Best GPU under $800 in 2023 – our top picks for gaming

Looking to put together a good PC build, you need the right components for the right budget, so here are the best GPU under $800 in 2023. It’s certainly on the high-end side of the scale with how much it has to offer, if it’s a new build or a solid upgrade, all of these can provide a good FPS and performance. Although the pricing can vary between some of the generations and between launch price or MSRP and what they cost now, they give a good option for GPU to fit in.

Although there are plenty of options in the new generation of graphics cards, a good pricing point is also the previous offering. So you can find a range of options here, with the best GPU under $800 being the RTX 4070 Ti. And other best GPUs for 1440p are the RX 6900 XT and RTX 3080 from the previous generation. All of them provide great performance even pushing up to 4k.

For the top spot, we have the best Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti, a surprising contender for a high-end graphics card. Despite its unconventional journey, starting as the RTX 4080 12GB and then relaunching as the Ti variant, it has managed to secure a top spot.

Powering this GPU is the AD104 Ada processor, crafted using TSMC’s advanced 5nm process. With a die size of 295mm² and an impressive 35.8 billion transistors, it boasts substantial firepower. Accompanied by 12GB of GDDR6X memory, featuring a 192-bit bus clocked at 21Gbps, the GPU achieves a remarkable bandwidth of 504.2GB/s. Packing 7,680 CUDA cores, 240 TMUs, 80 ROPs, 60 SMs, 60 RT cores, and 240 Tensor cores, it offers formidable performance.

Operating at a base clock of 2,310MHz, with a boost up to 2,730MHz, this GPU delivers speedy performance. Admittedly, it consumes more power and generates more heat, but its cooling system effectively manages the temperatures. Furthermore, it adopts the newer 16-pin power connector and recommends a 750W power supply, necessitating consideration for a potential upgrade or adapter.

Despite these considerations, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti provides excellent value for its price point, coming in under $800. TechSpot’s review showcases its prowess, averaging nearly 200FPS at 1080p, 152FPS at 1440p, and approximately 87FPS at 4k. It proves to be a compelling choice, especially due to the Ada Lovelace architecture’s impressive features such as DLSS 3, exceptional ray tracing, and encoding performance.

Now let’s turn our attention to the best AMD GPU under $800. And for that, we have the RX 6900 XT, it is a great choice for the top end of the lineup for what RDNA 2 had to offer, only pipped by the 6950 XT later on. But now a generation on, it still has the performance to match and the retail price falls below what the MSRP was and what RDNA 3 has to offer.

For the GPU onboard, you get the Navi 21 XTX on the RDNA 2 architecture. Made with the TSMC 7nm process it has 26.8 billion transistors with a 520mm² die size. For the base clock, it is 1950MHz with the custom model boosting up to 2135MHz. It comes in with 80 compute units for the 5,120 stream processors. Along with 80 ray accelerators. with 16GB of GDDR6 memory on the 256-bit bus, it has a bandwidth of 512 GB/s. It also has a 300W board power with a minimum 850W power supply recommendation.

Although the video editing performance might not be there or the ray tracing performance is much lower, the gaming performance is what matters. And it does achieve high frame rates, up in the three digits for the three main resolutions. Which is a great achievement and for a much better value than what the current range has to offer.

If the new Ada lineup from Nvidia doesn’t meet your requirements, you still have the option to consider the previous Ampere series and the best Nvidia GPU option from the 30 series is the Nvidia RTX 3080, specifically the 12GB variant, which is available with an MSRP under $800. This version offers a slight boost over the original and provides an improved performance-to-price ratio.

Powering the RTX 3080 is the GA102-220 processor, manufactured using Samsung’s 8nm process. It boasts a die size of 628mm² and houses 28.3 billion transistors. The processor showcases 8,960 CUDA cores, 280 TMUs, 96 ROPs, 70 SMs, 280 Tensor cores, and 70 RT cores. Supported by 12GB of GDDR6X memory with a 384-bit bus clocked at 19Gbps, it achieves an impressive bandwidth of 912.4GB/s. Operating at a base clock of 1,260MHz and boosting up to 1,710MHz, it delivers a solid performance.

With a TDP of 350W, the RTX 3080 is a more powerful graphics card with considerable potential. According to averages, it achieves nearly 200FPS at 1080p, 153FPS at 1440p, and 91FPS at 4K. Although the performance increase compared to its predecessor is only around 5%, it still presents a worthwhile upgrade for those seeking a modest boost in performance.

Best GPU under $800 – things to consider

When searching for the best graphics card under $800, you’ll come across numerous options, each with varying technical specifications and features. To help gamers in the PC gaming community make informed decisions, we will highlight some key features that are of particular concern.

Resolution and performance

Your primary consideration should be the resolution at which you intend to play and the performance you expect from the graphics card. Higher resolutions require rendering and processing more pixels, necessitating a graphics card with ample VRAM capacity and speed, especially for the 4K tier. The top-tier graphics cards offer the best implementation for this purpose.

Fortunately, within the under $800 category, there are several choices that excel across the board. All of these options can easily achieve over 60FPS at 4K, even on the highest settings. Moreover, there are additional ways to further enhance performance.

Upscaling and ray tracing

Other factors to consider are the additional features provided by the GPU and its architecture, such as ray tracing and upscaling. These features can enhance your gaming experience either visually or in terms of frame rate.

To utilize hardware ray tracing, you will need either Nvidia’s RTX card or an AMD RX 6000 series GPU or higher. Ray tracing significantly improves lighting realism where implemented, although performance may vary across different generations of GPUs.

Upscaling, on the other hand, renders games at lower resolutions and upscales them to your display resolution while applying filters to enhance their appearance. Different implementations exist, with DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) available exclusively for RTX cards and FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution) requiring per-game implementation.

While FSR works with all graphics cards, RSR (Radeon Super Resolution) is limited to AMD Radeon cards. DLSS 3, specifically, is available only for RTX 40 cards, offering frame generation capabilities unique to that generation. The performance and visual quality of these features will depend on the specific generation and availability, but they can be valuable tools for gaining a few extra frames, especially at 4K.

Connectivity

Consider the display outputs available on each GPU, as this might be important to you. DisplayPort and HDMI are the standard options these days, providing the best bandwidth and graphical fidelity. However, the number of outputs may vary, so if you have an older secondary monitor, pay close attention to the connectivity options as they can differ between custom AIBs (Add-In Board partners).

Power requirements

When deciding which GPU to go for, you also have to consider what powers it. So with different power ratings, you require a different system power for it. Some of the best power supplies are needed to run these best GPU under $800 and so it should be a good consideration. Especially when it comes to the type of connectors the different GPUs might offer up.