Escape From Tarkov is a popular multiplayer first-person shooter RPG. It's quite graphically demanding and being in beta, still being optimized to make the best use of PC hardware. To play the game well, you will need the best graphics card to handle the game at your monitor's resolution. Here are our picks for the best GPUs for playing Escape from Tarkov.
Note: NVIDIA RTX 30 Series GPUs and AMD RX 6000 Series GPUs are in very limited supply as of now and constantly going out of stock.
Best AMD for 4K
Escape from Tarkov is quite heavy on the GPU, so playing the game at 4K with Ultra settings is a challenge regardless of your hardware. However, XFX Speedster MERC 319 AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT Ultra 16 GB GPU is AMD's top-of-the-line offering. You can churn out a framerate between the baseline 60 FPS to the ambitious 144 FPS at 4K by playing around with the settings a bit. Quantities of the GPU are limited for now, though, so be on the lookout for restocks.
Best NVIDIA for 4K
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 is the flagship offering in the company's consumer RTX series lineup. It is the most powerful GPU in the series and has enough power to run Escape from Tarkov at 4K. With the settings turned up, you should be able to hit 80-100 FPS, and some tinkering can take you to 144 FPS if you have a 4K 144 Hz monitor.
Best AMD for 1440p
AMD's new GPUs are the best they've ever made and bring them closer to NVIDIA in performance than ever before. The XFX Speedster MERC 319 AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT 16 GB can handle Escape from Tarkov at 1440p, but you will have to turn down the settings a bit to get it to hit 60 FPS. The 6800 XT is perfectly capable of going even beyond 60 FPS if you're not looking at playing at the highest quality settings.
Best NVIDIA for 1440p
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 is the best new offering in the upper mid-range. It promises a performance that surpasses last year's flagship NVIDIA GPU, the 2080 Ti. Escape from Tarkov can hit between 50-80 FPS on RTX 3070 at Ultra settings. If you have a monitor that can run 1440p at 144 Hz, you should get by with this GPU by turning some settings down a bit.
Best AMD for 1080p
AMD's last-generation GPU is pretty great for 1080p, especially in this XFX version. The XFX THICC II Pro AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT can do 1080p gaming on a tight budget. In Escape from Tarkov, it hovers around 60 FPS frame rate at Ultra settings, and you can get it to go higher at the cost of graphics quality. Either way, reliable 1080p performance.
Best NVIDIA for 1080p
For 1080p gaming, it doesn't get much better at this price. EVGA - SC ULTRA GAMING NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti can handle Escape from Tarkov very well. You can get around 60 FPS at Ultra and higher if you're willing to compromise on some graphics settings. This card offers a better price-to-performance ratio than our AMD recommendation, so if you don't have an AMD bias, this CPU is the better choice for 1080p gaming, hands down.
Buying the perfect GPU for your setup
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Think about which GPU would be the best fit for your monitor and the rest of your PC hardware. Make sure your current hardware is powerful enough to handle the GPU and that the CPU and the Power Supply Unit (PSU) won't limit the new GPU.
If you have the right setup, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 will serve you well. It is NVIDIA's most powerful offering in the RTX 30 series, and will comfortably let you play Escape from Tarkov at 4K, at around 144 FPS. On the AMD side of things, the XFX Speedster MERC 319 AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT Ultra 16 GB houses the best gaming silicon AMD has ever made. It will run the game at 4K at acceptable frame rates, hovering between 60 to 144 FPS, while being lighter on the wallet. This makes it a better value proposition if you're looking to save some cash without compromising on performance too much. Given that these two are the latest GPUs on the market, you also won't need another upgrade anytime soon.
When picking between AMD and NVIDIA, check your monitor's support for FreeSync, and G-Sync. If you have a FreeSync supported monitor, you will be better off with an AMD GPU. G-Sync certified monitors will perform best with NVIDIA GPUs. NVIDIA 'G-Sync Compatible' FreeSync Monitors work with G-Sync and FreeSync, both.
Currently, there is a bit of a GPU shortage going around, especially with the RTX 30 and Radeon RX 6000 series cards. If you can afford to wait, new-generation GPU restocks should get more frequent in the coming weeks. You should be able to get the best bang for your buck in your quest to build your own PC if you keep an eagle eye on restocks, time your purchase just right, and avoid scalpers.
