When it comes to PC gaming, the best experiences happen at 4K resolution. The best graphics cards can keep up with the maximum refresh rates of 2160p monitors with their visual settings cranked up high, providing countless hours of enjoyment. But if you're looking for a GPU to pair with your new 4K monitor or TV for optimal performance, we've got you covered with our shortlist of recommendations for the best 4K GPUs. These cards are overkill for 1080p and 1440p, but can achieve super-high frame rates effortlessly. The price of graphics cards right now is all over the place, inflating almost every GPU out there, but our roundup of the best 4K GPUs can help you find a great one at an attractive price.

Best AMD 4K GPU

AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX

Brand

AMD

Cooling Method

3x 92mm fans

GPU Speed

2.30GHz

Interface

PCI 4.0

Memory

24GB GDDR6

Power

355W

This is the best GPU to use from AMD for playing all your favorite games at 4K with reasonable results. And at $1,000 (or even less), it's a solid value for a 4K-capable gaming rig.

$1000 at Amazon $1000 at Best Buy $930 at Newegg

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Best Nvidia 4K GPU

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090

$1780 $1900 Save $120

Brand

Nvidia

Architecture

Ada Lovelace

Shader Units

16,384

Ray Accelerators/Cores

128

Base Clock Speed

2,235MHz

Yes, it's incredibly expensive. Yes, it's overkill for most PC gamers, but there's nothing like the RTX 4090 when it comes to high-fidelity 4K gaming. With support for ray-tracing and DLSS, this GPU is the go-to Nvidia card for high-end builds.

$1908 at Newegg $1780 at Amazon

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Best performance 4K GPU

Gigabyte Aorus RTX 4090 Xtreme WATERFORCE

Brand

Gigabyte

Architecture

Ada Lovelace

Process

5 nm

Transistors

76.3 billion

Shader Units

16,384

Ray Accelerators/Cores

128

What's better than the RTX 4090? How about the same GPU with liquid cooling? Nothing will match this Gigabyte GPU for 4K performance. It might burn your wallet, but it'll keep your system nice and cool.

$2305 at Amazon $2599 at Newegg

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Best budget Nvidia 4K GPU

ASUS TUF Gaming RTX 4080 SUPER OC

Interface

PCIe 4.0

Memory

16 GB GDDR6X

CUDA Cores

10,240

Architecture

Ada Lovelace

Boost clock speed

2,640 MHz

Memory bus width

256-bit

It's not as budget-friendly as some 4K-capable AMD CPUs, but this is about as cheap as we'd recommend for an RTX 40 Nvidia GPU if you want to play at 4K with enhancements such as ray-tracing.

$1100 at Amazon

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Best budget AMD 4K GPU

AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT

Brand

AMD

GPU Speed

2GHz

Interface

PCIe 4.0

Memory

20GB GDDR6

Power

315W

Boost Speed

2.4GHz

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 Xt is only slightly behind the RX 7900 XTX in terms of raw performance. However, it costs significantly less, making it the better choice for those building a 4K gaming PC on a tighter budget.

$740 at Newegg $820 at Amazon

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Best last-gen Nvidia 4K GPU

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti

Brand

Nvidia

GPU Speed

1.56GHz

Interface

PCIe 4.0

Memory

24 GB GDDR6X

Power

450W

Boost Speed

1.86GHz

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Ti was the top dog for a while and it's still an excellent GPU for gaming at 4K. If you can locate one (stock is slowly drying up), you might be able to find a deal.

$1700 at Amazon

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Best last-gen AMD 4K GPU

XFX Speedster Merc319 RX 6950 XT

The AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT is a brilliant sub-$1,000 GPU for gaming at 1440p and 4K. While not as impressive as higher-end cards, it's a great value so long as you don't want the latest and greatest from Team Red.

$780 at Amazon

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Great value 4K GPU

Asus TUF GAMING GeForce RTX 4070 Ti

The Asus TUF Gaming RTX 4070 Ti is the cheapest RTX 40 series GPU we'd recommend for playing games at 4K. You'll have to turn down some settings, but it'll do well. Plus, you still get enhancements such as ray-tracing. For less than a grand, there's little to complain about here.

$942 at Amazon $860 at Best Buy

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Cheapest 4K GPU

PowerColor Hellhound Radeon RX 7900 GRE

Brand

PowerColor

Architecture

RDNA 3

Process

5 nm, 6 nm

Transistors

57.7 billion

Shader Units

5,120

Ray Accelerators/Cores

80

The new Radeon RX 7900 GRE is no slouch for lower-end UHD gaming despite its highly attractive price point. If you're not picky about running the latest games at maxed-out settings and 120fps, this GPU will do the job, and it's much easier on the wallet than more powerful (and much more expensive) 4K-capable cards like the GeForce RTX 4090 lineup.

$580 at Amazon

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Choosing the best 4K graphics card

You'll find many of the best-selling GPUs from AMD and Nvidia in this round-up of 4K GPU suggestions. There's simply no beating the performance of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090. It's in a league of its own. However, AMD does have a vastly more affordable flagship in the form of the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, which is our top pick due to its much more reasonable price. It won't match the Nvidia beast, but you can still achieve smooth 4K gaming (without ray tracing) for an awesome experience.

A few cheaper GPUs can still handle 4K gaming, including the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080, and Radeon RX 7900 GRE. However, it's 4K gaming after all, so you should always expect to part with a considerable sum of money. Unfortunately, Intel has yet to launch a discrete GPU capable of 4K gaming. It's almost there, as the Arc A770 is a sound 1440p gaming graphics card, but it can't compete against our recommendations in this guide.

Prepare to win.