Best GPUs for The Finals (2026): Competitive Edge at Every Budget

The Finals runs better than most games in its class, but “runs well” and “runs at 240fps at 1080p on competitive-low” are not the same ask. The game’s destruction physics are real GPU work: those collapsing buildings and cascading debris have a cost, and your frame budget has a ceiling that older GPU guides never had to account for.

This guide picks by refresh-rate target. If you’re chasing 240fps at 1080p for competitive play, the card you need is different from the one that gets you to 165fps at 1440p for a smoother casual experience. We’ve mapped the current-gen lineup to each tier.

Our top pick: MSI Ventus RTX 5060 Ti 16GB

The MSI Ventus RTX 5060 Ti 16GB is the pick for most players: enough headroom for 240fps at 1080p competitive-low, 16GB of GDDR7 to stay relevant at 1440p, and DLSS 4 when you want quality without the frame-rate tax.

Quick picks

Specs at a glance

Benchmarks

How we picked

Every pick in this guide has at least 16GB of VRAM. That’s not marketing. It’s where The Finals sits in 2026 at high settings. The game’s destruction system and texture streaming push GPU memory in ways that expose 8GB cards faster than most competitive shooters. The RTX 5060 Ti 8GB and the RX 9060 XT 8GB both exist at lower prices. Neither is in this guide.

The second filter is refresh-rate tier. A card that hits 240fps at 1080p on competitive-low settings is a fundamentally different product from a card tuned for 1440p high. We spec’d to the tier you’re targeting, not the resolution the box claims to support.

On the vendor split: the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB and the RX 9060 XT 16GB are the two most interesting cards at the mainstream tier. The Sapphire Pulse trades blows with or edges the Nvidia card in raster throughput, and the 192-bit memory bus matters at 1440p. The 5060 Ti’s advantage is DLSS 4 quality mode, better ray tracing, and NVENC if you stream. For pure frame-hunting in The Finals, the difference is smaller than the marketing suggests. We picked the 5060 Ti as Best Overall because DLSS 4 Multi-Frame Gen makes the 240Hz target more reliable on a wider range of settings, but the Pulse is the better raster-per-dollar card.

For a deeper look at how to match your GPU to your monitor tier, see our GPU and display selection guide.

Best Overall: MSI Ventus RTX 5060 Ti 16GB

Specs

RTX 5060 Ti, 16GB GDDR7, 128-bit memory bus, PCIe 5.0, approximately 2,400 MHz boost clock, dual STORMFORCE fans, TDP around 180W.

What it does well

The 5060 Ti’s strongest case in The Finals is that 240fps at 1080p competitive-low is consistently achievable: not an outlier benchmark, not a DLSS-Performance trick, but a realistic target with the settings you’d run in a competitive match. The 16GB of GDDR7 removes the texture-streaming anxiety that 8GB cards start showing in this game at higher settings, and it keeps the card relevant for sessions where you’re not on pure competitive settings.

DLSS 4 with the transformer model adds real headroom if you want to run higher visual quality without paying full resolution cost. At 1440p, Quality mode is clean enough that most people won’t notice the upscaling. Multi-Frame Generation turns a solid 80fps native into a smooth 240fps output for players on 240Hz monitors who also play at 1440p, and the base frame rate is the honest number to compare, but the smoothness benefit is real when the native is already strong.

MSI’s Ventus 2X OC Plus runs cool enough in this thermal envelope. The 180W TDP keeps PSU requirements sane, and the dual-fan design handles sustained load without throttling.

What you give up

The 128-bit memory bus is the honest limitation. The RX 9060 XT runs a 192-bit bus at the same memory tier, and that bandwidth advantage shows at 1440p ultra with maximum texture detail. In The Finals specifically, the gap isn’t dramatic at 1080p competitive settings; you’re not saturating the bus at low textures, but if 1440p high is your regular target, the 9060 XT’s bandwidth edge starts to matter over a longer session.

Raster-per-dollar also leans toward the Sapphire Pulse at the same price point. The 5060 Ti’s premium pays for DLSS 4 quality and ray tracing; if neither is in your use case, the Pulse is the harder-to-argue-against buy.

Who it’s for

The 1080p 240Hz competitive player who occasionally runs 1440p for single-player sessions. Anyone who streams on Twitch or YouTube and needs NVENC AV1. Buyers who want DLSS 4 Multi-Frame Gen as a smoothness multiplier on a 240Hz monitor.

Best Value: Sapphire Pulse RX 9060 XT

Specs

RX 9060 XT, 16GB GDDR6, 192-bit memory bus, PCIe 5.0, approximately 2,600 MHz boost clock, dual-fan Pulse cooler, TDP around 150W.

What it does well

The Sapphire Pulse RX 9060 XT is the raster-value answer at the mainstream tier. The 192-bit memory bus and 16GB of GDDR6 give it a bandwidth advantage over the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB, and in a title like The Finals where texture streaming matters, that bus width shows up in sustained high-settings play. At 1080p competitive-low, both cards are fast enough that the difference is academic; at 1440p high with textures up, the Pulse’s memory architecture holds up better.

FSR 4 on RDNA 4 has genuinely closed the gap with DLSS 4 Quality in 2026. Quality mode at 1440p is clean for casual play. The 150W TDP is easy on any mid-range PSU and keeps temperatures comfortable in a well-ventilated case. For a shooter where you’re running the game long sessions, the lower power draw is a non-trivial comfort factor.

The Sapphire Pulse AIB is a reliable mid-tier choice. Two-fan design, solid cooler, no exotic thermal quirks.

What you give up

Stock has been inconsistent since RDNA 4’s launch. The RX 9060 XT is a popular card that ships in waves, and you may encounter availability gaps depending on timing. If the Sapphire Pulse specifically is out of stock, the ASUS Dual RX 9060 XT 16GB is a functionally equivalent backup.

Ray tracing performance trails the RTX 5060 Ti at this tier. If your library includes Cyberpunk, Alan Wake 2, or other RT-heavy titles alongside The Finals, the Nvidia card earns its premium. No NVENC means no hardware AV1 encoding for streamers. FSR 4 is good, but it isn’t DLSS 4 at equivalent modes.

Who it’s for

Pure raster gamers who don’t stream and don’t play RT-heavy titles. Linux users who want AMD’s driver stability. Anyone whose library runs primarily competitive or open-world titles and wants maximum VRAM and bandwidth at the mainstream price tier.

Best Premium: MSI Gaming RTX 5070 Ti

Specs

RTX 5070 Ti, 16GB GDDR7, 256-bit memory bus, PCIe 5.0, 2,497 MHz boost clock, three STORMFORCE fans, TDP approximately 285W.

What it does well

The MSI Gaming RTX 5070 Ti makes The Finals essentially irrelevant as a GPU bottleneck. At 1440p with high settings, you’re well above 165fps natively. At 1440p ultra, you’re comfortably above the threshold where Multi-Frame Generation takes you to 240fps output on a 240Hz monitor without the base frame rate looking like a lie. The 256-bit bus and 16GB GDDR7 mean you’re not going to hit a texture-streaming wall in this game, or most games.

For players with a mixed library, the 5070 Ti’s real value is how it handles everything else. Heavy RT titles that the 5060 Ti stumbles in are comfortable here. Blender Cycles, Stable Diffusion, NVENC AV1 streaming: the 5070 Ti handles all of it without compromise. If The Finals is one of three or four titles in your regular rotation and two of them are demanding, the 5070 Ti is the sensible choice.

This is also the right card for a 4K monitor with DLSS Quality mode. Native 4K in The Finals is within reach at high settings; 4K ultra uses DLSS Quality and looks excellent.

What you give up

At 1080p competitive settings, you’ll hit CPU limits before you fully saturate this GPU. The Finals’ destruction physics put a real load on the CPU, particularly in 16-player matches with heavy environmental destruction. A 285W TDP needs a quality PSU: Tier A, 750W minimum, ideally 850W if you have a mid-range CPU alongside it. The MSI Gaming Ventus 3X OC runs cool but not silent; triple fans under load are audible.

The 5070 Ti is also significant overkill if The Finals is your primary and only GPU-intensive title. The 5060 Ti 16GB covers this game equally for 1080p buyers, and the RX 9070 is a sensible step-up for 1440p that doesn’t require a premium PSU.

Who it’s for

1440p 144Hz+ players with a mixed game library. 4K players who want The Finals alongside demanding titles. Streamers who need NVENC AV1. Anyone with a Blender or Stable Diffusion workflow who plays games in the same machine.

Best Budget: ASRock Arc B580 Challenger OC

Specs

Intel Arc B580, 12GB GDDR6, 192-bit memory bus, PCIe 4.0, 2,600 MHz boost clock, dual-fan 0dB cooling, TDP approximately 190W.

What it does well

The Arc B580 12GB is the VRAM story at the budget tier. The competing Nvidia cards at this price point ship with 8GB, and in The Finals at high settings in 2026, 8GB starts to show texture-streaming hesitation. Twelve gigabytes on a 192-bit bus does not. The game runs on DX12, which is Intel’s strong suit on Battlemage, with no legacy API issues to worry about here.

A YouTube benchmark (Arc B580 + Intel i5-14400F) in The Finals measured approximately 86 fps average at 1080p Epic settings. At competitive-low, that number pushes substantially higher. Rough estimates land in the 145-165 fps range, which puts 144Hz play comfortably within reach. For a buyer on a budget who wants 1080p 144Hz in The Finals, the B580 is the legitimate choice that doesn’t require a compromise on VRAM.

The 0dB mode at idle and light load keeps the system quiet when you’re not in an active match.

What you give up

The B580 is a 1080p 144Hz card, not a 1080p 240Hz card and not a 1440p card. If your target is competitive 240fps, the MSI Ventus RTX 5060 Ti 16GB is the minimum capable card. Ray tracing performance is minimal; don’t factor it in. Intel’s driver ecosystem is dramatically better than the Alchemist generation, but it’s not as battle-tested as AMD’s or Nvidia’s for every live-service title update. Reports from B580 users suggest occasional performance oddities after specific game patches; driver updates typically follow within a week or two, but it’s a real consideration for a game that patches frequently.

XeSS upscaling works well at native or near-native modes, but falls behind FSR 4 and DLSS 4 at heavy reduction modes. PCIe 4.0 instead of 5.0 doesn’t matter for gaming in any practical sense.

Who it’s for

Under-$300 buyers who need 12GB of VRAM and are targeting 1080p 144Hz play. Buyers who know their use case is gaming-only (no creative work) and want the most memory for the money at the budget tier.

Editor's Pick: PowerColor Hellhound RX 9070

Specs

RX 9070, 16GB GDDR6, 256-bit memory bus, PCIe 5.0, approximately 2,500 MHz boost clock, dual-fan Hellhound cooler, TDP approximately 220W.

What it does well

The PowerColor Hellhound RX 9070 sits at the bridge tier between the RX 9060 XT and the RTX 5070 Ti. For 1440p competitive play in The Finals, where 165fps is the target and you have headroom to spare, the RX 9070 gets there natively with high settings, no upscaling required. The 256-bit bus and 16GB GDDR6 handle 1440p texture streaming without the occasional dip you get from the 9060 XT’s 192-bit setup.

PowerColor’s Hellhound is a well-regarded mid-tier AIB: quiet under load, solid thermal design, no premium markup for a fancy cooler. The card runs noticeably quieter than the triple-fan RTX 5070 Ti under equivalent workloads.

For a player whose library is mostly The Finals and a handful of other competitive or open-world titles, the RX 9070 is the card that doesn’t leave you wanting at 1440p for the next two to three years. It pairs cleanly with any quality Tier A PSU at 650W or higher, which is a lower bar than the 5070 Ti’s 750W+ requirement.

What you give up

The RX 9070 XT is a meaningful step above the RX 9070 in raster performance, and depending on the price gap at the moment of purchase, the XT may be the stronger buy. The RX 9070 earns its place when the XT is significantly more expensive or out of stock; when prices converge, the XT is the cleaner call. Also, at the 1440p tier, the RTX 5070 Ti’s Multi-Frame Gen story is genuinely better if you’re targeting 240Hz at 1440p rather than 165Hz. The RX 9070 is a 165Hz card; the 5070 Ti is the card that makes 240Hz at 1440p realistic.

For The Finals specifically at 1080p, the RX 9070 is overkill compared to the 5060 Ti 16GB. Buy it if you play other demanding titles in your rotation.

Who it’s for

1440p 165Hz players who want AMD raster value above the 9060 XT tier. Buyers with a mixed library of competitive and open-world titles. Anyone who wants a capable 1440p card without the RTX 5070 Ti’s power draw or price.

Bottom line

For competitive 1080p play targeting 240fps, the MSI Ventus RTX 5060 Ti 16GB is the pick. It gets there consistently on competitive-low settings, adds DLSS 4 Multi-Frame Gen for smoother output at higher quality tiers, and the 16GB of GDDR7 means you’re not immediately boxed out when The Finals updates its texture assets. If raster-per-dollar matters more than DLSS ecosystem, the Sapphire Pulse RX 9060 XT is the honest alternative: same 16GB tier, more bandwidth, lower price, and competitive frame rates at 1080p without the premium.

For 1440p play, the PowerColor Hellhound RX 9070 covers the 165Hz target natively without unnecessary spend. The MSI Gaming RTX 5070 Ti is for players with demanding mixed libraries, 240Hz monitors at 1440p, or 4K ambitions.

The Arc B580 is the budget card for 1080p 144Hz buyers who want 12GB and won’t settle for the 8GB Nvidia trap at this price.

FAQ