GPU Tier List 2026: Every Graphics Card Ranked
Short answer: the RTX 5090 is the fastest gaming graphics card, followed by the RTX 4090 and RTX 5080. For most people the best buys are the RX 9070 XT and RTX 5070 Ti for 1440p and 4K, the RTX 5070 and RX 9070 for high refresh 1440p, and the RX 9060 XT 16GB and RTX 5060 Ti 16GB for 1080p and entry 1440p. Rankings below use measured results for 48 graphics cards from Tom’s Hardware’s June 2026 testing.
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Tiers at a glance
| Tier | Graphics cards (fastest first) | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| S tier 4K high refresh | RTX 5090, RTX 4090, RTX 5080 | Runs 4K at 70+ FPS on Ultra and 1440p well above 120 FPS. Buy only if you game at 4K or want every setting maxed for years. |
| A tier 4K / 1440p high refresh | RX 7900 XTX, RTX 4080 Super, RTX 4080, RTX 5070 Ti, RX 9070 XT, RX 7900 XT, RTX 4070 Ti Super, RX 9070 | Around 100–120 FPS at 1440p Ultra and 55–70 FPS at 4K. The sweet spot for a high refresh 1440p monitor. |
| B tier 1440p | RTX 3090 Ti, RTX 4070 Ti, RTX 5070, RTX 3090, RTX 4070 Super, RX 6950 XT, RTX 3080 Ti, RX 9070 GRE, RX 7800 XT, RX 6900 XT, RTX 3080, RX 6800 XT, RTX 4070 | 75–100 FPS at 1440p Ultra and well over 100 FPS at 1080p. Comfortable 1440p gaming with some settings lowered in the newest games. |
| C tier 1080p / entry 1440p | RTX 5060 Ti 16GB, RX 7700 XT, RX 9060 XT 16GB, RTX 5060 Ti 8GB, RTX 3070 Ti, RX 9060 XT 8GB, RTX 4060 Ti 16GB, RX 7600 XT, RTX 3070, RTX 4060 Ti, RX 6750 XT, RTX 5060, RX 6700 XT, Arc B580, RTX 3060 Ti | 45–75 FPS at 1440p Ultra and 60–105 FPS at 1080p. Great for 1080p; use upscaling for 1440p. |
| D tier 1080p | RTX 4060, RX 7600, RTX 5050, Arc B570, RTX 3060, RX 6650 XT, RX 6600 XT, RX 6600, RTX 3050 8GB | Under 50 FPS at 1440p Ultra. Fine for 1080p on medium-high settings and esports games. |
Full ranking: rasterization performance
| # | Graphics card | Tier | 1080p Ultra | 1440p Ultra | 4K Ultra | VRAM | Launch price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | RTX 5090 | S | 100% | 100% (167.3 FPS) | 100% (110.8 FPS) | 32 GB | $2,000 |
| 2 | RTX 4090 | S | 90.1% | 85.7% (143.4 FPS) | 80.4% (89.1 FPS) | 24 GB | $1,600 |
| 3 | RTX 5080 | S | 81.9% | 76.7% (128.3 FPS) | 69.8% (77.4 FPS) | 16 GB | $1,000 |
| 4 | RX 7900 XTX | A | 79.3% | 73.1% (122.3 FPS) | 63.7% (70.6 FPS) | 24 GB | $1,000 |
| 5 | RTX 4080 Super | A | 78% | 70.9% (118.6 FPS) | 62.6% (69.4 FPS) | 16 GB | $1,000 |
| 6 | RTX 4080 | A | 77.2% | 70.3% (117.5 FPS) | 60.9% (67.5 FPS) | 16 GB | $1,200 |
| 7 | RTX 5070 Ti | A | 76.2% | 69.8% (116.8 FPS) | 61.9% (68.6 FPS) | 16 GB | $750 |
| 8 | RX 9070 XT | A | 76.9% | 69.7% (116.5 FPS) | 59.4% (65.8 FPS) | 16 GB | $600 |
| 9 | RX 7900 XT | A | 71.3% | 64.6% (108 FPS) | 54% (59.8 FPS) | 20 GB | $900 |
| 10 | RTX 4070 Ti Super | A | 69.3% | 62.1% (104 FPS) | 52.8% (58.5 FPS) | 16 GB | $800 |
| 11 | RX 9070 | A | 69.1% | 62.1% (104 FPS) | 52.1% (57.7 FPS) | 16 GB | $550 |
| 12 | RTX 3090 Ti | B | 64.7% | 59.7% (99.9 FPS) | 53.5% (59.3 FPS) | 24 GB | $2,000 |
| 13 | RTX 4070 Ti | B | 66.3% | 58.6% (97.9 FPS) | 48.6% (53.9 FPS) | 12 GB | $800 |
| 14 | RTX 5070 | B | 65.1% | 57.6% (96.4 FPS) | 49% (54.3 FPS) | 12 GB | $550 |
| 15 | RTX 3090 | B | 60.3% | 54.7% (91.5 FPS) | 47.9% (53.1 FPS) | 24 GB | $1,500 |
| 16 | RTX 4070 Super | B | 62.2% | 54.5% (91.2 FPS) | 44.4% (49.2 FPS) | 12 GB | $600 |
| 17 | RX 6950 XT | B | 60.5% | 53.5% (89.5 FPS) | 43.6% (48.3 FPS) | 16 GB | $1,100 |
| 18 | RTX 3080 Ti | B | 58.7% | 53.3% (89.1 FPS) | 46% (51 FPS) | 12 GB | $1,200 |
| 19 | RX 9070 GRE | B | 59.2% | 51.8% (86.6 FPS) | 41.8% (46.3 FPS) | 12 GB | $550 |
| 20 | RX 7800 XT | B | 58.1% | 50.7% (84.7 FPS) | 40.7% (45.1 FPS) | 16 GB | $500 |
| 21 | RX 6900 XT | B | 57.4% | 50.2% (83.9 FPS) | 40.5% (44.9 FPS) | 16 GB | $1,000 |
| 22 | RTX 3080 | B | 54.8% | 49% (82 FPS) | 39.6% (43.9 FPS) | 10 GB | $700 |
| 23 | RX 6800 XT | B | 54.9% | 47.6% (79.6 FPS) | 38.1% (42.2 FPS) | 16 GB | $650 |
| 24 | RTX 4070 | B | 54.7% | 46.5% (77.8 FPS) | 37.2% (41.3 FPS) | 12 GB | $550 |
| 25 | RTX 5060 Ti 16GB | C | 51.6% | 43.9% (73.4 FPS) | 36.3% (40.2 FPS) | 16 GB | $430 |
| 26 | RX 7700 XT | C | 50.5% | 43.4% (72.7 FPS) | 34.3% (38 FPS) | 12 GB | $450 |
| 27 | RX 9060 XT 16GB | C | 48.2% | 40.2% (67.3 FPS) | 31.7% (35.2 FPS) | 16 GB | $350 |
| 28 | RTX 5060 Ti 8GB | C | 49.3% | 41% (68.6 FPS) | 25.4% (28.1 FPS) | 8 GB | $380 |
| 29 | RTX 3070 Ti | C | 46.4% | 40% (66.9 FPS) | 23.5% (26 FPS) | 8 GB | $600 |
| 30 | RX 9060 XT 8GB | C | 45.7% | 37.3% (62.5 FPS) | 26.8% (29.7 FPS) | 8 GB | $300 |
| 31 | RTX 4060 Ti 16GB | C | 43.8% | 36.2% (60.5 FPS) | 28.2% (31.3 FPS) | 16 GB | $500 |
| 32 | RX 7600 XT | C | 50.1% | 30% (50.2 FPS) | 23.1% (25.5 FPS) | 16 GB | $330 |
| 33 | RTX 3070 | C | 42.8% | 34.8% (58.2 FPS) | 23.6% (26.2 FPS) | 8 GB | $500 |
| 34 | RTX 4060 Ti | C | 43.2% | 35.2% (58.9 FPS) | 21.5% (23.9 FPS) | 8 GB | $400 |
| 35 | RX 6750 XT | C | 40.8% | 34.4% (57.6 FPS) | 26.7% (29.6 FPS) | 12 GB | $550 |
| 36 | RTX 5060 | C | 43.4% | 35.8% (59.8 FPS) | 19.6% (21.8 FPS) | 8 GB | $300 |
| 37 | RX 6700 XT | C | 38.9% | 32.5% (54.3 FPS) | 25.3% (28 FPS) | 12 GB | $480 |
| 38 | Arc B580 | C | 35.1% | 30.3% (50.7 FPS) | 24.9% (27.6 FPS) | 12 GB | $250 |
| 39 | RTX 3060 Ti | C | 36.4% | 30.5% (51 FPS) | 17.5% (19.4 FPS) | 8 GB | $400 |
| 40 | RTX 4060 | D | 35.1% | 28.4% (47.6 FPS) | 15.7% (17.4 FPS) | 8 GB | $300 |
| 41 | RX 7600 | D | 34.3% | 27.2% (45.4 FPS) | 16.6% (18.4 FPS) | 8 GB | $270 |
| 42 | RTX 5050 | D | 34% | 27.1% (45.2 FPS) | 15.4% (17 FPS) | 8 GB | $250 |
| 43 | Arc B570 | D | 31.1% | 26.5% (44.3 FPS) | 17.7% (19.6 FPS) | 10 GB | $220 |
| 44 | RTX 3060 | D | 30.2% | 25% (41.9 FPS) | 20% (22.2 FPS) | 12 GB | $330 |
| 45 | RX 6650 XT | D | 31.5% | 22.7% (38 FPS) | 17.1% (19 FPS) | 8 GB | $400 |
| 46 | RX 6600 XT | D | 30.8% | 24.3% (40.7 FPS) | 15.6% (17.3 FPS) | 8 GB | $380 |
| 47 | RX 6600 | D | 25.5% | 14.9% (24.8 FPS) | 13.1% (14.5 FPS) | 8 GB | $330 |
| 48 | RTX 3050 8GB | D | 21.9% | 17.8% (29.8 FPS) | 11.4% (12.6 FPS) | 8 GB | $250 |
Notice the 8 GB cards: the RTX 5060 Ti 8GB, RTX 5060 and RTX 4060 Ti 8GB fall well behind their 16 GB or 12 GB rivals at 4K, because new games run out of video memory. If you plan to play at 1440p or 4K, pick a card with at least 12 GB.
Ray tracing ranking
| # | Graphics card | 1080p RT | 1440p RT | 4K RT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | RTX 5090 | 100% | 100% (100.8 FPS) | 100% |
| 2 | RTX 4090 | 89.4% | 87% (87.7 FPS) | 81.4% |
| 3 | RTX 5080 | 78.2% | 73.4% (74 FPS) | 65.7% |
| 4 | RTX 4080 Super | 75% | 68.9% (69.5 FPS) | 60.1% |
| 5 | RTX 4080 | 73.9% | 67.8% (68.4 FPS) | 58.3% |
| 6 | RTX 5070 Ti | 71.9% | 65.7% (66.2 FPS) | 57.3% |
| 7 | RTX 4070 Ti Super | 69.9% | 59.5% (60 FPS) | 50.2% |
| 8 | RX 9070 XT | 61.9% | 55.1% (55.5 FPS) | 47% |
| 9 | RTX 4070 Ti | 62.4% | 54.8% (55.3 FPS) | 37.2% |
| 10 | RTX 3090 Ti | 57.5% | 51.8% (52.2 FPS) | 45.8% |
| 11 | RTX 5070 | 58.9% | 51.1% (51.5 FPS) | 35.4% |
| 12 | RX 7900 XTX | 56% | 50.1% (50.5 FPS) | 42.6% |
| 13 | RX 9070 | 53.8% | 47.2% (47.6 FPS) | 40.2% |
| 14 | RTX 3090 | 52.9% | 47% (47.4 FPS) | 41% |
| 15 | RTX 3080 Ti | 51.4% | 45.8% (46.2 FPS) | 28.1% |
| 16 | RTX 4070 Super | 57.7% | 43.2% (43.6 FPS) | 34.4% |
| 17 | RX 7900 XT | 49.1% | 43.1% (43.5 FPS) | 36% |
| 18 | RTX 5060 Ti 16GB | 44.7% | 38.6% (38.9 FPS) | 32.1% |
| 19 | RTX 4070 | 50.7% | 38.3% (38.6 FPS) | 30.1% |
| 20 | RX 9070 GRE | 46.5% | 37% (37.3 FPS) | 24.2% |
| 21 | RTX 3080 | 40.8% | 34.4% (34.7 FPS) | 21.5% |
| 22 | RX 7800 XT | 38.5% | 33.3% (33.5 FPS) | 23.5% |
| 23 | RX 6950 XT | 37.3% | 32.6% (32.8 FPS) | 24.3% |
| 24 | RTX 4060 Ti 16GB | 38.4% | 32.5% (32.7 FPS) | 26.3% |
| 25 | RX 6900 XT | 36% | 31.8% (32.1 FPS) | 23.6% |
NVIDIA keeps a clear lead with ray tracing on: the RTX 5070 Ti beats the RX 9070 XT by about 19% at 1440p, even though the two are tied without it. AMD’s RX 9000 cards closed much of the gap compared with the RX 7000 series: the RX 9070 XT is faster with ray tracing than the more expensive RX 7900 XTX.
Best value: FPS per dollar
| Current graphics card | 1440p Ultra FPS | Launch price | FPS per $100 | VRAM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RX 9060 XT 8GB | 62.5 | $300 | 20.8 | 8 GB |
| Arc B580 | 50.7 | $250 | 20.3 | 12 GB |
| Arc B570 | 44.3 | $220 | 20.1 | 10 GB |
| RTX 5060 | 59.8 | $300 | 19.9 | 8 GB |
| RX 9070 XT | 116.5 | $600 | 19.4 | 16 GB |
| RX 9060 XT 16GB | 67.3 | $350 | 19.2 | 16 GB |
| RX 9070 | 104 | $550 | 18.9 | 16 GB |
| RTX 5050 | 45.2 | $250 | 18.1 | 8 GB |
| RTX 5060 Ti 8GB | 68.6 | $380 | 18.1 | 8 GB |
| RTX 5070 | 96.4 | $550 | 17.5 | 12 GB |
| RTX 5060 Ti 16GB | 73.4 | $430 | 17.1 | 16 GB |
| RX 9070 GRE | 86.6 | $550 | 15.7 | 12 GB |
| RTX 5070 Ti | 116.8 | $750 | 15.6 | 16 GB |
| RTX 5080 | 128.3 | $1,000 | 12.8 | 16 GB |
| RTX 5090 | 167.3 | $2,000 | 8.4 | 32 GB |
Which tier do you need?
- 1080p 60–144 Hz: C tier is enough. See the best GPU for 1080p 144Hz.
- 1440p 144–165 Hz: B or A tier. See the best GPU for 1440p 144Hz.
- 4K 60 Hz: A tier, or B tier with DLSS or FSR. See the best GPU for 4K 60Hz.
- 4K 120–144 Hz: S tier, with upscaling in the newest games. See the best GPU for 4K 144Hz.
- Gaming laptop? See the laptop GPU rankings.
- Choosing a processor too? Check the CPU tier list and the best CPU for your graphics card.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best graphics card in 2026?
The RTX 5090 is the fastest, about 24% faster than the RTX 4090 at 4K in Tom’s Hardware’s testing. For value, the RX 9070 XT and RTX 5070 Ti give about 70% of its 1440p performance for a third of the price.
Is the RX 9070 XT or RTX 5070 Ti better?
They are tied without ray tracing (116.5 vs 116.8 FPS at 1440p Ultra). The RTX 5070 Ti is faster with ray tracing and has DLSS 4; the RX 9070 XT costs less. See RTX 5070 Ti vs RX 9070 XT.
What is the best budget graphics card?
At launch prices, the Arc B580, RX 9060 XT 16GB and RTX 5060 give the most FPS per dollar. The RX 9060 XT 16GB is the safest pick because its 16 GB of memory holds up at 1440p.
Is 8 GB of VRAM enough in 2026?
For 1080p, mostly yes, with textures lowered in a few new games. For 1440p and 4K, no: in Tom’s Hardware’s 4K results the RTX 5060 Ti 8GB is about 30% slower than the same card with 16 GB.
How is the tier list made?
We use Tom’s Hardware’s measured averages (a Ryzen 7 9800X3D test PC, a mix of high and ultra settings) and group cards by their 1440p result relative to the RTX 5090. We do not use synthetic benchmarks.
Do I need a fast CPU for a top graphics card?
Yes for high frame rates. An RTX 5080 or 5090 needs a fast gaming CPU such as a Ryzen 7 7800X3D or 9800X3D to reach its full speed at 1080p and 1440p. Use the bottleneck calculator to check your pair.
Sources: Tom’s Hardware GPU benchmarks hierarchy (updated 24 June 2026); NVIDIA, AMD and Intel launch prices and specifications. Laptop and per-game figures come from our FPS model.