Modern consoles and PCs are more similar than they are distinct. The Sony PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X both have AMD SoCs that use its Zen 2 and RDNA CPU and GPU architectures, albeit with custom specs. Console-exclusive games are also the exception now, with many Xbox and PS5 titles coming to PC sooner or later.

With that in mind, then, it might be appealing to skip the console wars entirely and game on a PC instead. But that comes with its own caveats, such as having to choose the right hardware — especially if you want a gaming experience that’s better than what the Xbox Series X can offer. One of the most crucial parts is, arguably, getting the right graphics card.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a direct equivalent to the Series X’s GPU in the PC space. We do, however, we have the next best thing: the Nvidia RTX 5060. While we acknowledge that the RTX 5060 is a product that most gamers should avoid, it is also the bare-minimum current-gen card for what Digital Foundry considers “better than console performance.” So, we’ll take a two-pronged approach, focusing on cards that can outgun the RTX 5060 while also drawing comparisons to Xbox Series X performance.

The Nvidia RTX 5060 may capable enough to outperform modern-day consoles, but the mainstream Nvidia card’s paltry 8GB of VRAM isn’t really enough for modern gaming, especially if you want to keep using your graphics card for the long term. Thus, a card like the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT, specifically its 16GB variants, is the minimum we recommend for gamers looking for something they can use for a few years.

Digital Foundry was very keen on the 9060 XT, with the 16GB variant outclassing the Nvidia RTX 5060 and trading blows with the Nvidia RTX 5060 Ti in titles like “Alan Wake 2,” “Black Myth: Wukong,” and “Forza Horizon 5” at 1080p and with the games on the highest graphics settings. You’re getting a solid 50-60 FPS experience in the first two, at full HD, which is already in the ballpark of the Series X’s 60 FPS Performance Mode in “Alan Wake 2.” The difference, though, is that the 9060 XT is hitting those numbers without any of the Series X’s graphical quality cutbacks. Thus, some settings tweaks or upscaling should let you sail past the Series X on the RX 9060 XT, at least at 1080p output.

1440p performance is also decent, although you will need to scale back settings more or rely on performance-oriented upscaling modes to get Xbox-beating performance. Thankfully, FSR 4 is now comparable to DLSS 4 at 1080p and 1440p, so using AMD’s Balanced or Performance upscaling modes should be much less of a problem than it used to be.

Nvidia’s RTX 5060 Ti is not without controversy. The main issue here is that Nvidia shipped 8- and 16 GB versions of the graphics card, and the reduced VRAM allocation on the cheaper card resulted in significant performance differences on higher graphical settings and above 1080p resolution.

That said, the 8 GB isn’t entirely pointless if you only want Xbox-like performance. PC Gamer, for example, found that the 5060 Ti 8 GB will happily run “Black Myth Wukong” and “Cyberpunk 2077” at around 80 to 90 FPS at 1440p with DLSS Quality mode upscaling. That should be enough to offer a smoother, prettier experience than the console. However, we think the 16 GB is the safer choice, budget allowing.

In TechSpot’s testing, the RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB managed to average 60 FPS or more at 1440p and maxed-out settings (ray tracing excluded) in titles like “Star Wars Jedi: Survivor,” “A Plague Tale: Requiem,” and “Cyberpunk 2077,” besting what the Xbox can offer framerate-wise. “A Plague Tale: Requiem,” for example, has to drop its internal resolution to 1080p (upscaled to 4K) and make many graphical cutbacks to hit 60 FPS on the Xbox Series X. TechSpot found that the RTX 5060 Ti will do about 30 FPS at native 4K with max settings, but upscaling and tweaking settings should be able to get you to 60 FPS. If you have a 1440p monitor instead, then high-refresh-rate gaming beyond what the Xbox can offer should be well within the card’s capabilities.

The RTX 5070, part of the Nvidia RTX 5000-series, is not necessarily universally loved, sandwiched as it is between the RTX 5070 Ti and the RTX 5060 Ti. However, at the time of writing, some variants of the RTX 5070 only command a $70 premium over certain versions of the RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB, and the performance gap between the two may be worth the extra money to you. There is a caveat, but we’ll get to that later.

Digital Foundry’s review of the RTX 5060 Ti shows the gap quite well. In “Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2,” for example, the RTX 5070 manages to produce 15 FPS more than the RTX 5060 Ti at native 1440p and highest settings in the outlet’s benchmark run. The pricier card manages a 60 FPS average, dipping down to the 35 to 40 FPS range at worst. With some tweaks and upscaling, you shouldn’t have problems doubling the Xbox’s locked 30 FPS.

4K gaming is an option with the RTX 5070, too, and TechPowerUp managed average framerates in the 40 to 50 FPS range in titles like “Alan Wake 2” and “Dragon Age: The Veilguard.” This gives you two options: lock to 30 FPS for an experience similar to Xbox’s Quality Mode but with better graphics and native 4K resolution, or enable upscaling — and perhaps even frame generation — to hit 4K and 60 FPS or better. There is, however, one problem: the VRAM. The RTX 5070 only has 12 GB of memory, which is less future-proof than the 16 GB of the RTX 5060 Ti and AMD’s RX 9070.

The current generation of graphics cards, as of April 2026, has arguably marked AMD’s return to relevancy, and it’s all down to products like the RX 9070 (and its bigger brother, the 9070 XT). At launch, the RX 9070 offered slightly better performance than Nvidia’s RTX 5070 at the same MSRP. Prices have climbed since then, of course, with both cards generally costing $600 or more, but AMD still has an edge.

Tom’s Hardware loved the RX 9070 when it launched, celebrating AMD’s improvements to ray tracing and AI prowess. Even without those, though, the RX 9070 offered great performance. The card managed a solid 27.9 FPS average in “Black Myth: Wukong” at 4K and max settings, climbing to 48.2 FPS at 1440p — well within the range of settings tweaks and upscaling to best the Xbox Series X experience, which runs at the usual 30 and 60 FPS in Quality and Performance modes, respectively. The console doesn’t run the game maxed out anyway, so we won’t stick to max settings on PC, either.

Other native 4K results are promising, too: The outlet recorded a solid 39 FPS average in “S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2,” while other games like “Dragon Age: The Veilguard” and “Flight Simulator 2024” averaged 55 and 47 FPS, respectively. While the numbers might seem just fine, they actually give you plenty of options. You can limit the framerate to get a solid 30 or 40 FPS at native 4K, or upscale and drop some settings to hit 60 FPS or better at 4K.

Spending over $1,000 on a graphics card is probably out of the reach of many, but if you want a brute force option that’ll always outperform the Series X and match that expensive computer monitor you just bought, the Nvidia RTX 5080 might be just the ticket. No, it’s not the best value per money, but it’s hard to argue against the RTX 5080 being one of the best gaming GPUs for those with money to burn.

TechPowerUp took a Founders Edition RTX 5080 for a spin when it launched back in early 2025, and the numbers make for some impressive reading. Even at 4K with maxed-out settings, the RTX 5080 averaged north of 60 FPS in big-ticket AAA games like “Alan Wake 2,” “Cyberpunk 2077,” and “Starfield,” all without upscaling. For context, the Xbox versions of the first two use FSR to upscale to 4K from much lower internal resolutions, and runs at 30 FPS to boot. This means you’re able to match the output resolution of most Series X games running in Quality Mode without upscaling, at maximum non-RT settings, and, crucially, at double the framerate.

The “Cyberpunk 2077” 30 FPS, 4K mode also enables ray tracing on Xbox Series X, but that’s still not a problem for the RTX 5080. TechPowerUp managed a 35.4 FPS average with ray tracing enabled on the RTX 5080, which should hit a decent 30 FPS lock with some minor tweaks. That said, the card’s upscaled performance in other demanding titles indicates that you should be able to get it to run at 60 FPS or more, even with ray tracing, by enabling DLSS or frame-gen, or both.