Category: Best graphics card for the money

Best graphics card for the money

With cryptocurrency and Ethereum miners still apparently nabbing GPUs, and continued supply chain issues, reasonably priced graphics cards seem to be nowhere in sight. Our list of the best graphics cards for the money tries to look at the whole package. Price, availability, performance, features, and efficiency are all important, though the weighting becomes more subjective.

What is the best graphics card for the money?

1. GeForce RTX 3090

SPECIFICATIONS

  • GPU: Ampere (GA102)
  • GPU Cores: 10496
  • Boost Clock: 1,695 MHz
  • Video RAM: 24GB GDDR6X 19.5 Gbps
  • TDP: 350 watts
  • he fastest GPU, period
  • 4K and maybe even 8K gaming
  • 24GB is great for content creation workloads
  • Up to 30% faster than 3080 in professional apps
Cons
  • Over twice the cost of 3080 for 10-15% more performance
  • Extremely limited availability for now
  • High power requirements
  • Titan price without Titan enhancements

2. GeForce RTX 3080

SPECIFICATIONS

  • GPU: Ampere (GA102)
  • GPU Cores: 8704
  • Boost Clock: 1,710 MHz
  • Video RAM: 10GB GDDR6X 19 Gbps
  • TDP: 320 watts
Pros
  • Excellent performance
  • Good price compared to 3090
  • Can legitimately do 4K ultra at 60 fps or more
  • Substantially faster than previous gen GPUs
Cons
  • Availability is severely limited
  • Requires 320W of power
  • Overkill for 1080p displays
  • Usually priced much higher

3. Radeon RX 6800

SPECIFICATIONS
  • GPU: Navi 21 XL
  • GPU Cores: 3840
  • Boost Clock: 2105 MHz
  • Video RAM: 16GB GDDR6 16 Gbps
  • TDP: 250 watts
  • Excellent overall performance
  • Lots of VRAM and Infinity Cache
  • Easily beats the 3070 in non-RT
Cons
  • Good luck finding one
  • Middling RT performance
  • FSR will take a while to catch up to DLS

4. Radeon RX 6800 XT

SPECIFICATIONS

  • GPU: Navi 21 XT
  • GPU Cores: 4608
  • Boost Clock: 2,250 MHz
  • Video RAM: 16GB GDDR6 16 Gbps
  • TDP: 300 watts
Pros
  • New RDNA2 architecture provides excellent performance
  • Beats 3080 in rasterization games
  • Easily handles 4K and 1440p
  • Lots of VRAM for the future
Cons
  • Weaker ray tracing performance
  • FSR needs wider adoption
  • Supply might be even worse than Nvidia

5. GeForce RTX 3070

SPECIFICATIONS
  • GPU: Ampere (GA104)
  • GPU Cores: 5888
  • Boost Clock: 1,730 MHz
  • Video RAM: 8GB GDDR6 14 Gbps
  • TDP: 220 watts
  • 2080 Ti performance at half the cost
  • All the Ampere enhancements
  • Not as power hungry as 3080
Cons
  • Totally sold out and/or expensive
  • Can’t do 4K ultra in some games at 60 fps
  • 8GB VRAM feels stingy

6. GeForce RTX 3060 Ti

SPECIFICATIONS
  • GPU: Ampere (GA104)
  • GPU Cores: 4864
  • Boost Clock: 1,665 MHz
  • Video RAM: 8GB GDDR6 14 Gbps
  • TDP: 200 watts
Pros
  • Beats the 2080 Super for $300 less
  • Best overall value (fps/$)
  • Great for RT at 1440p with DLSS
Cons
  • Sold out and currently overpriced
  • 4K is a a stretch even with DLSS
  • 8GB might not be ‘enough’ VRAM long term

7. Radeon RX 6700 XT

SPECIFICATIONS
  • GPU: Navi 22
  • GPU Cores: 2560
  • Boost Clock: 2581 MHz
  • Video RAM: 12GB GDDR6 16 Gbps
  • TDP: 230 watts
  • Good 1440p performance
  • Plenty of VRAM
  • Comes close to the 3070 in non-RT
Cons
  • Out of stock like everything else
  • Mediocre RT performance
  • FSR can’t defeat DLSS