When choosing a graphics card to play with we have to take many things into account not to make a wrong decision, but without a doubt the most important thing is Screen resolution that we will use. This is important because resolution is the basis of every game. It represents the total number of pixels we will see and therefore determines the sharpness of the image.
For a moment, think of a monitor with a native resolution of 2,560 x 1,440 pixels. If we accompany it with a graphics card that offers a good experience with resolutions of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels, we will be neglected and may have to reduce the image quality considerably. The reason is very simple higher resolution more pixels on the screen and more workload for the graphics card.
If you continue with the previous example, the numbers are not lying. If we play in 1440p, the graphics card has to move 3,686,400 pixelswhile in 1080p this number falls on 2,073,600 pixels. As we can see in the first, almost twice as many pixels are used as in the second, a very simple but effective comparison to understand why resolution is so important.
A higher resolution means a higher image quality due to the sharpness and definition due to the larger number of pixels. However, we have to reconcile this value with the image quality. This is not a trivial problem since a game is set to 1440p with low quality offers a lower overall result what we will have if we configure it in 1080p and high quality. The difference can be huge, especially since aspects such as textures and low-quality shadows usually appear with one aspect. lackluster, "dirty" and blurry.
In the end, it's all a matter of balance, and choosing a graphics card to play with is no exception. We already talked about it when we released our guide dedicated to the 1080p graphics card. Today we're going to focus on doing the same thing but playing 1440p. a widespread resolution because it offers good value in terms of image quality, performance, and cost of the hardware needed to enjoy it.
As in this guide, we will operate on three different levels: Minimum, recommended and optimalaccording to the patterns we saw then:
- Minimum: We will be able to play in high quality at 1440p and maintain more than 40 FPS in almost all cases.
- Recommended: It will allow us to play very high quality with 60 stable FPS in 1440p in most cases.
- Optimal: We will be able to play all current games in 1440p with maximum quality and total fluidity.
It is important to remember that our PC must have at least one processor in order to have a good experience Core i7 4770 or Ryzen 5 1500X (four cores and eight threads) and 8 GB RAMIn the latter case, however, it would be ideal to have 12 GB to avoid microstuttering in games that consume more than 8 GB.
Which graphics card to choose: previous considerations
Before I start, I want to clarify a few important things. The first is that we will limit ourselves to the selection new modelsThat means we will not consider the used market. The reason is simple: I prefer to leave this topic to design independent articles instead of bringing everything together here and running the risk of confusing our readers.
Secondly, I remind you of that Every game is a worldTherefore, no existing graphics card today offers completely uniform performance in different games. For example, a particular graphics card can easily move a well-optimized 1440p title, but more demanding ones can cause serious problems. For this reason, we decided to weigh this reality and we selected each graphics card with consideration Your average performanceand evaluates performance in both the best and worst scenarios.
We chose this approach because the last thing we want is to optimize and recommend a model that is feasible in 1440p, but not in all cases. This forces us to use slightly more expensive graphics cards, but in return we can play with bigger guarantees and we will enjoy a longer lifespan.
Before you start, let me remind you that we are choosing every graphics card that we have given Priority for good value for moneyIn other words, we have not limited ourselves to choosing the most powerful solutions, but rather those that offer better value for money.
What graphics card do I need to play in 1440p: minimum level
Thanks to the fierce war that NVIDIA and AMD have waged in recent years, it is possible to find powerful and affordable graphics cards that we can play with at 1440p without having to break the piggy bank«. We have a lot of options that might fit quite well at the minimum level, but surely the one that offers the most value is the one Radeon RX 580 8 GB.
This XFX model is available from 169.90 eurosA very good price for everything it offers. With the Radeon RX 580 8 GB we can enjoy most current games in 1440p and high or very high qualities with good flowability. As mentioned in the previous section, performance varies significantly depending on the game. With this model, however, we can be sure that at no point do we have to unduly decrease the quality to get a good experience.
In some titles more sophisticated and less optimizedAs with Control and Red Dead Redemption 2, we need to adjust the graphics quality on a medium to high level, but overall we will have a good experience. Thanks to the 8 GB graphics memory, we can easily configure the quality of the textures in each current title at the maximum level.
RX 580 8 GB technical data
- Polaris 20 graphics core.
- 2,304 shaders.
- GPU at 1,257 MHz – 1,386 MHz.
- 144 texturing units.
- 32 grid units.
- 256-bit bus.
- 8 GB GDDR5 effective at 8 GHz.
- 185 watts TDP. Requires an 8-pin connector. We need a 27A and 500 watt source.
NVIDIA alternative: The closest one is a 6GB GTX 1060, but its price-performance ratio is lower as it is more expensive and increasingly difficult to find.
What graphics card do I need to play 1440p: recommended level
If we have a higher budget and want to play 1440p with guarantees, even for titles with poor optimization or high demand, AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT It is without a doubt the best option.
It represents a significant leap in performance over the 8 GB Radeon RX 580 because it has an average performance of 46% more than that. Thanks to this, it can move almost any current game in 1440p maximum quality and stable average values of 60 FPS, with the exception of very specific cases such as RAGE 2 with around 55 FPS and other poorly optimized titles such as Control and Red Dead Redemption 2.
At the moment we can get it for 349.94 euros, an excellent price that makes it the best cost-performance option in their range.
RX 5700 XT Technical data
- Vega 10 graphics core.
- 2,560 shaders.
- GPU with 1.605 MHz base frequency, 1.755 MHz game mode and 1.905 MHz in turbo mode.
- 160 units of texturing.
- 64 grid units.
- 256-bit bus.
- 8 GB GDDR6 at 14 GHz.
- 225 watts TDP. Requires two power connectors, a 6-pin and an 8-pin, and a 600-watt 34A source.
NVIDIA alternative: the next one is that RTX 2060 Super, A graphics card that also offers a fairly good price-performance ratio, although it is somewhat more expensive (from € 369.95) and performs between 4% and 8% less than the RX 5700 XT.
Which graphics card do I need to play in 1440p: optimal level
Certain graphical adjustments result in a significant drop in performance poor optimization Some titles show that not even a Radeon RX 5700 XT can offer 60 fully stable FPS with maximum quality and a resolution of 1440p in all current games.
It is obvious to say that when the arrival of the new generation of consoles scheduled for the end of this year takes place, This reality will worsen. The games will be increasingly demanding and we will need a more powerful configuration to play with guarantees.
If you want to move all current games in 1440p with maximum quality and absolute flowability, no exceptionsand to be prepared for the transition that marks the next generation of consoles you need RTX 2080 Super. It does an average of 25% more than the RX 5700 XT and, in contrast, can maintain 60 stable FPS in games like Red Dead Redemption 2 and Control with maximum qualities. We can buy it from 689.95 euros.
RTX 2080 Super Technical Data
- TU104 graphics core.
- 3,072 shaders.
- GPU at 1,650 MHz – 1,815 MHz.
- 192 texturing units.
- 64 grid units.
- 48 RT cores.
- 384 tensor cores.
- 256-bit bus.
- 8 GB GDDR6 effective at 15.5 GHz.
- 250 watt TDP. We need an 8-pin and a 6-pin connector as well as a 600 watt 35 A source.
AMD alternative: There is currently no alternative.
Endnotes: the virtue of the intermediate points
We can find very different graphics solutions with very different budgets in 1440p. Each offers a clearly differentiated value and it allows us to configure the graphical adjustments at a particular level while maintaining a fluidity that varies depending on the requirements of each title.
I know someone will think it is an exaggeration to mention an RTX 2080 Super that can be played in 1440p, but it is the only graphics card that, at the time of writing, actually contains every current game in this resolution with all settings can move to maximum and hold 60 FPS and that is exactly the goal of the "optimal" level in which it is framed.
In many cases there is a significant drop in performance when we switch from the very high graphics quality to the "Ultra" or maximum level it is rarely justifiedand the same thing happens sometimes when switching from high to very high settings. By that I mean that it is rarely really necessary to configure a game in maximum quality to really enjoy it, and with one Mix of high and very high settings We will achieve a much better balance in terms of image quality and performance.
Of the three models for which we have given the graphics card with the best price-performance ratio for 1440p, it undoubtedly has it. Radeon RX 5700 XTit should be so Your main optionunless you have a very limited budget.
