If youre a gamer, you probably shouldnt miss this review of the best graphics cards of the year compiled by TipsMake.com.
2025 saw quite a few new GPU launches. Supply was scarce and prices weren't exactly affordable, but benchmark results were still impressive enough to grab the attention of hardware enthusiasts.
This year, we've seen many standout names from the Nvidia GeForce RTX 50 series, AMD Radeon RX 9000, and even the Intel Arc Battlemage — a modest but not weak GPU line. Below are some of the most noteworthy graphics cards of 2025, along with one truly disappointing name.
AMD RX 9070 XT
The RX 9070 XT turned out to be a surprise, something we probably didn't expect to need.
Although AMD has no intention of competing with Nvidia in the top-of-the-line segment, the company has created an extremely attractive option in the mid-to-upper-range price point.
In 4K rasterization tests, the RX 9070 XT lagged behind Nvidia's RTX 5070 Ti and AMD's RX 7900 XTX, while being about 10% faster than the RX 7900 XT. Notably, all of these competitors are more expensive, making the RX 9070 XT a major victory for the RDNA 4 architecture.
Nvidia still dominates the ray tracing market, and AMD has yet to reverse the situation in this generation. However, the RX 9070 XT has come very close to the RX 7900 XTX when RT is enabled, and in some situations even slightly better.
Combining impressive performance with a list price of $599, the RX 9070 XT is clearly a worthwhile investment. Unfortunately, for much of the year, the card is often sold above the suggested retail price and remains quite difficult to purchase without paying extra. Even so, the standard RX 9070 is still a very solid alternative.
Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti
The RTX 5070 Ti is significantly more expensive than the RX 9070 XT, with an MSRP of up to $749. Its performance is stronger, but not so much that it makes a noticeable difference in everyday experience.
Nevertheless, for most of the year, the RTX 5070 Ti remained the most popular mid-to-high-end GPU choice, primarily thanks to Nvidia's DLSS 4.
DLSS 4 introduces Multi-Frame Generation technology, and the RTX 5070 Ti is considered one of the best GPUs to take advantage of this technology. With a sufficiently good baseline FPS, MFG can significantly increase frame rates without causing excessive lag — something the RTX 5070 Ti does quite well in most games.
Throughout the past year, the RX 9070 XT has often been priced at around $700–$800, while the RTX 5070 Ti has fluctuated around $800–$850. At that time, the choice heavily favored Nvidia due to its DLSS 4 and superior ray tracing capabilities.
Currently, the landscape has changed: the RTX 5070 Ti sells for $770–$830, while its AMD counterpart can be found around $630. However, if you're prepared to spend $1,500 or more on a complete PC build, the extra investment in more powerful ray tracing and DLSS 4 might still be a worthwhile future-proofing option.
AMD RX 9060 XT
I'm not one to overspend on GPUs, so the RX 9060 XT is usually my go-to choice for budget-friendly PC builds. The 16GB version currently costs around $369, significantly cheaper than Nvidia's RTX 5060 Ti (starting at $429).
In terms of performance, these two cards are almost neck and neck, but the AMD GPU is about $60 cheaper. That's a great deal in a mid-range configuration — enough to upgrade from a 1TB SSD to a 2TB one (and yes, you should choose 2TB).
The biggest drawback of the RX 9060 XT is the lack of Nvidia's frame generation technology. However, AMD still offers FSR 4 with its own upscaling and frame generation capabilities, allowing you to enjoy some of the same benefits while saving a considerable amount of money.
Nvidia RTX 5090
It's impossible to discuss noteworthy GPUs in 2025 without mentioning the RTX 5090. It's currently the most powerful graphics card on the consumer market.
According to many benchmarks, the RTX 5090 is 20% to 40% faster than the RTX 4090 in pure rasterization, although in reality the improvement is usually more around 25% than 40%.
Despite being the most impressive GPU ever released, the RTX 5090 still leaves a feeling of incompleteness, especially when you remember that the RTX 4090 was almost twice as fast as the RTX 3090.
The biggest drawback of the RTX 5090 is its price. The MSRP is $1,999, but in reality, it's very rare to find this card for under $2,300.
The most disappointing GPU of 2025
My biggest disappointment this year was the Nvidia RTX 5060 Ti, especially the 8GB VRAM version — though, in reality, neither version was truly convincing.
The 8GB version has almost no reason to exist. It costs $379, which is $10 more expensive than the AMD GPU with up to 16GB of memory. Meanwhile, the 16GB version of the RTX 5060 Ti costs $429, making both less attractive options.
In terms of performance, the RTX 5060 Ti isn't completely outclassed by the RX 9060 XT, but AMD still scores points thanks to its larger VRAM capacity at a lower price. The 8GB version of the RTX 5060 Ti is essentially just a 'DLSS 4 container,' and if you're interested in this technology, it's best to spend about $50 more for the 16GB version.
In the context of graphics memory capacity being a hot topic, the RTX 5060 Ti 8GB is difficult to justify, and it's unfortunate that Nvidia repeated the same VRAM configuration as the previous RTX 40 series.
Currently, the GPU market is in a rare period where prices haven't been pushed up as high as they have been throughout the year. While prices may rise again in the future, they remain relatively stable for now. If you're looking to upgrade your GPU, the advice is to buy now rather than waiting until next year.