Best GPU for 4K gaming 2024
Get the best graphics card for gaming in 4K right here and start enjoying the latest games to their fullest
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As monitor resolutions and sizes continue to grow, so do the power requirements for the best graphics cards required to run it. Finding the best GPU for 4k gaming is actually fairly straightforward, you just need to find the flagship from AMD or Nvidia. With lower-end choices not cutting it, you have to look at some of the higher-end options to do so.
The current champion of 4K gaming is the RTX 4090, a GPU we extensively tested and reviewed upon release. The RTX 4090 delivers 4K performance that other cards can only dream of and is the only choice when building the best PC in town.
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ASUS ROG Strix RTX 4090 OC
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ASUS ROG Strix NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 OC Edition
Best GPU for 4K gaming: RTX 4090
ASUS ROG Strix RTX 4090 OC
Core Clock Speed
2,640 MHz boost
CUDA Cores
16,384
Memory Size
24GB GDDR6X
Dimensions
357.6 x 149.3 x 70.1mm
PSU Required
1000W
TDP
450W
- Excellent air cooling solution
- Pushes performance above the rest of the selection
- Updated design cooling and aesthetically focused
- A more expensive choice over the rest of the picks and will cost a lot to run
When it comes to unrivaled performance, then there is no better card to choose than the RTX 4090. Which does have a high cost, but it is the leader of the pack. As the flagship and first to launch the Ada series.
The card comes with 16,384 CUDA cores in the AD102-300 processor. The process moved back to TSMC with its 4nm process, with a die size of 608mm² and 76.3 billion transistors.
With that card, you can expect easily over 100FPS in most titles at 4k. Making it more viable across the higher refresh rate monitors. So if you have the supply to match the 450W hungry specs then it is a good choice.
Best AMD GPU for 4K gaming: RX 7900XTX
ASUS TUF Radeon RX 7900 XTX OC
Core Clock Speed
1,895 MHz base, 2,395 MHz shader & game, 2,565 MHz boost
Stream processors
6,144
Memory Size
24GB GDDR6
Dimensions
352.9 x 158.2 x 72.6 mm
PSU Required
850W
TBP
355W
- Great cooling solution that improves thermals and fan curves over reference
- Improved power management from an experienced brand
- High quality build and overclocked for top tier performance
- A slightly more expensive option for its better performance and quality
For its new generation of cards, Radeon offers a great choice of powerful cards. The top choice is the RX 7900 XTX which brings better value to Nvidia’s offerings currently.
It has a Navi 31 XTX GPU on the RDNA 3 architecture. With the TSMCs process of 5 and 6nm, it has moved its process to an MCM design. The MCD and GCD on separate chips improve the yield of the products and give an advantage to the card.
With a much better value offering over its alternatives, it gives a good 4k performance across the board. With high quality, it can reach at least 60 FPS. So it can be enjoyed no matter what.
Where the drawback might be, is the ray tracing performance worse than what Nvidia has to offer. So if you want the best quality overall it’s not the best choice, although it has got great upscaling like RSR behind it to improve its performance even further.
Best budget GPU for 4K gaming: RTX 3080
ASUS ROG Strix NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 OC Edition
Clock Speed
1755MHz Boost Clock (OC)
VRAM
10GB GDDRX
Thermal Design
iCX3 triple fan
- Very good build quality
- Attractive design
- The building blocks for the world’s fastest, most efficient GPU
- Axial-Tech Fan Design
- Quite pricey
If you’re not quite ready to jump on the new bandwagon then there is no shame in looking back at the previous offerings. And from there, the RTX 3080 is a great choice overall.
Although it might not quite reach the level of performance of the new cards, it has a much better value on it. With GA102-200 GPU on the Ampere architecture, it was still utilizing the Samsung foundry.
It also has only 10GB of GDDR6X with 760.3 GB/s bandwidth. But it still has good performance at that level. Apart from DLSS 3, it does have good support for the rest of the Nvidia offerings. And it still is a popular choice as the new offering doesn’t quite match what it can do.
How we test & choose the best GPU for 4k gaming
To make sure we’re recommending only the best options for graphics cards. This requires good information and knowledge to know what we’re doing.
So when possible we put the cards through rigorous testing. This means we know how they perform and keep that up across long trials and so it makes sure they are a good choice.
Otherwise, with expert knowledge, we can be sure that we know what to look for and expect from different cards and manufacturers. Whilst also looking at reviews and benchmarks we can compare and see how what is good when we can’t be hands-on.
To read up on our whole process, you can check out how we test GPUs page.
What to look for in a 4k gaming card
When it comes to selecting your graphics card for 4K there is a lot to consider if the card can handle it. As with a higher requirement for power then not every model is going to be a good choice.
Lower-end cards are more entry-level, so focused on lower resolutions like 1080p. This means that a GPU like the RTX 3050 is not ideal for anything more than HD and would require pure upscaling to get on that level at all.
VRAM
One of the important factors in being able to drive high-resolution graphics is VRAM. The video random access memory is what allows higher resolutions to perform much better on graphics cards.
This feature on a graphics card is used as a buffer system for the graphics being created. So with the use of larger resolutions more pixels are created. Which does require more capacity to be able to be stored which comes with a higher cost in turn.
There is also the requirement of memory speed, with a memory bus that allows for the data to pass through. As well as the clock of the memory to give the overall bandwidth of the VRAM so a higher count is more desirable for 4k gaming.
Shading units
One of the core features of graphics cards is the shaders used in the card. In Nvidia, this may be the CUDA cores while Radeon has stream processors.
These are what the cards utilize to process the graphics instructions and create the final image you see. So with a higher count, the GPU can process the data faster with more cores running them at the same time.
Higher counts are found in the bigger processors as found in the top cards of the generations. So those choices are the ones to go for when it comes to the best performance at 4k.
Best GPU for 4k gaming FAQs
Why is 4k harder to run than other resolutions?
4k resolution is four times bigger than 1080p. With more pixels, it requires much more processing to achieve it. As such the higher cards cost more so you can get a much smoother experience with the higher resolutions.
What specs do you need for 4K gaming?
Nvidia itself recommends at least a GTX 1080 orf better for 4k performance. This mans most top-end cards from each generation will be a good choice. Such as the RTX 3080, 3090 Ti, 4090, 4080. Whilst from AMD the RX 6900 XT, and 7900 XTX are also good choices.
