You’ll need one of the best graphics cards on the market to truly get the most out of your games. The heart and soul of a great gaming PC, the GPU is just something you can’t do without. And, unless you plan on playing the best PC games on low settings, you’ll want to make sure it’s a quality one too. Even if you’re using your desktop PC mostly to render videos and 3D design, it still all boils down to the GPU.
That doesn’t mean you have to put all your hard-earned money towards the most expensive card on the market. The best graphics cards will differ based on different users’ needs and wants. And, with the graphics card war continuing between AMD and Nvidia (and eventually Intel), there have never been more options, which have all gotten increasingly more powerful as well as cheaper.
Whether you’re looking at Nvidia’s incredible RTX 3080 and the rest of the RTX 3000 line or the best AMD GPUs, there are quite a few choices to pick from. Soon, Intel Xe will enter the fray as well as the recently announced Big Navi cards. With the Radeon RX 6800XT, Radeon RX 6800 having just launched, and the Radeon RX 6900 XT just around the corner, we could see some new contenders for this list. While it’s too soon to tell, they might be viable alternatives to the RTX 3080 and RTX 3090.
We’ve gathered all the best graphics cards available to help you find the best one for you. If you’re hoping to experience Microsoft Flight Simulator or Horizon Zero Dawn in stunning 4K resolution, or have large projects in Premiere Pro ready to go, one of these GPUs will more than deliver.
Best graphics cards on Black Friday and Cyber Monday
With Black Friday and Cyber Monday coming soon, many of the best graphics cards are expected to get some hefty price cuts, much like they did last year. This means that you might be able to purchase a powerful graphics card for much less, saving you more money to use for something else on your shopping list.
Whether you’re buying one for your gaming PC you’re building or planning on gifting one during the holiday season, it would be wise to wait until the major deal events of the year. Luckily, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday rolling around the end of November, you won’t have to wait for long.
Best graphics cards at a glance
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090
- AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super
- AMD Radeon RX 5700
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti
- Zotac GeForce RTX 2060 Super Mini
- Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660 OC 6G
- PNY GeForce GTX 1660 Ti XLR8 Gaming OC
The best graphics card on the market for most people, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 delivers excellent performance – on par with the RTX 2080 Ti even – without costing an arm and a leg. Before this card, 4K gaming was out of a lot of people’s budget. The RTX 3070, therefore, brings it to the mainstream for the first time, and that’s without you having to compromise on settings for most games. And did we mention the fact that this GPU is incredibly cheap? A cheap price tag plus 4K gaming on quality settings equals great value, and that’s why the RTX 3070 tops our list.
Read the full review: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070
With the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080, 4K gaming just became a lot more accessible. Before, you had to shell out more than $1,000/£1,000 to get playable framerates with the RTX 2080 Ti. However, with the next generation of Nvidia graphics cards, the price of 4K gaming has been cut nearly in half, thanks to the RTX 3080. It boasts one of the largest generational leaps in GPU history, delivering a 50-80% performance boost over the RTX 2080 and a 20-30% boost over the RTX 2080 Ti, all while keeping the same price point as the RTX 2080. This is both an absolute powerhouse of a graphics card and a great value, if you have a bit of extra cash lying around.
Read the full review: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080
You can’t beat the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 when it comes to performance. With a whopping 24GB of RAM, no game or, more importantly, heavy graphics project will suffer performance issues. In fact, you can even get some 8K performance at 60 fps out of the 3090. It is an incredibly expensive unit, and quite large too, so it will probably be too much GPU for most users. The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 is, in essence, a replacement for the Titan so it’s meant more for the creative user tackling intensive 3D and video rendering than for the avid gamer. Even so, it comes with a massive reduction in price compared to the Titan, even if it’s still out of most people’s budget.
Read the full review: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090
If you’re looking for the best graphics card out there for 1080p gaming, you might want to look into what the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT has to offer. This AMD card beats the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 with its more affordable price tag, delivering high frame rates and plenty of software features while requiring less power. Sure, it doesn’t have the competition’s ray tracing and deep learning supersampling (DLSS), but for raw performance and value, AMD’s contender comes out the winner.
Read the full review: AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT
The souped up Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super isn’t just remarkable because it’s a supercharged version of the very popular RTX 2070, offering exceptional 1440p gaming. It’s also striking because it offers all that power at a very reasonable price, making it a compelling buy for most users, even for those on a budget. Plus, if you’re wondering about ray tracing, here’s the best card to jump in – you don’t have to break open that piggy bank for the RTX 2080 or RTX 2080 Ti anymore.
Read the full review: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super
This absolute behemoth of a graphics card is still basically brand new, and it’s already topping our list of the best graphics cards, booting former reigning champion and its direct rival, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060, off the top spot. At $349, this powerful mid-range card brings 1440p gaming at Ultra or Max settings to the masses, making it affordable and accessible to everyone. At that price point, it doesn’t need to be perfect – those looking for ray tracing will have to wait. But, for what it offers and how much it costs, it’s well-deserving of its title as the best graphics card of 2020 for most people.
Read the full review: AMD Radeon RX 5700
If you need the best graphics card, and you don’t want to settle, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti may be one of the best graphics cards for you. This is the most formidable graphics card you can buy without jumping for a professional graphics solution. And, now that games like Battlefield V, Metro Exodus and Shadow of the Tomb Raider actually implement the RTX features, there’s never been a better time to jump on the ray tracing bandwagon. Just prepare yourself for that sky-high price.
Read the full review: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti
Just because you’re putting together a microATX or mini-ITX gaming PC doesn’t mean you have to have a lightweight GPU. Zotac has made sure of that, allowing you access to Ray Tracing at a reasonably low price with their mini edition of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Super. Since it is a smaller card, you will miss some features like SLI support, RGB lighting, and VirtualLink for VR. However, if you just want to get some excellent performance in a stripped-down GPU, then the Zotac GeForce RTX 2060 Super Mini more than fits the bill.
With all those fancy (read: expensive) graphics cards cornering the market, the budget-friendlier ones sometimes fly under the radar. That’s unfortunate, particularly since cards like the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 deserve a spot in the limelight for delivering excellent 1080p performance at a very affordable price. With the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660 OC 6G, you’re also getting a healthy factory overclock and all the outputs you’ll ever need, so you can play all your favorite games with several monitors attached. We’d call that a bargain, maybe even the best we’ve ever had, and it certainly warrants a spot in our best graphics cards list.
Read the full review: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660 OC 6G
When Nvidia first revealed its Turing lineup, it was hard to find a model that didn’t cost an arm and a leg. Nonetheless, with the launch of the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti – especially the PNY XLR8 Gaming OC model – next-generation performance became accessible to everyone. You won’t have access to 4K 60 fps gaming with this card, but it’s one of the best graphics cards for anyone still using a 1080p display, and it can handle most esports games well above 60fps. At that resolution, you’ll have trouble running into any title that it can’t handle.
Read the full review: PNY GeForce GTX 1660 Ti XLR8 Gaming OC
Michelle Rae Uy has also contributed to this article.
The Lenovo Yoga C940 is a stunning laptop. It’s clear Lenovo spared no expense in its design, making a gorgeous looking portable. But, it also comes with plenty of power under the hood. Rounding the experience is a comfortable keyboard, a rotating soundbar with 2 additional speakers, touch pen as well as a TrueBlock Privacy Shutter. While it’s not a perfect computer – the battery life is not quite up to par – it more than holds its own against the competition, with Lenovo offering a stylish and powerful Ultrabook that’s perfect for any digital nomad.
Read the full review: Lenovo Yoga C940
The Lenovo Yoga C940 is a stunning laptop. It’s clear Lenovo spared no expense in its design, making a gorgeous looking portable. But, it also comes with plenty of power under the hood. Rounding the experience is a comfortable keyboard, a rotating soundbar with 2 additional speakers, touch pen as well as a TrueBlock Privacy Shutter. While it’s not a perfect computer – the battery life is not quite up to par – it more than holds its own against the competition, with Lenovo offering a stylish and powerful Ultrabook that’s perfect for any digital nomad.
Read the full review: Lenovo Yoga C940
The Lenovo Yoga C940 is a stunning laptop. It’s clear Lenovo spared no expense in its design, making a gorgeous looking portable. But, it also comes with plenty of power under the hood. Rounding the experience is a comfortable keyboard, a rotating soundbar with 2 additional speakers, touch pen as well as a TrueBlock Privacy Shutter. While it’s not a perfect computer – the battery life is not quite up to par – it more than holds its own against the competition, with Lenovo offering a stylish and powerful Ultrabook that’s perfect for any digital nomad.
Read the full review: Lenovo Yoga C940