The Most Popular Graphics Cards Right Now (May 2023)

As the PC gaming market contends with a slowdown in both GPU and CPU sales, something that AMD has acknowledged, the GPU market is expected to become increasingly competitive in the days to come as both AMD and Nvidia deal with both a supply glut of last-generation GPUs in addition to slowing demand and resurgent Intel GPU ambitions with the ARC lineup intending to shake up the existing market by bringing in better value to both entry and mid-range consumers.

Here are some of our picks from the best-selling GPUs on offer for people looking to upgrade, replace or build their new gaming PC this year:

The MSI GeForce RTX™ 3060 VENTUS 2X 12G OC is a GPU that is the right price point for most end-users looking to upgrade or get a replacement GPU. With decent VRAM at 12GB, PCI-E4.0 support and dedicated Ray Tracing hardware, this is currently an excellent GPU for entry-level editing needs or for gaming at Full HD (1080P) resolutions or higher.

It can handle most current games with ease at lower resolutions and is capable of easily powering through all current multiplayer or esports titles with ease. While more taxing games like Call of Duty: Warzone 2 will tend to tax an RTX 3060 to its limits even at FHD, given the price point it trades at, coupled with DLSS on offer for newer titles, it is the best-selling GPU in the market for a reason: It is both capable and well priced and MSI’s version comes overclocked out of the box, making it a more attractive proposition than Nvidia’s Founders Edition version of the same.

The ASUS Dual GeForce RTX 4070 OC Edition is a capable, relatively well-priced entry from Nvidia’s significantly expensive RTX 4000 lineup in general that looks to replace the RTX 3080 in both price and performance brackets but unlike its predecessors has only marginal gains to show for it if you consider rasterization as a benchmark. That being said it still has advantages to offer thanks to better DLSS 3 and Ray Tracing performance in play that start kicking in at its target resolution of 1440P.

More importantly, there are 2 versions of the RTX 3080, and the dominant seller has been the 10GB variant (the other has 12GB of VRAM) so chances are you might end up with a small VRAM upgrade in tow. More importantly, the RTX 4070 is a far more efficient offering than its predecessor and harnesses higher clocks across a more efficient architecture to limit its TDP to a number just north of 200W; The RTX 3080 pushes well past that with a rated TDP of 350W.

The ASUS Dual version of the RTX 4070 comes overclocked out of the box, and has a better cooler than the stock unit while running quieter than most of the other SKUs but matches Nvidia’s own MSRP for the FE at $600, making it a bargain to be had if you are looking for an RTX 4070 currently.

The ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 4090 OC Edition is the highest-end performance tier RTX 4090 GPU you can currently buy and with good reason. While the RTX 4090 is by far the most powerful consumer-grade GPU at the time of writing, not all of them are created equal in terms of both real-world performance and overclocking limits.

The Strix OC happens to be at the top of that list with ease thanks to its mammoth cooling, power delivery, and exceptional VRAM temperatures in tow that allow it to make the most of its power limit in terms of raw overclocking potential that sees the card push near 3,000 MHz easily compared to more tame boost speeds by competing models.

With one of the best consumer-grade coolers you can buy that doubles as one of the most silent ones in operation, the Strix RTX 4090 OC changes up its design to something that might not be everyone’s cup of tea but does seem to be a step in the right direction. Concerns do exist about the pricing, however. With a sub $1500 price tag, the RTX 4090 is not a cheap GPU to buy as it already pushes the envelope in this department. The Strix is priced at a premium of nearly $400 tacked on to the RTX 4090’s Founders Edition variant.

The Gigabyte Radeon RX 6600 Eagle 8G Graphics Card is an excellent place to start if you are looking for an entry-level AMD-based GPU for gaming. With value for money that is at least RX 580-tier at the zenith of its popularity and a capable entry-level GPU in tow along with a larger-than-needed tri-fan design, the Gigabyte RX 6600 has you covered in more ways than one as it promises an efficient way to game without breaking the bank for most end-users.

With excellent cooling and great aesthetics in tow, the Gigabyte RX 6600 is a bargain to be had at $200. But it does have its quirks: Not all end-users will be fans of its all-plastic design or the fact that its considerably larger than its RX6600-based counterparts for a reason that seems more cosmetic than an actual hardware requirement. Weaker Ray Tracing performance will also factor in when it comes to making a decision about which GPU to buy on a budget, though the RX6600 is not really a GPU you would pick up for Ray Traced content to begin with.

The ASRock Challenger D Radeon RX 6700 XT is an excellent, well-priced mid-range GPU that takes on Nvidia’s RTX 3060TI and wins more than it loses while being priced as low as an RTX 3060 in today’s market, making it a no-brainer purchase for users looking for a bargain GPU for all the latest game releases. With solid rasterization scores, more VRAM on offer, and excellent build quality (sans the coil whine that some users reported), ASRock’s offerings are solid and tend to be priced better than most of their competition with ease.

As with most AMD GPUs, the weak RT performance is a recurring theme and the RX 6700XT fares no better than its competition. The ASRock Challenger does seem to get loud pretty fast when under load and the coil whine seems to be a recurring theme for multiple users, making it something to consider if you are easily bothered by slightly higher ambient noise while gaming.

The Sapphire AMD Radeon NITRO+ RX 7900 XTX Vapor-X is where the highest-end RX 7900XTX GPU from AMD meets Sapphire’s best-in-class cooling to make the fastest AMD GPU money can buy at the moment. With an extremely premium design that spans as many as 4 slots for a standard install, Sapphire’s take on the 7900XTX is a much more premium offering than its alternatives, albeit at a significant cost compared to the competition. With top-tier build quality, an excellent vapor chamber cooler that fixes the flaws that AMD’s own stock unit had coupled with the best clocks in the industry, the Sapphire AMD Radeon NITRO+ RX 7900 XTX Vapor-X is as good as it gets for users wanting a high-end AMD offering – and it trades at a more competitive price point than most of Nvidia’s offerings in the same range.

At the same time, it does take a hit when it comes to Ray Tracing performance and is priced considerably higher than most other similarly performing RX 7900XTX SKUs also on the market that trade at a significant discount while offering comparable performance even if this SKU overclocks particularly well compared to the competition. It also comes bundled with a free copy of the recently released The Last Of Us Part 1 which is an easy recommendation from our end if you haven’t played the original yet.

FAQ:

Q: What is the best Nvidia GPU I can buy in 2023?

A: The best Nvidia GPU you can buy in 2023 if the price were no object would be the RTX 4090. The most well-balanced offering if value for money was a concern would be the RTX 4070TI which is a solid upgrade that is priced better than the RTX 4080 and RTX 4090 pro rata real-world performance while offering a sizable upgrade to the more recently launched RTX 4070’s RTX 3080-esque performance.

Q: What is the best AMD GPU I can buy in 2023?

A: The best AMD GPU you can buy in 2023 would be the top-tier RX 7900XTX if price was not a concern. If you were looking for better value, the RX 6950XT might be an excellent GPU from the last generation to consider with stellar performance, a free bundled game, and great value for money for gamers looking to game at sub 4K resolution.