If you’re looking to build your own gaming PC, or you already have a machine that could use an upgrade, you’re probably aware of how important finding a good GPU (or graphics card) can be to your rig’s performance.

  • How to build a mid-range gaming PC

It’s the beast that powers most of the graphical output you’ll be hoping for, so if you want those dreamy combinations of resolution and a great frame rate, you’ll want to make sure you pick up a good one. We’ve brought together some of the very best right here, at various price points.

Some of the latest GPUs (particularly Nvidia’s 40-series) are hard to get hold of at the moment, so might not feature on this list currently.

Our pick of the best graphics cards to buy today

The Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 4080 is an excellent option for those looking for a powerful and multi-capable GPU. We found this graphics card reduced our video rendering times and significantly increased our FPS in various games after moving from the RTX 3090. It’s also a great looking card, with highlights that include an anti-sag bracket, interesting RGB lighting and more.

The Gigabyte RTX 3090 VISION OC 24GB is not only a beast of a GPU, it’s also a thing of beauty. This is one of the flagship cards from the 30-series line-up. So it’s not the newest but it’s still great and more affordable now.

If you baulk at the price of the RTX 3090 or want something a little smaller but no less eager to please, then look no further than the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Founder’s Edition. This is a much more compact card, with Nvidia’s own clever cooling system and a really nice style.

Most importantly though, without breaking the bank, the RTX 3060 Ti manages some impressive specs and excellent performance that won’t disappoint.

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Founder’s Edition is not just a great-looking graphics card, it’s also a real powerhouse. Offering superb bang for your buck.

This MSI GPU is a magnificent card both inside and out. It’s a large beast of a GPU, but one with some nice features that include TRI FORZR cooling. Both gaming and silent modes that can be easily accessed and changed on the fly. A solid backplate and heatsink design that keeps it sturdy and much more.

With MSI Dragon Center and Afterburner, you can easily overclock this graphics card for even more power, but as standard, it’s more than capable.

We used this card to run Cyberpunk 2077 on maximum settings with ray tracing set to psycho mode and it was astounding.

This is the GPU that’s gracing our mid-range build, and we’ve been having a brilliant time with it. An AMD card, XFX has brought its design knowledge to the table with a three-fan system that makes for really impressive cooling.

It’s more than enough to see you to the highest settings on newly-released games, meanwhile, although you might not find it the best for 4K, which needs a little more investment. For a powerful mid-range PC, though, this is just about perfect.

The Intel Arc A770 is Intel’s current flagship graphics card. It’s not as powerful as Nvidia’s top-end 40-series offerings, but that doesn’t mean it should be overlooked, especially considering the price.

We found this graphics card runs modern games surprisingly well. Especially at 1080p or 1440p where the frame rates are comparable with much more expensive cards. It’s also able to run 4K games too, though not necessarily with frame rates that would blow your socks off.

The Arc A770 also has hidden delights that include AV1 encoding capabilities, which means it’s ideal for content creators who are looking to record footage for gameplay videos and other things.

This is an affordable option that we really think is worth considering.