The best graphics cards in 2022

1. Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080

Right present, the best video card for PC gaming is
SPECIFICATIONS
8,704 CUDA cores
1,440MHz is the base clock.
1,710MHz boost clock
29.76 TFLOPs
10GB GDDR6X memory
19 GT/s memory clock
760GB/s memory bandwidth
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REASONS TO BUY +Extreme gen-on-gen performance +Makes the 2080 Ti appear mid-range +Ray tracing is no longer an afterthought
REASONS TO AVOID -Requires a powerful power supply -Is in great demand
Although the RTX 3080 is now as scarce as pigeon eyelashes, there is no doubt that Nvidia’s new RTX 3080 is the greatest graphics card available today. It is a significant performance improvement over the preceding RTX 20-series. That’s amazing when compared to the RTX 2080 or 2080 Super, but it’s even more impressive when you realise that this $699 card can match, if not vastly outperform, the $1,200 RTX 2080 Ti.

The impact it makes to ray-tracing performance is something that really shines out in our testing. Most people avoided turning on the first generation of ray tracing-capable cards since it required such a large frame rate compromise, but that is no longer the case with this generation.

When you can now achieve ray-traced performance that exceeds the frame rates you’d get from the top RTX 20-series card without it, you know you’re dealing with a completely different beast. And, hey, the RTX 3080 is capable of running Crysis.

To make with the ray-traced pretties, Nvidia has added a whole lot more CUDA cores to the mix with this 8nm GPU, as well as upgraded Tensor Cores (for extra DLSS goodness) and second-gen RT Cores.

The RTX 3080 may require a lot more power (at least an 850W PSU) and be difficult to find, but it is currently the most desirable graphics card available. Which, I suppose, is why it’s so difficult to obtain.

Our complete Nvidia RTX 3080 review can be found here (10GB Founders Edition).

On a grey background, an AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT reference graphics card is photographed from above.

(Image courtesy of AMD)

2. AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT

SPECIFICATIONS At its greatest, AMD’s RDNA 2 architecture
There are 4,608 RDNA cores in all.
The base clock is 1,825MHz.
Boost clock of 2,250 MHz
TFLOPs: 20.74
Memory: 16 GB GDDR6
Memory clock of 16 GT/s
Memory bandwidth of 512 GB/s
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WHY SHOULD YOU BUY EXCELLENCE? +4000 REASONS TO STAY AWAY -Raw ray tracing performance is acceptable. -At 4K, slower than the 3080 Advertisement +It’s less expensive than an RTX 3080. REASONS TO AVOID -Slower than the 3080 at 4K Advertisement -Moderate ray tracing performance

The RX 6800 XT is one of the best red team alternatives to Nvidia’s high-end graphics cards. A very competitive card with only a slight performance gap from the RTX 3080 is undoubtedly an enthusiast card worth considering for any PC gamer interested in 4K.

It’s a close call between it and the RTX 3080, but the latter knocks AMD to the punch with the finishing touches à la RTX. The RX 6800 XT costs $50 less than the RTX 3080 and provides higher 4K performance and VRAM. It’s simple to argue that the additional $50 spent on the RTX 3080 was well spent: it’s a little price to pay for improved 4K performance, ray tracing, and DLSS. All of them are available right now, along with two years of development assistance. On the other hand, AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution is gaining favour among game developers and provides good upscaling in supported titles.

Nonetheless, we’re big fans of what AMD has done with the RX 6800 XT, which is a welcome return to form for the Radeon Technology Group, providing much-needed competition in the GPU market and a true red team option for any high-end gaming PC build.

See our complete AMD RX 6800 XT review.

An Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti Founders Edition graphics card is photographed from above on a white background.

(Nvidia provided the image.)

3. Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti

more budget-friendly Ampere
SPECIFICATIONS
4,864 CUDA cores; base frequency of 1,410 MHz
Boost clock of 1,665 MHz
TFLOPs = 16.20
Memory: 8 GB GDDR6
Memory clock of 14 GT/s
Memory bandwidth of 448 GB/s
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Finally! REASONS TO BUY A BIT LESS EXPENSIVE +2080 High-end performance +Under $400
STAYING AWAY REASONS
Advertisement -Inconvenient 12-pin power connector -Insufficient for 4K
The RTX 3060 Ti, which is quite comparable to the RTX 3070, is the best value Ampere to date. Both feature the same GA104 GPU (the RTX 3060 Ti has less SMs), as well as the same 8GB of GDDR6 RAM on a 256-bit bus.

While the RTX 3060 Ti has 17% less cores than the RTX 3060, it compensates with some innovative GPU Boost frequencies. That explains why, despite a silicon disadvantage, the RTX 3060 Ti may be within 17 percent of the RTX 3070 in single digits. That’s not terrible for a $399 card (if you can find it for that price).

If you haven’t done so already, here’s how to do it: Because the RTX 3060 Ti costs $20 less than the RTX 3070 ($399), the smaller graphics card offers better performance per dollar. That’s why we like it so much: it’s a fantastic GPU for a wide variety of resolutions, and it also has decent ray tracing capabilities thanks to second-generation RT Cores.

The RTX 3060 Ti is an excellent alternative if the RTX 3080 or RTX 3070 are out of your pricing range. The way this graphics card compares to the previous generation of 20-series cards is perhaps the most amazing element of it: it exceeds the RTX 2080 Super in almost every test.

You can read the rest of our Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti review here (Founders Edition).

An Nvidia RTX 3070 Founders Edition graphics card is photographed from an angle on a grey tabletop.

(Future provided the image.)

4. Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070

Finally, every 10-series player has a strong reason to upgrade.
SPECIFICATIONS
CUDA cores: 5,888
The base clock frequency is 1,500 MHz.
Boost clock of 1,725 MHz
TFLOPs = 20.37
Memory: 8 GB GDDR6
Memory clock of 14 GT/s
Memory bandwidth of 448 GB/s
REASONS TO BUY + THE BEST DEALS OF THE DAY AMAZON PRIMARY VIEW + Turing-topping frame rates + relatively low power
This FE card is incredible.
REASONS TO AVOID -A 12-pin power connector with a poor design.
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The RTX 3070 is maybe the only high-end Ampere that comes close to being affordable, and it’s also impressive for matching the top-tier Turing graphics card, the RTX 2080 Ti, for less than half the price.

At $499, it’s still a significant investment—we’re talking next-gen console prices here—but it’s a bargain when compared to today’s top graphics hardware for PC gaming. In exchange, you’ll get a 4K graphics card with minimal tuning required to attain playable, if not high, framerates. And there’s no doubt that in 1440p, it’ll look incredible.

The RTX 3070’s game performance attributes are unquestionably impressive, but it’s the entire Nvidia ecosystem that supports the RTX stack today that makes it our pick for the reasonable PC gaming enthusiast. Broadcast and Reflex are two further capabilities that help to sweeten the offer. Other features like Broadcast and Reflex go a great way to sweetening the deal, and DLSS is a clever approach for improving performance with only a tiny loss in clarity.

You can read our full Nvidia RTX 3070 review here (Founders Edition).

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An AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT reference graphics card is photographed from above on a white background.

(Thanks to AMD for the image.)

5. AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT

SPECIFICATIONS SPECIFICATIONS SPECIFICATIONS SPECIFICATIONS SPECIFICATIONS SPECIFICATIONS SPECIFICATIONS SPECIFICATIONS SPECIFICATIONS SPECIFICATIONS SPECIFICATIONS SPECIFICATIONS SPECIFICATIONS SPECIFICATIONS SPECIFICATIONS
In total, there are 5,120 RDNA cores.
The frequency of the base clock is 1,825MHz.
2,250 MHz boost clock
23.04 TFLOPs
16 GB GDDR6 memory
16 GT/s memory clock
512 GB/s memory bandwidth
GO TO AMAZON FOR TODAY’S BEST DEALS. +At a lower price! +Selective RTX 3090 performance! WHY SHOULD I PURCHASE AND WHY SHOULD I NOT PURCHASE – It occasionally falls below the RTX 3080, and raw ray-tracing performance is average.
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At launch, the RTX 3090 was unquestionably the best graphics card, but AMD swiftly countered with the RX 6900 XT, or “Big Navi.” The RX 6900 XT is designed to knock Ampere’s best off its perch and send it tumbling to the ground. And it comes close, finishing just a smidgeon behind the RTX 3090 in 4K performance—all for a third of the cost.

As a result, for any PC gamer who isn’t motivated by pro-creator ambitions, it’s simply the better option. It isn’t currently at the top of our graphics card rankings for a reason: it isn’t typically that much better than an RTX 3080. Despite costing $300 more than the RTX 3080, it is expected to surpass it in rasterized and ray tracing workloads. Despite this, its ray-tracing performance is inferior to those of its rivals.

The RX 6900 XT, on the other hand, comes with 16GB of GDDR6 memory, up from 10GB of (faster) GDDR6X memory on the green team. As a result, while the RX 6900 XT is less expensive than the RTX 3090 for pure gaming, it is still a victim of its own exorbitant price.

Check out our full AMD RX 6900 XT review.

On a grey background, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti GPU is shown.

6. Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti

The new GeForce gaming king
SPECIFICATIONS
Base clock of 1,365 MHz; 10,240 CUDA cores
1,665 MHz boost clock
34.10 TFLOPs
12 GB GDDR6X memory
19 GT/s memory clock
912.4 GB/s memory bandwidth
PREMIUM VIEW ON AMAZON PREMIUM VIEW ON AMAZON PREMIUM VIEW ON AMAZON PREMIUM VIEW ON AMAZON PREMIUM VIEW ON AMAZON PREMIUM VIEW ON AMAZON PREMIUM VIEW ON AMAZON PREMIUM VIEW ON AMAZON PREMIUM VIEW ON AMAZON PREMIUM VIEW ON AMAZON PREMIUM VIEW ON AMAZON PREMIUM VIEW ON AMAZON PREMIUM VIEW REASONS TO PURCHASE +Excellent 4K performance +Nearly as good as an RTX 3090 at a quarter of the cost +Excellent ray tracing capability AM REASONS TO BUY AND REASONS TO AVOID -It costs more than the RTX 3080 -It consumes 350W of power -It’s hot
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The RTX 3080 Ti isn’t Nvidia’s most powerful GeForce graphics card. By a whisker, the RTX 3090 wins this award, but the RTX 3090 Ti will certainly win it when the time comes. After all is said and done, any PC gamer looking to go all out on their next build should seriously consider the RTX 3080 Ti.

With 4K performance comparable to the RTX 3090, the RTX 3080 Ti is a gaming graphics card in the same vein as its predecessor. Thanks to its huge number of CUDA Cores and fast GDDR6X memory, this card just destroys every game you can throw at it. Thanks to its 80 RT Cores, it’s also capable of real-time ray tracing.

The reason this card isn’t higher on our list of the top graphics cards is because of its pricing. With a price of $1,200, it’s a close competitor to the $1,499 RTX 3090. Despite exorbitantly expensive pricing or a lack of stock.

The rest of our Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti review can be found here (Founders Edition).

Graphics card Zotac RTX 3060 Twin Edge

(Image courtesy of Zotac.)

7. Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 12GB

Nvidia’s attempt at a lower-cost Ampere GPU
SPECIFICATIONS
3,584 CUDA cores
1,320MHz is the base clock.
1,777MHz boost clock
12.74 TFLOPs
12GB GDDR6 memory
15 GT/s memory clock
360 GB/s memory bandwidth
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REASONS TO BUY +Ready for 60 frames per second at 1440p or higher +Decent generation-to-generation performance increase +
Pre-built PCs are more commonly accessible for purchase.
REASONS TO AVOID -Not always as quick as an RTX 2060 -At $399, the RTX 3060 Ti is a better deal.
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The decision to equip the RTX 3060 with 12GB of GDDR6 RAM seemed odd at first, and it still does in many ways. After all, it has more RAM than the RTX 3080, albeit at a slower rate, and it also outperforms the RTX 3060 Ti. The RTX 3060, on the other hand, utilises it deftly, dispatching the RTX 2060 by a wide margin in most games and leaving enough of a gap in the others to make it useful.

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(Photo courtesy of Future)
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We’re also not going to turn down 12GB of VRAM when 6GB is the most likely option.

The RTX 3060 12GB is a graphics card that is easily argued for, with a decent generation-on-generation improvement and plenty of speed at 1080p and 1440p. It’s also nominally less expensive than the RTX 2060 on launch day, though finding it as a separate number is difficult currently. However, this card is frequently found in pre-built gaming PCs, and at a reasonable all-in price.

Read our comprehensive review of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 12GB (Zotac Twin Edge).

Graphics card Gigabyte RTX 3050

(Photo courtesy of Gigabyte)

8. Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050

In theory, the finest sub-$300 graphics card
SPECIFICATIONS
2,560 CUDA cores
1.552MHz is the base clock.
1,777MHz boost clock
9.098 TFLOPs
8GB GDDR6 memory
14 GT/s memory clock
224 GB/s memory bandwidth
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REASONS TO BUY ON AMAZON +DLSS and ray tracing support +Much quicker than an RX 6500 XT
REASONS TO AVOID -Performance should be at least RTX 2060 -Long-term stock and pricing are unknown
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Except for the GeForce RTX 3050, there is no graphics card under $300 that we would suggest. Though defeating AMD’s Radeon RX 6500 XT wasn’t difficult. However, the RTX 3050 remains a tough GPU to recommend wholeheartedly because it is neither widely accessible nor as inexpensive as it should be.

The RTX 3050 is a lot smaller GPU than the RTX 3060 12GB, and we would recommend the larger chip to any good PC gamer. If you don’t want to extend your budget any further, the RTX 3050 will give GTX 1660 Ti performance with DLSS.

The RTX 3050 also supports ray tracing, though its weak-heart innards aren’t likely to hold up to much of it.

The RTX 3050 is the better pick of what’s out nowadays on a low budget as the base of a prebuilt gaming PC. However, you can frequently discover great RTX 3060 12GB PC discounts, and with a little patience, you could be able to get a much more competent graphics card.

Read our comprehensive review of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050. (Gigabyte Eagle).

Graphics card FAQ

How do I get a GPU in the the graphics card shortage?

One approach to go about it is to manually refresh every store page in the hopes of striking gold on the next replenishment. You might also sign up for a dependable app that will scour major retailers for you. It isn’t a bot that tries to buy stock in the improper way; it simply refreshes the page so you don’t have to.

In the UK, we’ve had success with the app HotStock, and in the US, sites like Stock Informer offer a similar service, though we haven’t used it to score stock ourselves.

Similarly, many free Discord servers, such as the popular StockDrops server, have dedicated stock alert bots and eagle-eyed community members.

Not to mention Twitch feeds. When your stock appears, those dedicated to finding it will typically sound a deafening klaxon. For Nvidia GPUs, we recommend Falcodrin on Twitch, although there are lots of generous individuals out there offering a similar service.

Is there an easy way to get a new graphics card?

Buying a preconfigured gaming PC isn’t for everyone, but it’s the best way to make sure you receive a video card this year, and a contemporary one at a price close to MSRP. It’s worth considering at the very least if you’re considering a complete rebuild inside the future. Although some anticipate delays, system makers appear to have a more regular supply of graphics cards, so you can at least expect a PC with a GPU installed at a certain point.

Which is better GTX or RTX?

Earlier Nvidia cards with the GTX prefix lack both AI and ray tracing capabilities found in RTX-level GPUs. The RTX prefix was initially introduced three years ago with the RTX 20-series, and it designates cards that include both Tensor Cores and RT Cores, which are essential for real-time ray tracing and Deep Learning Hyper Sampling.

Is ray tracing only for RTX cards?

The RTX prefix is only assigned to cards that utilise Nvidia’s specialised ray tracing technology; otherwise, they use Microsoft’s DirectX Raytracing API, which is also used by AMD’s RDNA 2 GPUs. These AMD GPUs offer real-time ray tracing, but at a higher performance penalty than Nvidia’s GPUs.

The Alchemy graphics cards will be the first to support ray tracing using Microsoft’s DirectX Raytracing API when Intel’s Xe-HPG GPUs are available early next year.

Is SLI or CrossFire still a thing?

You used to have to run two GPUs in SLI or CrossFire to get the best performance. However, it’s becoming more usual for large games to simply disregard multi-GPU players. This applies to all DXR games. There’s also the issue that fewer next-gen cards allow two cards to be linked together. Only the $1,500 RTX 3090 from Nvidia has NVLink connections, which are only for creative programmes.

As a result, no. It’s not even close to being a thing.

Do I need a 4K capable graphics card?

The simple answer is only if you’ve a 4K gaming monitor. Other aspects to consider, like the games you play, are also important. If frame rates are important to you and you prefer extremely competitive shooters, you should strive for extremely high fps numbers. You’re best off doing it at 1440p or 1080p resolutions for the time being.

The more games that support Determine the source, such as Call of Duty: Warzone, the more Nvidia GPUs will be able to simulate 4K images on your 4K monitor at higher frame rates.

What’s a Founders Edition graphics card?

The Founders Edition graphics cards are merely Nvidia’s in-house designs, as opposed to those created by its partners. These really are typically reference cards, which means they run on standard time.

Nvidia opted to offer Founders Edition with factory overclocks for the RTX 20-series. These changes made it harder to evaluate cards because Founders Edition cards provide a performance baseline, although Nvidia has subsequently resumed making them as reference cards.