AMD vs Nvidia: Which Mid-Range GPU Should You Use for Your Custom Gaming PC in 2025?

The GPU market is a confusing place right now. Between the endless tiers, model numbers, VRAM sizes, and features, deciding which card to buy for your custom gaming PC or gaming desktop can feel overwhelming. And that’s before you even consider the constant competitors, AMD vs. Nvidia.

What makes things particularly interesting today is that AMD is finally putting out cards that force Nvidia into a tough spot. Traditionally, AMD has leaned on the strategy of “slower but cheaper,” but this generation is different. Cards like the RX 5070 Ti, RX 9070 XT, RX 5070, RX 9070, RX 5060 Ti, and RX 9060 XT are competitive with Nvidia’s mid-range offerings—while costing noticeably less.

So what do you lose by going AMD?

The Tradeoffs: What You Actually Miss Out On

The main areas where AMD still lags behind are:

• Ray Tracing Performance: Nvidia continues to dominate here. Their hardware is simply more capable when ray tracing is turned on. If ray tracing is a must-have for you, Nvidia still wins.
• Upscaling & Frame Generation: Nvidia’s DLSS remains the more mature and widely supported technology compared to AMD’s FSR4. Quality-wise, the two are closer than ever, but DLSS is available in more games today.

That said, there’s a wrinkle: how much do these technologies actually matter if you’re running on a mid-range gaming PC tower or building a balanced rig for value?

The Reality of Ray Tracing & Upscaling

Ray tracing is flashy and cool, but it’s still expensive in terms of performance. Many players prefer to leave it off in favor of smoother frame rates. Meanwhile, upscaling technologies like DLSS and FSR are fantastic tools, but they’re not magic. They can introduce artifacts: noise, fuzziness, flickering, and sometimes the performance tradeoff isn’t worth it compared to traditional optimization methods.

In short: while these features are nice to have, they’re not game-changers for most players.

Rasterization Still Rules

At the end of the day, every single game uses rasterization. And when it comes to raw raster performance, AMD’s mid-range cards are going toe-to-toe with Nvidia’s, often at a much lower cost. This makes them a great choice for custom gaming PCs.

That’s why, in my opinion, raster performance is the most important factor to consider right now. Ray tracing and advanced upscaling may dominate the headlines, but the average PC gamer will spend far more time relying on rasterized performance than those extra features.

Final Thoughts

If you’re shopping in the mid-range GPU market today, AMD deserves a serious look. Nvidia is still the leader in ray tracing and DLSS, but those strengths don’t yet feel essential for most gamers. Unless you’re targeting cutting-edge visuals at the cost of performance, the value proposition of AMD’s latest GPUs is hard to ignore.

For now, rasterization is king, and AMD is delivering it at a better price.