepower so it handles 4K a bit higher than its non-Ti namesake, although all the identical caveats typically exist for that card as nicely.

For those who don’t wish to make these occasional graphics high quality tweaks or fear about whether or not 8GB of reminiscence can be sufficient for 4K gaming in a 12 months or two, think about AMD’s $580 Radeon RX 6800 as a substitute. It’s a bit sooner than the RTX 3070 and comes with a beneficiant 16GB of GDDR6 reminiscence. AMD’s Sensible Entry Reminiscence expertise additionally provides Radeon RX 6000-series graphics playing cards a further velocity increase when paired with a Ryzen 5000 processor in an X570 motherboard.

In order for you even sooner efficiency, or have a excessive refresh price 4K monitor, step as much as the $650 Radeon RX 6800 XT or $700 GeForce RTX 3080. They kick ass, take names, and commerce efficiency blows. There are not any video games in our check suite that fail to clear a 60-frames-per-second common at 4K decision with all potential visuals results enabled on these playing cards, and so they usually exceeds that mark by far.

The GeForce RTX 3080 and Radeon RX 6800 XT spit out frames as much as 80 % sooner than the RTX 2080 in a number of video games at 4K, and 60 % greater within the others. They’re roughly 30 % sooner than the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, the $1,200 previous-gen flagship, and a ridonkulous 100 to 160 % sooner than the older GeForce GTX 1080. The overwhelming horsepower makes these wonderful choices for 3440×1440 ultrawide gaming, too.

The function variations are particularly key right here. The Radeon RX 6800 XT packs a future-proof 16GB of GDDR6 reminiscence, versus 10GB of sooner GDDR6X reminiscence within the RTX 3080. However Nvidia’s ray tracing benefit shines even brighter on the high-end, as its second-gen RT cores and DLSS expertise allow 4K gaming with ray tracing enabled. AMD’s playing cards merely can’t play ray traced video games past 1440p with out body charges slowing to a crawl.

Transferring up but greater, the much more monstrous GeForce RTX 3090 “BFGPU” wields 10,496 CUDA cores, SLI connectors, and an enormous 24GB of that speedy GDDR6X reminiscence. It’s a surprising worth for creators who can faucet into all that VRAM, and might obtain 60fps gaming at a daft 8K decision in a handful of video games, but it surely’s solely about 10 to fifteen % sooner than the RTX 3080 at 4K for over twice the worth. Most individuals ought to get the RTX 3080 as a substitute for a still-superb 4K expertise, however there’s no denying the GeForce RTX 3090 is the quickest gaming card on the planet—although AMD’s $999 Radeon RX 6900 XT hopes to problem that declare when it releases on December 8.

In a shock twist, Nvidia’s personal Founders Version cooler is phenomenal, which makes it a greater purchase than customized playing cards for the reason that FE mannequin sells on the card’s $1,499 MSRP, moderately than coming with a steep premium. We’ve acquired 3440×1440 ultrawide benchmarks for the RTX 3090, too.

For those who’re keen to spend 4 figures on a graphics card although, your greatest wager is the $1200 GeForce RTX 3080 Ti. It’s simply as quick because the 3090 basically, however knocks $300 off the worth tag by dropping the GDDR6X reminiscence capability from a daft 24GB right down to a still-great-for-4K 12GB.

For the primary time in a very long time, AMD presents a rival to Nvidia’s flagship GeForce GPU, but it surely’s laborious to suggest the $1,000 Radeon RX 6900 XT regardless of its steep low cost towards the RTX 3090. It’s solely two % slower than the RTX 3090 at 1440p gaming, so it could possibly be value contemplating for a high-refresh price 1440p monitor, or for powering a 3440×1440 ultrawide expertise, the place it performs very nicely. It is also a strong choice for Linux customers, since AMD drivers carry out with a lot much less headache there. And this card additionally presents rather more overclocking headroom than rival GeForce GPUs in the event you’re into hardcore tweaking.

However the Radeon RX 6900 XT loses to the RTX 3090 by over 9 % at 4K gaming, and since AMD doesn’t supply a DLSS rival, ray traced video games are restricted to 1440p decision—a bummer in a four-figure graphics card. And the $650 Radeon RX 6800 XT is nearly as quick for $350 much less, whereas the $700 RTX 3080 is actually as quick at 4K with a lot better ray tracing efficiency. This can be a implausible graphics card, and it’s fantastic to see AMD competing towards Nvidia on the excessive finish after an extended absence, however the Radeon RX 6900 XT doesn’t carve out a robust area of interest for itself. Scorching-rodded customized variations of this GPU may maintain a variety of potential once they hit the streets, although.

What to search for in a customized card

If you wish to store past the scope of our picks, know that discovering the suitable graphics card will be difficult. Numerous distributors supply custom-made variations of each GPU. For instance, you should purchase totally different Radeon RX 6700 XT fashions from Sapphire, XFX, Asus, MSI, and PowerColor.

To assist slim down the choices and discover the suitable card for you, it’s best to think about the next issues when doing all of your analysis:

Overclocks: Increased-priced customized fashions are sometimes overclocked out-of-the-box to various levels, which may result in greater efficiency. Most fashionable customized playing cards supply the identical important degree of efficiency,nevertheless.

Cooling options: Many graphics playing cards can be found with customized coolers that decrease temperatures and fan noise. The overwhelming majority carry out nicely. Liquid-cooled graphics playing cards run even cooler, however require additional room inside your case for the tubing and radiator. Keep away from graphics playing cards with single-fan, blower-style cooling programs in the event you can assist it, except you’ve got a small-form-factor PC or plan on utilizing customized water-cooling blocks.

Dimension: Many graphics playing cards are of an analogous measurement, however longer and shorter fashions of many GPUs exist. Excessive-end graphics playing cards are beginning to sport particularly huge customized cooling options to tame their enthusiast-class GPUs. Double-check that your chosen graphics card will slot in your case before you purchase.

Compatibility: Not all {hardware} helps a variety of connectivity choices. Increased-end graphics playing cards could lack DVI ports, whereas lower-end screens could lack DisplayPorts. Solely probably the most fashionable Radeon and GeForce graphics playing cards assist HDMI 2.1 outputs. Guarantee your graphics card and monitor can join to one another. Likewise, make certain your energy provide meets the beneficial wattage for the graphics card you select.

Actual-time ray tracing and DLSS: AMD’s Radeon RX 6000-sereis graphics playing cards and all of Nvidia’s RTX choices can play video games with real-time ray tracing results lively. Nvidia’s RTX 30-series GPUs maintain an enormous benefit over all the pieces else although, propelled even additional by devoted tensor cores for processing machine studying duties comparable to Deep Studying Tremendous Sampling, which makes use of AI to hurry up the efficiency of your video games with minimal hit to visible constancy. GeForce RTX 20-series GPUs additionally assist DLSS, however AMD has no reply for it but, although the corporate is teasing a extra open “FidelityFX Tremendous Decision” function to rival it within the coming months.