If you’re a gamer who demands only the best gaming experience—including the highest framerates and resolutions possible—you need a monster of a graphics card. Fortunately, you have many options at a wide range of price tags.
The GPUs you’ll learn about below are some of the best graphics cards on the market. They come complete with plentiful processing cores (including modern CUDA® Cores), high bandwidth, high amounts of VRAM, and everything else you’ll need to play at the highest settings long into the future.
For each one, you’ll learn what sets them apart and how they handle 4K gaming.
4K GPU #1: Gigabyte AORUS GeForce RTX 4090 XTREME WATERFORCE 24GB Graphics Card
The first card on the list is one of the most expensive and powerful. It’s one of the best gaming GPUs you can buy, and
Like all NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 cards on this list, it is built on the bleeding-edge Ada Lovelace architecture. It features 4th generation Tensor cores for AI-enhanced performance with NVIDIA’s DLSS 3 and 3rd generation RT cores for up to 2x better ray tracing performance than previous generations.
All that power requires a significant amount of cooling, but this card is packed with cooling features. It comes with a WATERFORCE liquid cooler to handle the heat. This cooler was designed specifically for overclocked high-end gaming systems and provides exceptional cooling for all parts of the video card, including the GPU, VRAM, and MOSFET.
Other onboard features include a metal backplate to support the weight and size of the card, a PCB coating to protect it from contaminants like dust and drill shavings, and power indicators to warn you of problems your software may not detect.
This card is an improvement on the reference RTX 4090, which was easily able to achieve 100+ frames per second while gaming in 4K Ultra.
| Quick Specs | |
| Base Clock Speed | 2235 MHz |
| Boost Clock Speed | 2565 MHz |
| Graphics Card Memory (VRAM) | 24 GB GDDR6X |
| Interfaces & Outputs | PCI-E 4.0 DisplayPort 1.4a *3HDMI 2.1a*1 |
| Cooling Type | 3-way SLI closed loop water cooling system |
| Recommended Power Supply | 850W |
| See Complete Manufacturer Specs Here | |
Shop the Gigabyte AORUS GeForce RTX 4090 XTREME WATERFORCE 24GB Graphics Card
GPU #2: Asus GeForce RTX 4090 ROG STRIX OC Edition 24GB Graphics Card
Asus’s most powerful 4090 takes an easy second place on this list with all the power of the 4090 reference card and a number of features to improve it for the most demanding gamers.
While it can be equipped with a water-cooling system, it comes out of the box with several features to make additional cooling unnecessary. They include a vented exoskeleton, larger axial-tech fans, massive heatsinks, and a vapor chamber to absorb and dissipate large amounts of heat.
Like all NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40-series cards on this list, it is built on the bleeding-edge Ada Lovelace architecture with 4th generation Tensor cores for AI-enhanced performance with DLSS 3 and 3rd generation RT cores for up to 2x better ray tracing performance.
This card is an improvement on the reference RTX 4090, which was easily able to achieve 100+ frames per second while gaming in 4K Ultra.
| Quick Specs | |
| Base Clock Speed | 2610 MHz (Boosted by Default) |
| Boost Clock Speed | 2640 MHz (OC Mode) |
| Graphics Card Memory (VRAM) | 24GB GDDR6X |
| Interfaces & Outputs | PCI Express 4.0 1 x 16-pin Yes x 2 (Native HDMI 2.1a)Yes x 3 (Native DisplayPort 1.4a)HDCP Support Yes (2.3) |
| Cooling Type | Fans x3 |
| Recommended Power Supply | 1000W |
| See Complete Manufacturer Specs Here | |
Shop the Asus GeForce RTX 4090 ROG STRIX OC Edition 24GB Graphics Card
GPU #3: Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4090 GAMING OC 24GB Graphics Card
The next card on this list is another powerful 4090 from Gigabyte. It comes with some savings over the WATERFORCE model, but not at a high cost to its performance. As an OC-edition card, it comes pre-overclocked and packed with advanced cooling features.
It controls heat with a WINDFORCE cooling system with 3 110mm fans enhanced with alternate spinning behavior. More heat control is achieved with 10 copper heat pipes, a large vapor chamber, and an extended heatsink.
For gamers who like their system to look as good as it behaves, this card comes with RGB fans to fill your case with light.
Like all NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40-series cards on this list, it is built on the bleeding-edge Ada Lovelace architecture with 4th generation Tensor cores for AI-enhanced performance with DLSS 3 and 3rd generation RT cores for up to 2x better ray tracing performance.
This card is an improvement on the reference RTX 4090, which was easily able to achieve 100+ frames per second while gaming in 4K Ultra.
| Quick Specs | |
| Base Clock Speed | 2535 MHz |
| Boost Clock Speed | |
| Graphics Card Memory (VRAM) | 24 GB GDDR6X |
| Interfaces & Outputs | PCI-E 4.0 x 16 DisplayPort 1.4a *3HDMI 2.1a *1 |
| Cooling Type | Fans x3 |
| Recommended Power Supply | 1000W |
| See Complete Manufacturer Specs Here | |
Shop the Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4090 GAMING OC 24GB Graphics Card
GPU #4: Asus ROG STRIX GeForce RTX 4080 OC Edition 16GB Graphics Card
The first 4080 card on this list is available at a great discount over the 4090. While you may lose some CUDA cores and VRAM compared to the 4090, this card is still capable of delivering exceptional performance while gaming in 4K.
Like all NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40-series cards on this list, it is built on the bleeding-edge Ada Lovelace architecture with 4th generation Tensor cores for AI-enhanced performance with DLSS 3 and 3rd generation RT cores for up to 2x better ray tracing performance.
The reference card on which this 4080 is built achieved an average of 88.7 FPS while gaming in 4K Ultra. Benchmark tests with this card found that it could achieve 60+ FPS on top titles like Cyberpunk 2077, Forza Horizon 5, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
| Quick Specs | |
| Base Clock Speed | 2625 MHz (Boost Clock) |
| Boost Clock Speed | OC mode: 2655 MHz |
| Graphics Card Memory (VRAM) | 16GB GDDR6X |
| Interfaces & Outputs | PCI Express 4.0 Yes x 2 (Native HDMI 2.1a)Yes x 3 (Native DisplayPort 1.4a)HDCP Support Yes (2.3) |
| Cooling Type | Fans x3 |
| Recommended Power Supply | 750W |
| See Complete Manufacturer Specs Here | |
Shop the Asus ROG STRIX GeForce RTX 4080 OC Edition 16GB Graphics Card
GPU #5: Gigabyte AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX GAMING OC 24GB Graphics Card
The last card on this list is the best budget option, coming in under R28,000, which still delivers high framerates while gaming in 4K. This card comes with AMD’s latest upscaling technology, including the framerate-boosting FidelityFX Super Resolution and Radeon Super Resolution.
It can unlock some additional functions when combined with a Ryzen processor.
Like an earlier Gigabyte option on this list, it includes a WINDFORCE cooling system of three alternating fans backed by 9 copper pipes, a large vapor chamber, and screen cooling.
The Radeon RX 7900 XTX on which this card is built routinely achieved high framerates across many titles while playing in 4K. Framerates ranged from 400+ on popular titles like CS: GO to 95+ FPS in titles like Forza Horizon 5, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and Watch Dogs: Legion.
| Quick Specs | |
| Base/Game Clock Speed | 2330 MHz |
| Boost Clock Speed | 2525 MHz |
| Graphics Card Memory (VRAM) | 24 GB GDDR6 |
| Interfaces & Outputs | PCI-E 4.0 DisplayPort 2.1 *2HDMI 2.1 *2 |
| Cooling Type | Fans x3 |
| Recommended Power Supply | 750W |
| See Complete Manufacturer Specs Here | |
Shop the Gigabyte AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX GAMING OC 24GB Graphics Card
Choose a Premium Graphics Card Now
Naturally, cards as powerful as these will need to be part of gaming PC builds strong enough to support them. Before buying a GPU, ensure your power supply (PSU), processor (CPU), RAM, and other components are ready for an enthusiast-grade card.
In addition to great components, you’ll want a high-end 4K monitor that can help you see the full power of the cards inside. These cards can support the highest resolutions and refresh rates, so choose one capable of 4K resolution. You’ll find a perfect 4k Graphics Card.
