Since graphics card prices have normalized, they’re now back at their typical “the one I want is still out of my budget” level (an improvement on “the one that I want and the three below it are out of my budget”). But there are still sufficient discounts around after the peak Prime Day sales have passed to potentially kick your buying power up a notch for the GPU you need instead of the GPU you can afford. This particular sale season, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 seems to be the most popular model getting discounted.
I’ve selected models at a variety of prices that I think are both good options as well as good deals. And surprisingly, a good number of them are still available post-Prime Day. In fact, Zotac seems to be the only manufacturer whose prices bounced back to normal; a few, but not all, of Asus’ have as well.
The RTX 4070 Ti is overall my favorite GPU for balancing price and performance. Speed straddles great 1080p performance up through usable 4K, so it should last you for a while at a high frame rate, high quality 1440p if you’re not quite ready for 4K. In addition to 12GB of GDDR6X VRAM, because it’s the latest generation of processors, it supports Nvidia’s most powerful optimization technology, DLSS 3.
The RTX 4080 outperforms the RTX 4070 Ti, but it makes the most sense if you want solid 4K — in addition to the higher-power processor it has 16GB of GDDR6X, which makes it more suitable for the high resolution — but 4K is less popular than 1440p because of all the higher priced equipment it needs (such as a 4K monitor and more powerful system). Like the 4070 Ti, it also supports Nvidia’s latest version of its optimization technology, DLSS 3.
You can get really solid performance out of the RTX 3070 Ti, and if you’re looking for excellent 1440p at a decent — well, less than $800 — price, it’s an excellent choice. You do sacrifice some of the advantages conferred by paying more for a current-generation card, such as support for DLSS 3, which provides a nice performance jump over DLSS 2, the previous generation of Nvidia’s optimization technology.
If your budget is too tight to accommodate an RTX 3060, or if you play low-graphics-impact games, this last-generation, entry-level GPU can certainly handle reasonable quality 1080p with its 8GB GDDR6.
If you’re budget’s snug but not boa-constrictor tight, $300 is about where I’d put the cheapest card I’d recommend if you have any plans to graduate beyond 1080p. The RTX 3060 has got quite a few discounts available this week, bumping it to just below the top of the range. It’s got 12GB of GDDR6 VRAM, which can accommodate 1440p gaming, but the processor doesn’t have quite enough oomph to handle it at high quality.
More Nvidia GeForce GPU deals
