If you've been holding out on upgrading or building a new gaming rig, it's time to start looking again. The latest RTX 50 Series cards from Nvidia push high-refresh 1440p and even 4K performance, and AMD is leading the more budget-friendly range with the RX 900 Series. You have no shortage of options, and availability is much better than it was even a few months ago.
I’ll walk through some general buying strategy, show off my favorite graphics cards, and talk about why you might want to spring for something premium. Want to learn more about building a PC? Be sure to check out our full how-to guide, as well as our guide to the Best RAM and Best Power Supplies.
Updated July 2025: We've added information about the new Radeon RX Series GPUs and added more budget offerings. I no longer recommend previous generation GPUs, due to better availability and pricing in the latest generation.