Best GPUs for Resident Evil Requiem (2026): Path Tracing & DLSS 4 Picks

Resident Evil Requiem in 2026 is Capcom's RE Engine flagship for path-traced lighting: shader execution reordering, ReSTIR global illumination, DLSS 4 Ray Reconstruction. It's the new technical showcase title, and like the path-traced flagships before it, the buying question splits hard along the vendor line. The full Path Tracing preset is an NVIDIA platform feature; AMD's RDNA 4 runs the raster path and ray tracing at lower tiers but doesn't take the dedicated PT path on this title.

That means GPU choice for RE Requiem isn't only "which one is fastest." It's whether you want the Path Tracing experience at all, and at which monitor tier. The five picks below organize against that ladder, from a 1080p Blackwell entry where PT becomes a real option to a 4K flagship where DLSS 4 Performance plus Multi Frame Generation is what lifts native 24-fps Path Tracing into triple-digit territory.

Our top pick: ASUS TUF RTX 5070 Ti OC

The 1440p Path Tracing floor: the cheapest card where Capcom's Overdrive-equivalent preset stops being a slideshow, with DLSS 4 Quality plus 2x Frame Generation clearing comfortable triple-digit averages and DLSS 4 Ray Reconstruction enabled.

Quick picks

Specs at a glance

Benchmarks

Two benchmark passes follow: 1440p RT High with DLSS 4 Quality (the daily-driver tier without the PT preset on) and 4K Path Tracing with DLSS 4 Performance plus Frame Generation (the showcase tier where this title's headline numbers live).

How we picked

The decision splits along the Path Tracing tier you target and the monitor in front of you. On this title there's also a hard fork at the vendor line, because the dedicated Path Tracing pass is NVIDIA-only.

1080p with RT enabled. The entry tier where RE Requiem's Path Tracing pass becomes a real option without flagship spend. The 5060 Ti 16 GB at 1080p with DLSS 4 Quality clears playable averages with the PT preset on, and the 16 GB VRAM ceiling matches RE Engine's PT GI buffer footprint comfortably. The 8 GB version of this same chip is the load-bearing buyer-trap on this title; more on that below.

1440p raster with optional RT. The mid-range tier. The 9070 XT handles RE Engine raster plus RT-medium at 1440p cleanly with FSR 4 Quality, and the 5070 Ti carries 1440p RT High natively. This is the resolution where most 2026 buyers actually live, and both cards land here for buyers who don't need Path Tracing specifically. For the cross-cluster pillar context on GPU selection at this tier, see the how to choose a GPU framework.

1440p Path Tracing with Ray Reconstruction. This is where the picks separate hard. The 5070 Ti with DLSS 4 Quality plus 2x Frame Generation is the practical floor for the PT preset on in this game; with DLSS 4 Ray Reconstruction enabled the visual gain over standard PT is one of the bigger arguments for NVIDIA on this title specifically. The 9070 XT doesn't take this path at all. RE Requiem's PT implementation is an NVIDIA platform feature, and FSR 4 with Frame Generation can't rescue a path the hardware doesn't run. The buyer choosing AMD here is choosing the rasterized experience.

4K Path Tracing. This is the hard tier and the one where NVIDIA's own first-party benchmark coverage frames the difficulty honestly. At 4K DLAA with the PT preset enabled, even the RTX 5090 sits at a 24-27 fps native floor in reviewer testing. DLSS 4 Performance plus Multi Frame Generation 4x is what lifts that into the triple-digit playable band. The 5080 with DLSS 4 Performance plus 2x Frame Generation lives in the same neighborhood with less headroom; the 5090 is the no-compromise card where every Capcom slider stays at maximum without trade-offs.

What RE Requiem asks of the card itself: hardware ray-tracing support as a baseline, 16 GB of VRAM for any 1440p RT workload with the HDR texture set loaded, and the modern upscaling stack to make Path Tracing playable across resolution tiers. DLSS 4 with Ray Reconstruction leads on this title specifically because Capcom implemented RR natively. FSR 4 closed the upscaler gap meaningfully on raster plus ray tracing; XeSS works but isn't load-bearing for the picks below. For the head-to-head version of the 5070 Ti vs 9070 XT question outside this specific title, the companion RTX 5080 vs RX 9070 XT comparison covers a closely related decision band.

Best Overall: ASUS TUF RTX 5070 Ti OC

Specs

GeForce RTX 5070 Ti (Blackwell, GB203). 16 GB GDDR7 on a 256-bit bus. Boost clock around 2,482 MHz in OC mode. 3.125-slot footprint. 300 W TGP.

What it does well

The ASUS TUF GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16GB OC Edition is the cheapest card that clears RE Requiem's Path Tracing preset acceptably. 1440p RT High at native resolution sits in the comfortable band, and DLSS 4 Quality at the same setting lifts it well into triple-digit territory. Flip on the Path Tracing preset with DLSS 4 Quality plus 2x Frame Generation and the card clears the daily-play threshold most other 1440p cards can't touch on this title without dropping to Performance upscaling.

DLSS 4 Ray Reconstruction is the load-bearing argument for picking NVIDIA here. RE Requiem implements RR natively, and the visual gain over a standard PT pass is meaningful in the dense interior scenes Capcom built the showcase around. This is a Requiem-specific lever; an AMD card at the same tier runs the raster preset well but doesn't get RR at all.

Why the TUF OC at this tier? The cooling is sized for the chip's 300 W class power draw without paying for the ROG Strix premium, and the OC binning gets you a small but real boost-clock advantage over the reference design. 16 GB of GDDR7 is the right amount for 1440p RT High with RE Engine's HDR texture set loaded; the standard black OC Edition is the variant to confirm on the listing, not the BTF cousin or the white SKU. The frame-gen story holds up in RE Requiem because Capcom's engine gives DLSS 4 clean motion vectors to work with, and traversal sequences stay coherent under 2x Frame Generation even in shader-heavy scenes.

For the sister Path Tracing flagship that established the structural pattern this game inherits, see the Cyberpunk 2077 GPU picks; the 5070 Ti is the same floor on that title.

What you give up

4K Path Tracing is reachable on this card with DLSS 4 Performance plus Frame Generation, but it isn't the 5070 Ti's natural home; if your monitor is a 4K panel and Path Tracing is non-negotiable, the 5080 is the right step up. The 3.125-slot footprint is fine for most modern mid-towers but worth a clearance check on older cases with a tight rear-fan stack. SFF builds should plan for it specifically rather than discover the constraint mid-install.

Headline 1440p Path Tracing figures from any single outlet should ground as upper-bound rather than the daily experience. The cross-source DLSS 4 Quality numbers at 1440p RT High are the more defensible anchor; the PT-on numbers are still settling as more reviewers ship Requiem-specific coverage.

Who it's for

1440p 144 Hz buyers who want RE Requiem's Path Tracing preset on with Ray Reconstruction enabled, and who don't want to spend up to the 4K-PT tier. The 5070 Ti is the practical PT floor in this game, and that makes it the default recommendation. For the broader 1440p RT picture across other titles in this engine generation, the Alan Wake 2 GPU picks cover the closest cousin call, with the same 5070-Ti-as-PT-floor framing on Remedy's Northlight engine.

Best Value: Sapphire Pulse RX 9070 XT

Specs

Radeon RX 9070 XT (RDNA 4, Navi 48). 16 GB GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus. Boost clock up to 2,970 MHz. 2.5-slot footprint. 304 W board power.

What it does well

The Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB is the AMD pick for the 1440p tier, and it's the right call for the buyer whose RE Requiem priority is high-refresh raster at maximum settings rather than the Path Tracing showcase. RDNA 4 handles RE Engine's raster pipeline cleanly, and 1440p Ultra raster with FSR 4 Quality lands in a comfortable triple-digit band on this title. The 16 GB of GDDR6 is the same VRAM ceiling as the NVIDIA tier, which means RE Engine at 1440p with the HDR texture set loaded stays comfortable.

Why the Pulse SKU specifically? Sapphire's mainstream model is the cleanest 9070 XT design at this price band. Two-fan cooling that handles the chip's thermal profile under sustained load, no factory overclock stretching the silicon for marginal gains, no RGB tax. The Nitro+ is a legitimate step up for buyers who want it; the Pulse covers the use case for everyone else.

For the cross-title context on how RDNA 4 holds up in adjacent engines, the Doom: The Dark Ages GPU picks cover the idTech 8 ray-tracing story where AMD lands more comfortably than it does here.

What you give up

RE Requiem's full Path Tracing preset is where the 9070 XT runs into a hard wall, and it's worth being precise about why. The PT implementation on this title leans on shader execution reordering, ReSTIR global illumination, and DLSS 4 Ray Reconstruction. Those are NVIDIA platform-level features, not universal ray-tracing primitives. The 9070 XT doesn't take this code path at all. FSR 4 with Frame Generation is excellent on raster and standard ray tracing, but it can't rescue a path the hardware doesn't run.

The honest framing in 2026 is that AMD's RT story on standard ray tracing closed the gap meaningfully versus the 7000-series, and FSR 4 is much closer to DLSS 4 on rasterized RT than its predecessor was; saying "AMD doesn't do RT" is outdated. The narrower honest beat on this title is that RE Requiem's path-tracing showcase is built around features the 9070 XT can't run. If Path Tracing with Ray Reconstruction is the reason for the purchase, this is the wrong card.

Who it's for

1440p 144 Hz raster-first buyers who treat RE Requiem's Path Tracing as a flex they don't need, and who want the cleanest AMD value pick at the mid-range tier. The 9070 XT runs the game's raster preset comfortably at maximum settings and clears RT-medium with FSR 4 cleanly; it just doesn't sit at the PT table on this specific title.

Best Premium: ASUS TUF RTX 5080 OC

Specs

GeForce RTX 5080 (Blackwell, GB203). 16 GB GDDR7 on a 256-bit bus. Boost clock around 2,617 MHz in OC mode. 3.6-slot footprint. 360 W TGP.

What it does well

At 4K with the Path Tracing preset on, the ASUS TUF GeForce RTX 5080 16GB OC Edition is where the math starts working without flagship spend. Native 4K RT Ultra is comfortable on this card, and DLSS 4 Performance plus 2x Frame Generation at 4K Path Tracing with Ray Reconstruction enabled clears the playable band by a respectable margin. 1440p Path Tracing is effortless even when you push to the more aggressive Multi Frame Generation configurations, and the headroom shows in RE Requiem's shader-heavy interior sequences where lower-tier cards see frame-time spikes.

Why the TUF OC at this tier? Same logic as the 5070 Ti pick. The TUF cooling is sized for the 360 W chip without the ROG Strix premium, the OC binning helps where it matters, and the vapor chamber implementation keeps memory junction temps in check during extended Path Tracing sessions. That matters more on the 5080 than it does on the 5070 Ti because the chip runs hotter under sustained load, and RE Requiem's PT pass is exactly that kind of load.

What you give up

The MFG 4x ceiling and absolute headroom belongs to the 5090. The 5080 with DLSS 4 Performance plus 2x Frame Generation lands comfortably in the 4K Path Tracing playability band, but if your standard for "premium" is native everything with no upscaling, the next step up is the 5090 and there is no third option. The 3.6-slot footprint is also a real chunk of clearance and cuts into what's available for case fans behind the card; audit your case before clicking buy. The Best Premium card on this title is also the practical 4K-PT card for adjacent demanding titles; see how it slots into the Black Myth: Wukong GPU picks for the closest UE5 cousin.

Who it's for

4K 144 Hz buyers who want maximum settings with Path Tracing on and prefer not to step into the 5090's case and PSU overhead. The 5080 is the cleanest pick for a serious 4K Path Tracing build that doesn't require an electrical-grade audit of the rest of the rig.

Best Budget: MSI Ventus RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB

Specs

GeForce RTX 5060 Ti (Blackwell, GB206). 16 GB GDDR7 on a 128-bit bus. Boost clock around 2,587 MHz in OC mode. 2-slot footprint. 180 W TGP.

What it does well

The MSI GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16G Ventus 2X OC Plus is the entry Path Tracing card on this title. 1080p with RT High plus DLSS 4 Quality lands in the high-double-digit band, and 1080p Path Tracing with DLSS 4 Quality plus 2x Frame Generation opens the door to Capcom's full visual showcase on the cheapest Blackwell SKU. The card is quiet, fits in compact cases, and doesn't ask for an oversized PSU.

What this gets you in RE Requiem specifically: 1080p with Path Tracing as a real option, 1080p RT High without compromise on the upscaling tier, and 1440p raster with DLSS Quality as a comfortable step up when the engine cooperates. The 16 GB VRAM ceiling is what makes this a credible pick at all: RE Engine at 1080p with PT GI buffers loaded brushes the 10 GB ceiling under sustained load, and the 8 GB RTX 5060 Ti SKU pages on the same texture set.

What you give up

Buy the 16 GB SKU, not the 8 GB. The 5060 Ti ships in two flavors and they're a different conversation on this title. RE Requiem's PT GI buffers at 1080p brush the 10 GB ceiling under sustained load, which puts the 5060 Ti 16 GB at the bottom of the eligible Blackwell stack; the 8 GB version stutters at the same settings where the 16 GB version is comfortable. The 8 GB SKU's continued existence on the RE Requiem shopping shortlist is the load-bearing buyer-trap on this title. Skip it.

1440p RT High is a stretch with upscaling, and 1440p Path Tracing is past the line; this card opens the door at 1080p, and it doesn't carry the higher monitor tiers. Don't buy it for 4K. RE Requiem's MFG-friendly profile means the headline numbers look great, but the base framerate is what matters for the traversal feel. Don't trust 4x MFG output to compensate for a low native base on this title.

Who it's for

1080p 144 Hz buyers on a Blackwell budget who want RE Requiem with RT enabled and Path Tracing as an occasional flex, not a daily setting. The 1080p high-refresh tier with the PT preset available is the highest target this card is built for on this title specifically.

Editor's Pick: MSI Gaming Trio RTX 5090 OC

Specs

GeForce RTX 5090 (Blackwell, GB202). 32 GB GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus. Boost clock 2,497 MHz in extreme performance mode. 3-slot footprint. 575 W TGP.

What it does well

The MSI Gaming RTX 5090 32G Gaming Trio OC is the ceiling, and it's the only card on this list that lets you stop thinking about RE Requiem's Path Tracing settings entirely. NVIDIA's own first-party benchmark coverage frames the difficulty honestly: at 4K DLAA with the PT preset on, the 5090 sits at a 24-27 fps native floor. DLSS 4 Performance plus Multi Frame Generation 4x is what lifts that into the triple-digit playable band, and it's what makes the card the no-compromise 4K Path Tracing answer on this title.

Why the MSI Gaming Trio OC? At this tier you're picking between flagships that all deliver the chip's full performance, and the differentiation is in cooling and acoustics under sustained load. The TRI FROZR 4 implementation handles the 575 W class power draw without spinning up to vacuum-cleaner volume, and the dual-BIOS Gaming/Silent toggle gives you a quiet option for the times you're not chasing peak frames. The 32 GB of GDDR7 is overkill for RE Requiem at any resolution you'll play it at, but you aren't buying the 5090 just for this title.

What you give up

This card asks more of your build than any other current-generation GPU. Triple-slot, 575 W TGP class, and a length that requires a large case. RE Requiem's Path Tracing pass is one of the most sustained loads any consumer GPU sees, which means PSU headroom matters more here than on most game-specific articles. A 1000 W unit is the sane floor for this card under RE Engine PT workloads, and an 850 W rated PSU at the edge of its rating is asking for trouble during a long session.

Frame the experience accurately for buyers spending this much: native 4K DLAA + PT is 24-27 fps on this card. The playable experience is built by DLSS Performance plus MFG 4x, not by raw native performance. That's the right way to set expectations rather than be surprised by the native floor mid-purchase. Headline MFG-4x averages should ground as best-case; the cross-source MFG-2x and MFG-3x figures are the more defensible anchor for the daily 4K Path Tracing experience.

Who it's for

4K 144 Hz Path Tracing buyers who want every RE Requiem slider at max and have the PSU and case to support a 575 W card. If you're upgrading into an existing rig, audit the PSU first and the case clearance second.

Bottom line

If you're playing RE Requiem at 1440p and want Path Tracing on the daily with Ray Reconstruction enabled, the RTX 5070 Ti is the answer; it's the cheapest card that clears Capcom's PT preset acceptably. If you'd rather buy AMD at the same tier for high-refresh 1440p raster with FSR 4, the RX 9070 XT does that job well and Path Tracing is off the menu on this title. If your monitor is a 4K panel and you want Path Tracing without flagship spend, the RTX 5080 is the right premium pick. If your budget is tight and you're at 1080p, the RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB gets you the PT preset as a real option (16 GB SKU only; the 8 GB version is a buyer-trap on this title). And if you're chasing 4K Path Tracing with no compromise, the RTX 5090 is the only card in current generation that gets you there, and even it relies on DLSS Performance plus MFG 4x to make the experience playable.

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