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Buying a graphics card in 2024 can be quite confusing owing to the numerous factors you need to consider before deciding on the device you need. The latest graphics card generation has further confused people. NVIDIA provided a fantastic performance improvement with its flagship GPU, but the mid-range option brought very little performance improvement. AMD also delivered similar results with this generation, and Intel's next-gen GPU has been delayed.
This article elaborates on five things to know when buying a graphics card in 2024.
Note: This article is subjective and reflects the writer's opinions.
5 aspects to accohnt for while buying a graphics card in 2024
1) Resolution target
The resolution you play in at has a big impact on the GPU. The higher it is, the worse impact it will have. Running a game on 4K will need tremendous GPU power compared to running it on 2K or 1080P. So, the resolution target is one of the first factors to consider when buying a graphics card.
Think of an RTX 4060 or Radeon 7600 in terms of 1080@60. If you want to play at 1440P@60, you need an RTX 4070 or Radeon 7800 XT. For 4K@60, you need an RTX 4080 Super or Radeon 7900 XT. But these are just around 60 FPS on average. If you want a higher refresh rate gaming experience, that's a different story.
2) High refresh rate target
For a high refresh rate, you need an equally high frame rate. If you want to play at a 120Hz refresh rate, the game also needs to achieve 120 FPS, which will put a tremendous load on the GPU. So, you must consider a few factors. For example, competitive games are generally not very big on graphical fidelity, so most modern graphics cards will be able to achieve that.
But if you want to play story-based games, such as Red Dead Redemption 2 or God of War, at a 120-high refresh rate, you need an RTX 4070 Super or Ti. Now, that's just at 1080p resolution. Keep in mind when buying a graphics card that the higher the resolution, the more GPU power it needs.
Also, check out Intel ARC A750 vs RTX 4060
3) GPU vendor
Which GPU vendor you buy will also play a significant role in how well the GPU performs in the long run. Different vendors have different feature sets, including DLSS, FSR, and XESS. Graphics driver stability is also important. There are only three GPU vendors at the current moment: NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel.
In general, NVIDIA's graphics driver is considered the best, but AMD is not very far behind. However, Intel is in a different place. When it started, the drivers had a high failure rate. But it has come a long way since then and is much stable now.
Intel's GPUs also cost much less than AMD and NVIDIA, compensating for the driver issues. Choosing the GPU vendor is one of the most important decisions when buying a graphics card.
4) Price Target
Price also plays a big role here. Not everyone wants to pay $999 for just a GPU, let alone pay $1600 or more for an RTX 4090. So, depending on your budget, you will have to decide on factors such as resolution target, high refresh rate target, and GPU vendor to choose. Intel GPUs are the cheapest, while NVIDIA GPUs cost the most. AMD Radeon GPUs sit somewhere in the middle.
5) VRAM target
Recently, we've seen multiple games that require 12GB VRAM in a graphics card or even more. Any GPU with 8GB VRAM or less suffers terribly in those games. This has sparked a debate about the importance of VRAM capacity. Three out of 10 games released recently have issues with 8GB VRAM cards, which will worsen as more graphically intensive games are released in the future.
So, pay close attention to the VRAM capacity when buying a new GPU. Ideally, avoid GPUs with 8GB VRAM when buying a graphics card.
Keep these five factors in mind while buying a graphics card in 2024. Arming yourself with this knowledge will help you get the best GPU for your PC.
