Best video cards (GPU) for gaming PC at $1,000 or more

Video cards have become very expensive in recent years. The top-tier GTX 1080 Ti was introduced for $699 not very long ago, which is more of a mid-range price point these days. It is very common for gamers to spend over $1,000 on graphics cards, more so because Nvidia normalized the Titan lineup and is currently selling it as a gaming-tier GPU.

For over $1,000, players can get the best-in-class performance in the market. Ultimate GPUs like the RTX 4080 and the RX 7900 XTX are available at this price point, and can easily run video games at 4K resolution without breaking a sweat.

However, there are also some bad-value GPUs like the RTX 3080 Ti lurking in the market. Thus, in this article, we will list the best options gamers should consider if they are willing to spend over $1,000 on a video card.

Note: This article is subjective and reflects the writer's views.

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Gamers will get top-notch performance from video cards priced above $1,000

5) Nvidia Geforce RTX 3090 ($1,234+)

The Geforce RTX 3090 is the last-gen king and the first video card with the -90 class moniker. The GPU continues to be a charmer in modern video games. There are only a few pixel-pushers in the market that can overpower this beast, making it an ideal purchase for gaming even to this date.

GPU Name	Nvidia RTX 3090
Memory	24 GB GDDR6 64-bit
Base clock	1,395 MHz
Boost clock	1,695 MHz

We don't, however, recommend buying the RTX 3090 brand new. It is being sold for over $1,200, which is not a logical price to pay, especially because the RTX 4080 and the Radeon RX 7900 XTX exist. In the second-hand market, however, the 3090 can be bought for as low as $700, which makes it a sweet deal over the similarly priced RTX 4070.

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4) Nvidia Geforce RTX 3090 Ti ($1,649+)

The RTX 3090 Ti was launched for an eye-watering $2,099 price tag in the peak days of scalping. It isn't much faster than its non-Ti brother. Moreover, the 4080 overpowers this extreme-class flagship video card by a massive margin, while costing less and drawing less power.

GPU Name	Nvidia RTX 3090 Ti
Memory	24 GB GDDR6X 384-bit
Base clock	1,560 MHz
Boost clock	1,860 MHz

Much like the RTX 3090, this card isn't worth its full price, which is $1,649 for a budget offering with zero RGB. For this price, you could purchase an RTX 4090 Founders Edition and still save some money for faster RAM. The availability of this card in the second-hand market is also haywire, especially because of how few units it sold.

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3) Nvidia Geforce RTX 4080 ($1,199)

The Nvidia Geforce RTX 4080 is a high-end video card powered by the latest Ada Lovelace architecture. It brings top-notch 4K gaming performance to the table with support for DLSS 3, which future-proofs it for at least the next half-decade.

GPU Name	Nvidia RTX 4080
Memory	16 GB GDDR6X 256-bit
Base clock	2,205 MHz
Boost clock	2,505 MHz

At $1,199, it is the cheapest and the fastest GPU so far on this list. However, the card is almost twice as costly as the $600 RTX 3080 from 2020. In its marketing campaign, Nvidia clearly outlined that the card isn't for everyone and has been designed only for those gamers who want top-tier performance without any compromises.

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2) AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX ($1,000)

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is Team Red's answer to the RTX 4090. Although its slower than the Nvidia flagship, it is about 37.5% cheaper. At exactly $1,000, it is the fastest video card you can buy. The GPU easily beats the RTX 4080 in raw rendering workloads, while costing less than the 80-class Team Green offering.

GPU Name	AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
Memory	24 GB GDDR6 384-bit
Base clock	1,855 MHz
Boost clock	2,499 MHz

However, the 7900 XTX isn't perfect: ray tracing and upscaling technologies aren't nearly as sophisticated as Nvidia's, and productivity performance falters. But in our testing, none of them posed an alarming issue and gamers can easily get away with the AMD king.

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1) Nvidia Geforce RTX 4090 ($1,599)

Any costly GPU list is incomplete without the RTX 4090, the king of video cards in today's market. It is the perfect definition of Nvidia's willingness to sacrifice everything for the gaming crown. The card is much faster than any GPU ever made as it leaves the last-gen flagship, the 3090 Ti, in shambles with its performance.

GPU Name	Nvidia RTX 4090
Memory	24 GB GDDR6X 384-bit
Base clock	2,235 MHz
Boost clock	2,520 MHz

The RTX 4090 manages its improved performance while costing less than the 3090 Ti and drawing as much power (or even less in video games) as its last-gen counterpart. It's super-costly, with the cheapest variants starting from $1,599. However, for the performance it delivers, it is great value for money.