Our picks · Hardware facts first
Best GPUs
The graphics cards we would buy, for gaming and for running SI models, up to three per tier, each chosen from published reviews against a memory bar we state below, with the chip, VRAM and bandwidth listed. There are no prices here: every link goes to the retailer, where the current price is shown.
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Best pick in each tier
Gaming · Budget
Photo: AMD AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB
16 GB of VRAM in the budget class. Tom’s Hardware calls it good performance at a reasonable price and says it makes Nvidia’s 8 GB cards look shortsighted; GamersNexus found it typically about 10% ahead of the RTX 5060 at 1080p.
Check price at Amazon Why we picked it Paid link
Gaming · Mainstream
Photo: AMD AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT
Tom’s Hardware calls it strong mainstream performance at a great price. GamersNexus found the RTX 5070 Ti only 3% ahead at 1440p, though ray tracing often falls behind Nvidia’s.
Check price at Amazon Why we picked it Paid link
Gaming · High end
Photo: Nvidia Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090
The fastest GPU Tom’s Hardware has tested, most of the time, with 32 GB of VRAM. It is a 4K card, and its 575 W board power is the highest on this page.
Check price at Amazon Why we picked it Paid link
SI · Budget
Photo: ASUS Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB
The way into 16 GB of VRAM on a current Nvidia card, with CUDA support. Puget Systems finds token generation depends mostly on memory bandwidth, and this card’s 448 GB/s is the lowest of the SI picks.
Check price at Amazon Why we picked it Paid link
SI · Mainstream
Photo: Nvidia Nvidia RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell 32GB
32 GB of GDDR7 at 896 GB/s for 200 W. StorageReview found the Server Edition matched the L40S on short-prompt inference; Phoronix tested this card on Linux.
Check price at Amazon Why we picked it Paid link
SI · High end
Photo: Nvidia Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090
Puget Systems calls it theoretically the best consumer GPU for SI work: 32 GB at 1.79 TB/s, about 29% ahead of the RTX 4090 in its token generation test. Puget also notes software support for the card was still maturing.
Check price at Amazon Why we picked it Paid link
SI · Workstation
Photo: Nvidia Nvidia RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Workstation Edition 96GB
The most memory on one card here: 96 GB of GDDR7 with ECC. StorageReview ran GPT-OSS 120B on it at 163.1 tokens per second and 70B models at about 31.8, and says cards such as the RTX 5090 cannot load a 120B model. It draws 600 W, and Puget Systems calls its heat and cost the catch: a card that is not for everyone.
Check price at Amazon Why we picked it Paid link
Every card at a glance
Each mark is one card, colored by tier. Hover or focus it for its numbers; click it to jump to the card’s write-up.
Show the numbers
| Card | Tier | VRAM (GB) | Bandwidth (GB/s) | Board power (W) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB | Budget | 16 | 448 | 180 |
| Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti | Budget | 16 | 896 | 300 |
| Nvidia RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell 32GB | Mainstream | 32 | 896 | 200 |
| Nvidia RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell 24GB | Mainstream | 24 | 672 | 145 |
| Intel Arc Pro B60 24GB | Mainstream | 24 | 456 | 200 |
| Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 | High end | 32 | 1,792 | 575 |
| Intel Arc Pro B70 32GB | High end | 32 | 608 | 230 |
| AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 | High end | 32 | 640 | 300 |
| Nvidia RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Workstation Edition 96GB | Workstation | 96 | 1,792 | 600 |
| Nvidia RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell 48GB | Workstation | 48 | 1,344 | 300 |
Gaming GPUs
Gaming GPUs · tier 1 of 3
Budget
Current-generation cards with at least 12 GB of VRAM, aimed at 1080p and 1440p.
2 picks, best first
Best pick
AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB
Photo: AMD 16 GB of VRAM in the budget class. Tom’s Hardware calls it good performance at a reasonable price and says it makes Nvidia’s 8 GB cards look shortsighted; GamersNexus found it typically about 10% ahead of the RTX 5060 at 1080p.
- VRAM
- 16 GB
- Memory bandwidth
- 320 GB/s
- Board power
- 160 W
What is inside
- Chip
- Navi 44 (TSMC N4P) Named review
- VRAM
- 16 GB, 320 GB/s Named review
- Memory
- 20 Gbps, 128-bit bus Named review
- Board power
- 160 W Named review
How it clears the bar
AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB: each requirement of its tier and the card’s own value Requirement The bar This card Source kind VRAM 12 GB or more 16 GB Named review The tier’s aim: Current generation: RTX 50, RX 9000 or Arc B.
Full specs
- Chip
- Navi 44 (TSMC N4P)
- VRAM
- 16 GB
- Memory
- 20 Gbps, 128-bit bus
- Bandwidth
- 320 GB/s
- Board power
- 160 W
- Models
- Sold by many makers; the link searches the model name
Check price at Amazon Paid link2nd pick
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB
Photo: ASUS The Nvidia alternative with 16 GB and faster memory (448 GB/s against 320 GB/s). Tom’s Hardware measured 15% more performance than the RTX 4060 Ti 16GB and calls it a good choice, assuming you can find it at a reasonable price.
- VRAM
- 16 GB
- Memory bandwidth
- 448 GB/s
- Board power
- 180 W
What is inside
- Chip
- Blackwell GB206 (TSMC 4N) Named review
- VRAM
- 16 GB, 448 GB/s Named review
- Memory
- 28 Gbps, 128-bit bus Named review
- Board power
- 180 W Named review
How it clears the bar
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB: each requirement of its tier and the card’s own value Requirement The bar This card Source kind VRAM 12 GB or more 16 GB Named review The tier’s aim: Current generation: RTX 50, RX 9000 or Arc B.
Full specs
- Chip
- Blackwell GB206 (TSMC 4N)
- VRAM
- 16 GB
- Memory
- 28 Gbps, 128-bit bus
- Bandwidth
- 448 GB/s
- Board power
- 180 W
- Models
- Sold by many makers; the link searches the model name
Check price at Amazon Paid link
Gaming GPUs · tier 2 of 3
Mainstream
Cards with at least 16 GB of VRAM that handle 1440p at high settings, or 4K with upscaling.
2 picks, best first
Best pick
AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT
Photo: AMD Tom’s Hardware calls it strong mainstream performance at a great price. GamersNexus found the RTX 5070 Ti only 3% ahead at 1440p, though ray tracing often falls behind Nvidia’s.
- VRAM
- 16 GB
- Memory bandwidth
- 640 GB/s
- Board power
- 304 W
What is inside
- Chip
- Navi 48 (TSMC N4P) Named review
- VRAM
- 16 GB, 640 GB/s Named review
- Memory
- 20 Gbps, 256-bit bus Named review
- Board power
- 304 W Named review
How it clears the bar
AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT: each requirement of its tier and the card’s own value Requirement The bar This card Source kind VRAM 16 GB or more 16 GB Named review The tier’s aim: 1440p high settings, or 4K with upscaling.
Full specs
- Chip
- Navi 48 (TSMC N4P)
- VRAM
- 16 GB
- Memory
- 20 Gbps, 256-bit bus
- Bandwidth
- 640 GB/s
- Board power
- 304 W
- Models
- Sold by many makers; the link searches the model name
Check price at Amazon Paid link2nd pick
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti
Photo: Nvidia Tom’s Hardware calls it a great 1440p native card, or 4K with upscaling, but not a large generational jump. It has the faster memory of the two (896 GB/s) and the stronger ray tracing.
- VRAM
- 16 GB
- Memory bandwidth
- 896 GB/s
- Board power
- 300 W
What is inside
- Chip
- Blackwell GB203 (TSMC 4N) Named review
- VRAM
- 16 GB, 896 GB/s Named review
- Memory
- 28 Gbps, 256-bit bus Named review
- Board power
- 300 W Named review
How it clears the bar
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti: each requirement of its tier and the card’s own value Requirement The bar This card Source kind VRAM 16 GB or more 16 GB Named review The tier’s aim: 1440p high settings, or 4K with upscaling.
Full specs
- Chip
- Blackwell GB203 (TSMC 4N)
- VRAM
- 16 GB
- Memory
- 28 Gbps, 256-bit bus
- Bandwidth
- 896 GB/s
- Board power
- 300 W
- Models
- Sold by many makers; the link searches the model name
Check price at Amazon Paid link
Gaming GPUs · tier 3 of 3
High end
Cards with at least 16 GB of VRAM built for 4K.
2 picks, best first
Best pick
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090
Photo: Nvidia The fastest GPU Tom’s Hardware has tested, most of the time, with 32 GB of VRAM. It is a 4K card, and its 575 W board power is the highest on this page.
- VRAM
- 32 GB
- Memory bandwidth
- 1,792 GB/s
- Board power
- 575 W
What is inside
- Chip
- Blackwell GB202 (TSMC 4N) Named review
- VRAM
- 32 GB, 1,792 GB/s Named review
- Memory
- 28 Gbps, 512-bit bus Named review
- Board power
- 575 W Named review
How it clears the bar
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090: each requirement of its tier and the card’s own value Requirement The bar This card Source kind VRAM 16 GB or more 32 GB Named review The tier’s aim: Built for 4K.
Full specs
- Chip
- Blackwell GB202 (TSMC 4N)
- VRAM
- 32 GB
- Memory
- 28 Gbps, 512-bit bus
- Bandwidth
- 1,792 GB/s
- Board power
- 575 W
- Models
- Sold by many makers; the link searches the model name
Check price at Amazon Paid link2nd pick
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080
Photo: Nvidia A 4K card at 360 W, against 575 W for the RTX 5090, with 16 GB of VRAM. Tom’s Hardware found it not significantly faster than the RTX 4080 Super outside of multi-frame generation, and flags the 16 GB as a limit.
- VRAM
- 16 GB
- Memory bandwidth
- 960 GB/s
- Board power
- 360 W
What is inside
- Chip
- Blackwell GB203 (TSMC 4N) Named review
- VRAM
- 16 GB, 960 GB/s Named review
- Memory
- 30 Gbps, 256-bit bus Named review
- Board power
- 360 W Named review
How it clears the bar
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080: each requirement of its tier and the card’s own value Requirement The bar This card Source kind VRAM 16 GB or more 16 GB Named review The tier’s aim: Built for 4K.
Full specs
- Chip
- Blackwell GB203 (TSMC 4N)
- VRAM
- 16 GB
- Memory
- 30 Gbps, 256-bit bus
- Bandwidth
- 960 GB/s
- Board power
- 360 W
- Models
- Sold by many makers; the link searches the model name
Check price at Amazon Paid link
SI GPUs
SI GPUs · tier 1 of 4
Budget
16 GB of VRAM, enough for 8B-class models and mid-size models at 4-bit.
2 picks, best first
Best pick
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB
Photo: ASUS The way into 16 GB of VRAM on a current Nvidia card, with CUDA support. Puget Systems finds token generation depends mostly on memory bandwidth, and this card’s 448 GB/s is the lowest of the SI picks.
- VRAM
- 16 GB
- Memory bandwidth
- 448 GB/s
- Board power
- 180 W
What is inside
- Chip
- Blackwell GB206 (TSMC 4N) Named review
- VRAM
- 16 GB, 448 GB/s Named review
- Memory
- 28 Gbps, 128-bit bus Named review
- Board power
- 180 W Named review
How it clears the bar
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB: each requirement of its tier and the card’s own value Requirement The bar This card Source kind VRAM 16 GB or more 16 GB Named review The tier’s aim: Enough for 8B-class models.
Full specs
- Chip
- Blackwell GB206 (TSMC 4N)
- VRAM
- 16 GB
- Memory
- 28 Gbps, 128-bit bus
- Bandwidth
- 448 GB/s
- Board power
- 180 W
- Models
- Sold by many makers; the link searches the model name
Check price at Amazon Paid link2nd pick
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti
Photo: Nvidia The same 16 GB with twice the memory bandwidth of the RTX 5060 Ti (896 GB/s against 448 GB/s), which matters for token generation. The reviews we saved did not measure this card on language models.
- VRAM
- 16 GB
- Memory bandwidth
- 896 GB/s
- Board power
- 300 W
What is inside
- Chip
- Blackwell GB203 (TSMC 4N) Named review
- VRAM
- 16 GB, 896 GB/s Named review
- Memory
- 28 Gbps, 256-bit bus Named review
- Board power
- 300 W Named review
How it clears the bar
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti: each requirement of its tier and the card’s own value Requirement The bar This card Source kind VRAM 16 GB or more 16 GB Named review The tier’s aim: Enough for 8B-class models.
Full specs
- Chip
- Blackwell GB203 (TSMC 4N)
- VRAM
- 16 GB
- Memory
- 28 Gbps, 256-bit bus
- Bandwidth
- 896 GB/s
- Board power
- 300 W
- Models
- Sold by many makers; the link searches the model name
Check price at Amazon Paid link
SI GPUs · tier 2 of 4
Mainstream
24 GB of VRAM, room for larger models and longer context.
3 picks, best first
Best pick
Nvidia RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell 32GB
Photo: Nvidia 32 GB of GDDR7 at 896 GB/s for 200 W. StorageReview found the Server Edition matched the L40S on short-prompt inference; Phoronix tested this card on Linux.
- VRAM
- 32 GB
- Memory bandwidth
- 896 GB/s
- Board power
- 200 W
What is inside
- Chip
- GB203 (Blackwell) Maker sheet
- VRAM
- 32 GB, 896 GB/s Maker sheet
- Memory
- 256-bit bus Maker sheet
- Board power
- 200 W Maker sheet
How it clears the bar
Nvidia RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell 32GB: each requirement of its tier and the card’s own value Requirement The bar This card Source kind VRAM 24 GB or more 32 GB Maker sheet The tier’s aim: Larger models and longer context.
Full specs
- Chip
- GB203 (Blackwell)
- VRAM
- 32 GB
- Memory
- 256-bit bus
- Bandwidth
- 896 GB/s
- Board power
- 200 W
- Models
- Sold by many makers; the link searches the model name
Check price at Amazon Paid link2nd pick
Nvidia RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell 24GB
Photo: Nvidia 24 GB of GDDR7 at 672 GB/s for 145 W, the lowest board power of the three mainstream picks. Puget Systems’ MLPerf Client test put the Arc Pro B70 7% ahead of it. Phoronix tested it on Linux with the rest of the RTX PRO Blackwell line.
- VRAM
- 24 GB
- Memory bandwidth
- 672 GB/s
- Board power
- 145 W
What is inside
- Chip
- Blackwell Named review
- VRAM
- 24 GB, 672 GB/s Named review
- Memory
- 192-bit bus Named review
- Board power
- 145 W Named review
How it clears the bar
Nvidia RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell 24GB: each requirement of its tier and the card’s own value Requirement The bar This card Source kind VRAM 24 GB or more 24 GB Named review The tier’s aim: Larger models and longer context.
Full specs
- Chip
- Blackwell
- VRAM
- 24 GB
- Memory
- 192-bit bus
- Bandwidth
- 672 GB/s
- Board power
- 145 W
- Models
- Sold by many makers; the link searches the model name
Check price at Amazon Paid link3rd pick
Intel Arc Pro B60 24GB
Photo: Sparkle 24 GB of GDDR6 at 456 GB/s and up to 200 W. StorageReview tested B60 GPUs on Maxsun’s dual-GPU boards: one GPU gave 49.22 tokens per second per user on a 20B model at batch size 1. It is an early platform preview rather than a single-card review.
- VRAM
- 24 GB
- Memory bandwidth
- 456 GB/s
- Board power
- 200 W
What is inside
- Chip
- Battlemage (TSMC 5 nm) Teardown or lab test
- VRAM
- 24 GB, 456 GB/s Teardown or lab test
- Memory
- 192-bit bus Teardown or lab test
- Board power
- 200 W Teardown or lab test
How it clears the bar
Intel Arc Pro B60 24GB: each requirement of its tier and the card’s own value Requirement The bar This card Source kind VRAM 24 GB or more 24 GB Teardown or lab test The tier’s aim: Larger models and longer context.
Full specs
- Chip
- Battlemage (TSMC 5 nm)
- VRAM
- 24 GB
- Memory
- 192-bit bus
- Bandwidth
- 456 GB/s
- Board power
- 200 W
- Models
- Sold by many makers; the link searches the model name
Check price at Amazon Paid link
SI GPUs · tier 3 of 4
High end
32 GB of VRAM or more on one card.
3 picks, best first
Best pick
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090
Photo: Nvidia Puget Systems calls it theoretically the best consumer GPU for SI work: 32 GB at 1.79 TB/s, about 29% ahead of the RTX 4090 in its token generation test. Puget also notes software support for the card was still maturing.
- VRAM
- 32 GB
- Memory bandwidth
- 1,792 GB/s
- Board power
- 575 W
What is inside
- Chip
- Blackwell GB202 (TSMC 4N) Named review
- VRAM
- 32 GB, 1,792 GB/s Named review
- Memory
- 28 Gbps, 512-bit bus Named review
- Board power
- 575 W Named review
How it clears the bar
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090: each requirement of its tier and the card’s own value Requirement The bar This card Source kind VRAM 32 GB or more 32 GB Named review The tier’s aim: On one card.
Full specs
- Chip
- Blackwell GB202 (TSMC 4N)
- VRAM
- 32 GB
- Memory
- 28 Gbps, 512-bit bus
- Bandwidth
- 1,792 GB/s
- Board power
- 575 W
- Models
- Sold by many makers; the link searches the model name
Check price at Amazon Paid link2nd pick
Intel Arc Pro B70 32GB
Photo: Sparkle 32 GB of GDDR6 at 608 GB/s for 230 W. In Puget Systems’ MLPerf Client test it was the fastest card it tried, 7% ahead of the R9700 and the RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell, and it returned the first token in about half the time of the 4000. StorageReview says the hardware is ready but the software still has to catch up.
- VRAM
- 32 GB
- Memory bandwidth
- 608 GB/s
- Board power
- 230 W
What is inside
- Chip
- Battlemage (TSMC N5) Named review
- VRAM
- 32 GB, 608 GB/s Named review
- Memory
- 256-bit bus Named review
- Board power
- 230 W Named review
How it clears the bar
Intel Arc Pro B70 32GB: each requirement of its tier and the card’s own value Requirement The bar This card Source kind VRAM 32 GB or more 32 GB Named review The tier’s aim: On one card.
Full specs
- Chip
- Battlemage (TSMC N5)
- VRAM
- 32 GB
- Memory
- 256-bit bus
- Bandwidth
- 608 GB/s
- Board power
- 230 W
- Models
- Sold by many makers; the link searches the model name
- Specs from
- Puget Systems: Intel Arc Pro B70 review
Check price at Amazon Paid link3rd pick
AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700
Photo: AMD 32 GB of GDDR6 per card, in a workstation design built for two or more cards in one machine. Puget runs 8B models in FP16 on one card and 27B models at higher precision on two, using AMD’s ROCm software rather than CUDA.
- VRAM
- 32 GB
- Memory bandwidth
- 640 GB/s
- Board power
- 300 W
What is inside
- Chip
- RDNA 4 Teardown or lab test
- VRAM
- 32 GB, 640 GB/s Teardown or lab test
- Memory
- 256-bit bus Teardown or lab test
- Board power
- 300 W Teardown or lab test
How it clears the bar
AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700: each requirement of its tier and the card’s own value Requirement The bar This card Source kind VRAM 32 GB or more 32 GB Teardown or lab test The tier’s aim: On one card.
Full specs
- Chip
- RDNA 4
- VRAM
- 32 GB
- Memory
- 256-bit bus
- Bandwidth
- 640 GB/s
- Board power
- 300 W
- Models
- Sold by many makers; the link searches the model name
Check price at Amazon Paid link
SI GPUs · tier 4 of 4
Workstation
48 GB of VRAM or more on one card, for models and context that do not fit in 32 GB.
2 picks, best first
Best pick
Nvidia RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Workstation Edition 96GB
Photo: Nvidia The most memory on one card here: 96 GB of GDDR7 with ECC. StorageReview ran GPT-OSS 120B on it at 163.1 tokens per second and 70B models at about 31.8, and says cards such as the RTX 5090 cannot load a 120B model. It draws 600 W, and Puget Systems calls its heat and cost the catch: a card that is not for everyone.
- VRAM
- 96 GB
- Memory bandwidth
- 1,792 GB/s
- Board power
- 600 W
What is inside
- Chip
- Blackwell GB202 Named review
- VRAM
- 96 GB, 1,792 GB/s Named review
- Memory
- 28 Gbps, 512-bit bus Named review
- Board power
- 600 W Named review
How it clears the bar
Nvidia RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Workstation Edition 96GB: each requirement of its tier and the card’s own value Requirement The bar This card Source kind VRAM 48 GB or more 96 GB Named review The tier’s aim: On one card, for models past 32 GB.
Full specs
- Chip
- Blackwell GB202
- VRAM
- 96 GB
- Memory
- 28 Gbps, 512-bit bus
- Bandwidth
- 1,792 GB/s
- Board power
- 600 W
- Models
- Sold by many makers; the link searches the model name
Check price at Amazon Paid link2nd pick
Nvidia RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell 48GB
Photo: Nvidia 48 GB of GDDR7 with ECC on a 512-bit bus at 300 W, half the board power of the RTX PRO 6000. The saved review is Phoronix’s Linux test of the whole RTX PRO Blackwell line, so this card has no language-model result on this page.
NVIDIA has also sold a 72 GB RTX PRO 5000 since December 2025. This entry is the 48 GB card.
- VRAM
- 48 GB
- Memory bandwidth
- 1,344 GB/s
- Board power
- 300 W
What is inside
- Chip
- Blackwell Teardown or lab test
- VRAM
- 48 GB, 1,344 GB/s Teardown or lab test
- Memory
- 512-bit bus Teardown or lab test
- Board power
- 300 W Teardown or lab test
How it clears the bar
Nvidia RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell 48GB: each requirement of its tier and the card’s own value Requirement The bar This card Source kind VRAM 48 GB or more 48 GB Teardown or lab test The tier’s aim: On one card, for models past 32 GB.
Full specs
- Chip
- Blackwell
- VRAM
- 48 GB
- Memory
- 512-bit bus
- Bandwidth
- 1,344 GB/s
- Board power
- 300 W
- Models
- Sold by many makers; the link searches the model name
Check price at Amazon Paid link
All picks side by side
Every figure is the one on the card’s entry. Press a column heading to sort; press it again to reverse.
Gaming GPUs
Tap any column heading to sort the table by it. Tap it again to reverse the order.
| Tier and pick | Card | GPU | VRAM (GB) | Memory bus (bits) | Memory bandwidth (GB/s) | Board power (W) | Launched |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Budget · Best pick | AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB | Navi 44 (TSMC N4P) | 16 | 128 | 320 | 160 | June 2025 |
| Budget · 2nd pick | Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB | Blackwell GB206 (TSMC 4N) | 16 | 128 | 448 | 180 | April 2025 |
| Mainstream · Best pick | AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT | Navi 48 (TSMC N4P) | 16 | 256 | 640 | 304 | March 2025 |
| Mainstream · 2nd pick | Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti | Blackwell GB203 (TSMC 4N) | 16 | 256 | 896 | 300 | February 2025 |
| High end · Best pick | Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 | Blackwell GB202 (TSMC 4N) | 32 | 512 | 1,792 | 575 | January 2025 |
| High end · 2nd pick | Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 | Blackwell GB203 (TSMC 4N) | 16 | 256 | 960 | 360 | January 2025 |
SI GPUs
Tap any column heading to sort the table by it. Tap it again to reverse the order.
| Tier and pick | Card | GPU | VRAM (GB) | Memory bus (bits) | Memory bandwidth (GB/s) | Board power (W) | Launched |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Budget · Best pick | Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB | Blackwell GB206 (TSMC 4N) | 16 | 128 | 448 | 180 | April 2025 |
| Budget · 2nd pick | Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti | Blackwell GB203 (TSMC 4N) | 16 | 256 | 896 | 300 | February 2025 |
| Mainstream · Best pick | Nvidia RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell 32GB | GB203 (Blackwell) | 32 | 256 | 896 | 200 | Announced March 2025 at GTC 2025 |
| Mainstream · 2nd pick | Nvidia RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell 24GB | Blackwell | 24 | 192 | 672 | 145 | Announced March 2025; NVIDIA said it would ship in summer 2025 |
| Mainstream · 3rd pick | Intel Arc Pro B60 24GB | Battlemage (TSMC 5 nm) | 24 | 192 | 456 | 200 | By December 2025 |
| High end · Best pick | Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 | Blackwell GB202 (TSMC 4N) | 32 | 512 | 1,792 | 575 | January 2025 |
| High end · 2nd pick | Intel Arc Pro B70 32GB | Battlemage (TSMC N5) | 32 | 256 | 608 | 230 | March 2026 |
| High end · 3rd pick | AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 | RDNA 4 | 32 | 256 | 640 | 300 | Announced May 2025; AMD said board partners would sell it from July 2025 |
| Workstation · Best pick | Nvidia RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Workstation Edition 96GB | Blackwell GB202 | 96 | 512 | 1,792 | 600 | Announced March 2025; shipping from April and May 2025 |
| Workstation · 2nd pick | Nvidia RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell 48GB | Blackwell | 48 | 512 | 1,344 | 300 | Announced March 2025; NVIDIA said it would ship in summer 2025 |
How we pick
A card becomes a pick when it clears the memory bar for its tier and at least one published review that tested it is saved in our library. Among the cards that clear the bar, the reviews decide the order: speed in games for the gaming tiers, and memory size and bandwidth for the SI tiers, where the card has to hold the model before anything else matters. A card with no saved review is left out, even if it sells well.
The bar for every tier is drawn at the top of this page, in the overview.
An older card can still win its tier; when it launched more than three years before the check date, its card says so. We check the picks again when new reviews come out.
Reading the cards
Every figure comes from the spec table of the review linked under “Full specs”. Board power is the maker’s rated power for the card; the bar fills against the highest figure on this page. Memory bandwidth is how fast the chip can read its VRAM, and it sets how quickly a card writes out text from a language model once the model fits in memory. VRAM is the card’s own memory: a model that does not fit spills into slower system memory and slows sharply.
The same card can appear in both sections, with a different reason in each. Where a review did not measure a card on language models, the card says so instead of guessing. To see how GPU memory fits into the wider chain from flash to compute, read the memory and storage hierarchy guide, and for why memory prices are rising, read The Memory Cycle. For drives, see Best SSDs.
This page does not show prices. A page built once cannot keep a price current, and a stale price is worse than none.
Also considered
Products the reviews we read tested that did not make the cut, and the reason each one missed.
Gaming GPUs · Mainstream
- AMD Radeon RX 9070. It clears the 16 GB bar with the same 16 GB and 256-bit bus as the RX 9070 XT, but the last page of Tom’s Hardware’s review says the XT is great and the standard card less so. Tom’s Hardware review of the RX 9070 XT and RX 9070
Gaming GPUs · High end
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090. Its 24 GB clears the 16 GB bar, but the review we saved is from its 2022 launch, and the picks above are newer RTX 50 cards. Tom’s Hardware review of the RTX 4090
Questions before you buy
How much VRAM do I need?
For gaming we set the bar at 12 GB for budget cards and 16 GB for 1440p and 4K. For running models, 16 GB covers 8B-class models, 24 GB leaves room for larger models and longer context, and 32 GB or more is our high-end tier.
Why does memory matter more than shader count for running models?
A model has to fit in VRAM before anything else matters. Once it fits, Puget Systems finds token generation depends mostly on memory bandwidth, so a card with faster memory answers faster. How high bandwidth memory works.
Is GDDR7 better than GDDR6?
GDDR7 is the newer memory type and runs faster per pin. The RTX 5090 runs it at 28 Gbps on a 512-bit bus for 1792 GB/s, while the RX 9070 XT runs GDDR6 at 20 Gbps on a 256-bit bus for 640 GB/s. Bus width counts as much as pin speed. Current memory ICs.
Do I need a workstation card?
Only if your model or its context does not fit in 32 GB. Our workstation tier starts at 48 GB on one card, and the RTX PRO 6000 has 96 GB with ECC, at 600 W.
Will it work with my power supply and case?
Start with the card’s board power. Our picks run from 145 W to 600 W, and the RTX 5090 alone is 575 W. Add the rest of your system, leave headroom, and check the card maker’s recommended supply, the power connector it needs and its length.
Can I run local models on an AMD or Intel card?
Yes, but the software differs. Nvidia cards have CUDA support, the AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 uses ROCm, and StorageReview says the Intel Arc Pro B70 hardware is ready but the software still has to catch up. Check that your tools support the card before you buy.