About PickGPU

Updated August 31, 2026

PickGPU combines GPU benchmark data with live prices from major retailers and marketplaces, then makes it easier to compare performance, current pricing, and overall value. Top Picks surface the GPUs that deliver the best performance for the money. PickGPU does not sell ranking placement or boost listings for affiliate payouts — rankings are computed from benchmark data, current pricing, filters, and listing-quality checks.

What is PickGPU Score?

PickGPU Score is a customizable 0–100 performance score built from Tom's Hardware raster and ray tracing benchmark data. Older results are normalized onto the current scale using GPUs that appear in both test suites as anchor points, then combined into a weighted composite and rescaled so the top GPU in the dataset equals 100.

The default weights are derived from Steam Hardware Survey's resolution breakdown. Each surveyed resolution is grouped into whichever Tom's Hardware benchmark resolution (1080p Ultra, 1440p Ultra, or 4K Ultra) it's closest to by pixel count.

Raster performance makes up 70% of the score and ray tracing makes up the remaining 30%, split across these resolutions:

• 1080p Ultra — 63%
• 1440p Ultra — 31%
• 4K Ultra — 6%

You can customize these weights from the gear icon on PickGPU Score in the benchmark dropdown, or use the 1080p / 1440p / 4K quick presets, which keep the same 70:30 raster-to-ray-tracing split while concentrating weight on one resolution. If a GPU lacks a benchmark for a particular configuration, that weight is redistributed proportionally among its available metrics.

How are Top Picks selected?

Top Picks rank GPUs by value using a Pareto / efficiency-frontier approach: a card is included only if no better-value card already matches or beats its performance. Top Picks recompute whenever your selected benchmark or filters change.

1. Apply your filters — narrow to the GPUs that match your current filters.
2. Sort GPUs by value — best $/performance first.
3. Walk the list — keep only GPUs whose performance strictly exceeds every better-value card already kept.

Outperformed cards and GPUs missing price or benchmark data are hidden by default on the Top Picks page, but can be shown using a toggle below the filters.

How does PickGPU find and verify prices?

Prices come from Amazon, eBay, Best Buy, and Newegg. Each listing starts with a quality score of 100 and loses points for:

• Missing or mismatched GPU family, model, or variant (e.g. "Ti", "Super", "XT")
• VRAM mismatch between listing title and expected spec
• Multiple GPU families or models mentioned in the same title
• Parts or accessory terms like "fan", "cable", "backplate", or "water block"
• Suspicious terms like "for parts", "not working", "box only", or "mining GPU"
• Low seller reputation where available (currently Amazon < 3.0 stars and eBay seller feedback < 2)
• Unusual pricing, based on median price and median absolute deviation (MAD)

Listings that fall below a score threshold are hidden, and users can report listings that appear incorrect or misleading; once a listing accumulates enough reports from distinct users, it is globally hidden.

How does Tom's Hardware benchmark GPUs?

Tom's Hardware publishes current and legacy benchmark hierarchies across four suites, each using the geometric mean of all tested games for that resolution, with performance based on real in-game FPS rather than synthetic scores.

• Current rasterization — 15 games (AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D testbed)
• Current ray tracing — 4 games (AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D testbed)
• Legacy rasterization — 8 games (Intel Core i9-12900K testbed)
• Legacy ray tracing — 5 games (Intel Core i9-12900K testbed)

PickGPU uses the FPS scores from all four suites to compute PickGPU Score. Full game lists: current hierarchy and legacy hierarchy.