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If you're aiming to build the best gaming PC possible, you're going to need a powerful graphics card. Nvidia and AMD are the top brands to consider, and both companies offer a wide range of graphics cards at different price points with increasing levels of image quality and rendering speed.
Nvidia's latest lineup is called the RTX 40 series, while AMD's newest cards fall under its RX 7000 series. Both series are sold through popular retailers like Best Buy, Newegg, Micro Center, and more. And though Nvidia and AMD make their own cards, they also allow third-party manufacturers to produce variations of their designs. As such, you'll find several brands selling different iterations of the same graphics cards, often with slight design tweaks and upgrades.
To help you find the best graphics card for your PC, we've broken down the ins and outs of both lineups, including models, pricing, target performance, and where you can buy them. And for more details on how the two brands stack up, check out our AMD vs. Nvidia graphics card comparison.
Nvidia RTX 40 series graphics cards
Six different cards have joined the RTX 40 line since September 2022, with starting prices ranging from $290 to $1,600.
The $400 RTX 4060 Ti is a perfect pick for midrange and budget PCs, delivering excellent performance at 1080p, but it struggles when pushed to 4K. Priced at about $800, the RTX 4070ti is an ideal choice for most gamers targeting a 1440p resolution, and will meet the needs of all but the most hardcore PC gaming enthusiasts. The 4080 is an excellent upgrade pick for those with a larger budget and 4K monitor, while the RTX 4090 delivers the absolute most power for gamers who want no compromises in their PC build.
All of the latest Nvidia cards support the company's exclusive DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) technology to help improve performance in certain games by using artificial intelligence to upscale visuals. Nvidia cards are also capable of supporting ray tracing for advanced lighting in supported games, and they boast excellent software features that can benefit gamers who stream or record their gameplay for YouTube and Twitch.
Model | MSRP | Suggested resolution and refresh rate |
RTX 4060 | $290 | 1080p/60Hz |
RTX 4060 Ti | $399 | 1440p/60Hz |
RTX 4070 | $599 | 1440p/60Hz |
RTX 4070 Ti | $799 | 1440p/144Hz |
RTX 4080 | $1,199 | 4K/60Hz |
RTX 4090 | $1,599 | 4K/144Hz |
AMD Radeon RX 7000 series ggraphics cards
AMD's graphics cards aren't as popular as Nvidia's, with less than 10 percent of the total GPU market share, but they boast plenty of power and are generally less expensive than their RTX counterparts.
At $899, the AMD Radeon 7900XT offers comparable performance to the Nvidia RTX 4080 for around $300 less, while the $499 AMD RX 7800 is a close parallel to the $599 RTX 4070. The $999 Radeon RX 7900XTX can even outperform the $1,600 Nvidia RTX 4090 in some games, but AMD's cards do fall slightly behind when you activate newer features, like ray-traced lighting and AI-powered resolution scaling.
Certain newly released games with those features will likely run better on Nvidia hardware until AMD develops its own solutions to boost performance. On the other hand, some popular titles like Starfield run better on AMD devices. This is because AMD helped with optimization prior to the game's release. Nvidia offers similar hands-on help with some titles, so performance differences like this will vary depending on your choice of games.
Model | MSRP | Suggested resolution and refresh rate |
RX 7600 | $269 | 1080p/60Hz |
RX 7700 XT | $449 | 1440p/60Hz |
RX 7800 XT | $499 | 1440p/60Hz |
RX 7900 XT | $899 | 1440p/144Hz or 4K/60Hz |
RX 7900 XTX | $999 | 4K/60Hz |
Where to buy an Nvidia or AMD graphics card
Recommended retailers for an Nvidia or AMD graphics card include Micro Center, Best Buy, Newegg, and Amazon. AMD also sells units from its own online store, and Nvidia has a tool for checking stock at other retailers.
If you're shopping for an Nvidia or AMD graphics card we recommend checking these landing pages:
- Micro Center
- Best Buy
- Newegg
- Amazon (Nvidia, AMD)
- Nvidia
- AMD
Should you buy third-party graphics cards?
Though Nvidia and AMD manufacture their own graphics cards, they also allow third-party companies to sell cards based on their designs. This is why you'll find many RTX 40-Series and RX 7000-Series cards from brands like Asus, MSI, Gigabyte, PNY, and more.
In general, these cards are all just as reliable as their first-party counterparts and, in some cases, they can actually feature performance upgrades. This is because third-party manufacturers must all follow the same minimum design requirements provided by Nvidia or AMD, but they also have the option to add their own enhancements. Upgrades often come in the form of better cooling, bigger heat sinks, RGB lighting, and overclocking capabilities.
These third-party upgrades can lead to higher prices, however, which is why you'll often find the same RTX 40 or RX 7000 model selling for slightly different prices depending on the brand and the design tweaks that have been made. When shopping for a specific RTX 40 or RX 7000 model we recommend taking a look at all of the available third-party options to see if any offer perks that you might find appealing.
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By: [email protected] (Kevin Webb)
Title: Where to buy an Nvidia RTX 40 or AMD RX 7000 graphics card
Sourced From: www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/where-to-buy-graphics-card-nvidia-amd
Published Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2023 16:35:16 +0000
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