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02Best AMD graphics card under $1000
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03Best graphics card under $1000 for raytracing
If you’re looking for the best graphics card under $1000, we’ve got you covered right here with our top picks.
Price is often the most important factor for determining which GPU best suits you. It’s all very well researching and finding the best GPU for 4K and the best motherboard and CPU to go with it, but it’s not much good if you need to sell your car to actually buy it.
That said everyone wants to get the most bang for their buck and to make that easier we’ve been selecting the best GPUs in a variety of price ranges, including crowning the best graphics card under $500.
Here we’ll be looking more towards the high end with graphics cards priced under $1000. This means you can expect brilliant ray tracing and 4K performance, but not all of the mind-bending hardware stats that come with the cutting edge of what is currently available.
We’ve broken our picks down into a few categories and offered a description of each card, so you can get a sense of which one is right for you. Let’s get into it.
Best graphics card under $1000
Best overall graphics card under $1000 – MSI Gaming GeForce RTX 4070 Ti
MSI Gaming GeForce RTX 4070 Ti
Base Clock
2310
Boost Clock
2745 MHz
VRAM
12 GB
Dimensions
13.3 x 2.4 x 5.5 inches
Recommended PSU
750W
- Amazing ray tracing performance
- Lovelace architecture
- Large dimensions
The RTX 4070 Ti is the most powerful Lovelace GPU that you can get for under $1,000. That means you’re getting 3rd Generation Ray tracing cores, capable of tracking the refractions and reflections of light with incredible accuracy. Then there are also 4th Generation tensor cores, responsible for powering the AI optimisation of DLSS 3 and all this for under $1K.
This is also a GPU with impressive specs. It comes with a boost cock of 2,745MHz and 12GB of VRAM. So how does this translate to performance? Well in DLSS 3 compatible games with the feature enabled the performance is pretty stunning, up to 3 times faster than the seriously powerful RTX 3090 Ti in fact.
DLSS has been a feature of Nvidia graphics cards for a while but was seriously levelled up with the RTX 40-series. It works by using deep learning to optimise performance, allowing frame and resolution increases without adding strain to your card. This is partly what makes the RTX 4070 Ti one of the best GPUs for ray tracing.
Best AMD graphics card under $1000 – PowerColor Hellhound RX 7900 XTX
PowerColor Hellhound AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
Boost Clock (MHz)
2525
VRAM
24GB GDDR6
Dimensions
320 x 131 x 61
Recommended PSU
850W
- Incrediblr 4K perfromance
- Huge VRAM count
- Power hungry
This is easily one of the most powerful GPUs AMD has ever released, and that it is retailing for under $1000 is brilliant news for consumers. The RX 7900 XTX is at the pinnacle of next-generation GPU technology. The card holds its own vs the RTX 4080 while massively undercutting it on price.
The 4K performance is brilliant. We’re talking frame rates of well over 100FPS in 4K on Ultra settings. Its performance at 1080p is so high that you’ll need one of the best 240Hz monitors just to keep up with it.
The one area where the RX 7900 XTX is less impressive is in ray tracing. While the card is still very capable in this technology, its performance drops in comparison to Nvidia cards with similar specs. However, getting 24GB of VRAM, and 6,144 shading units within this price range will make this card a very tempting offer for many.
Best graphics card under $1000 for raytracing – Gigabyte RTX 3080 Ti Eagle OC
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Eagle OC
Base Clock
1365MHz
Boost Clock
1680MHz
VRAM
12GB
Dimensions
320 x 128 x 56 mm
Recommended PSU
750
- Efficient cooling
- Brilliant 1080p performance
- Can run loudly
This card has some impressive baseline specs and brilliant performance with ray tracing enabled, making it a sensible pick for many. While it may be the only card on our list not from the next generation of gaming, this does not mean it should be written off.
This overclocked card from Gigabyte can reach some seriously impressive speeds. Part of this is thanks to its impressive cooling solutions. With 3 fans and great airflow, it keeps the heart of your GPU at a suitable temperature even when it is pushed right up to faster bo0st speeds. That said the operation of these fans does mean it is not exactly one of the best quiet GPUs.
However, the proof is in the pudding and this card can boast seriously high performance across triple-A titles. It is a great GPU for 1440p and, when paired with the best CPU for RTX 3080 Ti it will give you competitive-level frame rates at 1080p.
Frequently asked questions
There are a few questions we’re seeing coming up more and more in relation to GPUs. We’ve done our best to answer a few of the most common ones here.
Can RDNA 3 do ray tracing?
Yes, RDNA is capable of ray tracing and is in fact on average 1.8x better versus RDNA 2. However, it is not as effective here as Nvidia’s Ada Lovelace architecture.
Can your CPU slow your GPU down?
Your GPU relies on your CPU to provide it with a variety of data and information. This means that the performance of both are often interlinked and you need a CPU powerful enough to not bottleneck your GPU.
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