If you are confused about which graphics card might be performing well for your next gaming? you might not be the only person. Becuase this is a very common question for every gamer. First of all, we need to understand why a graphics card is so important for gaming. Well, a graphics card is responsible for handling your laptop’s graphics performance.
As you might be aware, gaming is all dependent on graphics. Hence, the graphic card’s role becomes very crucial to measuring the overall smoothness while playing games, especially the tough ones. So, in this article, we will let you know what are the best graphics cards available in 2023. So, without wasting any more time let’s get started!
Table of Contents
What are the best graphics cards for gaming laptops in 2023?
If we speak about the graphics industry, there are two major supplies in the gaming industry, Nvidia & AMD. But when we compare these two, Nvidia single handly dominates the whole industry. Last year Nvidia’s total revenue was around $12 billion, around 61% year-on-year growth. The major chunk of this revenue comes from GPU sales. That is the reason who will see Nvidia graphics cards on every popular gaming laptop available in 2023. On the other hand, there are only a few laptops available with AMD graphics cards.
Dedicated vs Integrated GPU
Before reaching any conclusion, you also need to know what kind of graphics card is preferred for gaming. Frankly speaking, a dedicated GPU is a more viable option for high-end gaming. But if you play casual games like Minecraft, an integrated GPU will work for you. Comparing between dedicated & integrated GPU, the integrated GPU shares the RAM memory, while a dedicated GPU comes with a separate VRAM, that is delicately reserved for graphics only.
So, if you want to avoid the reliance on RAM memory, you need to go with a dedicated GPU over the integrated one. It will be worth noting that if your laptop has a dedicated GPU, it will still use the integrated GPU for the basic workload. When asked for running high-end games, it will kick off the dedicated GPU.
Nvidia RTX 3060 vs RTX 3070 vs RTX 3080
Now, coming to the main point, which is the best GPU for a gaming laptop in 2023. So, here will compare the three best-selling graphics cards named Nvidia RTX 3060 RTX 3070 vs RTX 3080. I am pretty most of the gaming laptops use the graphics cards under the hood. The Nvidia RTX 3060 offers some of the best mid-ranges configurations. It arrives with 6GB of dedicated VRAM, which helps to improve the overall gaming performance. Meanwhile, both RTX 3070 & RTX 3080 are high-end GPUs that arrive with 8GB of dedicated graphics memory. The Nvidia RTX 3080 doesn’t stop here because it has a bumped-up version with a whopping 16GB of graphics memory.
| RTX 3060 | RTX 3070 | RTX 3080 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| CUDA Cores | 3840 | 5120 | 6140 |
| Boost Clock | 1280-1703 (MHz) | 1290-1620 (MHz) | 1245-1710 (MHz) |
| GPU Power | 60-115W | 80-125W | 80-150+W |
| Graphics Memory (VRAM) | 6GB GDDR6 | 8GB GDDR6 | 8GB-16GB GDDR6 |
| Interface | 192-bit | 256-bit | 256-bit |
| Ray Tracing | 2nd Generation | 2nd Generation | 2nd Generation |
| Tensor Core | 3rd Generation | 3rd Generation | 3rd Generation |
| Archtecture | Ampere | Ampere | Ampere |
| Nvidia Encoder | 7th Generation | 7th Generation | 7th Generation |
| Nvidia Decoder | 5th Generation | 5th Generation | 5th Generation |
Starting with Nvidia RTX 3060, it comes with 3840 CUDA cores offering 1,280MHz base clock speed, going as high as 1,703MHz. The Total Graphics Power (TGP) stands between 60W to 115W, depending upon which variant you choose. Now, it is more confusing to decide which laptop has how much TGP. So, you need to check configurations while selecting the right variant. In comparison, RTX 3070 offers 5120 CUDA cores. It has a comparatively higher base clock speed of 1,290MHz with a 1,620MHz maximum clock speed. Don’t confuse it with lower clock speed, because RTX 3070 works at a higher 80W TGP, which can go as high as 125W.
Lastly, Nvidia RTX 3080 is the most powerful GPU with 6140 CUDA cores. It touches massive 150W TGP at 1,710MHz clock speed. This is a humongous amount of power that was a dream to achieve for a laptop a few years ago. Apart from that, Nvidia also offers one more graphics card to replace the older GTX 1650. The company has decided to call off the “GTX” series. That is why the company has launched the base variant under its flagship “RTX” series. This is none other than Nvidia RTX 3050 having a dedicated 4GB VRAM. Some other notable features supported by the RTX 30 series are dedicated tensor cores, new “Ampere” architectures, and a DLSS chip delicately designed for machine learning. For a reference, you can check this video to compare the overall performance of RTX 3060 vs RTX 3070 vs RTX 3080.
Final Verdict
However, all of these graphics cards do offer some great value in the respective budget. but when we have to compare, the Nvidia RTX 3080 is the most powerful GPU in 2023. So, if your budget allows & you want to enjoy the best in class performance, you should surely go with RTX 3080. But if you have a very limited budget & you still want to give hands-on gaming, the RTX 3050 is a very good option.
In addition to that, the RTX 3060 & 3070 stand in between powerhouse & affordability. I would say, RTX 3060 is a better option to go with. By going that way, you can save a lot of money without compromising performance. Rather than going with RTX 3070, you can directly go with RTX 3080 because there is very less difference in pricing between these two GPUs. Overall, all the Nvidia graphics cards are designed with a cause. So, you can decide as per your requirement. Hopefully, I have answered all of your questions.
Winner: RTX 3080 > RTX 3070 > RTX 3060 > RTX 3050
