Are you a passionate gamer? Looking for the best graphics cards to enhance visual fidelity and image quality? Well, the best graphics cards are the beating heart of any gaming computer. These graphics cards are unique models to deliver on the promise of a high-resolution gaming PC without any compromise. These cards provide high refresh rates, which means you get more pictures per second, which makes an increasingly smoother picture display on the screen.
So, in this article, we cover the five best graphics cards for 4K gaming. First, we tested these cards and then picked them up by considering everything like price, features, ratings, and what people say about them. So, let’s dive and discuss everything about the best graphics cards, like specifications, pros and cons, and prices.
GeForce RTX 40 series and Radeon RX 7900 series GPUs stole the heart of every passionate gamer and made 4K gaming butter-smooth. These series are specially designed for the high-intensive games. Now, you do not need to worry about the visual quality of the gaming because these graphic cards take your gaming to the next level. Here are the 5 best graphics cards for 4k gaming according to overall user experience.
- Best Graphics Card for 4k: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090
- Another Choice: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti
- AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080
Now, let’s get started:
1. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090
RTX 4090 is on the top of the list of our 5 best graphics cards for 4k gaming. Now, it is also the most potent consumer-grade option in the market. This card has Cuda cores 16,384, core clock speed, 2235 MHz, and memory, 24 GB GDDR 6X for the best 4k gaming. With high performance across the board for gaming and hardware-accelerated intensive rendering, RTX 4090 leaves its competition in the dust. Our experts’ research found the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 was readily available for everyone to play the most highly demanding games in 4k quality at framerates upwards of 120fps.
If we talk about gaming, this is the first graphics card to deliver fully native 4K ray-traced gaming performance without DLSS, showing the maturity of Nvidia’s third-generation ray-tracing cores. The card requires more power when paired with the Intel Core i9-12900K and i7-13700K. You can also check Best Motherboards for i7-13700K by visiting our other guide.
The price of the RTX 4090 is also more than the previous king RTX 3090 but also provides super ultra-performance compared to earlier graphics cards. Its fast GPU, excellent 4k gaming, and power ray tracking hardware make it the most lovable graphic card on the market. In simple words, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 will give you anything you could want in an authentic graphic card for 4k.
Specifications:
- CUDA cores: 16,384
- Core clock speed: 2235 MHz
- Memory: 24GB GDDR6X
- Memory clock speed: 1313 MHz
- Power connectors: 1x 16-pin
2. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is the second-best graphics card for gaming in 4k quality. RTX 4070 has a core clock speed of 2310 MHz and a memory clock speed of 1313 MHz for delivering 4K60 with ray tracing. One more adorable thing: this card is much cheaper than the RTX 4080 and 4090. We tested out the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti and concluded this is the high-end partner model of the Nvidia RTX 40 series.
Every passionate gamer knows how much faster the RTX 40-series of Nvidia is once you enable DLSS 3 Frame Generation. After the RTX 4090, the Nvidia RTX 4070 Ti is considered the most powerful card for gaming hardware and PCs. With 12GB GDDR6X RAM, it is a capable card that will keep up with the demands of current-generation PC games for many years. It is also the alternative to the RTX 3080.
Therefore, the Nvidia RTX 4070 Ti provides 4k gaming with its specifications at a lower price than other graphic cards. The vital thing you must know is that there is no founder edition of RTX 4070 Ti. If RTX 4090 is very expensive for you, then you also have the option to purchase RTX 4070 Ti. This graphic card can fulfill your demands for the best 4k gaming.
Specifications:
- CUDA cores: 7,680
- Core clock speed: 2310 MHz
- Memory: 12GB GDDR6X
- Memory clock speed: 1313 MHz
3. AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is the third best graphics cards for 4k gaming in our list. When Nvidia went all in with bigger GPUs and enhanced price tags, AMD decided to keep rates comparable with its previous generation models in size and price. The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX has 24GB GDDR6 memory in a slender 2.5-slot package. It benefits from a traditional 2x 8-pin PCIe power connector, so it was a straightforward replacement for an older model.
The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX buries any real reason for gamers to buy an RTX 4080, and it’s something we have stood by in the many months since. Ray tracing lags behind Nvidia is that one point that feels bad literally. But it’s not too much to change our decision. AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is also one of the best Graphics cards for gaming in 4k. So, if you are interested in gaming with 4k, this model of AMD Radeon is also the best option.
Specifications:
- Stream processors: 6,144
- Core clock speed: 1855 MHz
- Memory: 24GB GDDR6
- Memory clock speed: 2500 MHz
4. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090
RTX 3090 is the model from the previous NVIDIA series and one of the five best graphics cards for 4k gaming. The top-end Ampere graphics card is now three years old; there’s no faulting the level of performance you’re getting. The RTX 3090 card has 24GB GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit memory bus.
The availability of the Ampere series launched in September 2022 has meant that the likes of the RTX 3090 have become more difficult. However, as retailers continue to clear out stock, discounts and bundles occur, meaning you can score one of the best 4K graphics cards for an incredibly competitive price.
RTX 3090 is more powerful and provides excellent value for creative professionals. Before launching the RTX 40 series, it was one of the two best graphics cards of the previous generation. With providing 4k in gaming, it also can run the latest AAA games in 8K at 60fps. This is also the best option for those who run graphically intense tasks such as video rendering and 3D animation. So, you can consider it!
Specifications:
- CUDA cores: 10,496
- Core clock speed: 1395 MHz
- Memory: 24GB GDDR6X
- Memory clock speed: 1219 MHz
- Power connectors: 1x 12-pin
5. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 represents everything people dislike about the Nvidia 40 series lineup. It is faster than the RTX 30 (previous generation) and outperforms the RTX 3090 Ti by up to 20%. RTX 4080 is one of the best graphics cards for 4k and provides the same features as RTX 4090 at a low price. The founder’s edition of this model has powerful thermals.
The good thing about RTX 4080 is that it uses less power, which should mean it’s also less likely to funnel enough energy to melt the plastic connector. Of course, some shine has come off thanks to the melting 16-pin connectors. The Nvidia Geforce RTX 4080 has a GPU of AD103 and a boost clock of 2,505 MHz. It provides 4K ultra with DLSS 3 and 16GB GDDR6 RAM for best 4k gaming quality. So, all these things make it a good choice for 4k gaming.
Specifications:
- GPU: AD103
- GPU Cores: 9728
- Boost Clock: 2,505 MHz
- Video RAM: 16GB GDDR6 22.4 Gbps
- TGP: 320 watts
Additional tips before buying a Best Graphic Card
When you are going to buy the best graphic card, consider these tips that can help you choose a good one:
- Resolution: A screen with higher resolution requires more GPU power and typically less CPU power. So, you don’t need a top-of-the-line GPU to game at 1080p resolution.
- Consider CUDA Cores or RTX Cores: Many factors dictate the performance of a GPU. It would be best to consider how many processing cores are called “CUDA Cores ” or “RTX Cores” in the graphic card. This is also a good indicator to measure the performance of an excellent graphic card.
- PSU: PSU stands for the “Power Supply Units”. Ensure your graphic card’s power supply has enough juice and the correct 6, 8, or 16-pin connectors.
- Video Memory: Now, a card with 4 GB memory is the absolute minimum, a 6 GB card is better but not enough, and an 8 GB card or more is the best and highly recommended by us.
- Ray Tracing and Upscalling: Now, the latest graphic cards support ray tracing, which can used to enhance the visuals. DLSS provides intelligent upscaling and anti-aliasing to boost performance, but it’s only on Nvidia RTX cards.
Conclusion
So, in this article, we have discussed the 5 best graphics cards for 4k, tips before purchase, and all necessary things about these. We have made our choices based on research, ratings, current users’ reviews of these cards, and the latest models in the industry. We are through with our test suites of games and analyzing all the key points. We test these cards with three different gaming resolutions, 1080p, 1440p, and 4k, using “Ultra” and “medium” settings.
We follow the same testing procedure for each graphic card. To keep everything fair and consistent, we ensure these graphics cards are the best from all perspectives: performance, specifications, price, and the 4k gaming quality. We do our best to select cards close to the reference specs. This guide will help you purchase the best graphic card for 4k gaming. So, choose from these graphic cards and represent yourself as a professional gamer.
Happy Purchase!
FAQs:
If you want 4k gaming with high refresh rates, then NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is good. It’s powerful enough to run most PC games natively in 2160p. It is a faster addition to Nvidia’s DLSS 3 with its Frame Generation technology.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the second-best graphics card for 4k gaming. If RTX 4090 is expensive and can’t afford it, you can purchase RTX 4080. It provides the same features at a lower price than RTX 4090.
We won’t delve into any specific CPU here; gaming in 4k requires a powerful CPU. Most people think a gaming PC with a 12th-gen Intel Core i5 processor and an Nvidia RTX 3060 graphics card will perform phenomenally.
