GPU Hierarchy: A Comparison of Graphics Cards Benchmarks
Gaming performance lists are pretty cool, right? Look anywhere on the internet and you’re going to see “Top 10 Best Graphics Cards,” “5 Best Gaming PCs,” and everything in between ranked and ready to be studied.
When it comes to PC gaming, one of the most well-known lists in the community is the GPU hierarchy, which many different groups take a crack at each year.
That’s where you’ll find GPUs in the Nvidia RTX Series, the Nvidia GTX Series, the AMD RX series, and the AMD Titan Series battling for the top spot.
Some tier lists are more useful than others, though. You might wonder whether a GPU hierarchy is even needed. Don’t the costs and age naturally keep things in order? Does the most expensive GPU on Amazon or Newegg always have the best specs?
While there are a few exceptions, that’s generally true. However, there are some practical benefits to categorizing GPUs to help you narrow your decision and make your next GPU choice a whole lot easier.
Today, WTFast is talking you through our GPU hierarchy for this year to help you easily navigate the complex market for this essential gaming component.
Whether you’re looking to play the latest AAA single-player titles with the biggest graphical demands or looking for a budget card to play Fortnite with your friends, there’s something here for you.
Sit back, relax, and read on for all you need to know about GPUs in 2022.
Do We Even Need a GPU Hierarchy?
It wasn’t that long ago that your options in terms of graphics were relatively limited. In a few short years, however, modern GPUs and the graphics quality of the games we play have exploded.
Now, you could easily look through 30, 40, or even 50+ different graphics cards before settling on the one for you, depending on what sort of criteria you’re considering.
With so many options, it’s helpful to have a clear hierarchy. Of course, price and age tend to correlate pretty strongly with these kinds of lists – that is to say, the newer and more expensive cards are usually more powerful.
Still, being more powerful doesn’t always make a GPU the best option for every gamer.
Where hierarchy classifications are truly helpful is when you’re trying to narrow down your field. You don’t need to be digging through 10 or 15 different GPUs when you know what “tier” is best for you already. This way, you can focus on the handful of options that are relevant to you.
A hierarchy is especially useful in today’s market, where the GPU shortage has made this decision more difficult than ever before. It’s harder to be picky, true – but with higher prices, being picky is also much more important.
While things might change in terms of cost and value once the GPU shortage dies down, the rankings we’re talking about today should remain consistent. We’re focusing on the raw capabilities of each GPU, as opposed to overall value.
Establishing Our Criteria
Before we start handing out rankings, we’re going to need some established criteria.
There are a surprising number of different outcomes you could get with such a hierarchy depending on how you judge GPUs. Some lists might go by raw power as shown through benchmark tests, others by value for money.
Our hierarchy is going to lean towards a balance and focus on the needs each card meets. Primarily, we’re looking at:
Resolution and frame rate
Overall experience
As you progress to the lower tiers, you’ll find the focus shifting from maxed-out graphics focused on immersion and (usually) single-player games to a balanced mid-range for those who want some quality on a budget. Finally, we’ve got the most pragmatic cards in terms of budget and refresh rate, ideal for multiplayer gaming on a budget and esports practice.
Essentially, we’re looking for the middle ground between hard numbers and your actual playing experience.
Maybe there’s a 5% difference in benchmark tests between two cards, but would you actually notice that? With this hierarchy, we’re aiming to show clear differences between how you use each GPU in the real world and what kind of experience you get.
It’s important to note that we’re not going to include every graphics card out there in this list. We’re including what we feel are a handful of the best in each tier, but covering every single graphics card is beyond our scope today.
Bear in mind this list is also strictly with gaming in mind, not including professional and creative uses such as 3D rendering and AI development.
S Tier
The S tier is for truly luxurious gaming. These cards are the newest and most expensive, but they may not even be worth the cost increase for most gamers.
Nonetheless, if money is no object and you want the highest capacity for the best graphics, these cards should be your go-to.
Let’s look at the best cards in this tier:
Nvidia Geforce RTX 3090
AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT
Nvidia Geforce RTX 3080
Nvidia Geforce RTX 3080 Ti
The defining feature of the S tier is gaming at 4K with high framerates (at least 60 FPS). Gaming at 1440p (a more common resolution for most games and gamers) at very high frame rates (AKA, 100+) is also a staple.
Ray tracing is something else that’s important to consider, but it tends to throw these rankings through a bit of a loop. While both AMD and Nvidia have support for ray tracing, only Nvidia’s RTX cards (thanks to DLSS 2.0) can really keep up with it at high resolution.
So, if you want to play at 4K with 60 frames per second and ray tracing turned on, Nvidia’s RTX 3090 or 3080 are pretty much your only options.
Even for the most dedicated gamer, the first two entries in the S tier are widely considered overkill. The extra power offered by the RX 6900 and RTX 3090 are mostly useful for professional and creative purposes outside gaming, while gamers would struggle to truly take advantage of even a fraction of the power on offer.
The Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti is the best option at this tier for most gamers. Even then, it’s a rather costly tier relative to your return on investment.
A Tier
Most gamers — especially in today’s tough GPU market — will be best served with an A tier GPU. These cards can run 4K games but aren’t likely to exceed 60 FPS. Of course, that’s with ray tracing turned off, and usually with settings a little below max.
You’re going to get excellent frames per second with these cards at any other resolution. For most gamers, this is going to hit the sweet spot.
Here are the best entries for the A tier:
AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT
Nvidia Geforce RTX 3070 Ti
Nvidia Geforce RTX 3070
AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT
Nvidia Geforce RTX 2080 Ti
Nvidia Geforce GTX 1080 Ti
Perhaps the best value for money at this tier is AMD’s RX 6800 XT, packing excellent performance into one of the lower prices in this tier.
Of course, AMD’s list price really doesn’t mean anything in today’s market, so the actual cost could change at any moment.
There are other cards that could fit in this tier, but none of them offer better value in terms of performance for price compared to the ones above.
B Tier
In this third tier, every card offers solid performance at 1440p and 1080p with moderate to high graphics settings. These are generally more budget-friendly options than those in the above tiers, but don’t let that fool you into thinking you’re getting something “cheap” or low quality.
Nvidia Geforce RTX 2080 Super
AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT
AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT
Nvidia Geforce RTX 2060
Nvidia Geforce GTX 1070 Ti
Consider this the best economy tier if you’re on a tighter budget but still want to experience today’s most demanding games with decent graphical output and performance.
Other than the GTX 1070 Ti, every card we’ve included at this tier includes ray tracing capability. Still, you’ll probably need to turn some settings down for high FPS while playing with that feature enabled.
C Tier
Cards in Tier C are by no means bad, but they do have their limits. These are good options for those on tight budgets or who aren’t concerned with playing at high settings (like people only interested in multiplayer competitive gaming).
Ray tracing is no longer an option at this tier, and you’d be hard-pressed to pull off 1440p — but 1080p gaming can thrive. Here are the best C Tier options:
Nvidia Geforce GTX 1660 Ti
Nvidia Geforce GTX 1660 Super
Nvidia Geforce 1070
AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT 8GB
D Tier
Lastly, D Tier cards are what we can safely call “budget” cards. They definitely have their time and place, and they’re a great option for a secondary machine. If you just need a card to hold you over until one from the above tiers hits a lower price or if you’re only concerned with gaming at lower settings anyway, these will do just fine.
Nvidia Geforce GTX 1650
Nvidia Geforce GTX 1050 ti
Nvidia Geforce GTX 1050
Conclusion
You could spend days diving deep into the most technical aspects of each card, but our general hierarchy should help you quickly identify which cards to focus on based on your needs.
Whatever GPU you choose, remember that graphics aren’t the only area you should improve if you’re looking for an optimized gaming experience.
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For all things gaming and graphics, keep coming back to our WTFast blog!
Sources:
A Chronological History of the Catastrophic GPU Shortage | Spider GL
2022 GPU Benchmark and Graphics Card Comparison Chart | GPUCheck
