Best Graphics Card for Streaming in 2026: Top 3 GPUs for Streaming and Gaming (NVENC, AV1)

The RTX 5070 Ti is the sweet spot of the Blackwell lineup for streamers. It packs two ninth-generation NVENC encoders (the RTX 5070 has one) and 16 GB of GDDR7 on a 256-bit bus, according to Nvidia’s official spec sheet. Two encoders give you headroom to stream and record locally at the same time, or to send several quality levels with Twitch Enhanced Broadcasting.

• Ninth-gen NVENC: Nvidia quotes about 5% better AV1 and HEVC efficiency than the RTX 40 generation, and up to 15% with the new AV1 Ultra High Quality mode (Blackwell white paper).
• 4:2:2 H.264 and HEVC encoding, handy if you also edit your videos and VODs.
• 16 GB of VRAM: room for the game, OBS, overlays and an open browser.
• Full ecosystem: DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation to keep frame rates high in game, and Nvidia Broadcast for your mic and webcam.

According to Tom’s Hardware, the RTX 5070 Ti is the best high-end card right now, but its street price sits well above MSRP for about 5% more baseline performance than an RX 9070 XT. Check your power supply too (16-pin connector, 300 W for the card according to Nvidia) with our guide on which PSU for an RTX 5070 Ti.

Streamers who game at 1440p, target 2K on Twitch or AV1 on YouTube, and want to record at the same time. For the right processor, see our guide to the best CPU for an RTX 5070 or 5070 Ti.

For years the encoder was the Radeon weak spot for streaming. With RDNA 4, AMD re-architected its encoder: H.264 quality, the codec Twitch uses at 1080p, improves clearly, AV1 gains B-frames and AMD claims about 11% better HEVC quality (Neowin). The RX 9070 XT pairs that encoder with 16 GB of GDDR6 and gaming performance close to the RTX 5070 Ti.

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• AV1 quality very close to Nvidia and Intel at the same bitrate in the encoding test published on Chiphell.
• Supports Twitch Enhanced Broadcasting, like Radeon cards since the RX 6000 series (VideoCardz).
• 16 GB of VRAM and a much lower price than the RTX 5070 Ti according to Tom’s Hardware.
• In OBS, the AMD encoder supports pre-analysis and, on Windows 11, content adaptive machine learning that improves H.264 (AMD).

In the same Chiphell test, at the maximum quality preset, the RX 9070 XT’s AV1 encoder is about four times slower than one NVENC encoder: about 107 frames per second at 1080p (plenty for a 60 fps live stream), but about 27 frames per second at 4K. For 4K live streams or heavy video exports, Nvidia keeps the edge. In games, Tom’s Hardware finds FSR 4 adoption less consistent than DLSS.

Gamers who want the most frames per second for their budget and stream at 1080p. Our RX 9070 XT page covers its gaming performance in detail.

The Arc B580 is still the most affordable current card for AV1 streaming. According to Intel’s spec sheet, it has two multi-format codec engines that encode H.264, HEVC and AV1, with 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus. That is more memory than most 8 GB cards in the same segment.

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• Two media engines: an H.264 stream for Twitch and an AV1 recording at the same time, without touching the CPU.
• 10-bit 4:2:2 and 4:4:4 HEVC encoding, rare at this level.
• 12 GB of VRAM for 1080p gaming with OBS open.
• A good fit for a dedicated streaming PC that only encodes.

Intel has reportedly cancelled its upcoming Arc Celestial gaming cards according to Tom’s Hardware (see our article on Intel and the future of Arc GPUs), but the B580 still gets drivers: the latest release is dated October 2, 2026 on Intel’s support page. One user reported encoding stutter when the GPU runs at 100%, fixed by turning off hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling (HAGS) in Windows (Intel forum). Its PCIe 4.0 x8 link is also less comfortable on an older PCIe 3.0 motherboard.

Streamers starting out at 1080p, or anyone building a second PC just for encoding. For the whole Intel lineup, see our Intel Arc graphics card guide.

The best encoder is useless if the platform does not accept the codec. Here is what the platforms document as of October 2026:

• Twitch: H.264 (AVC) up to 1080p, with bitrates raised to 7.5 Mbps, and HEVC for 2K (1440p) streaming up to 9 Mbps, for Partners and Affiliates through Enhanced Broadcasting (Twitch blog, June 2026). AV1 is not offered for live streams.
• YouTube: H.264, HEVC and AV1 over RTMP/RTMPS. At 1440p 60 fps, YouTube recommends about 24 Mbps in AV1 or HEVC versus 34 Mbps in H.264 (YouTube Help).
• Twitch Dual Format: streaming horizontal and vertical at the same time needs several encodes. Two encoders, as on the RTX 5070 Ti or the Arc B580, give you headroom.

• GeForce RTX 5070: one ninth-gen NVENC encoder and 12 GB of GDDR7. Ideal for a single 1080p or 1440p stream, less comfortable for streaming and recording in high quality at the same time.
• GeForce RTX 5080 and 5090: two and three NVENC encoders according to Nvidia, for 4K gaming and heavy video editing. Our RTX 5080 vs 5070 Ti page helps you decide.
• Older card: an RTX 40 card still has a very good NVENC (AV1 since the 40 series). No need to upgrade if it handles your games.

For a broader gaming-focused ranking, see our guide to the best graphics card in 2026.

• Encoder: pick the hardware encoder (NVENC, AMD or QuickSync) rather than x264 to free up the CPU.
• Twitch 1080p: H.264 in CBR, 60 fps if your connection allows. Twitch 2K: enable Enhanced Broadcasting and let Twitch configure HEVC.
• YouTube: AV1 or HEVC if your card supports it, for better image quality at the same bitrate.
• Keyframes: every 2 seconds, as YouTube recommends.

No. NVENC is still the benchmark for speed and encoder count, but AMD’s RDNA 4 encoder and Intel’s Arc engines deliver close quality at the same bitrate. The right choice depends mostly on your platform and budget.

Not right now: Twitch uses H.264 up to 1080p and HEVC for 2K. AV1 is useful on YouTube and for local recordings.

12 GB is a good minimum in 2026 if you game at 1080p with OBS open, 16 GB for 1440p and demanding new games.

• You want the best card to stream and game at 1440p: RTX 5070 Ti.
• You want the most FPS for your budget and stream at 1080p: RX 9070 XT.
• You are starting out or building a dedicated streaming PC: Arc B580.

Graphics card prices are moving a lot right now: compare live offers below before you buy.

Sources: Nvidia, Nvidia Blackwell white paper, Nvidia RTX 5080, AMD, Neowin, Chiphell, Intel, Twitch, YouTube, Tom’s Hardware.