The Best Graphics Cards (GPU) for Your Gaming PC
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As the feeding frenzy around the latest GPU releases dies down, something miraculous has happened—you can actually buy a graphics card again! The latest generation are in stock at retailers, and prices have settled. Unfortunately, those prices are over MSRP, but I think that's just going to be the case for a while.
If you've been holding out on upgrading or building a new rig, it's time to start looking again. The latest RTX 50 Series cards from Nvidia push high-refresh 1440p and even 4K performance, if you've got the budget. The more wallet-friendly options are slowly trickling out as well, which should appeal to the less hardcore gamers.
I’ll walk through some general buying strategy, show off my favorite graphics cards, and talk about why you might want to spring for something premium. Want to learn more about building a PC? Be sure to check out our full how-to guide, as well as our guide to the Best RAM and Best Power Supplies.
Updated May 2025: We've added additional details about RTX 50 Series GPUs, including more budget-friendly releases, increased stock and availability, and additional buying tips.
General Buying Tips
There are a few major factors to consider that will help guide you towards your perfect new graphics card. It’s important that even though the two big players are Nvidia and AMD, you generally don’t buy products directly from them. Instead, manufacturing partners buy GPUs from the two chip makers, mount them onto PCBs, and attach custom coolers. That means you’ll see cards from brands like Asus, Gigabyte, and MSI with similar coolers and setups for both Nvidia GeForce and AMD Radeon GPUs.
Make a Budget
The first question to answer is how much you’d like to spend, both on the GPU itself and your entire system. Depending on your use case and the games you play, you’ll want to consider spending anywhere from one-third to one-half of your system’s total price on the GPU. Expect to spend at least $300, and as much as $1,500 for a nicer card. Once you know how much you want to spend, that will inform the base GPU model you’re looking for.
Understanding Variations
There generally aren’t huge gaps in actual performance between different manufacturers; instead, the differentiators are largely under-the-hood improvements. These can include custom cooling solutions, PCB layout and strength modifications, and quality of the components used to complement the GPU.
You’ll also often see OC (overclocked) models listed alongside their standard counterparts. These graphics cards have the same GPU at their core, but with firmware and BIOS changes that set them to a higher clock rate to eke out additional performance. How much that overclocking matters will depend on the brand.
Dimensions
If you’re upgrading an existing system, make sure the card will fit inside your case. Most graphics card and case manufacturers list precise dimensions in millimeters to help you sort this out. Card widths are usually measured in “slots” or the number of PCIe bracket spaces they take up, so you’ll also want to make sure your case has enough free slots, and no other PCIe cards will be in the way.
The other side of the size coin is temperature control and noise. While smaller cards can fit in smaller cases, they also typically have shorter footprints with fewer fans, which can increase both running temperature and fan noise. If these are key factors for you, consider a larger card with more fans. Some cards even have a “zero rpm” mode where the fans shut off completely under a certain temperature threshold.
The Latest Generation
Both Nvidia and AMD have new cards entering the market in early 2025, and Intel is a few months into the launch of a second generation of its budget-friendly Arc GPUs. As with most launches, interest has outpaced the number of cards produced, which has left gamers scrambling or paying well over MSRP for their new GPU.
Patience will pay off here. As demand slows, supply will rise, and prices will settle back to normal. In the meantime, make sure to stick to big name retailers, check across several sites to get an idea of price for the model you're looking at, and don't overpay just because you're eager to get gaming.
Nvidia
I recently spent time with the new Nvidia 50 Series cards, and my favorite of the bunch is the RTX 5080 (8/10, WIRED Recommends), starting at around $1,000. It’s capable of high-refresh 1440p gameplay in the sort of titles people play regularly, like Fortnite and Helldivers 2, while being able to leverage frame generation and DLSS 4 to make 4K gaming a possibility in some titles.
Unfortunately, unless someone finds one behind a shelf in a warehouse, the Founders Edition we reviewed is likely already sold out.
With that in mind, I’d recommend the Asus Prime GeForce RTX 5080 OC. I got to spend time with the RTX 5070 Ti (8/10, WIRED Recommends) version of the card, and I was impressed with its performance, build quality, and efficient cooling despite the relatively compact size. Best of all, you get Asus’ top-notch overclocking expertise, tuning your card to get the most out of it.
I've spotted it in stock fairly consistently, and although it's over MSRP, so are basically all of the other RTX 5080s at the moment. This one is sitting near the bottom of the group in terms of price, while still offering important upgrades.
AMD
As I write this, the AMD 9000 Series is out in the world, but without having spent time with the cards, I can't speak to their appeal. AMD has a real potential to take back the sub-$700 GPU segment, an important category that Nvidia usually saves for later in each generation's release. Of the available options that have popped up in stock recently close to MSRP, I like the ASRock AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT Steel Legend, with a full metal backplate and three-fan design.
With other considerations affecting price point, limited supply, and manufacturer overclocking, I’d recommend checking out the higher-end RX 9070 XT. The starting price for each model is just $50 apart, and above $500, it feels worth it to hunt down the higher-end model if you can. I’ll update here once I can secure one and run some tests.
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Budget Pick
Manufacturers tend to release their GPUs starting with the most powerful, and then work their way down. The most wallet-friendly latest generation GPU we've had a chance to test so far is the Nvidia RTX 5060 Ti (7/10, WIRED Review).
It's a very capable card at 1080p, producing consistent framerates between 60 and 90 FPS with the settings turned up. As long as you don't have any dreams of playing at higher resolutions and refresh rates, this card would make a nice upgrade for an older system, although it helps to find it as close to retail as possible.
If you're building a new system, I think you should save up a bit more and go for something that can handle 1440p consistently. You'll thank yourself in a few years when games are even more demanding.
Thankfully, these cards also aren't nearly as hard to come by as their more expensive counterparts. I'm able to find a number of different examples in stock and ready to buy.
Intel
A relative newcomer on the scene, Intel is just rolling out a second generation of GPUs that, by all accounts, perform well for their price point. There are some growing pains with driver and CPU compatibility, but these could be an appealing option for budget-minded gamers.
Like Nvidia, Intel produced a limited number of first-party cards, with board partners handling the rest, but most of them won’t be household names for PC gamers in the United States. Acer and ASRock are here, but you’re more likely to find examples from Gunnir and Sparkle on sites like Amazon and Best Buy. The most commonly stocked version is Intel’s, and I’d recommend starting there if you’re curious about the platform. I’m in the process of acquiring one so we can share benchmarks.
Previous-Generation Cards
Not everyone wants to spend $1,000 or more on a GPU, and you have a few options if you're working on a tighter overall budget. Normally, I’d recommend a previous generation card, but the RTX 40 Series and AMD 7000 cards are almost entirely out of stock or massively marked up at major retailers. These cards are squarely targeting 1,920 x 1,080 for gaming, so don’t get your hopes up if you have a higher resolution or refresh rate.
There are still a few older-generation cards you can pick up relatively easily, but the moment you get over $400, check out the RTX 5060 Ti above. They're readily available under $400, and the performance there will be a significant improvement over the below options, with the added benefit of the latest DLSS tech.
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Before the 50 Series launch, I was using a Sapphire Pulse 7900 XT, a card I would love to recommend now, as it served me well for two years at 3,440 x 1,440 and was under $700 in June 2023. Unfortunately, it’s currently hard to find in stock, and restocks will slow down considerably now that the new AMD cards are on the market.
Instead, I'd reach a little further down the power scale and grab an RX 7600. While I haven't spent time with this model, I’ve been historically pleased with Sapphire’s cards, and it should be fairly capable at 1080p in older titles, indie games, and great for your average evening of Rocket League or Minecraft.
Again, this card isn’t going to push 1440p, especially in newer games, and it’s going to lack some of the features you’re seeing on the latest and greatest GPUs. It should get you down the road until things have hopefully calmed down a bit, though.
As of early 2025, the only previous-generation card I can consistently find in stock from Nvidia is the RTX 4060, a GPU which is also approaching two years on the market. It was a capable card at 1080p, but it doesn't keep up quite as well with today’s games, and you'll have to turn the settings down to even consider 1440p.
Of the available picks, I like the MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ventus 2X Black, a compact card with a low power requirement that should fit into basically any modern system. MSI has a great track record for reliable, straightforward graphics cards, and this one is in stock and recently discounted.
Of the two, I think the AMD is a better buy, even though it’s performance is slightly less impressive on paper than the RTX 4060. At the sub-$500 price point, a $100 price difference can be massive, so keep an eye out for discounts to make sure you’re getting the best deal, especially as these generations begin to close out.
Buying Used
When it comes to GPUs, I'm generally a fan of buying new. Not only will you ensure you have proper warranty and RMA support if something goes wrong, but it can be hard to know if someone misused the GPU, either through heavy crypto mining, poor temperature control in their system, or artifacts and issues they didn't disclose. I'm often a fan of buying used in other areas, but with demand and prices so high, it can be hard to trust strangers.
If you do buy used, make sure to do your legwork. Local meetups via Craigslist or Reddit can have great deals and give you a chance to inspect the GPU, even if you can't make sure it boots up. You can also ask for video proof of the card running a game that also includes the serial number in one continuous shot. If you’re considering buying a used card online, make sure you’re aware of the marketplace and payment processors' return and dispute policies.
When you get the card home, inspect it immediately for any damage to the card, particularly on the PCIe fin and the power connectors. Once installed, a software tool called GPU-Z can verify the card’s hardware to make sure it matches the expected numbers for the model. Run some games on it right away, so that if anything is wrong you can reach out to the seller right away.
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