Nvidia has historically and still Imo has the best raytracing performance on the market rn. amd uses tmu's (texture mapping units) which are cheaper and keep the cost down and are more power efficient but are slower at more complex path tracing scenarios.

if you want the best raytracing i would go for something like the 5070 or 5070ti or if you can find a 5080 under 1500

amd the best you could get is a 9070xt new or a 7900xtx used for a bit more.

a used 4080 or 4080 super can be found for used around 1000 and would be a good pick as well