The finest budget graphics cards aren’t short on power just because they aren’t expensive. GPUs have been increasingly powerful while decreasing in price in recent years, thanks to continuous turf wars between AMD and Nvidia, ranging from flagship models that turn heads with their performance to budget entries that are surprisingly robust.
While they may not be as powerful as the highest-end graphics cards, the best affordable graphics cards on the market right now carry a lot more punch than you would expect and are more than capable of performing a wide range of visually demanding activities.
Even while most gamers seek the higher-end models, you can obtain great performance for content production or gaming for less than $1,000/£1,000. Of course, what works best for you is determined by your specific requirements.
One of these graphics cards is great if you want to play your favorite PC games but don’t mind decreasing certain settings and just doing a light picture and video editing. Whether you’re looking for an Nvidia GeForce or a Radeon GPU, there’s something on this list to suit your demands and budget.
So, have a look at the finest budget graphics cards 2022 has to offer, and don’t forget to use our price comparison tool to save even more money on the greatest GPU offers.
Radeon RX 5500 XT
One of the best budget graphics cards you can get. Not exactly 1440p gaming but for a tight budget, it is okay. You can’t go wrong with the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT if you want to play 1080p games without spending a fortune. It doesn’t go too far from its comfort zone, and it keeps to delivering excellent 1080p performance, edging out the GeForce GTX 1660 when pricing is taken into account.
The AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT, although capable of 60 frames per second in most AAA games, will struggle to play Metro Exodus on high settings, much alone extreme. However, at this price range, it will be difficult to find a better graphics card for most games.
Radeon RX 5600 XT
With so many low-cost 1080p graphics cards on the market, gamers will have a difficult time finding the ideal card for their systems and budget. In a market inundated with Nvidia products, the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT stands out as one of the greatest low-cost graphics cards on the market, and can even outperform some of the more costly mid-range cards in terms of raw performance.
Still, since it’s an AMD card, it lacks ray tracing, and for a card that costs almost $300 (about £250, AU$470), it’s worth debating if it’s worth spending a little more for the Nvidia GeForce 2060, which does. The AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT is arguably the greatest affordable graphics card you’ll find if you don’t mind not having ray-tracing.
XFX Radeon RX 570
One of the best budget gaming graphics cards. This XFX Radeon RX 570 graphics card is a decent alternative if you have a limited budget and can’t spend more than $150. The RX 570 trails behind both the RX 5500 XT and the RX 580 in terms of performance, but it can still run most games at medium settings on a 1080P display.
This card is the longest choice on the list, reaching 9.6 inches in length. It is, however, still small enough to fit inside the majority of contemporary cases. It also has a basic clock speed of 1264 MHz and 4GB of VRAM. Overall, if you don’t have the funds for an RX 5500XT or RX 580 (or GTX 1650 Super), the RX 570 is the next best choice.
And, as of the time of writing, this XFX card delivers the greatest value for money among the RX 570s presently on the market.
Geforce RTX 3080 ti
Yes, we know it is more expensive, don’t hate us, but this is the best graphics card you can get if your budget is a bit more lose. The Ampere architecture of Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3080 has been updated and upgraded. It’s about 30% quicker than the previous-generation 2080 TI while costing $500 less. Due to its much higher price, the new RTX 3080 TI was unable to dislodge the incumbent.
If you’re serious about maxing out all graphical settings and playing at 4K or 1440p, this is the card to have. Although activating all ray-tracing effects in games that support it is overkill for 1080p gameplay, it does make 1080p playable. If you missed out on the initial batch of RTX GPUs, the RTX 30-series might be your ticket to ray tracing.
The 3080 TI is still our top pick for a fast GPU, and it’s one of the finest graphics cards for gaming laptops at $699 right now. This graphics card packs much power and much VRAM. There are models with 8GB of gddr6 ram and less.
So that is 8GB of VRAM which requires much wattage and which makes it easy for your favorite games to run smoothly and with a solid performance. Another honorable mention here is the RTX 3050 for more MSRP if you are rocking a home theater PC.
Radeon RX 5700
The Radeon RX 5700 is about as good as it gets when it comes to “affordable” AMD graphics cards. You’ll be hard pushed to find a better mid-range graphics card at this price point that can provide 1440p gaming on Ultra or Max settings.
However, certain compromises had to be made for the sake of price – and it’s only just affordable. Because the Radeon RX 5700 lacks ray tracing, budget-conscious gamers will have to wait a bit longer until that functionality finds its way into even the greatest low-cost graphics cards. It also has a DVI port, similar to the Gigabyte Radeon RX 580, but it has less power.
Nonetheless, one of the best GPU deals you can get for your gaming monitor. Not a new graphics card on the market, but go through the review process and see if this fits your needs.
Gigabyte Geforce GTX 1660 OC 6G
One of the best cheap GPUs with Cuda cores you can get to run games efficiently. While Nvidia GeForce graphics cards shine best at the top end, they don’t always provide the same performance-to-price ratio as a great AMD offering.
Fortunately, not every GeForce card is prohibitively expensive, and the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660 OC 6G provides the newest Nvidia Turing architecture to budget-conscious users.
The GeForce GTX 1660 OC is one of the best cheap graphics card options for gamers who want a little bit more from their graphics card without paying a high premium.
With excellent 1080p gaming performance and even some solid 1440p gaming with the right settings, it’s one of the best cheap graphics card options for gamers who want a little bit more from their graphics card without paying a high premium.
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Super
This graphics processor has a lower price, which makes fans excited. The Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Super, which replaces the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 super, is unquestionably one of the greatest low-cost graphics cards on the market right now.
On Middle Earth: Shadow of War on Ultra graphics settings at 1080p, it can get around 80 frames per second, and even 54 frames per second at 1440p. This is astounding given that it costs less than $250 (£200, AU$400). Nvidia GPUs have always delivered good news to fans.
The Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Super does, however, have certain flaws. It still has a DVI port instead of a second HDMI port (or even a USB-C), and although it has a DisplayPort, you won’t be able to connect multiple monitors to it. It also lacks ray-tracing cores, which is understandable considering the graphics card’s price.
Even still, you’ll be hard pushed to find any graphics card for the money that compares to the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Super.
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