Introduction
Rainbow Six Siege has been around for a long time, but don’t let its age fool you, as it’s still one of the most actively played tactical shooters out there.
Much like any competitive game, Rainbow Six Siege demands high frame rates if you don’t want any sort of disadvantage. The good news is that Siege is one of the easier games to run in terms of GPU demand.
The bad news is that “easy to run” can still mean very different things depending on your resolution, settings, and how seriously you play. So, here are the best GPUs for Rainbow Six Siege across all budgets.
What makes a GPU good for Rainbow Six Siege?
Rainbow Six Siege is extremely CPU-bound. This means your GPU is rarely the limiting factor, especially at 1080p with optimized settings. Most modern cards will push well past 400 frames at 1080p without much effort. However, the GPU still plays an important role if you are gaming at 1440p or 4K, or if you want to maintain a comfortable frame rate above your monitor’s refresh rate without any drops or stutters during intense firefights.
For competitive play, you should target at least 400+ frames per second on a 360Hz monitor, and 300+ on a 240Hz setup. For resolution, 1080p remains the most common choice among competitive and pro players. However, if you are planning to play at 1440p or 4K, then you need to get a card that runs those resolutions at the FPS we mentioned. Generally, look for a GPU that can consistently output 40-50 frames above your monitor’s refresh rate at the resolution you want.
Since Siege is so CPU-dependent, pairing your GPU with a fast, modern processor is arguably more important here than in most other games. An Intel Core i7/i9 from the 13th gen or newer, or an AMD Ryzen 7000/9000 series chip, is highly recommended. Without a capable CPU, you risk bottlenecking even the weakest card on this list. All of the FPS estimates in this guide assume you have a capable CPU like the ones mentioned above.
| Rank |
|
Perc. |
| 1 |
NVIDIA
|
100% |
| 2 |
AMD
|
0% |
NVIDIA Reflex
The reason that professional players prefer a higher frame rate over eye candy (you can see this in the way they usually turn down their video settings) is because a high refresh rate offers a much smoother experience and because a higher refresh rate equals a lower system latency.
When they released the 30 series of cards, NVIDIA also released their Reflex Low Latency Technology. This allows you to measure system latency as well as reduce it, as long as the game you’re playing supports it. Rainbow Six is one such game. If you’ve got compatible hardware you can drastically reduce your overall system latency (the Reflex SDK dynamically reduces the game’s render queue by keeping the CPU in perfect sync with the GPU, which reduces pressure on the CPU and GPU, leading to lower overall latency) and measure your latency in case something is going wrong somewhere. This is especially handy for competitive gamers who want their system latency to be as low as possible at all times.
If you want to you can read more about it here.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti
The RTX 5070 Ti is our top pick for Rainbow Six Siege. It delivers outstanding performance across all resolutions, and for a game as CPU-bound as Siege, it is more than enough to push competitive frames even at 4K. We are starting with this card rather than the RTX 5080 or 5090 because those cards are outright overkill for Siege.
At 1080p on competitive settings, the card averages around 500 FPS. Moving to 1440p with competitive settings, the card comfortably sits at 450 FPS on average, making it an easy pick for anyone rocking a 360Hz 1440p monitor. At 4K with competitive settings, you are looking at 250 FPS; you can easily get into the competitive range just by turning on DLSS.
The only reason to look beyond the RTX 5070 Ti is if you play a lot of graphically demanding AAA titles and want extra headroom there. For Siege specifically, this card is the sweet spot for price and performance, especially for those running ultra-competitive setups with a 360Hz monitor.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti
The RTX 5070 Ti is a high-tier card in NVIDIA’s 50 series line of cards.
Specs
| NVIDIA CUDA Cores |
8960 |
| Boost Clock |
2.452 |
| Memory Size |
16 GB |
| Memory Type |
GDDR7 |
AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT
The RX 9070 XT is AMD’s answer to the RTX 5070 Ti, and in Siege, the two cards trade blows very closely. The main trade-off of going with AMD is giving up NVIDIA Reflex, which Siege natively supports and which helps reduce system latency. AMD’s Anti-Lag+ does a similar job, but Reflex’s deeper game integration gives it an edge.
On raw performance, the card holds up very well. At 1080p with competitive settings, it averages around 460 FPS. At 1440p on the same settings, you can expect 360 FPS, which is still excellent for high-refresh-rate setups. At 4K, the numbers settle at around 200 FPS, which you can increase by utilizing FSR or dropping the render scale.
If you want to maximize performance-per-dollar and don’t mind giving up Reflex, the RX 9070 XT is a compelling choice. It’s priced below the RTX 5070 Ti while only being slightly behind in performance. You can saturate a 360Hz monitor at 1080p or even 1440p with FSR, and it’s even better for 240Hz 1440p setups.
AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT
The Radeon RX 9070 XT is a high-end GPU produced by AMD.
Specs
| Boost Clock |
2.97 |
| Memory Size |
16 GB |
| Memory Type |
GDDR6 |
AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT
The RX 9060 XT is one of the best value cards you can buy for Rainbow Six Siege. The 16 GB VRAM is a standout feature at this price point, giving it an edge in graphically heavy AAA titles. For Siege itself, the card delivers impressive competitive frame rates at both 1080p and 1440p without breaking a sweat.
At 1080p with Low settings, the card easily averages 420 FPS. At 1440p on the same settings, you can expect around 270 FPS, which makes it a great match for 240Hz 1440p setups. By dropping the Render Scale or using FSR, you can push closer to the 360 FPS mark even at 1440p. At 4K, the numbers drop to 150 FPS on competitive settings, so 4K is not really where this card belongs, but it can handle it for casual play.
The 16 GB VRAM is a big advantage over competing cards in this tier, and outside of Siege, the RX 9060 XT handles modern AAA titles at 1440p with optimized settings very impressively for the price. If budget is your priority, this is one of your best options in this entire list.
AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT
The Radeon RX 9060 XT is a lower-tier card in AMD’s lineup.
Specs
| Boost Clock |
3.130 |
| Memory Size |
16 GB |
| Memory Type |
GDDR6 |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti
The RTX 5060 Ti is the most affordable NVIDIA card on this list and a solid entry point for competitive Siege. It handles 1080p effortlessly and performs decently at 1440p as well.
Now, the RTX 5060Ti is neck-and-neck in performance with the RX 9060XT in Rainbow Six, and since the RX 9060XT is cheaper, it’s technically the better value option. The only reason you should go for RTX 5060Ti is for the NVIDIA-specific features. The RTX 5060Ti is better at Ray Tracing, has NVIDIA Reflex, and DLSS is better than FSR. So, while the performance in PUBG is the same, these features might be useful in other games you play. Here is what you can expect in terms of performance in PUBG.
At 1080p with competitive settings, the card averages around 380 FPS. At 1440p on the same settings, you can expect 330 FPS, which is competitive for 240Hz setups. At 4K, performance drops off to 150 FPS on Low settings, which is to be expected.
The RTX 5060 Ti is the right pick if you are primarily a 1080p competitive player and want to stay in the NVIDIA ecosystem with access to Reflex and DLSS.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti
The 5060 Ti is a low-tier card in NVIDIA 50-series line of cards.
Specs
| NVIDIA CUDA Cores |
4608 |
| Boost Clock |
2.572 |
| Memory Size |
16 GB |
| Memory Type |
GDDR7 |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060
The RTX 5060 is for those looking to build a 1080p competitive setup. It’s the cheapest card on this list, and it can run Rainbow Six Siege with ease on 1080p, and even 1440p with DLSS and optimized settings. The only caveat is the limited 8GB VRAM, which might not be a problem in Rainbow Six Siege on 1080p, but if you play any AAA game at high settings, it might struggle. With that said, it’s one of the best budget cards to get if all you play is competitive games like CS2, VALORANT, Overwatch, and of course, Rainbow Six Siege.
The card runs the game easily at 1080p as expected. At competitive settings, you can easily achieve 340 FPS, and just by opting for DLSS Balanced, you can get that number up to 380. This makes it perfect for 1080p 240Hz setups. At 1440p, there is an expected drop in performance as the card averages around 240 FPS. Lastly, at 4K, the average fps you can expect is about 150. Again, you can squeeze out a lot of performance just by using DLSS.
Is the RTX 5060 the best GPU for Rainbow Six Siege? No, but is it the best budget card for 1080p competitive gaming? Yes.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060
The RTX 5060 is a budget-oriented card in NVIDIA’s 50-series line of cards.
Specs
| NVIDIA CUDA Cores |
3840 |
| Boost Clock |
3.497 |
| Memory Size |
8 GB |
| Memory Type |
GDDR7 |
Conclusion
Rainbow Six Siege is one of the most well-optimized competitive shooters available, and the reality is that you don’t need to spend a fortune to run it at high frames. Any card on this list will give you a strong competitive experience, and the choice mostly comes down to your resolution, target refresh rate, and budget.
