Which Graphics Card Should You Buy on a Specific Budget?
When it comes to GPUs and graphics cards, TechSpot conducts in-depth research. Year after year, the author tests dozens of GPUs from Nvidia, AMD, and Intel to determine which ones are worth purchasing.
Unfortunately, the PC graphics card market is currently in a state of stagnation, which is an uncommon situation in the past few decades. Although the current GPU technology is impressive, the release of new chips has slowed down, and the prices are not high from a value perspective, with little change in the past 6 to 12 months. However, if you are building a new gaming PC, getting into PC gaming for the first time, or your existing graphics card starts to feel a bit old, it is still worth discussing the best GPU options currently available.
To simplify the process of choosing a new graphics card, TechSpot's Best GPUs Guide aims to answer a simple question: Which graphics card should you buy on a specific budget?
Should You Buy a GPU Now?Before proceeding, the primary question that needs to be addressed is whether you should consider purchasing a graphics card. The classic question is "Should you buy or should you wait?" Of course, this depends on your situation and the performance of the existing GPU, or whether you possess a GPU at all. However, generally speaking, the higher-end the GPU you are considering purchasing, the more you should consider waiting.
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This is because the next generation of GPUs is expected to be released within the next six months. The market is currently at the end of the current product cycle. Nvidia's RTX 50 series is expected to launch in the fourth quarter of 2024, although recent rumors suggest this may be delayed until January 2025. Similarly, AMD's RDNA 4 generation is set to be unveiled at CES 2025 in January, with actual supply conditions still uncertain, ranging from one week to several months after the release.
As is typical with the new generation of GPUs, high-end products will be available first, followed by lower-end models in the months that follow. This means that you will have to wait a shorter time to get a new high-end GPU, while waiting for cheaper products will take longer. The situation is further complicated by the expectation that the best GPU of RDNA 4 will be a mid-range product. Taking into account all this background information, the following recommendations are made by the author.
For high-end buyers, consider waiting for the new GPUs, as the RTX 50 series (starting with the RTX 5080 and 5090) is expected to hit the market within the next six months. Mid to high-end buyers should also consider waiting, as AMD's RDNA 4 series will be launched in January. Even if you usually prefer a GPU brand, it is worth waiting in these product areas to see how competition and pricing will be affected before and after the release.
For the lower end of the mid-range products, new models may not be available for more than nine months, which is a long wait, making it easier to purchase products at this level. The same applies to the budget and mainstream market, as we are unlikely to see new GPUs by mid-2025. We are not saying that you must buy a new graphics card now—waiting is fine—but if you are building a new budget PC, you may not immediately forgo purchasing due to new GPUs.
Finally, if you decide to buy, what is the best choice? This guide is organized from top to bottom, introducing the recommended GPU options for each price point, from the most expensive to the most affordable options, and then gradually decreasing.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090
The best-performing graphics card on the market remains the GeForce RTX 4090, currently priced above its manufacturer's suggested retail price of $1,700.For GPUs, this is a huge sum, but it is the best. The RTX 4090 does not have to face competition from AMD, as its performance is about 25% higher than that of the Radeon 7900 XTX. Although the retail price may be 100% higher, select gamers who want the best performance seem very willing to pay a premium. It is also about 32% faster than the GeForce RTX 4080 Super, which makes the 4090's price more than 80% higher. If you have enough money to buy a high-end gaming graphics card, this is not a big problem, but generally speaking, the 4080 Super is a wiser choice.
This means that the RTX 4090 is a huge success for Nvidia, so don't expect the next generation of extreme GPUs to be cheaper.
GeForce RTX 4080 Super
There are two main options in this price range: the GeForce RTX 4080 Super, starting at $960, and the Radeon RX 7900 XTX, starting at $910. For rasterization, the Radeon model is more worth buying because it is about 10% faster and slightly cheaper in price. However, if you value ray tracing, the RTX 4080 Super is more than 30% faster on average in our tests. The GeForce GPU also offers a set of excellent features, and DLSS is the best enhancer.
Ray tracing is more important for high-end GPU models than for budget GPU models, and generally, features such as DLSS and frame generation also work better on higher-level parts. Considering this, we believe that the RTX 4080 Super is the better overall choice, but if you don't care about ray tracing or Nvidia's features, the 7900 XTX is indeed cost-effective.
Radeon RX 7900 XT or GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super
The next level is the $700 range, which includes the $780 GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super, the $730 RTX 4070 Ti, and the $690 Radeon RX 7900 XT. We can immediately exclude one GPU from the competition: the 4070 Ti is about 10% slower than the Ti Super, but the price is only 6% cheaper, and it has less VRAM at 12GB compared to 16GB. Therefore, considering the current prices, the 4070 Ti is a poor choice.
There is a reasonable price gap between the remaining GeForce and Radeon models: the 4070 Ti Super is 13% more expensive than the 7900 XT, but it is 6% slower in rasterization at 4K. On the other hand, the Ti Super's ray tracing speed is much faster, with an advantage of 30%. However, in terms of cost-effectiveness, the GeForce model is only 15% better.In this price range, the choice is not as obvious as in the previous tier, because the price gap between Nvidia and AMD models is larger. In many gaming configurations, the Radeon 7900 XT is faster than the 4070 Ti Super and is nearly $100 cheaper, making it a good value product that we prefer here. However, if you value features like ray tracing or DLSS, the GeForce model is obviously better, which is understandable when spending at least $700. Your preferences and gaming style will be important factors in deciding which one to choose.
GeForce RTX 4070 Super or Radeon RX 7800 XT
Between approximately $500 and $600, there are four models to consider: the GeForce RTX 4070 Super at $580, the RTX 4070 at $540, the Radeon RX 7900 GRE at $550, and the RX 7800 XT at $480.
Under this pricing structure, the RTX 4070 offers poor value for money. The GeForce RTX 4070 Super, for just an additional $40, delivers nearly a 20% performance boost. The situation is the opposite for the Radeon models, where the higher-priced graphics card offers lower value. The RX 7900 GRE is 15% more expensive than the 7800 XT, but offers only a 6% to 8% performance increase, making the Radeon 7800 XT a better buy.
When comparing GeForce and Radeon, we reach a similar conclusion. The 7900 GRE's rasterization performance is similar to the 4070 Super, but its $550 price is nonsensical, while the GeForce card, for just an additional $30, offers much faster ray tracing. If your budget is $600 and you want good value for money, the GeForce card is your best choice.
The Radeon RX 7800 XT is in an interesting position. It is $100, or 17%, cheaper than the RTX 4070 Super and 11% cheaper than the 4070, and in terms of rasterization performance, it sits in the middle of these models. If you are not too concerned about ray tracing, then the Radeon is the choice for most people. However, if you really care about ray tracing, the 4070 Super is clearly more valuable, offering a 20% lower cost per frame than the 7800 XT, simply because it is 50% faster in this regard.
Extending this comparison to a $450 GPU, we can consider the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 16GB and the Radeon RX 6800 XT (which is still available for sale). The 6800 XT is essentially a slightly slower, slightly cheaper 7800 XT. However, the 4060 Ti 16GB, priced at $450, offers poor value for money, providing the same VRAM capacity as the 7800 XT but much lower rasterization performance: the 7800 XT is 40% faster and 24% lower in cost per frame. Even in ray tracing, the performance of the two models is similar, making the Radeon the overall better choice.
In summary, if you have a budget of about $500 and cannot increase it to include models like the RTX 4070 Super, the Radeon RX 7800 XT is a good choice; it outperforms its competitors at this price. If your budget reaches $580, the RTX 4070 Super is also a good mid-range product, especially if you plan to use its ray tracing and DLSS features.There are multiple options in the mid to low-end GPU market. There's the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB priced at $365, the Radeon RX 7700 XT at $390, and the Radeon RX 6800 at $350.
The 4060 Ti 8GB can immediately be ruled out of the competition due to its insufficient 8GB VRAM buffer, which we believe is inadequate at this price point. The 7700 XT offers 12GB, and the RX 6800 offers 16GB, which is more appropriate when spending over $300.
As for which Radeon model you should purchase, it will depend on availability. The RX 6800 is still available but not everywhere. If it's available in your area, the RX 6800 is slightly faster than the RX 7700 XT, includes more VRAM, and is now $40 cheaper—at just $350, it's a great value choice. If it's not available, the RX 7700 XT is still a good option because it's generally faster than the RTX 4060 Ti 8GB and offers similar ray tracing performance. It also provides a sufficient amount of VRAM with 12GB.
Radeon 6750 XT or GeForce RTX 4060 or Radeon 7600
In the price range of around $300, there are many competitors. All of these products are within $60 of each other, making it somewhat complicated to discuss which one to choose... There's the $290 GeForce RTX 4060, the $280 RTX 3060, the $320 Radeon RX 7600 XT, the $260 RX 7600, the $300 RX 6750 XT, and the $270 Intel Arc A770 16GB.
The RTX 4060 is only 7% faster than the RTX 3060, 4% more expensive, and has less VRAM at 8GB compared to 12GB, but it does support DLSS frame generation. We prefer the additional VRAM over DLSS frame generation, so GeForce buyers should opt for the RTX 3060 over the newer model while it's still available.
The current best contender seems to be the older RX 6750 XT or 6700 XT (as long as it's still available). It's 13% faster than the RX 7600 XT and $20 cheaper, although you have to sacrifice 4GB of VRAM, going from 16GB to 12GB, but at this performance level and price point, it's still sufficient. It's also 20% faster than the RX 7600 and 15% more expensive, and it has more VRAM since the RX 7600 is an 8GB model.
Meanwhile, the Intel Arc A770 16GB doesn't offer particularly good value for money, with performance similar to the Radeon RX 7600 but some game compatibility issues that we've recently discussed.The bottom line is that the main competition within the $300 price range is between the Radeon RX 6750 XT and the GeForce RTX 3060, or if only new cards are available, between the Radeon RX 7600 series and the GeForce RTX 4060.
The Radeon 6750 XT is more than 30% faster than the RTX 3060, but it's only $20 more expensive, which is justified. The Radeon takes the lead.
The Radeon 7600 is less competitive because it's only slightly faster than the RTX 4060 and a bit cheaper, while the 7600 XT offers a modest performance boost at a higher price, with double the VRAM, so it's still acceptable. The previous generation 6750 XT is far ahead, but without it, the new Radeon and GeForce graphics cards are neck and neck. The most forward-looking choice is the 7600 XT with 16GB VRAM.
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AMD Radeon RX 6600
Lastly, in the budget GPU layer, we have the $180 GeForce RTX 3050, the $230 Radeon RX 6600 XT (although they are increasingly hard to find), the $190 Radeon RX 6600, and the $200 Intel Arc A750.
First, let's eliminate the RTX 3050 from the competition because its performance is much worse than all other GPUs in this price range. Seriously, it's 25% slower than the RX 6600 at the same price.
The Radeon RX 6600 remains the top choice in this category, offering the best cost per frame. The RX 6600 XT is slightly more expensive, but if you have an extra $40 in your budget and want a faster GPU, it's also a good option. The Arc A750 performs decently; in our benchmarks, it's slightly faster than the RX 6600 but $10 more expensive, and we don't think this value proposition is enough to offset any gaming compatibility issues; Radeon cards are more likely to perform well in a variety of games.
The $190 Radeon RX 6600 is also the cheapest GPU we recommend. Below this price are the RX 6500 XT and RX 6400, which are underwhelming in many ways. The GeForce RTX 3050 6GB is also too slow to justify its $175 price tag, and the Arc A580 shares the same fate as other Intel GPUs, with its $170 price not being cheap enough.
*Disclaimer: This article is the original creation of the author. The content of the article represents their personal views, and our reposting is solely for sharing and discussion, and does not represent our endorsement or agreement. If there are any objections, please contact the backend.
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