Introduction
ASUS is a reputable manufacturer in the PC building space, and they have dipped their toes in pretty much every area. Whether you’re looking to pick up a motherboard, a new monitor, some peripherals, a power supply, and a plethora of other components, ASUS have you covered. ASUS are particularly well known for their graphics cards, in which there are a number of varying designs and styles that cater to a myriad of use-cases and budgets. But which ASUS graphics card is the best one to buy in 2023?
In this buyers guide roundup, we’ll be taking a look at the best ASUS graphics cards. We’ve put each GPU through the wringer within a gauntlet of GeekaWhat benchmarks. We’ve analysed all of the options within this article, and compared them against current market alternatives to see where they stand and what kind of value-proposition is on offer.
Best ASUS Graphics Card to Buy in 2023: ASUS Dual Radeon RX 6650 XT
📸 View the ASUS Dual 6650 XT gallery.
Concluding our testing roundup, the best ASUS graphics card is the Dual Radeon RX 6650 XT. The reason why we’ve picked out this particular card is down to value-proposition. Many of ASUS cards tend to sit above MSRP, which puts their value into question, especially if you’re on a budget. The ASUS Dual SKU (specifically the 6650 XT), is one of the few models that offers a slight performance improvement, while sitting at a price point that will be palatable for most consumers. It is for this reason that the ASUS Dual 6650 XT is the GPU we would argue that is ASUS’ best offering.
Design: 3.6/5
Performance: 4.5/5
Value for Money: 4.6/5
Our Verdict: 4.2/5
Skip to the full testing, gallery and where to buy the ASUS Dual RX 6650 XT. ⬇️
All GPUs in Our Testing Roundup
The Best ASUS Graphics Cards
1. ASUS Dual OC Radeon RX 6650 XT
Best Overall
Suggested Article: Best Cases for AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX & XT
The Dual Radeon RX 6650 XT is one of ASUS’ best graphics cards on offer due to its strong value-proposition. The RX 6650 XT is still a very capable GPU in 1080p games, while maintaining an excellent price point versus the competition.
The RX 6650 XT also has decent legs at 1440p too, making it one of the few budget options capable of offering decent performance at a higher resolution. ASUS’ Dual model in particular provides consumers with a slight overclock to the boosting capability, which result in some more frames within your favourite games.
Key Specs
- Video Memory: 8GB
- Boost Clock Speed: 2.64GHz
- Stream Processors: 2048
- Recommended PSU: 500W
The Dual SKU also tends to offer decent thermals as well, so you can expect the ASUS Dual 6650 XT to stay relatively cool even under load. Overall, the 6650 XT is a solid pick up for those on a budget, especially if you’re sticking to a sub-$300 price point.
Pros
- Still holds great value in the budget graphics card space.
- Offers a slight overclock to the boost speed.
- Can easily handle 1080p and 1440p gaming.
Cons
- Only geared towards budget systems, not great for anything else.
- VRAM capacity will hinder gaming performance later down the line.
Our Ratings:
Design: 3.6/5
Performance: 4.5/5
Value for Money: 4.6/5
Our Verdict: 4.2/5
Buy the ASUS Dual OC Radeon RX 6650 XT on:
2. ASUS Dual OC RTX 4070
Best for 1440p Gaming
NVIDIA’s RTX 4070 is a firm favourite in the GeekaWhat office. This GPU was the first of the RTX 4000 series to come in at a reasonable size, while also sitting at a price point that was somewhat more reasonable than the previous SKUs.
Admittedly, the RTX 4070 is still a pricey card, but with some firm price drops here and there, the RTX 4070 provides a solid value-proposition versus other market alternatives. The ASUS Dual model sits at that all-important MSRP price point, and can be picked up for less than $599 from certain vendors.
Key Specs
- Video Memory: 12GB
- Boost Clock Speed: 2.55GHz
- CUDA Cores: 5888
- Recommended PSU: 650W
Much like the 6650 XT, the value of this graphics card primarily comes from the lower MSRP versus other options, so its great to see the ASUS Dual sitting at an affordable price.
The most important things to note about the ASUS Dual RTX 4070 is the size and boost clock speed. As we alluded to, the RTX 4070 was one of the first RTX 4000 models to come in at a reasonable size, and the ASUS Dual SKU sticks to this approach with a dual-fan design. This does mean cooling won’t be as impressive versus a triple-fan card, but the ASUS Dual should hold up pretty well. As this card is an OC model, consumers can also leverage a slight increase to the boost clock speed, which can improve performance in certain applications and games.
Pros
- Comes in at MSRP.
- Offers a slight overclock to the boost speed.
- Cool industrial-themed design.
Cons
- Only a slight discount below MSRP.
- Struggles with 4K gaming.
Our Ratings:
Design: 3.8/5
Performance: 4.5/5
Value for Money: 4.2/5
Our Verdict: 4.1/5
Buy the ASUS Dual OC RTX 4070 on:
3. ASUS TUF Gaming Radeon RX 7900 XT
Best for 4K Gaming
AMD’s Radeon RX 7900 XT is a graphics card that has gone under the radar due to its slightly more powerful sibling, the Radeon RX 7900 XTX. While the 7900 XTX is more powerful than the 7900 XT, it comes in at a price that won’t be palatable for the vast majority of consumers.
However, a significant number of price drops has resulted in a stronger value-proposition for the 7900 XT.
This GPU comes in well below $1000, sitting close to $750 at the time of writing.
Key Specs
- Video Memory: 20GB
- Boost Clock Speed: 2.53GHz
- Stream Processors: 5376
- Recommended PSU: 750W
This is a great price point for the 7900 XT, as consumers are able to leverage a significant amount of VRAM and a high clock speed, which makes this card perfect for 4K gaming and workstation applications.
ASUS’ TUF Gaming model is unfortunately one of the pricier options versus some of the alternative AIBs. This is primarily down to the cooling capability of this card, and the fact that it is an OC version, so the clock speed is slightly enhanced. While the thermals that this card offers will be worth it for many, especially if you’ve got more of a compact build, the price increase will not be worth it for many consumers, which is where MSRP cards thrive.
Pros
- Perfect for 4K gaming.
- Very solid thermal capability.
- Solid workstation performance.
Cons
- Priced too high versus other AIBs.
- Will need to be aware of case restrictions due to size.
Our Ratings:
Design: 3.8/5
Performance: 4.7/5
Value for Money: 3.9/5
Our Verdict: 4.1/5
Buy the ASUS TUF Gaming OC Radeon RX 7900 XT on:
4. ASUS TUF Gaming RTX 4090
Best for Enthusiasts
NVIDIA’s RTX 4090 is one of the most powerful graphics cards on the market, and is the perfect contender for enthusiast-level builds that need the best performance money can buy.
This card is capable of pretty much anything, whether you’re playing games with all of the settings maxed out, or you’re pushing your system with some workstation applications, the RTX 4090 can handle it.
This GPU is designed to offer the best performance, and it does not fall short of this in any way.
Key Specs
- Video Memory: 24GB
- Boost Clock Speed: 2.59GHz
- CUDA Cores: 16384
- Recommended PSU: 850W
ASUS’ TUF model in particular is one of the more impressive RTX 4090 GPUs, improving thermals, and also offering a slight boost to the clock speed too.
The TUF provides consumers with near-silent operation, keeping the noise levels of your build to a minimum. Overall, the TUF Gaming RTX 4090 is a very well-rounded unit, but its biggest weakness is the price. Much like the TUF 7900 XT, this GPU sits well above MSRP. Considering the RTX 4090 is already a very expensive card, I imagine most consumers aren’t going to want to spend the extra $200-$300 to secure an AIB like this over the Founders Edition.
Pros
- Can easily handle top-end gaming and workstation applications.
- Geared towards enthusiasts.
- Very solid thermal capability.
Cons
- Sits far too high above MSRP price point.
- Quite a boring aesthetic.
Our Ratings:
Design: 3.5/5
Performance: 4.8/5
Value for Money: 3.8/5
Our Verdict: 4/5
Buy the ASUS TUF Gaming OC RTX 4090 on:
How We Tested the Best ASUS Graphics Cards
To figure out which ASUS graphics card is the best option on the market, our written and benchmarking team have come together to analyse and put each card through the wringer within a series of tests and benchmarks. This involves putting them through their paces within a range of triple A titles and workstation applications to see how they perform. These results are then used and compared alongside a range of factors that we take into account when testing each graphics card, these are:
- Thermal Capability
- Size
- Power Consumption
- Aesthetic
- Value-Proposition
Frequently Asked Questions
Are AIB Cards Worth It?
It honestly depends, many AIB cards will sit at MSRP and offer market benefits compared to a Founders or Reference cards. But the options that sit above MSRP will only be worth it if you’ve got the spare budget to afford them.
Do ASUS Manufacture Budget Graphics Cards?
There are a couple of SKUs that ASUS offers that are geared towards the budget end of the market. These are primarily Dual, and some TUF cards. If you’re looking to save money you’ll want to avoid any OC models or ROG cards.
Do ASUS Cards Offer RGB?
Some of them do. The vast majority of ASUS cards are a bit barebones, but the ROG STRIX GPUs are particularly heavy on the RGB, and will be ideal for those looking to utilise extra lighting.
