Graphics card prices have been steadily going up in the past few generations of products. If you don’t have $600 to $1000 to spend on a high-end GPU, the best budget graphics cards can offer a good combination of performance and price, as long as you set realistic expectations.
Tip: is money no object? Our graphics card buyer’s guide covers the best all-around GPUs.
AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT
AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT
AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 16GB
Intel Arc A580
Our Criteria
Choosing the best budget GPUs can be tough, as there are too many options on the market in the $100 to $500 price segment. But, keeping the following factors in mind when shortlisting the best picks can certainly help.
Price-to-Performance
More than the absolute price, what matters more in the budget segment is price-to-performance. The frame rate you’re getting per dollar is what makes or breaks the purchase decision in a scenario where every dollar counts. Our pick for the best budget graphics card will inevitably be the one excelling on this parameter.
Performance-per-Watt
High power consumption produces a lot of heat, causing your GPU to exceed a good GPU temperature. A hotter card requires better cooling hardware and can negatively affect your overall PC budget, power bills, and the life of the card.
VRAM
VRAM or video RAM is an essential factor when choosing any graphics card. But it becomes all the more important in the budget segment, as you’ll often find manufacturers skimping on VRAM on lower-priced models. Running out of available VRAM can hurt your gaming performance in the form of stutters, blurred textures, GPU artifacting, and application crashes.
Software Features
Modern gaming is reliant on upscaling and other AI features to render playable frames at high settings and resolutions. Nvidia’s DLSS, AMD’s FSR, and Intel’s XeSS technologies can all boost framerates in games, but the quality and consistency can vary between them. Ray tracing performance, support for productivity apps, available encoding formats, and depth of the software suite can all be important.
Compatibility
A graphics card upgrade doesn’t always happen in isolation. You may end up with a card that needs more power than your existing power supply can provide. Or, your card may not physically fit inside your case. You could also need an adapter cable to connect your graphics card to your PSU.
Good to know: just bought a new GPU? Learn how to stress test it with Furmark.
Best Budget Graphics Cards Buying Guide
While the definition of “budget” graphics cards has evolved since the early 2000s (when the first modern GPUs started coming out), the price range – relative to the latest and greatest GPUs of the time – has stayed mostly consistent. On average, budget graphics cards usually cost around a quarter of the price of flagship products.
For instance, the ATI Radeon HD 5450 was a relatively affordable GPU launched in the year 2000, costing around $100-$120. And the fastest graphics card at that time, the Nvidia GeForce 2 Ultra, cost $499. Similarly, today’s budget graphics cards can cap out at $500, which is roughly a quarter of the current price of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090, at approximately $2,000.
Besides the price of budget graphics cards, what’s changed is that the industry has gradually started moving away from this segment, focusing on providing the most value in the higher-priced SKUs. But, for price-conscious buyers, the budget segment still has some worthy options, provided you’re playing at 1080p high settings or 1440p medium settings.
Tip: need to extract more juice out of your GPU? Try overclocking your graphics card with MSI Afterburner.
1. Best Overall Pick: AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT
AMD is the value champion when it comes to graphics cards, and the Radeon RX 6750 is no different. It might belong to the last-gen RDNA 2.0 architecture, but the performance it offers at its current price is phenomenal. For reference, it is almost 20 percent faster than the RTX 4060 for the same price (~$300) and comes with 50 percent more VRAM. You can expect excellent 1080p Ultra and 1440p High settings gaming from this GPU, even with ray tracing enabled in many titles.
AMD’s upscaling tech has come a long way, and some users claim it’s almost indistinguishable from that of Nvidia. The power consumption of the 6750 XT is on the higher end, so you’ll need to check whether your PSU is up to snuff. Otherwise, the card can fit in any mid-tower case.
Tip: worried about high GPU power consumption? Learn how to undervolt your GPU to save power.
2. Best Overall Value: AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT
Another AMD entry on the list, the Radeon RX 6650 XT, rightly deserves the value spot, as it packs some solid performance for just over $200. At this price point, it’s hard to expect much these days, but the 6650 XT delivers impressive results at both 1080p Ultra settings and 1440p High settings. If you can live without ray tracing or path tracing, this card is easily the best budget graphics card for you.
For context, the RX 6650 XT performs on par with the RTX 4060, which costs almost $100 more. Sure, the ray tracing performance will be lower than that on competing Nvidia cards, but it’s no slouch when it comes to 60+ and even 100+ FPS gaming at both 1080p and 1440p resolutions. The power consumption is not that worrisome here, but it’s still higher than the competition.
FYI: facing performance issues or outdated drivers? Learn how to update AMD graphics drivers in Windows.
3. Best Premium: AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT
Moving into the premium budget territory ($500), the Radeon RX 7800 XT stands unchallenged. Promising phenomenal 1080p, as well as 1440p performance at Ultra settings, you can even try 4K with this beast. It’s in the same league as the RTX 4070 Super, while costing around $100 less. It also includes 16GB of VRAM, compared to the 4070 Super’s 12GB, which will prove highly useful at 1440p and 4K.
The slightly higher power consumption compared to the competition is less of an issue here. Also, being an RDNA 3.0 card, you get the latest hardware and software features from AMD, promising lasting use for years. The triple-slot variants of the 7800 XT are still compact enough for the majority of the systems.
FYI: does it come in white? Check out the best white graphics cards for your all-white gaming PC.
4. Best for Ray Tracing: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 16GB
If you want to experience ray tracing effects in the latest titles but still want to keep the investment relatively lower, the RTX 4060 Ti 16GB should be the best budget graphics card option. While the 4060 Ti is far behind our premium pick in performance, you’re also saving a fair bit of money. You can expect 80+ FPS at 1080p and near-60 FPS at 1440p in ray tracing titles.
Thanks to the Ada Lovelace architecture of the RTX 4000 series cards, you get the full benefits of Frame Generation to boost your framerates to new heights. The 16GB VRAM at this price is a boon from Nvidia, considering their track record. And for ray tracing effects, you’ll really need that bigger framebuffer. You also don’t need to worry about the power efficiency and the size of the card.
Good to know: the PlayStation 5 boasts some powerful hardware. Find out which GPUs match or outperform the PS5.
5. Best Entry-Level: Intel Arc A580
Dipping below the $200 mark, we head into the entry-level graphics cards territory. Here, the Intel Arc A580 is perhaps the only sensible option. This 8GB graphics card is one of Intel’s first attempts at re-entering the discrete desktop graphics market. And for the price, Intel really delivers with the A580. It offers more than enough performance at 1080p and an impressive showing at 1440p.
The power consumption is higher than what it should be for this level of performance, though. But, for around $150, the Arc A580 offers an extremely affordable entry into modern gaming.
Good to know: need to know more about Intel GPUs? Find out if an Intel Arc GPU is good for gaming.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best budget graphics card for 4K gaming?
4K gaming is highly GPU-intensive and needs not only a powerful graphics card but also sufficient VRAM. The Radeon RX 6750 XT is one of the cheapest graphics cards that can handle 4K 60+ FPS gaming to a decent extent, provided you run your games at low to medium settings. You can also look at the Radeon RX 7600 XT if you need more VRAM for some extra future-proofing at 4K.
Why are budget graphics cards so expensive?
Over time, several factors have contributed to budget graphics cards becoming more expensive. Manufacturers have realized consumers are willing to pay higher prices and have started charging more. Plus, their focus on providing value-for-money cards has shifted from the budget to the premium segment.
What is the cheapest RTX graphics card?
Currently, the RTX 3050 is the lowest graphics card in Nvidia’s RTX lineup. Costing less than $200, it’s the cheapest desktop RTX graphics card gamers can buy, but it doesn’t justify its price. There are far better options from both AMD and Intel that are faster and cost less than the RTX 3050.
Image credit: Unsplash.
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