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5 reasons I love benchmarking
Ever since I got into PC building and gaming, benchmarking has been one of my favorite hobbies, and here are five reasons why.
For most people, benchmarking is what you do to make sure your PC is performing normally and is giving you the kind of performance you need, most often in games where you may find yourself tweaking graphics settings to get the right balance. While I'm sure many, or maybe even most people, find this kind of stuff boring, I absolutely love benchmarking. Ever since I built my first PC about a decade ago, I have loved seeing what my components are capable of, and here's why.
5 most disappointing Nvidia RTX laptop GPUs of all time
There have been bad Nvidia GPUs, and there have been disappointing ones
A graphics card is the heart of any gaming computer, so it rightly receives a lot of attention from consumers and media alike. Nvidia has been the most dominant player in the graphics card market for years now, whether you look at desktop cards or the mobile versions used in laptops. While the company has quite a few spots in the worst graphics cards on the desktop side, its laptop GPUs have also had their fair share of flops, especially after the debut of the laptop RTX GPUs. Today, we look at five of the most disappointing laptop GPUs from Nvidia's RTX lineup.
AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT vs Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Ti: Which is better for your budget?
Should you buy an AMD or Nvidia graphics card?
The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT launched as a direct competitor to take on the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Ti and AMD was largely successful in its endeavor. The RX 7700 XT is more powerful, yet more expensive, and is capable of some smooth 1440p gameplay. Should you be on the market for the best graphics card for your budget, we'd recommend the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT. However, should you value ray tracing and DLSS support, there's only one choice — Nvidia's GeForce RTX 4060 Ti.
Best RTX 4090 GPUs in 2023
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 is the best GPU you can buy right now. Here are our favorite after-market and reference design picks.
Nvidia's GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card is incredibly powerful, even when inside the best RTX 4090 laptops. It's the best graphics card and more capable than any other GPU available on the market, but more than a clear mile. It's also incredibly expensive. All that performance will come at a premium and Nvidia will gladly charge you for it. Still, we've rounded up all the best aftermarket RTX 4090s right here for you to choose from.
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Ti is here and it didn't quite have the landing the company expected. The price to performance and generation gains have been underwhelming, to say the least. It's still a capable GPU, however, especially if you connect it to a 1080p gaming monitor. This guide will showcase some of the best Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GPUs.
The best gaming experiences are currently had at 4K. The best graphics cards are able to keep up with the maximum refresh rates of 2160p monitors with visual settings cranked up high, providing countless hours of smiles. But if you're on the hunt for a GPU to pair with your new 4K monitor or TV, we've got you covered with our shortlist of recommendations for the best 4K GPUs. These cards are overkill for 1080p and 1440p but can be used for achieving super-high frame rates.
Full HD was all the rave back in the early 2010s. TVs, laptops, and monitors were all leaving the 720p resolution behind, in favor of 1080p. It's hard to fathom just how quickly display tech advanced as we're now seeing graphics cards capable of displaying images to screens with four times as many pixels (2160p or 4K). Still, 1080p is a common resolution today as it's less demanding on PC hardware, allowing those who primarily play esports and value high frame rates above visual fidelity to enjoy excellent experiences. Here are the best 1080p GPUs for gaming.
Best Prime Day CPU and GPU deals: Everything you need to know
We'll be sharing all the best CPU and GPU deals from the second Prime Day of 2023 right here!
Amazon Prime Day already greeted us with countless technology-related deals in July and the online retail giant is working hard behind the scenes to prepare the stalls for another round. We're still waiting for Amazon to confirm when precisely its Prime Big Deal Days will take place, but if we were to make some bets, we'd say it will be somewhere in the middle of October to match what we experienced the year prior.
Nvidia's RTX 4070 could get a price cut following the launch of the Radeon RX 7800 XT
Will the minor price cut be enough for the RTX 4070 to compete against the RX 7800 XT?
Nvidia has been feeling the heat in the all important mid-range following the launch of the Radeon RX 7800 XT, and the company is seemingly doing something about it. According to a new report, the GeForce RTX 4070, which is a direct competitor to AMD's aforementioned GPU, could soon see a price cut across all brands and models. For now, though, only a couple of Nvidia's board partners - Gigabyte and Zotac - are offering a discount on the card, while the rest are still selling it at its advertised price.
Hot AMD competition brings down the price of Gigabyte's RTX 4070 to just $549!
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 looks like a much better deal for gamers.
AMD has caused some unrest in the Nvidia camp with the launch of its AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT graphics card. It's a direct competitor to the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070, which launched with an MSRP of $599. Even with a higher price tag over previous generations of the XX70 Nvidia GPU, we were still happy with the performance available for butter-smooth 1440p gaming. Now that AMD undercut the RTX 4070, beating it in a collection of PC games, Nvidia has slashed the price of its GPU, and AIB partners are following suit.
Gaming at 1440p resolution is becoming more commonplace as gamers gradually migrate away from 1080p displays. Having more pixels to handle, it's important to have the best graphics card for the job, which is where our collection of GPUs comes into play. You'll find some of the most powerful, yet affordable graphics cards from AMD, Intel, and Nvidia.
Best RTX 4080 GPUs in 2023
Ready to unlock 4K gaming? Here are the RTX 4080 GPUs you should consider buying.
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 is a powerful graphics card capable of smooth 4K gameplay. However, not all RTX 4080 GPUs are created equal, so we've rounded up our recommended choices should you be in the market for this GPU specifically. Here are our picks for the best graphics cards with the RTX 4080.
Best GPUs in 2023: Our top graphics card picks
Picking the right graphics card can be difficult given the sheer number of options on the market. Here are the best graphics cards to consider.
The graphics card is responsible for handling all the rendering tasks that are too intense for the CPU alone — think rendering video or playing games. The best graphics card depends on what you need. Should you have a Full HD monitor and only play some lighter games occasionally, you could get away with buying a cheaper GPU. If you're going all-out with 4K gaming and want the very best, a flagship GPU will likely be a better choice. We've tested a whole host of graphics cards to see which is the best GPU for gaming.
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is the midrange graphics card from the company's 40 series of desktop-class GPUs. Launching for just $800, the 4070 Ti was the most affordable RTX 40 GPU prior to the RTX 4060. When picking the best graphics card on a budget, it's important to bear a few things in mind, namely price and performance. You want to get the most bang for your buck, and our collection of RTX 4070 Ti cards below do just that.
AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT and 7800 XT review: Impressive 2K performance at somewhat reasonable prices
Say hello to some more "affordable" graphics cards!
Buying a good graphics card within the last couple of years has been nothing short of a grand adventure, filled with high prices, low stock levels, and a shortage of electronics to boot. Still, this hasn't halted AMD, Nvidia, and now Intel from launching new products, and today we're going to be looking at the new AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT and Radeon RX 7800 XT. The two GPUs are positioned to take on the RTX 4060 Ti and RTX 4070 graphics cards, hence the similarly named SKUs.
Why APUs can't truly replace low-end GPUs
Replacing low-end GPUs is like replacing cheap cars with scooters and saying it's actually better
Recently I wrote about how the demise of the budget GPU posed a big problem for PC gaming, namely that having to spend an extra $100 to $200 just to buy the cheapest GPU would be a serious hurdle for many gamers who simply don't have as much as others. Without newer budget models to replace older ones, these gamers would inevitably get left behind, finding their options to be inadequate for the latest and even sort of recent PC games. It could even harm the PC gaming ecosystem as a whole if these gamers are squeezed out of PC and switch to consoles.
Why I haven't upgraded my GPU in almost three years
Between weak generational upgrades and niche features, I'm just not as compelled to upgrade as I used to be.
I have an RTX 3060 Ti in my desktop today, and I've had it for nearly three years, which is the longest amount of time I've ever stuck with a GPU. After getting my very first GPU (the R9 380 4GB) in 2015, I upgraded it about every two years: to an RX 480 in 2016, an RX Vega 56 in 2018, a GTX 1080 Ti in 2020, and an RTX 3060 Ti in 2021. With the completion of the RTX 40 and RX 7000 series, I have quite a few options for new cards, too.
Best vertical GPU mounts in 2023
Mounting your GPU vertically can help your PC really stand out. Get started with one of our top picks.
A vertical GPU mount allows you to install your graphics card vertically as opposed to the traditional way of attaching the component directly to the motherboard. A vertical GPU mount consists of a ribbon cable, a male PCI connector, and a female PCI connector. We've rounded up the best vertical GPU mounts to ensure you're using one that's not only reliable but also won't damage any of your PC components. Our favorite is the excellent Cooler Master MasterAccessory Vertical Graphics Card Holder Kit 3.
Watercooling your PC: What is it and should you do it?
When it comes to cooling computer components, water cooling is the most premium option, but it's not just for high-end systems.
While all coolers for computer parts like CPUs and GPUs generally involve a heatsink and some fans to cool that heatsink off, the best, highest-end coolers are water or liquid coolers. You see water cooling solutions all the time in premium PCs built by OEMs and individuals alike, and they usually perform better than regular air coolers. But there is more to water cooling just being better than air cooling (which isn't always true), and it's not for everyone.
A good graphics card can still be used for mining cryptocurrency, though its effectiveness has diminished since Ethereum switched mechanisms. Still, should you be on the hunt for a cheap GPU to help earn you some passive income or simply wish to learn what the best graphics cards would make, this guide is for you! While the options are limited, there are a few out there you can buy.