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Photoshop can be quite demanding on your system, depending on the complexity of your tasks, and choosing the right graphics card (GPU) is crucial for a smooth and efficient workflow. But when it comes to finding the best GPUs for software, it can be challenging, especially when you may not need the absolute top-of-the-line graphics card for what you primarily use Photoshop for…
The good news is that we really know our stuff when it comes to graphics cards – having tested a load of the latest and greatest from the likes of AMD and Nvidia. Here, we’ve pulled together our top graphics cards for professionals and casual users across a wide range of budgets.
We think the best GPU for photo-editing software for most people is the RTX 4070 Ti Super, but read on for other options that may suit your specific needs more. And don’t forget, it pays to get a quality CPU, too, so be sure to check out our picks for the best CPU for your creative needs to enhance your experience further. Let’s kick off.
In order to compile our list of the best GPUs for Photoshop, we carefully considered the aforementioned features and factors, along with feedback from professional users and hobbyists alike. We also took into account a variety of budgets and performance needs to ensure that there’s a suitable option for everyone. Additionally, we researched the most reputable brands and models in the market, focusing on those with a proven track record of reliability, compatibility, and performance. We evaluated user reviews and expert opinions to gauge the real-world performance of each GPU, specifically in the context of software usage.
On top of this, we always endevour to test products as best we can across a number of benchmarks – be that gaming, or stress-testing to simulate higher loads. By thoroughly examining these factors and balancing performance, cost, and user experience, we’ve curated a list of the best GPUs that will undoubtedly enhance your creative process and help you achieve outstanding results.
The RTX 4070 Ti Super is an ideal graphics card for a wide range of content creation tasks, making it a perfect fit for Photoshop users. As part of Nvidia’s 40 series Super variants, you’re getting a hefty 16GB of VRAM and a CUDA core count of 8,448. This trumps the standard RTX 4070Ti, which has 7680 cores and a not-to-shabby 12 GB of GDDR6X memory.
While both cards will do the job, the Super variants are undeniably far better than the cards they replace, so we would always recommend going for the best GPU you can afford. On our benchmarking as part of the RTX 4070 Ti Super review, we saw great performance across the likes of Blender and Firestrike – positioning the card just under the RTX 4080 non-Super edition.
The 7800 XT also operates at a base frequency of 1,295 MHz. While this may seem low, it is important to understand that the base clock speed is when the GPU is not doing anything intensive. In demanding tasks like content creation and gaming, the speed can go up to 2,430 MHz.
As far as the performance is concerned, we tested the 7800 XT in 3DMark, where it delivered 12,331 points in Fire Strike Ultra, 9,080 in Time Spy Extreme, and 10,318 in Port Royal (RT). We then launched Blender 4.0, where we saw the 7800 XT hitting 1130.0 samples per minute in Monster, 586 in Junkshop, and 561.2 in Classroom.
Overall, the 7800 XT is the best mid-range GPU for Photoshop. Its 16 GB VRAM, 3,840 Stream Processors, and a max boost clock speed of 2,430 MHz make it a great choice for creators.
The 7800 XT has an overall positive rating on Amazon. One of the reviewers praised its performance and said: “I bought this card and used it for 3 weeks. It ran great and gave me 120fps+ on most games on ultra/highest settings giving me really smooth gameplay. The image quality was really nice as well and the screen resolution and colors were very crisp. The fans were not loud on mine at all and the card ran pretty quiet in my opinion.”