No compromises ยท Chapter 03
4K picks.
4K is honest: it punishes weak cards and thin memory buffers immediately. The realistic entry point is $600, the comfortable zone starts around $1,000, and the ceiling is whatever a 5090 costs this week.
The ranking
6 cards01
NVIDIAFlagship
GeForce RTX 5090
The fastest consumer card on earth, and the only one with 32GB. You pay for every gram of it.
32GBGDDR7
$1,999msrp
575Wboard power
2025released
02
NVIDIAHigh end
GeForce RTX 5080
Excellent 4K card with one asterisk: 16GB is half what the card above it gets.
16GBGDDR7
$999msrp
360Wboard power
2025released
03
AMDValue king
Radeon RX 9070 XT
The best raster value in the current generation. The card NVIDIA has to price against.
16GBGDDR6
$599msrp
304Wboard power
2025released
04
AMD24GB alternative
Radeon RX 7900 XTX
The cheapest way to 24GB of VRAM in a card you can still buy new.
24GBGDDR6
$999msrp
355Wboard power
2022released
05
NVIDIAUsed marketUsed flagship
GeForce RTX 4090 (used)
Out of production, still in demand: 24GB of CUDA keeps its used price stubborn.
24GBGDDR6X
$1,599launch msrp
450Wboard power
2022released
06
NVIDIASweet spot
GeForce RTX 5070 Ti
The NVIDIA card most people arguing about the 9070 XT actually end up buying.
16GBGDDR7
$749msrp
300Wboard power
2025released