What is the most powerful GPU in 2023?

What is the most powerful GPU in 2023?
Romilly Cotta Updated on by

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What is the most powerful GPU you ask? Allow us to fill you in.

The title of most powerful graphics card in 2023, without a shadow of a doubt, goes to Nvidia’s monstrous RTX 4090. Released late in 2022, the 4090 stomps out any competition, with the next most powerful graphics card trailing behind by about 30-40% in benchmarks.

The RTX 3090 previously held the title of most powerful graphics card in the world, but with a mighty power increase, Nvidia has managed to create a graphics card that, in their words, “brings an enormous leap in performance, efficiency and AI powered graphics”.

The Founder’s Edition of the card has a base clock speed of 2,235MHz that can be boosted up to 2,520MHz which is huge compared to its predecessors. It’s also equipped with DLSS 3 that boosts its FPS ability to around 130-140FPS, even at 4K and ray tracing graphics set to Ultra. This is no small feat, though these graphics settings do have the danger of being overkill because many games don’t yet support this kind of performance.

If we wanted to compare the 4090’s performance to its predecessor, the 3090, you’ll find that the RTX 4090 performs at around 46% better than the 3090 at 1440p. In other words, the RTX 4090 absolutely beasts the 3090 when it comes to frame rates.

Is the RTX 4090 worth it?

It’s easy to get caught up in the stonking specs of the RTX 4090. Indeed, we couldn’t help ourselves choosing the best RTX 4090 graphics cards available to buy.

ASUS ROG Strix RTX 4090

Base Clock

2235 MHz

Boost Clock

2610 MHz

VRAM

24 GB GDDR6X

Recommended PSU

850W

Dimensions

358 x 149 x 70 mm

However, taking one look at the specs beyond clock speeds, ray tracing and DLSS 3, and you’ll understand why some are questioning whether the RTX 4090 is worth it.

The main drawbacks of Nvidia’s RTX 4090 include the price, dimensions and power draw. As you might expect, the large dimensions and power draw of the card has as knock on effect for the price you’re spending on PC hardware.

To account for its 450W power draw, it’s likely you’ll want the best PSU for RTX 4090, and that’s before you’ve checked whether it will all fit in your PC case. Chances are, you’ll also be on the hunt for a new PC case for the 4090 if you decide to invest.

So, while the RTX 4090’s performance is unbeatable, the time, money and effort that will go into upgrading your PC components is large. Indeed, the graphics card might be more worth it if you’re considering whether to buy an RTX 4090 gaming PC, though that option is probably reserved for those with very deep pockets.

Frequently asked questions

We’ve done our best to answer some of your most frequent questions about the most powerful graphics card in the world.

What’s the fastest GPU?

The Nvidia RTX 4090 is the fastest GPU for gaming in 2033, followed by AMD’s RX 7900 XTX.

Is Titan V better than RTX 4090?

Titan V is geared more towards high-end professionals, though it is not better than RTX 4090. Not only was the 4090 released more recently, but its specs easily trump Titan 5, securing it as the most powerful graphics card in the world.