Introduction
4K gaming is the pinnacle of visual fidelity and image quality, something that we all aspire to experience with our gaming rigs. As you may already know, at such a high resolution, your GPU is by far the biggest bottleneck, so you need to ensure that you buy a graphics card that will be able to keep up with your 4K monitor.
In this article, we’ve put together a list of graphics cards from both Team Green and Team Red (sadly there’s no real 4K-worthy Intel graphics cards out just yet). We’ve picked out a vast range of cards that cater to consumers looking to make a more price conscious purchase, or for those wanting to maximise their frames at the highest settings!
Suggested Article: Best CPUs to Buy for Gaming – Our Top Picks
Best GPUs for 4K Gaming
1. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12GB
👑The cheapest overall GPU.
Introduction
Whether you’re looking to upgrade or you’re a first-time builder, the RTX 3080 12GB is the bare minimum for good performance at 4K from NVIDIA. While it is the slowest of the graphics cards on this list, it will still offer a very smooth experience in esports titles and other high framerate-centric games. In the most demanding PC games you can play right now, you may have to turn down some settings if you want a smooth experience in that 60FPS range.
You may have to forgo features such as Ray-Tracing to keep framerates buoyant, but consumers will still be able to enjoy reasonable framerates in a number of games, especially when DLSS is enabled. If you are just playing games where a competitive framerate is not integral to your experience, the RTX 3080 should have you covered. Plus, at lower resolutions, such as 1440P, you should be able to take advantage of higher framerates in many esports games and other competitive titles.
Key Specs
| Spec | RTX 3080 12GB |
|---|---|
| Base Clock Speed | 1.26GHz |
| Boost Clock Speed | 1.71GHz |
| RT Cores | 70 |
| CUDA Cores | 8960 |
| Wattage | 350W |
Things We Like
Lower price point: The RTX 3080 is one of the few GPUs that sits at a lower price point compared to the rest of the market. Although this card is pricey, consumers won’t have to pay over $1000 to enjoy 4K gaming with the RTX 3080.
Smaller size: One of the biggest issues with the new generation of graphics card are the dimensions. Luckily, the RTX 3080 isn’t as gargantuan as other options we’ve seen in recent months, opening up case options.
Wattage requirement is lower: This graphics card is one of the few available options that sits below the 1000W line, in terms of required power. Consumers can easily pick up a 750W or 850W PSU for much cheaper, and pair it up with the RTX 3080.
Things We Don’t Like
Weaker Ray-Tracing performance: Although the RTX 3080 can handle some titles with Ray-Tracing enabled, the lower RT core count makes it a weaker contender with this setting turned on.
AIBs are expensive: Due to the RTX 3080 being a very popular card it can be difficult to pick up this GPU at its more reasonable price point. This means consumers are effectively forced to pick up an AIB, and these options are much more expensive by contrast to the Founders Edition option.
Summary
NVIDIA’s RTX 3080 is one of the few 4K capable graphics cards that sits below the $1000 mark, whilst still offering strong metrics. Although Ray-Tracing performance isn’t as strong here, consumers can enjoy games at a 4K resolution with no hiccups, and without having to spend a fortune. Hence, this is the cheapest overall GPU in this roundup.
Pros
- Lower price point compared to other options.
- Can purchase a lower wattage PSU.
- Ideal for mid-range systems.
Cons
- Ray-Tracing performance isn’t as strong.
- Difficult to pick up at MSRP.
Where to Buy
Buy the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12GB on:
2. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 & RTX 3090Ti
👑The best equipped GPU.
Introduction
The RTX 3090 and it’s Ti variant seem to be the ideal choice for a 4K-capable gaming PC. They have the benefit of being high-end, flagship products, all while being last-gen, and thus coming with hefty discounts if you were to buy one today. That doesn’t make them cheap, however the inflated prices consumers saw back in 2020 and 2021 don’t hold up anymore, which is a good thing.
Although the release of Nvidia’s Ada Lovelace-based RTX 4000 GPUs has somewhat affected the pricing and stock levels, consumers will still be able to secure one of these cards with some savvy shopping and research. If you are lucky enough to find an RTX 3090 or its bigger brother, the 3090 Ti, then you will enjoy an amazing gaming experience. Not only will you be able to set your in-game resolution to 2160p, but you won’t have to skip out on turning some of those in-game settings all the way up to ‘Ultra’.
In fact, by the time you reach the levels of the RTX 3090 or 3090 Ti, you can get enough frames going that if you own a 4K 144Hz display, you will be able to take near-full advantage of it, even in newer games at higher graphical settings. Not only that, but the spacious 24GB framebuffer will also come in very helpful if you plan on building a multi-faceted workstation that can handle productivity applications, such as video edition or 3D rendering, alongside high fidelity 4K gaming!
Key Specs
| Spec | RTX 3090/RTX 3090Ti |
|---|---|
| Base Clock Speed | 1.4GHz/1.67GHz |
| Boost Clock Speed | 1.7GHz/1.86GHz |
| RT Cores | 82/84 |
| CUDA Cores | 10496/10752 |
| Wattage | 350W/450W |
Things We Like
Strong Ray-Tracing performance: Both the RTX 3090 and 3090Ti offers excellent performance with Ray-Tracing enabled. If you’re dead-set on utilising this feature, neither of these cards will disappoint.
Perfect for workstation systems: Although both of these cards are pricier compared to the rest of the market, their strong specs make them ideal for a workstation system, especially if you’re looking to cut down on render times.
Smaller than RTX 4000 cards: Both of these GPUs are teetering on the edge of what is considered large, however, they are still smaller than the majority of the RTX 4000 options, providing more choices when it comes to cases.
Things We Don’t Like
Much higher price point: Other than the RTX 3080Ti, the 3090 and 3090Ti were one of the few graphics cards to sit well above the $1000 mark. Consumers will need to set aside a fair amount of cash to secure either one of these GPUs.
Better AMD Options: With the maturing of AMD’s drivers, much of the RX 6000 line (which at the time of release was weaker), are now somewhat better value, sitting at a lower price point with very similar metrics at a 4K resolution.
Summary
Although the RTX 3090 and 3090Ti are rather expensive when we look at the rest of the market, they’re still incredible GPUs. If you’re looking to play 4K games with Ray-Tracing enabled, either of these cards serves as a reminder as to how far GPU performance has come. For these reasons, the RTX 3090 and 3090Ti SKUs are the best equipped GPUs in this buyers guide.
Pros
- Both cards are excellent at Ray-Tracing.
- Ideal for multi-faceted gaming/workstation systems.
- Still smaller than much of the RTX 4000 series.
Cons
- Both options are very expensive.
- RTX 3090 is much harder to get a hold of.
Where to Buy
Buy the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 on:
Buy the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090Ti on:
3. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080
👑The best Ray-Tracing GPU.
Introduction
The new RTX 4080 outperforms even the previous king of performance, the RTX 3090 Ti. This is the graphics card to go for if you want some truly uncompromised 4K gameplay, providing an amazing performance, even in more graphically demanding games, as shown below.
To clear up any confusion regarding NVIDIA’s announcement of both the 16GB and 12GB models a while back, in short, now there is only one RTX 4080, that being the one with the 16GB of video memory onboard. That means that you are getting a sizeable increase in VRAM, when compared to the RTX 3080.
As the RTX 4080 is an Ada Lovelace-based RTX graphics card, it means consumers will also have access to DLSS 3 in compatible games. This latest generation of the NVIDIA upscaler not only brings with it an even better upscaling algorithm, but also all-new Frame Generation, increasing your frame rate further. DLSS 3.0 is a fantastic piece of tech, that makes the RTX 4080 an even more compelling proposition for those looking to max out framerates in the most competitive titles out there
Key Specs
| Spec | RTX 4080 |
|---|---|
| Base Clock Speed | 2.21GHz |
| Boost Clock Speed | 2.51GHz |
| RT Cores | 76 |
| CUDA Cores | 9728 |
| Wattage | 320W |
Things We Like
Very Strong Workstation Performance: With the improved Ada Lovelace architecture and very strong specs, the RTX 4080 is ideal for a top-end workstation PC cutting down any rendering times significantly.
Smaller Founders Edition Card: The RTX 4000 GPUs are amongst the biggest cards that we’ve ever seen. However, NVIDIA have kept the Founders Edition models quite small, opening up more options when it comes to cases.
Somewhat Lower Wattage: With the ever-increasing power of graphics cards in recent years, the biggest worry is often power consumption. However, consumers picking up an RTX 4080 need not worry about picking up a crazy power supply, as the required wattage sits at 320W in total, saving users some worry.
Things We Don’t Like
Poor Value Compared to the Market: Despite being an extremely powerful card, the insane price point makes this card a bit of a hard purchase to swallow. It is definitely worth picking up if you can afford it, but many consumers will be put off by the exorbitant associated cost.
AIBs are Gigantic: If you’re unable to pick up a Founders Edition, or you’re looking for a GPU with better cooling, be aware that these third party cards are massive. You’ll definitely need to consider your case choice and clearance if you pick up an AIB model.
Summary
NVIDIA’s RTX 4080 is a powerful card needless to say. Consumers can leverage a powerful GPU that handles 4K with no problems, whilst being able to enjoy Ray-Tracing. The RTX 4080 can also double as a workstation GPU making it ideal for a multi-faceted system. But consumers will want to be aware that the price point of this SKU is definitely one of the pricier options when looking at the rest of the market.
Pros
- Perfect for 4K gaming with Ray-Tracing.
- New architecture provides additional benefits.
- Founders Edition has very strong thermals.
Cons
- Weaker value compared to other options.
- Absolutely gigantic GPU.
Where to Buy
Buy the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 on:
4. AMD Radeon RX 7900XTX
👑The best overall GPU.
Introduction
Our main contender from Team Red in this list is the newly-released Radeon RX 7900 XTX. It is about as fresh as it gets, having been taken out of the oven by AMD back in December 2022. The Radeon RX 7900XTX is a worthy challenger to Nvidia’s RTX 4080. What truly makes this card a real threat, is the pricing. While by no means a budget graphics card, it may seem like a bargain compared to the pricing of current NVIDIA GeForce cards.
Although there has been some recent controversy surrounding drivers and thermals, the RX 7900 XTX is a fantastic choice if you want to go for a cheaper alternative that still performs great at a 4K resolution. And while you do lose access to DLSS to pad out that framerate a bit, keep in mind that AMD’s FSR is still a viable option on this graphics cards. One thing to keep in mind is performance in ray tracing-capable games. While AMD has made some great progress in that area, this graphics card still does fall slightly behind its NVIDIA competitors, even if the gap is shrinking.
Key Specs
| Spec | Radeon RX 7900 XTX |
|---|---|
| Base Clock Speed | 1.85GHz |
| Boost Clock Speed | 2.5GHz |
| Ray Accelerators | 96 |
| Stream Processors | 6144 |
| Wattage | 355W |
Things We Like
Performance Comparative to a 4080: AMD‘s brand new Radeon RX 7900XTX is major competition for NVIDIA, as these new cards are very strong performers. The 7900XTX in particular is very similar to a 4080 in a number of games, and at times, is even better!
Excellent price point: AMD released their new cards at a very competitive price point, making it a worthwhile purchase for many consumers. Although this card is definitely still expensive, compared to NVIDIA’s new generation of cards, these seem like a bargain.
Smaller Dimensions: Although we’ve seen the size of NVIDIA’s new cards increase, AMD has decided not to follow suit in this instance. Although the 7900XTX AIB models can be big, the majority of the new cards shouldn’t limit case choices.
Things We Didn’t Like
Still rather pricey: Unfortunately AMD have followed NVIDIA to some degree by bowing down to their ridiculous prices. Although the 7900XTX sits in a better position compared to the rest of the market, consumers will still need to pay around $1000 to secure this GPU.
Weaker Ray-Tracing performance: When it comes to Ray-Tracing, AMD still have a ways to go. NVIDIA will still hold the title of Ray-Tracing king for the time being, so if you’re looking to turn on this setting in your games, you may want to look at a Team Green option.
Summary
AMD’s Radeon RX 7900XTX is one of the best cards that we’ve seen release over the past few months and is ideal for 4K gaming. This card directly competes with NVIDIA’s very own RTX 4080, and although it isn’t quite the behemoth when it comes to Ray-Tracing. The lower price point and exceptional metrics in games and productivity applications, makes it a winner for the vast majority of consumers.
Pros
- Competitive price point.
- Size won’t limit case choices as much.
- Excellent 4K performance metrics.
Cons
- Founders edition model isn’t as strong in terms of thermals.
- Weaker Ray-Tracing.
Where to Buy
Buy the AMD Radeon RX 7900XTX on:
5. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090
👑The best performing GPU.
Introduction
There is truly very little that has to be said about this graphics card here and its suitability for high-resolution gaming. Even though it comes with a hefty price tag, which increases even further if you want to pick up an AIB card with better cooling or a factory overclock, it is the best-performing consumer graphics card you can buy right now. Performance-wise, it completely eclipses even the RTX 3090 Ti.
While it has the same 24GB of VRAM as the RTX 3090Ti, consumers gain access to significantly higher core clocks, alongside new architectural improvements that make this by far one of the best graphics you can buy in the consumer market. If you are getting an RTX 4090 however, a 4K 144Hz display is more than recommended, as you will be passing that 60 FPS mark in all but the most stubborn games. RTX 4090 users will also need to ensure they have the right wattage power supply, as this GPU comes with a hefty demand in power.
Nvidia recommends 850W as a minimum, but consumers may find themselves purchasing a 1000W PSU, especially with systems that utilise top-end processors. For those concerned about the gargantuan dimensions of the RTX 4090, we would recommend checking out our ‘Best Cases to Buy for the RTX 4090’ buyers guide, to give you a more solid idea of the case dimensions required to make use of this insane graphics card.
Key Specs
| Spec | RTX 4090 |
|---|---|
| Base Clock Speed | 2.23GHz |
| Boost Clock Speed | 2.52GHz |
| RT Cores | 142 |
| CUDA Cores | 16384 |
| Wattage | 450W |
Things We Like
The Most Powerful Consumer GPU: The RTX 4090 is currently the best performing graphics card in the market, providing incredible metrics in, well – everything! 4K gaming, Ray-Tracing maxed out, intense workstation applications. These pose no issues for this gargantuan GPU.
Utilises PCI-E 4.0: For those worried that you need the new generation of PCI-E in order to support this graphics card, you don’t need to stress. All of the RTX 4000 cards including the 4090 only require PCI-E 4.0, which is supported on all of the current generation and previous generation motherboards.
Only requires 1000W as a minimum: Although this seems a bit crazy when you say it out loud, many consumers were preparing for a power supply Armageddon of sorts with the rising power requirements of GPUs. But NVIDIA have kept the 4090 around the 450W mark, so a 1000W PSU should suffice even with top-end components.
Things We Don’t Like:
Very high price tag: The RTX 4090 does have a somewhat warranted price tag, but sitting over $1500 makes it out of reach for the vast majority of consumers. With this in mind though, if you have this kind of money to spend on a GPU, you won’t be disappointed.
Overkill for most consumers: This GPU is not a bad card by any means, in fact it is quite the opposite. But keep in mind, that the 4090 does not set a realistic level for performance. This card is designed to be insane, and it does that job very well, so if you’re considering picking up this card for just gaming, we’d recommend reconsidering.
Summary
NVIDIA’s RTX 4090 is one of the best graphics cards we’ve ever seen. This card can handle everything that you throw at it, making it ideal for multi-faceted systems that need more horsepower for productivity applications. The biggest downside is the crazy price point, but if you’re willing to spend that kind of money, you get crazy performance metrics.
Pros
- Currently the best GPU in terms of performance.
- Ideal for workstation and gaming systems.
- Can cut export times in half.
Cons
- Also one of the most expensive GPUs.
- Founders Edition and AIBs are massive.
Where to Buy
Buy the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 on:
Hardware Considerations
Before jumping into our graphics card recommendations, it’s worth taking a look at the hardware considerations that need to be made when trying to achieve reasonable framerates at 4K. While, in theory, most graphics cards can launch a game at 4K, only a few will do so to any playable level.
To achieve a playable framerate in most games, you need a good mid-range to high-end graphics card that can provide the driving force needed to reach our chosen resolution without dropping frames. But where is a good starting point if you’re unfamiliar with hardware specs? The amount of video memory is usually a good place to begin, as high-end cards typically have more than enough for 4K gaming. As a rule of thumb, you want to hunt down a graphics card that has at least 10GB of VRAM for a smooth 4K gaming experience.
This is not an exact science, but it should give you an idea of what grade of graphics card to look for. With this in mind, we would recommend sticking to the cards that end in ’80’ if you’re purchasing from NVIDIA, or ‘800’ if you’re looking at AMD options.
If you want to increase framerates further, you can use upscaling technology such as NVIDIA’s DLSS or AMD’s FSR. For DLSS, any RTX graphics card is compatible, but to varying degrees. FSR can be used on any GPU from AMD, NVIDIA, or even Intel. Both offer great improvements in performance, though of course your image quality does take a hit. It does mean you are not playing at native 4K, though the line between native and upscaled is getting constantly thinner as the technology improves.
What Kind of CPU Do You Need for 4K Gaming?
While your GPU is the main driving force for gaming at 4K, you won’t get very far without a strong CPU choice. Because your CPU is the brain of your system, it is entirely responsible for processing all of the data your GPU sends, in a timely manner. This effectively means, the slower your CPU is, the worse your performance will be at any given resolution.
So which CPU should you choose? We won’t be delving into the specifics in this article, but as a general rule, you’ll want to pick out a CPU that sits towards the high mid-range, or the top-end side of the market. This means you’ll be looking at CPUs from the Intel 13th-Gen range (Core i5 13600K and above). And on the AMD side, anything Ryzen 7 or above from the Ryzen 5000 and 7000 ranges respectively. Ultimately, performance will differ here dependent on your settings and how powerful your GPU is, but as a general rule, these CPUs will hold up relatively well at a 4K resolution.
Why You Can Trust Us
The GeekaWhat editorial team is a group of hardware enthusiasts and geeks who are passionate about recommending only the best options available when it comes to tech. With a plethora of products coming into our offices each month, the editorial team tests all products to determine which are worth a consideration from our audience. They act independently, and their sole remit is to recommend products they’d personally buy with their own money.
How We Picked the Best GPUs for 4K Gaming
With every GPU review, we test each card in a range of the most popular and latest titles comparing framerates for each graphics card. With a standardised testing procedure and recorded in-game settings, you can always trust the numbers we provide in the latest titles. Our benchmarking suite consists of popular titles such as F1 2022, COD Warzone 2.0, Fortnite, Valorant, and more. We always keep our benchmarks up to date with the latest releases so consumers know the kind of frames to expect in the newest games.
You can also read full reviews of some of the cards that we’ve featured below for more in-depth testing including a huge range of graphs and performance metrics.
Conclusion
Best Overall GPU for 4K Gaming: AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
AMD’s Radeon RX 7900 XTX is one of the best GPUs that we’ve seen in quite a while. Although AMD has bumped up their prices to follow NVIDIA, this card still remains very competitive compared to Team Green’s offerings. Consumers get access to a card that can go head-to-head with an RTX 4080 at a fraction of the price. If you’re looking for 4K gaming with no hindrances, AMD seems the way to go.
Read our full AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX review or Buy the Radeon RX 7900 XTX on Amazon
Frequently Asked Questions
Do You Need PCI-E 5.0 for AMD’s and NVIDIA’s new cards?
In short – no! AMD and NVIDIA have kept these cards as PCI-E 4.0 compatible. Although consumers can install these in a PCI-E 5.0 slot, they won’t be any faster, as they can only utilise Gen4 bandwidth.
Do I Need to Check My Case Dimensions for these new cards?
For those of you with an RTX 3000 series card, it is quite likely that if your case is relatively modern it will be supported. However, with the increasing size of new cards, we’d definitely recommend erring on the side of caution if you’ve picked up a Radeon 7000 or RTX 4000 GPU.
What Kind of CPU Should I Pair with My Graphics Card?
Although we won’t delve into the specifics here, 4K games generally require a more powerful CPU, so that data from the GPU can be processed quicker. We’d recommend checking out our ‘best CPUs for’ articles to find the best bang for buck options.
What PSU Do I Need for my Graphics Card?
The type of PSU and wattage you’ll need for your graphics card depends on its wattage requirement. Every GPU will be different, but the vast majority of 4K capable cards will likely need 750W as a minimum.
