Let's be honest: 2023 wasn't exactly the best year for stunning GPU releases. Not for cards that blew our collective minds or opened our collective wallets. However, that's not to say we haven't reviewed some great candidates for our graphics card of the year, and it's quite telling that our picks here fit squarely into the mid-range to budget end of the market.
This is where the GPU battles were fought in 2023, as Nvidia and AMD squared off against each other to deliver gaming GPUs that focussed on bang for our collective bucks.
Given world events and a general squeeze on disposable income for many of us, it should come as no surprise that GPU manufacturers adjusted their sights and took a long hard look at the middle sector of the market. Prices on high-end cards remained high (and in the case of the RTX 4090, climbed towards the stratosphere), but it's in the $600 or less category that we saw some of the biggest releases.
While Nvidia came out swinging in April with the RTX 4070, it took AMD until September to deliver its counter with the well-received Radeon RX 7800 XT, only for Nvidia to drop pricing of the RTX 4070 in response. Meanwhile at the lower end of the market, the RTX 4060 and RTX 4060 Ti launched to somewhat mixed reviews, only to be met with resistance from the already-released RX 7600 and later the RX 7700 XT.
It seemed like every time Nvidia went left, AMD later went right, and overall 2023 has seen an entertaining display of one-upmanship and price adjustments from these two industry heavyweights.
Best graphics card 2023: the nominees
The winner of the Best Graphics Card 2023 PC Gamer Hardware Award will be announced on New Year's Eve, so make sure you check back with us then to see which of these picks ends up taking the prize.
