best-graphics-card-2025:-experience-next-gen-gaming-with-the-best-gpus

Best Graphics Card 2025: Experience next-gen gaming with the best GPUs

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While there are plenty of components to consider when building the ideal gaming PC, nothing is more important than the tenacity of your graphics card, and we’ve highlighted the best of them to make sure that you’re paired with the one that’s right for you.

Even though we recommend spending a good amount of time searching through the best CPUs, not to mention key accessories like the best gaming monitor, best gaming mouse and best gaming keyboard, there’s no denying that when it comes to pure prowess in a gaming rig, a capable graphics card will always stand out as the most important part.

The problem is, if you take a quick gander at any of the major online retailers selling graphics cards, it becomes abundantly clear just how much choice is out there for PC gamers. While that’s great for pushing innovation through competition, it can make things tricky especially if you’re not versed in all the details. Thankfully, this is where Trusted Reviews’ team of experts come in to help.

To establish the competency of a graphics card, our team uses a combination of both industry standard benchmarking (via 3DMark and Blender) alongside in-game testing, noting the frame rate levels in triple-A games across a multitude of genres. All of this combines to give you, our readers, a comprehensive understanding of how a GPU actually performs in daily use. Only the absolute best graphics cards, as verified by our experts, find their way on to this list.

You can also check out our round-ups of the best gaming CPU and the best Intel processor for more PC building advice. Alternatively, if you’d rather go down the ready-made route then we’ve also got you covered with the best gaming laptops and the best desktop PCs.

Editor’s note: We have yet to test the latest Nvidia 50 series graphics cards, including the RTX 5090, RTX 5080 and the RTX 5070 GPUs. Once they’ve been fully tested and vetted, this page will be updated accordingly.

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Best graphics cards at a glance

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How we test

rnrnLearn more about how we test graphics cardsrnEvery graphics card we review goes through a series of uniform checks designed to gauge key things including performance, features, thermals, power consumption and overclockability.

rnrnThese include formal synthetic benchmarks with third-party software, plus a series of in-games tests from some of the most recent AAA PC titles, with optimised picks for both AMD and Nvidia.

We also make sure to use the GPU for everyday tasks and gaming to make sure there are no real-time performance issues.

AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
Best overall graphics card

Trusted Score

Pros

  • Incredible gaming power
  • Easily hits 4K in every game we tested
  • Far more affordable than Nvidia RTX 4090
  • More than enough power for creatives

Cons

  • Very expensive
  • Nvidia has the benefit of DLSS 3.5

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is the best graphics card we’ve reviewed, striking a sweet balance between price and performance for those who want to play in 4K.

Our benchmark results with this card were highly impressive. With the highest graphics preset setting and resolution cranked up to 4K, the RX 7900 XT was able to hit 99fps in Horizon Zero Dawn, 90fps in Borderlands 3 and 56fps in CyberPunk 2077. What’s more, the card supports ray tracing for high fidelity visuals, and the use of FSR 2 provides a welcome boost to performance.

Nvidia clearly still has the edge when it comes to AI performance boosting however, with DLSS 3.5 able to provide a far greater uplift, while also seeing improvements made to the ray tracing quality. But since such technology is limited to a modest selection of games, we still feel that the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is the more appealing option for the vast majority of gamers.

If you want an even better 4K performance, then it’s worth checking out the slightly more expensive AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX too, which also saw a glowing review. Otherwise, we feel that the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT offers up the best balance of price and power.

AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE
Best value 4K graphics card

Trusted Score

Pros

  • Easily hits triple figure frame-rates at 1440p
  • Affordable 4K gaming graphics card
  • Power draw isn’t quite as intense as its siblings

Cons

  • Ray tracing performance still slightly worse
  • FSR is catching up, but not on par with DLSS
  • AIB cards only

Although the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE spent some time as a China-only exclusive, the GPU has now made its way to the rest of the world and frankly, we’re all better off for it. Simply put, if you’re looking to get the best value 4K gaming experience possible then this is the option to go for.

Even though it’s technically meant to sit between AMD’s 7800 XT and 7900 XT, its specs are something of an amalgamation of the two. For instance, the performance is closer to the 7800, but it’s based on the Navi 31 superstructure which is also found within the 7900 range.

When putting performance to the test, the 7900 GRE did incredibly well by scoring an average of 58fps in 4K gaming across six titles, while we were able to achieve roughly 111.67fps running those same games at 1440p.

For consistent frame rates and detail, you can’t ask for much more than that, although we did find the GPU’s ray tracing abilities to be eclipsed by similarly priced options from Nvidia. On that same thread, AMD’s FSR upscaling technology just isn’t quite up to the same standard as Nvidia’s DLSS. Still, for what you do get here (particularly at the price offered), there’s plenty to like about the RX 7900 GRE.

AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT
Best value 1440p graphics card

Trusted Score

Pros

  • Average 4K framerates above 60
  • Good overall pricing
  • 16GB of VRAM should give it longevity

Cons

  • Not quite as potent as RTX 4070 Super
  • Ray tracing still lags behind Nvidia

If you’re looking for the best graphics card for a 1440p gaming performance, but don’t want to spend over the odds, then the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT is your best bet.

According to our 1440p tests, AMD’s mid-range card was able to play Horizon Zero Dawn at 137fps, Borderlands 3 at 130fps and Red Dead Redemption II at 106fps. These are all remarkable speeds, especially for a graphics card that priced at just $499 at launch.

This card does have some limitations, as running Cyberpunk 2077 in 1440p with ray tracing activated sees the performance fall down to 27fps. For such use cases, the Nvidia RTX 4070 Super is a more tempting option, as it’s able to run Cyberpunk at 43fps with the same settings, while the use of DLSS boosts the performance even further.

If you’re not too fussed about ray tracing though, then we think the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT is a fantastic graphics card choice, representing outstanding value for money.

Intel Arc A750
Best value 1080p graphics card

Trusted Score

Pros

  • Incredible value for money at 1080p
  • Decent performance at 1440p too
  • Acer card is super quiet

Cons

  • 8GB VRAM will be limiting later on
  • Card design could use work

Even though the likes of Nvidia and AMD have come to dominate the conversation surrounding GPUs (as well most of the spots on this list), the Intel Arc A750 proves that the CPU giant shouldn’t be overlooked in this category.

Where the Arc A750 excels is in delivering outstanding value for money performance when running games at 1080p. If you’re desperate to make the jump to 4K then the Radeon RX 7900 GRE is the one to go for, but for those who have no issues with 1080p gaming, or would rather spend money elsewhere, this is your best bet.

Part of the A750’s magic is down to the fact that it utilises TSMC’s N6 7nm manufacturing process which results in a combination of traditional rasterisation hardware and ray tracing/tensor hardware, allowing it to work seamlessly with AI upscaling to deliver impressive results.

Speaking of results, when put through our rigorous testing process, the A750 was able to comfortably reach between 70-80fps when gaming at 1080p. 1440p is available here but just expect the frame rate to take a hit if you do go down this route.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090
Most powerful graphics card

Trusted Score

Pros

  • Most powerful graphics card yet
  • Incredible 4K gaming performance
  • DLSS 3 offers substantial boost
  • Superb option for content creators

Cons

  • Absurdly high price
  • Overkill for most games, even in 4K
  • Very high power consumption

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 was the very first graphics card to launch from the new RTX 4000 Series, and it’s also the most powerful GPU we’ve ever tested.

In the vast majority of games we tested, it was capable of hitting over 100fps at a 4K resolution. It’s even more impressive for eSports games such as Overwatch 2, as it nearly reached a 500fps performance. You can’t get these kinds of speeds anywhere else.

We also found that the DLSS 3 software helps to boost frame rates even further for compatible games, allowing for a smoother performance in Cyberpunk 2077 when set to a 4K resolution with ray tracing activated. And while the RTX 4090 is arguably overkill for most gamers, it’s a fantastic option for content creators that need to render 3D models at a lightning pace.

The RTX 4090 won’t be for everyone since it costs an absolute fortune and also has a high power consumption to boot. But if you’re craving the fastest performance possible from a graphics card, then this is your very best option.

Test Data

  AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT Intel Arc A750 Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090
Power consumption 526 W 450 W
Peak temperature 93 °C 84.4 °C 84 °C
Horizon Zero Dawn frame rate (4K) 75 fps 41 fps
Horizon Zero Dawn frame rate (Quad HD) 137 fps 72 fps
Horizon Zero Dawn frame rate (Full HD) 165 fps 87 fps
Cyberpunk 2077 (4K) 16 fps 13 fps 2 fps
Cyberpunk 2077 (Quad HD) 32 fps 27 fps 12 fps
Cyberpunk 2077 (Full HD) 51 fps 42 fps 25 fps
F1 22 (4K) 38 fps 33 fps 18 fps
F1 22 (Quad HD) 71 fps 66 fps 40 fps
F1 22 (Full HD) 112 fps 101 fps 62 fps
Total War: Warhammer 3 (4K) 53 fps 46 fps 27 fps
Total War: Warhammer 3 (Quad HD) 106 fps 97 fps 49 fps
Total War: Warhammer 3 (Full HD) 161 fps 137 fps 70 fps
Power consumption (idle) 165.4 W 184.8 W 195.1 W
Power consumption (under stress) 596.9 W 606.5 W 604.3 W
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Full Specs

  AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX Review AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE Review AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT Review Intel Arc A750 Review Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 Review
UK RRP £1049 £530 £380 £200 £1679
USA RRP $999 $550 $499 $250 $1599
EU RRP €1049
AUD RRP AU$1789 AU$725 AU$375
Manufacturer AMD AMD AMD Intel Nvidia
Size (Dimensions) x 267 x MM 17.13 x 9.61 x 3.58 INCHES x x INCHES 117.9 x 267.0 x 73.7 MM 304 x 137 x 61 MM
ASIN B0CRFBD7JK B0CGHQ32S2 B0CCSZ7NDP B09YCLG5PB
Release Date 2022 2024 2023 2022 2022
First Reviewed Date 30/06/2024 15/04/2024 15/04/2024 11/10/2022
Model Number 11325-04-20G ‎APBF-IA750-8G-OC
Ports DisplayPort 2.1, HDMI 2.1, USB-C 2x DisplayPort, 2x HDMI DisplayPort 2.1, HDMI 2.1 1x HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 2.0 HDMI, 3x DisplayPort
Power Consumption 526 W 450 W
Video Memory 24 GB 16 GB 16 GB 8 GB 24 GB
Boosted Clock Speed 2500 MHz 2293 MHz 2430 MHz 2200 MHz 2.52 GHz
CUDAcores 5120 3840 3584 16384
Architecture SMD RDNA 3 RDNA 3 RDNA 3 Intel Alchemist Ada Lovelace
Ray Tracing? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
What is ray tracing?

Ray tracing is an advanced rendering technology that can create realistic lighting and shadow effects. Only modern GPUs and select games support this technology.

What is DLSS?

DLSS is Nvidia’s temporal image upscaling technology which boosts the frame rate performance of supported games without compromising on the image quality. Only Nvidia’s RTX 20-Series, 30-Series and 40-Series GPUs support the technology.

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