NVIDIA Graphics Card Buyers Guide
What is an NVIDIA GeForce GPU / Graphics Card?
Though many modern CPUs are equipped with integrated graphics, these are only really suitable for gaming at low quality settings at 1080p. Therefore, you should seriously consider buying a separate graphics card if you want to play GAMES or edit videos.
The GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) and is the main ingredient of a graphics card, the most important component in a gaming PC. The frontrunner in graphics cards is NVIDIA, and its range of GeForce GPUs offer something at every imaginable price point. The key specs to look out for when choosing a GeForce graphics card are the number of CUDA cores, RT cores, Tensor cores and amount of memory, with more powerful cards having more of all four.
A more powerful graphics card will enable your PC to run games at higher quality settings at a smooth frame rate for a superior gaming experience. The first question you should therefore ask yourself is what monitor do you have or intend to buy so you can choose a graphics card suitable for it. To make this process easier this buyers guide recommends the optimum monitor resolution for each graphics card.
The NVIDIA GeForce Hierarchy
NVIDIA GeForce RTX Special Features
Ray Tracing
The RT cores enables real time ray traced graphics in games. Unlike traditional rasterised graphics, ray tracing simulates how light beams and shadows actually work, providing far more rich and realistic graphics.
DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) is an advanced AI-powered rendering technique unique to NVIDIA graphics cards that uses the Tensor cores to increase frame rates. DLSS enables you ramp up the resolution to enjoy higher quality graphics, without sacrificing performance.
DLSS 1 and 2
DLSS 1 uses a technique called Super Resolution to upscale frames from a low resolution to a high resolution. DLSS 2 employs temporal anti-aliasing upsampling (TAUU) to improve image quality and performance and is supported in hundreds of games.
DLSS 3
DLSS 3 builds on these upscaling techniques but is even faster as it can create entirely new frames, interspersed between Super Resolution frames. This new Frame Generation technology uses the Tensor cores unique to NVIDIA RTX GPUs and can even boost the performance in CPU limited games such as flight simulators.
GeForce Experience is a collection of tools that enhance your gaming. ShadowPlay allows you to easily capture, stream and share videos and screenshots without the need for multiple third-party utilities.
GeForce Experience also takes away the pain of finding the optimal graphics settings in games. Based on the hardware in your system it will automatically find the best settings for you.
GeForce Experience also provides regular and easy updates for the driver of your GeForce graphics card ensuing you get the best frame rates and image quality in the latest games. Enhance your gaming PC by DOWNLOADING GEFORCE EXPERIENCE and GEFORCE DRIVERS.
NVIDIA Reflex
Reflex delivers the ultimate competitive advantage, enabling you to acquire targets faster, react quicker and increase aim precision through a revolutionary suite of technologies that measure and optimise system latency.
NVIDIA Broadcast
Broadcast is a software suite that helps streamers take their channel to the next level with tools such as background noise removal, virtual backgrounds and an auto frame function that zooms in on you and uses AI to track your head movements, keeping you at the centre of the action even as you shift from side to side. With these great features, NVIDIA Broadcast is like having your own professional studio and cameraperson.
RTX 4090
The RTX 4090 is the flagship GeForce 40-series gaming graphics card. This ultra-fast graphics card packs in 16,384 CUDA cores and 24GB of memory and provides stunning gaming experiences at the most demanding resolutions, 8K, 4K and UW-QHD.
ADA LOVELACE
40-series GPUs are based on the Ada Lovelace architecture which runs games up to 70% faster and render video and graphics up to 87% faster than previous 30-series Ampere GPUs.
RTX RAY TRACING
Third generation RT cores deliver up to double the real-time ray-tracing performance of the previous generation GPUs.
DLSS 3.5
Fourth generation Tensor cores combine with Optical Flow Accelerator in 40-series GPUs to deliver the latest generation of DLSS, using AI to create additional high-quality frames.
STREAMING
40-series GPUs feature eighth generation AV1 video encoders which are 40% faster more efficient than H.264 - enabling new possibilities for content creators.
| Gaming | 11 | ||||||||||
Optimum Resolution8K, 4K or UW-QHD
VR READY
RTX 4080 Super
The RTX 4080 Super is the second most powerful GeForce 40-series gaming graphics card. This ultra-fast graphics card packs in 10,240 CUDA cores and 16GB of memory and provides stunning gaming experiences at the most demanding resolutions, 4K and UW-QHD.
ADA LOVELACE
40-series GPUs are based on the Ada Lovelace architecture which runs games up to 70% faster and render video and graphics up to 87% faster than previous 30-series Ampere GPUs.
RTX RAY TRACING
Third generation RT cores deliver up to double the real-time ray-tracing performance of the previous generation GPUs.
DLSS 3.5
Fourth generation Tensor cores combine with Optical Flow Accelerator in 40-series GPUs to deliver the latest generation of DLSS, using AI to create additional high-quality frames.
STREAMING
40-series GPUs feature eighth generation AV1 video encoders which are 40% faster more efficient than H.264 - enabling new possibilities for content creators.
| Gaming | 10 | |||||||||
Optimum Resolution4K or UW-QHD
VR READY
RTX 4080
The RTX 4080 is the third most powerful GeForce 40-series gaming graphics card. This ultra-fast graphics card packs in 9,728 CUDA cores and 16GB of memory and provides stunning gaming experiences at the most demanding resolutions, 4K and UW-QHD.
ADA LOVELACE
40-series GPUs are based on the Ada Lovelace architecture which runs games up to 70% faster and render video and graphics up to 87% faster than previous 30-series Ampere GPUs.
RTX RAY TRACING
Third generation RT cores deliver up to double the real-time ray-tracing performance of the previous generation GPUs.
DLSS 3.5
Fourth generation Tensor cores combine with Optical Flow Accelerator in 40-series GPUs to deliver the latest generation of DLSS, using AI to create additional high-quality frames.
STREAMING
40-series GPUs feature eighth generation AV1 video encoders which are 40% faster more efficient than H.264 - enabling new possibilities for content creators.
| Gaming | 9 | |||||||||
Optimum Resolution4K or UW-QHD
VR READY
RTX 4070 Ti Super
The RTX 4070 Ti Super is the fourth most powerful GeForce 40-series gaming graphics card. This ultra-fast graphics card packs in 8,448 CUDA cores and 16GB of memory and provides stunning gaming experiences at the most demanding resolutions, 4K and UW-QHD.
ADA LOVELACE
40-series GPUs are based on the Ada Lovelace architecture which runs games up to 70% faster and render video and graphics up to 87% faster than previous 30-series Ampere GPUs.
RTX RAY TRACING
Third generation RT cores deliver up to double the real-time ray-tracing performance of the previous generation GPUs.
DLSS 3.5
Fourth generation Tensor cores combine with Optical Flow Accelerator in 40-series GPUs to deliver the latest generation of DLSS, using AI to create additional high-quality frames.
STREAMING
40-series GPUs feature eighth generation AV1 video encoders which are 40% faster more efficient than H.264 - enabling new possibilities for content creators.
| Gaming | 8 | |||||||||
Optimum Resolution4K or UW-QHD
VR READY
RTX 4070 Ti
The RTX 4070 Ti is the fifth most powerful GeForce 40-series gaming graphics card. This ultra-fast graphics card packs in 7,680 CUDA cores and 12GB of memory and provides stunning gaming experiences at the most demanding resolutions, 4K and UW-QHD.
ADA LOVELACE
40-series GPUs are based on the Ada Lovelace architecture which runs games up to 70% faster and render video and graphics up to 87% faster than previous 30-series Ampere GPUs.
RTX RAY TRACING
Third generation RT cores deliver up to double the real-time ray-tracing performance of the previous generation GPUs.
DLSS 3.5
Fourth generation Tensor cores combine with Optical Flow Accelerator in 40-series GPUs to deliver the latest generation of DLSS, using AI to create additional high-quality frames.
STREAMING
40-series GPUs feature eighth generation AV1 video encoders which are 40% faster more efficient than H.264 - enabling new possibilities for content creators.
| Gaming | 7 | |||||||||
Optimum Resolution4K or UW-QHD
VR READY
RTX 4070 Super
The RTX 4070 Super is a high-performance mid-range GeForce 40-series gaming graphics card. This powerful graphics card packs in 7,168 CUDA cores and 12GB of memory and provides stunning gaming experiences at 1440p although the more demanding 4K and UW-QHD resolutions are playable in games that support DLSS 3.
ADA LOVELACE
40-series GPUs are based on the Ada Lovelace architecture which runs games up to 70% faster and render video and graphics up to 87% faster than previous 30-series Ampere GPUs.
RTX RAY TRACING
Third generation RT cores deliver up to double the real-time ray-tracing performance of the previous generation GPUs.
DLSS 3.5
Fourth generation Tensor cores combine with Optical Flow Accelerator in 40-series GPUs to deliver the latest generation of DLSS, using AI to create additional high-quality frames.
STREAMING
40-series GPUs feature eighth generation AV1 video encoders which are 40% faster more efficient than H.264 - enabling new possibilities for content creators.
| Gaming | 6 | |||||||||
Optimum Resolution1440p
VR READY
RTX 4070
The RTX 4070 is a high-performance mid-range GeForce 40-series gaming graphics card. This powerful graphics card packs in 5,888 CUDA cores and 12GB of memory and provides stunning gaming experiences at 1440p although the more demanding 4K and UW-QHD resolutions are playable in games that support DLSS 3.
ADA LOVELACE
40-series GPUs are based on the Ada Lovelace architecture which runs games up to 70% faster and render video and graphics up to 87% faster than previous 30-series Ampere GPUs.
RTX RAY TRACING
Third generation RT cores deliver up to double the real-time ray-tracing performance of the previous generation GPUs.
DLSS 3.5
Fourth generation Tensor cores combine with Optical Flow Accelerator in 40-series GPUs to deliver the latest generation of DLSS, using AI to create additional high-quality frames.
STREAMING
40-series GPUs feature eighth generation AV1 video encoders which are 40% faster more efficient than H.264 - enabling new possibilities for content creators.
| Gaming | 5 | |||||||||
Optimum Resolution1440p
VR READY
RTX 3060
The RTX 3060 is a mid-range GeForce 30-series gaming graphics card. This fast graphics card packs in 3,584 CUDA cores and 12GB of memory and provides a great gaming experience at 1080p.
AMPERE
30-series GPUs are based on the Ampere architecture which runs games up to 70% faster than previous 20-series Turing GPUs.
RTX RAY TRACING
Second generation RT cores deliver up to double the real-time ray-tracing performance of the previous generation Turing GPUs.
DLSS 2
Third generation Tensor cores are used by DLSS to upscale frames to higher resolutions for higher framerates.
STREAMING
30-series GPUs feature seventh generation H.265 video encoders enable new possibilities for content creators.
| Gaming | 2 | |||||||||
Optimum Resolution1080p
VR READY
RTX 3050
The RTX 3050 is the entry-level GeForce 30-series gaming graphics card. This fast graphics card packs in 2,560 CUDA cores and 8GB of memory and provides a great gaming experience at 1080p when you enable DLSS.
AMPERE
30-series GPUs are based on the Ampere architecture which runs games up to 70% faster than previous 20-series Turing GPUs.
RTX RAY TRACING
Second generation RT cores deliver up to double the real-time ray-tracing performance of the previous generation Turing GPUs.
DLSS 2
Third generation Tensor cores are used by DLSS to upscale frames to higher resolutions for higher framerates.
STREAMING
30-series GPUs feature seventh generation H.265 video encoders enable new possibilities for content creators.
| Gaming | 1 | |||||||||
Optimum Resolution1080p
RTX 4060
The RTX 4060 is a mid-range GeForce 40-series gaming graphics card. This fast graphics card packs in 3,072 CUDA cores and 8GB of memory and provides a great gaming experience at 1080p.
ADA LOVELACE
40-series GPUs are based on the Ada Lovelace architecture which runs games up to 70% faster and render video and graphics up to 87% faster than previous 30-series Ampere GPUs.
RTX RAY TRACING
Third generation RT cores deliver up to double the real-time ray-tracing performance of the previous generation GPUs.
DLSS 3.5
Fourth generation Tensor cores combine with Optical Flow Accelerator in 40-series GPUs to deliver the latest generation of DLSS, using AI to create additional high-quality frames.
STREAMING
40-series GPUs feature eighth generation AV1 video encoders which are 40% faster more efficient than H.264 - enabling new possibilities for content creators.
| Gaming | 3 | |||||||||
Optimum Resolution1080p
VR READY
RTX 4060 Ti
The RTX 4060 Ti is a powerful mid-range GeForce 40-series gaming graphics card. This fast graphics card packs in 4,352 CUDA cores and 16GB or 8GB of memory and provides a great gaming experience at 1080p.
ADA LOVELACE
40-series GPUs are based on the Ada Lovelace architecture which runs games up to 70% faster and render video and graphics up to 87% faster than previous 30-series Ampere GPUs.
RTX RAY TRACING
Third generation RT cores deliver up to double the real-time ray-tracing performance of the previous generation GPUs.
DLSS 3.5
Fourth generation Tensor cores combine with Optical Flow Accelerator in 40-series GPUs to deliver the latest generation of DLSS, using AI to create additional high-quality frames.
STREAMING
40-series GPUs feature eighth generation AV1 video encoders which are 40% faster more efficient than H.264 - enabling new possibilities for content creators.
| Gaming | 4 | |||||||||
Optimum Resolution1080p
VR READY
NVIDIA GPU Summary
Still not sure which NVIDIA graphics card is right for you? This table shows the key characteristics of the main models.
| RTX 4090 | RTX 4080 Super | RTX 4080 | RTX 4070 Ti Super | RTX 4070 Ti | RTX 4070 Super | RTX 4070 | RTX 4060 Ti | RTX 4060 | RTX 3060 | RTX 3050 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gaming | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Ray Tracing | Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| VR Ready | Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| Optimum Resolution | 8K/4K/UW-QHD | 4K/UW-QHD | 4K/UW-QHD | 4K/UW-QHD | 4K/UW-QHD | 1440p | 1440p | 1080p | 1080p | 1080p | 1080p |
| VIEW > | VIEW > | VIEW > | VIEW > | VIEW > | VIEW > | VIEW > | VIEW > | VIEW > | VIEW > | VIEW > |
| GeForce RTX 40-Series, 30-Series, 20-Series, GTX 16-Series & 10-Series Card Specifications | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model | RTX 4090 | RTX 4080 Super | RTX 4080 | RTX 4070 Ti Super | RTX 4070 Ti | RTX 4070 Super | RTX 4070 | RTX 4060 Ti | RTX 4060 | RTX 3090 Ti | RTX 3090 | RTX 3080 Ti | RTX 3080 | RTX 3070 Ti | RTX 3070 | RTX 3060 Ti | RTX 3060 | RTX 3050 | TITAN RTX | RTX 2080 Ti | RTX 2080 Super | RTX 2080 | RTX 2070 Super | RTX 2070 | RTX 2060 Super | RTX 2060 | GTX 1080 Ti | GTX 1080 | GTX 1070 Ti | GTX 1070 | GTX 1660 Ti | GTX 1660 Super | GTX 1660 | GTX 1650 Super | GTX 1650 | GTX 1060 6GB | GTX 1060 3GB | GTX 1050 Ti | GTX 1050 |
| Architecture | Ada Lovelace | Ada Lovelace | Ada Lovelace | Ada Lovelace | Ada Lovelace | Ada Lovelace | Ada Lovelace | Ada Lovelace | Ada Lovelace | Ampere | Ampere | Ampere | Ampere | Ampere | Ampere | Ampere | Ampere | Ampere | Turing | Turing | Turing | Turing | Turing | Turing | Turing | Turing | Pascal | Pascal | Pascal | Pascal | Turing | Turing | Turing | Turing | Turing | Pascal | Pascal | Pascal | Pascal |
| GPU | AD102 | AD103 | AD103 | AD103 | AD104 | AD104 | AD104 | AD106 | AD107 | GA102 | GA102 | GA102 | GA102 | GA104 | GA104 | GA104 | GA106 | GA106 | TU102 | TU102 | TU104 | TU104 | TU104 | TU106 | TU106 | TU106 | GP102 | GP104 | GP104 | GP104 | TU116 | TU116 | TU116 | TU117 | TU117 | GP106 | GP106 | GP107 | GP107 |
| CUDA Cores | 16,384 | 10,240 | 9,728 | 8,448 | 7,680 | 7,168 | 5,888 | 4,352 | 3,072 | 10,752 | 10,496 | 10,240 | 8,704 | 6,144 | 5,888 | 4,864 | 3,584 | 2,560 | 4,608 | 4,352 | 3,072 | 2,944 | 2,560 | 2,304 | 2,176 | 1,920 | 3,584 | 2,560 | 2,432 | 1,920 | 1,536 | 1,408 | 1,408 | 1,280 | 896 | 1,280 | 1,152 | 768 | 640 |
| Tensor Cores | 512 | 320 | 304 | 264 | 240 | 224 | 184 | 136 | 96 | 336 | 328 | 320 | 272 | 192 | 184 | 152 | 112 | 80 | 576 | 544 | 384 | 368 | 320 | 288 | 272 | 240 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| RT Cores | 128 | 80 | 76 | 66 | 60 | 56 | 46 | 34 | 24 | 84 | 82 | 80 | 68 | 48 | 46 | 38 | 28 | 20 | 72 | 68 | 48 | 46 | 40 | 36 | 34 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reference Base Clock | 2.23GHz | 2.21GHz | 2.21GHz | 2.34GHz | 2.31GHz | 1.98GHz | 1.92GHz | 2.31GHz | 1.83GHz | 1,560MHz | 1,400MHz | 1,370MHz | 1,440MHz | 1,580MHz | 1,500MHz | 1,410MHz | 1,320MHz | 1,552MHz | 1,350 MHz | 1,350 MHz | 1,650 MHz | 1,515 MHz | 1,605 MHz | 1,410 MHz | 1,470 MHz | 1,365 MHz | 1,480 MHz | 1,607 MHz | 1,607 MHz | 1,506 MHz | 1,500 MHz | 1,530 MHz | 1,530 MHz | 1,530 MHz | 1,485 MHz | 1,506 MHz | 1,506 MHz | 1,290 MHz | 1,354 MHz |
| Reference Boost Clock | 2.52GHz | 2.55GHz | 2.51GHz | 2.61GHz | 2.61GHz | 2.48GHz | 2.48GHz | 2.54GHz | 2.46GHz | 1,860MHz | 1,700 MHz | 1,670MHz | 1,710 MHz | 1,770MHz | 1,730 MHz | 1,665MHz | 1,780MHz | 1,777MHz | 1,770 MHz | 1,545 MHz | 1,815 MHz | 1,710 MHz | 1,770 MHz | 1,710 MHz | 1,650 MHz | 1,680 MHz | 1,582 MHz | 1,733 MHz | 1,683 MHz | 1,683 MHz | 1,770 MHz | 1,785 MHz | 1,785 MHz | 1,725 MHz | 1,665 MHz | 1,708 MHz | 1,708 MHz | 1,392 MHz | 1,455 MHz |
| Memory | 24GB GDDR6X | 16GB GDDR6X | 16GB GDDR6X | 16GB GDDR6X | 12GB GDDR6X | 12GB GDDR6X | 12GB GDDR6X | 8/16GB GDDR6 | 8GB GDDR6 | 24GB GDDR6X | 24GB GDDR6X | 12GB GDDR6X | 10GB GDDR6X | 8GB GDDR6X | 8GB GDDR6 | 8GB GDDR6 | 12GB GDDR6 | 8GB GDDR6 | 24GB GDDR6 | 11GB GDDR6 | 8GB GDDR6 | 8GB GDDR6 | 8GB GDDR6 | 8GB GDDR6 | 8GB GDDR6 | 6GB GDDR6 | 11GB GDDR5X | 8GB GDDR5X | 8GB GDDR5 | 8GB GDDR5 | 6GB GDDR6 | 6GB GDDR6 | 6GB GDDR5 | 4GB GDDR6 | 4GB GDDR5 | 6GB GDDR5 | 3GB GDDR5 | 4GB GDDR5 | 2GB GDDR5 |
| Memory Controller | 384-bit | 256-bit | 256-bit | 256-bit | 192-bit | 192-bit | 192-bit | 128-bit | 128-bit | 384-bit | 384-bit | 384-bit | 320-bit | 256-bit | 256-bit | 256-bit | 192-bit | 128-bit | 384-bit | 352-bit | 352-bit | 256-bit | 256-bit | 256-bit | 256-bit | 192-bit | 352-bit | 256-bit | 256-bit | 256-bit | 192-bit | 192-bit | 192-bit | 128-bit | 128-bit | 192-bit | 192-bit | 128-bit | 128-bit |
| TDP | 450W | 320W | 320W | 320W | 285W | 220W | 200W | 160W | 115W | 350W | 350W | 350W | 320W | 290W | 220W | 200W | 170W | 130W | 280W | 260W | 250W | 225W | 215W | 175W | 175W | 160W | 250W | 180W | 180W | 150W | 120W | 125W | 120W | 110W | 75W | 120W | 120W | 75W | 75W |
Ready to buy?
NVIDIA GeForce graphics cards can be purchased as a standalone product or integrated into a gaming PC from our award-winning 3XS Systems team.
