The graphics card shortlist

The best graphics card in the UK is the Radeon RX 9070 XT, and the ASUS Prime Radeon RX 9070 XT OCcosts £668.99 on Amazon UK at the time of writing (September 2026). Tom's Hardware's June 2026 GPU hierarchy measured 116.5 fps at 1440p Ultra, level with the £1,079.99 GeForce RTX 5070 Ti (116.8 fps), which makes it the cheapest 1440p frame of the twelve current cards Compare Electronic priced, at £5.74.

The Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Eagle OC SFF is the ray tracing pick, the ASUS Dual Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB (£439.99) the best budget card, and the ASUS Dual GeForce RTX 5060 OC (£374.99) the cheapest sensible 1080p card. All fps figures are native resolution.

What is the best graphics card in the UK in 2026?

The Radeon RX 9070 XT is the best graphics card in the UK in 2026 because it matches the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti in raster games for £411.00 less. Tom's Hardware noted in June 2026 that "no truly new gaming GPUs have been introduced in almost a year", so the choice is the 2025 RTX 50 and RX 9000 families plus the Radeon RX 9070 GRE, which AMD put on global sale on 2 June 2026 at $549.

• Under £400, 1080p: RTX 5050, RTX 5060, RX 9060 XT 8GB.
• £400 to £650, 1440p: RX 9060 XT 16GB, RX 9070 GRE, RX 9070.
• £650 to £1,100, high-refresh 1440p: RX 9070 XT, RTX 5070, RTX 5070 Ti.
• Over £1,100, 4K: RTX 5080, RTX 5090.

1. Radeon RX 9070 XT - best graphics card overall

The ASUS Prime Radeon RX 9070 XT OC costs £668.99 on Amazon UK at the time of writing (September 2026), £99.00 above AMD's £569.99 UK MSRP. The Radeon RX 9070 XT has 64 compute units, 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus and a 304 W board power. Tom's Hardware measured 116.5 fps at 1440p Ultra and 65.8 fps at 4K Ultra, and calls it "the cheapest way to get into 4K 60 FPS native gaming".

Hardware Unboxed's 52-game test, published by TechSpot in May 2026, found the RTX 5070 Ti only about 1.4% faster at 1440p and 4% faster at 4K. Ray tracing is the weak point: 55.5 fps at 1440p against 66.2 fps for the RTX 5070 Ti, and FSR frame generation stops at 2X where RTX 50 cards reach 6X. The RX 9070 XT suits high-refresh 1440p players who rarely switch ray tracing on.

2. GeForce RTX 5070 Ti - best for ray tracing and DLSS

The Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Eagle OC SFF costs £1,079.99 on Amazon UK at the time of writing (September 2026), against NVIDIA's £729 UK RRP. The GeForce RTX 5070 Ti has 8,960 CUDA cores, 16 GB of GDDR7 at 896 GB/s and a 300 W graphics power. Tom's Hardware measured 66.2 fps at 1440p with ray tracing, 19% ahead of the Radeon RX 9070 XT, and calls it "the last card with a reasonable price-to-performance ratio" for ray tracing.

The extra £411.00 over the RX 9070 XT buys NVIDIA's software rather than raster speed: DLSS 4.5, 6X Multi Frame Generation and DLSS 5 (RTX 50 only, from 3 September 2026). Hardware Unboxed found the RTX 5070 Ti 63% faster than the RX 9070 XT in Doom with path tracing. It suits buyers who play ray-traced games or use CUDA software.

3. Radeon RX 9070 - best 1440p card for a 650 W power supply

The XFX Swift Radeon RX 9070 OCcosts £627.00 on Amazon UK at the time of writing (September 2026). Tom's Hardware measured 104.0 fps at 1440p Ultra and calls the Radeon RX 9070 "the 1440p raster value champ". It keeps the RX 9070 XT's 16 GB and 256-bit bus at 220 W, so AMD's minimum power supply drops from 750 W to 650 W.

At UK prices the RX 9070 XT is the better buy, 12% faster for £41.99 more, so the RX 9070 suits upgraders keeping a 650 W power supply. The Gigabyte Radeon RX 9070 GRE Gaming OC (£529.99, 86.6 fps, 12 GB) is the pick under £550; TechSpot found it about 25% faster than the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB.

4. GeForce RTX 5070 - best mid-range NVIDIA card

The Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5070 Eagle OC SFF costs £718.99 on Amazon UK at the time of writing (September 2026). Tom's Hardware measured 96.4 fps at 1440p Ultra and 51.5 fps with ray tracing, and picked the GeForce RTX 5070 in its own recommendations for DLSS 4.5 and Multi Frame Generation.

The RTX 5070 costs £50.00 more than the RX 9070 XT, which Hardware Unboxed's September 2026 52-game test found 24% faster at 1440p, and TechSpot found its 12 GB "runs into severe memory limitations" in Mafia: The Old Country at Epic settings. It suits buyers set on DLSS in a small case; the full head-to-head is RTX 5070 vs RX 9070 XT.

5. Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB - best budget graphics card

The ASUS Dual Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB costs £439.99 on Amazon UK at the time of writing (September 2026). AMD rates the Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB at 160 W with a 450 W minimum power supply, the lowest in this guide. Tom's Hardware measured 98.3 fps at 1080p Ultra and 67.3 fps at 1440p Ultra, and says the card "holds down the entry-midrange 16GB position by itself".

The RX 9060 XT 16GB is 13% faster than the GeForce RTX 5060 at 1440p for £65.00 more, and 61% faster at 4K (35.2 fps vs 21.8 fps), where 8 GB runs out. The 8 GB Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9060 XT 8GB costs £50.00 less, but twice the memory for £50.00 is the best-value upgrade in this price band. The RX 9060 XT 16GB suits 1080p and entry 1440p players who keep a card for four years or more.

6. GeForce RTX 5060 - best cheap 1080p graphics card

The ASUS Dual GeForce RTX 5060 OC costs £374.99 on Amazon UK at the time of writing (September 2026). The GeForce RTX 5060 has 3,840 CUDA cores and 8 GB of GDDR7, and NVIDIA recommends a 550 W power supply. Tom's Hardware measured 88.5 fps at 1080p Ultra and 59.8 fps at 1440p Ultra.

At £6.27 per 1440p frame, the RTX 5060 is the best-value GeForce card in this guide, and TechSpot measured 73 fps at 1080p with DLSS 5 on in NBA 2K27. The limit is 8 GB of VRAM (see below). The ASUS Dual GeForce RTX 5050 OC saves £45.00 but is 22% slower at 1080p (69.3 fps). The RTX 5060 suits 1080p players on a £400 budget.

7. GeForce RTX 5080 - best graphics card for 4K

The Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5080 Gaming OC costs £1,344.99 on Amazon UK at the time of writing (September 2026). Tom's Hardware measured 77.4 fps at 4K Ultra and 42.1 fps at 4K with ray tracing, and NVIDIA recommends an 850 W power supply.

The GeForce RTX 5080 is 13% faster than the RTX 5070 Ti at 4K for £265.00 more, and the only card here under £1,500 above 70 fps at native 4K Ultra. It suits players with a 4K high-refresh screen from the best 4K gaming monitor UK 2026 shortlist.

Which graphics card is the best value per frame?

The Radeon RX 9070 XT is the best-value graphics card in the UK at £5.74 per 1440p frame, and the GeForce RTX 5090 is the worst at £28.09. Each figure is the Amazon UK price divided by Tom's Hardware's 1440p Ultra average: £668.99 ÷ 116.5 fps = £5.74.

• Radeon cards take four of the top five places; the RTX 5060 is the best-value GeForce card at £6.27.
• With ray tracing the RX 9070 XT still leads at £12.05 per frame, and the RTX 5070 climbs to third at £13.96.
• The RTX 5070 Ti costs £9.25 per raster frame, 61% more than the RX 9070 XT, for the same 1440p speed.
• The RX 9060 XT 8GB falls to 20.2 fps with ray tracing: £19.31 per frame, the dearest below the RTX 5090.

What is the best graphics card for 1440p?

The Radeon RX 9070 XT is the best graphics card for 1440p, with 116.5 fps at 1440p Ultra for £668.99. Below £1,000, only the RX 9070 XT and the RX 9070 (104.0 fps) clear 100 fps at native 1440p Ultra in Tom's Hardware's tables, which suits 144 Hz monitors. The RTX 5070 Ti is the ray tracing pick and the Radeon RX 9070 GRE (86.6 fps, £529.99) the pick under £550. Matching card to panel is covered in how to choose a gaming monitor.

New releases fit comfortably. WARDOGS, in Steam Early Access since 10 September 2026, recommends a GeForce RTX 3070, which Tom's Hardware puts at 58.2 fps at 1440p Ultra, below every card in this guide except the RTX 5050. Full specs are in WARDOGS PC requirements.

What is the best graphics card for 1080p?

The GeForce RTX 5060 is the best graphics card for 1080p on a budget, at 88.5 fps at 1080p Ultra for £374.99. The Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB (98.3 fps, £439.99) is the better long-term buy, and the Radeon RX 9060 XT 8GB (93.2 fps, £389.99) sits between. TechSpot called the £329.99 GeForce RTX 5050"completely useless for DLSS 5". Tom's figures use a Ryzen 7 9800X3D, and processor pairing is in best CPU for gaming UK 2026.

What is the best graphics card for 4K?

The GeForce RTX 5080 is the best graphics card for 4K under £1,500, at 77.4 fps at 4K Ultra for £1,344.99 in Tom's Hardware's tests. The Radeon RX 9070 XT is the cheapest route to native 4K at 60 fps (65.8 fps, £668.99). The RTX 5070 Ti (68.6 fps) beats it with ray tracing at 4K, 36.7 fps against 30.1 fps, and the RTX 5080 reaches 42.1 fps.

Is 8GB of VRAM enough in 2026?

8GB of VRAM is enough for 1080p at medium to high settings in 2026, but not for Ultra textures with ray tracing at 1440p:

• PC Gamer (March 2026):in Resident Evil Requiem at 1440p High with upscaling and frame generation, the 16 GB RTX 5060 Ti held 101 fps 1% lows against 60 fps for the 8 GB version. PC Gamer judged 8GB "still enough", but "not without some significant caveats".
• TechSpot and Hardware Unboxed (May 2026): Forza Horizon 6 at Extreme with ray tracing at 1440p ran at 61 fps on the 16 GB RTX 5060 Ti and 33 fps on the 8 GB card, 85% faster.
• TechSpot: F1 25 at 1440p Ultra High ran at 72 fps on the 16 GB RX 9060 XT and 42 fps on the 8 GB card.

8 GB cards suit 1080p. Buyers at 1440p should pay the £50.00 between the Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9060 XT 8GB (£389.99) and the ASUS Dual Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB (£439.99).

Is it worth waiting for the RTX 50 Super?

No, not on current evidence. NVIDIA has not announced an RTX 50 Super series, and Tom's Hardware reports that NVIDIA quashed rumours of a CES 2026 reveal. The rest is reported, not confirmed:

• Leaker Zed__Wang reported an end-of-2026 launch target (Club386, June 2026); Benchlife reported not before CES 2027 (PC Gamer, June 2026).
• Rumoured memory: 18 GB for an RTX 5070 Super and 24 GB for an RTX 5070 Ti Super and RTX 5080 Super, on 3 GB GDDR7 modules that TechTimes cites as the gating factor.
• Leaker kopite7kimi reported on 21 September 2026 that the RTX 60 series has slipped to 2028 (OC3D).

A Super card would launch into the same memory shortage, which OC3D reports should peak in mid-2027. On timing, see buy now or wait for Black Friday 2026.

Why do graphics cards cost more in 2026?

Graphics cards cost more in 2026 because memory is scarce. NVIDIA said in January 2026 that "memory supply is constrained", TweakTown reported that AMD told board partners of rises of at least 10% from August 2026, and TechSpot's August 2026 survey of 10 countries found average prices 28% above launch MSRP, excluding the RTX 5090.

The six GeForce cards below the RTX 5090 rose by an average of 33.6% over those nine months, the four Radeon cards by 28.2%. TechSpot links the gap to GDDR7 costs and demand for CUDA cards for local machine-learning work. The wider memory story is in why tech is more expensive in 2026.

Is DLSS 4.5 better than FSR 4?

Yes. Tom's Hardware says "FSR 4.x upscaling isn't on par with DLSS 4.5 yet", and RTX 50 cards generate up to 6X frames against 2X on Radeon RX 9000 cards. Both are machine-learning upscalers that make 1440p and 4K playable on cheaper cards.

DLSS 5 is heavy: TechSpot measured the RTX 5070 falling from 217 fps to 67 fps at 1440p in NBA 2K27 with DLSS 5 on. AMD brought FSR 4.1 to Radeon RX 7000 cards in July 2026 with Adrenalin 26.6.2.

What power supply does each graphics card need?

Each card needs at least the power supply AMD or NVIDIA recommends, from 450 W for the Radeon RX 9060 XT to 1,000 W for the RTX 5090. Ratings are a guide only: TechSpot found the RX 9070 XT drew about 20% more power than the RTX 5070 Ti despite near-identical ratings.

Upgraders should check the power supply before the card; the full process is in how to upgrade an old gaming PC.

Which graphics cards should buyers skip?

The GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB and GeForce RTX 5090 are poor buys at September 2026 prices.

• RTX 5060 Ti 16GB: the ASUS Dual GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB OCcosts £629.99, £39.00 less than the RX 9070 XT, which Hardware Unboxed's 52-game test (TechSpot, 24 September 2026) found 62% faster at 1440p (123 fps vs 76 fps). Tom's Hardware calls the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB "hopelessly overpriced"; NVIDIA's UK MSRP was £399.
• RTX 5090: the ASUS ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 OC costs £4,699.99, 2.6 times the £1,799 UK MSRP reported by OC3D, and is 43% faster than the RTX 5080 at 4K (110.8 fps) for £3,355.00 more.
• Intel Arc B580 and B570:not recommended in this guide's UK line-up. The Arc B580 launched at $249 and averages 50.7 fps at 1440p Ultra (Tom's Hardware), behind the RTX 5060.
• Buyers without a PC:Tom's Guide reported in December 2025 that a prebuilt gaming PC had become cheaper than building one; see build vs buy a gaming PC UK 2026.

What should UK buyers check before ordering a graphics card?

UK buyers should check four things before ordering: power connectors, case clearance, PCIe lanes and their statutory rights.

• Power connectors: check whether the card takes 8-pin PCIe power or the 16-pin 12V-2x6 connector used on many RTX 50 cards, and that the power supply has matching cables.
• Case clearance:check the card's length and slot width against the case's maximum.
• PCIe lanes: the RTX 5050, RTX 5060 and RTX 5060 Ti use PCIe 5.0 x8, so on a PCIe 3.0 motherboard they get half the link bandwidth of an x16 card. Board picks are in best motherboard for gaming UK 2026.
• Rights: the Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives a 30-day right to reject a faulty graphics card for a full refund, and within six months the retailer must prove a fault was not present at delivery.

Verdict

The ASUS Prime Radeon RX 9070 XT OC at £668.99 is the best graphics card in the UK in 2026, matching the RTX 5070 Ti in raster games (116.5 fps vs 116.8 fps at 1440p) for £411.00 less. The Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Eagle OC SFF (£1,079.99) is the ray tracing pick, and the ASUS Dual Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB (£439.99) the best budget card. Complete systems are ranked in best gaming PC UK 2026.