As prices increase for PC hardware across generations, the recent wave ofhigher-priced GPUsreplaces their more pocket-friendly last-generation alternatives with similar monikers. This sees gamers and enthusiasts looking at a redefined budget gaming GPU market with higher price tags as goalposts move higher across the board.
While both Nvidia andAMD are focusing more on the expensive sideof the spectrum, there are plenty of GPUs in the price range of $100-$500, which suffices for the requirements of most gamers. The high popularity and good availability of the previous-generation cards allow users to go cheaper without compromising much on pure raster performance.
GIGABYTE Radeon RX 7700 XT GAMING OC 12G
Gigabyte Radeon RX 6600 Eagle 8G Graphics Card
That being said, the newer GPUs come with better support for newer tech – including DLSS and FSR from Nvidia and AMD, respectively – making them a second consideration for users going for an upgrade from older generations or starting afresh with a new PC build. Other older-generation GPUs – including the RX 6700XT, which continues to age well and has received multiple price cuts – also rank highly because of their impressive price-to-performance ratio for gamers.
How To: Picking The Best Budget GPUs For Gaming
While modern GPUs are used for a plethora of tasks, they tend to be chosen by gamers based on their raw gaming performance versus their potential productivity gains. This means that a lot of workstation-grade GPUs are generally overlooked for their more game-centric counterparts due to a mix of the following reasons:
AI Sharpening Tech: As modern GPUs come closer to hitting the limits of what silicon can do in more ways than one, Nvidia, AMD, and to a lesser degree, Intel have come up with their own AI sharpening tech that uses methods such as deep learning and dedicated hardware to deliver next-generation performance on current generation performance. These are not to be mistaken with basic upscaling tech such as checkerboarding, however, with techniques such as Frame Generation and Temporal Anti Aliasing (TAA) in play that ensure in most cases both, a higher frame rate and a better quality than a GPU is capable of without such techniques being employed.
Power Supply Compatibility: When selecting a GPU for gaming, users should check whether it is compatible with the available power supply unit. While at it, they should know the power consumption recommendations for the GPU. For example, AMD GPUs utilize TBD (total board power), while Nvidia GPUs use TGP (real graphics power). Besides paying attention to these two power supply unit types, users should check for enough wattage for future expansion.
Price-To-Performance Ratio: When it comes to budget GPUs in a market teaming with options, even as price-conscious consumers look to score a bargain against rising costs of GPUs, users need to measure value for money and price on a case-by-case basis even as product nomenclature grows increasingly incorrect as a means to measure performance tiers in 2024.
Case in point: The RTX 3080 (with an MSRP of $700) is effectively replaced by the RTX 4070 Ti ($799 MSRP), the RTX 4080, which commands an MSRP of $1200. This can lead to confusion for end users who have previously not seen price brackets move so aggressively in previous generations.
Gaming Graphics Resolution: Users should start by choosing a GPU with the proper gaming resolution. At the very least, the graphics card should be capable of delivering 1080p resolution. However, users should opt for a GPU with 1440p resolution for more explicit in-game graphics. Luckily, most budget GPUs for gaming fall within these two categories. At the highest end, gamers may opt for graphics cards with 4K resolution.
VRAM On Offer: As modern games grow into more demanding, monolithic entities, their VRAM requirements often outstrip their performance requirement gains generation on generation. Where GPUs with 4GB or 6GB of VRAM would suffice, most games require at least 8GB of GPU RAM on tap, even at lower resolutions.
This can be an issue with otherwise powerful GPUs with companies like Nvidia being particularly restrictive when it comes to VRAM offerings at the lower end of the pricing spectrum (with the RTX 3060 12GB an outlier). AMD and Intel also do, to a lesser degree suffer from similar issues, and users should anticipate buying a GPU with adequate memory for their target resolutions for games in 2024 and beyond.
VRAM or video random access memory temporarily stores data on graphics and makes them accessible in the short term. Ideally, a budget GPU should have 4GB RAM at the very least. A high VRAM enables the efficient rendering of high-resolution 3D graphics, videos, and images. Some games can only perform optimally at 12GB of RAM or more. So, it also depends on the type of games users intend to play.
Game Rant’s Picks for the Best Budget GPUs for Gaming in 2024
XFX Speedster SWFT309 Radeon RX 6700 XT CORE
AMD’s Radeon RX 6700 XT stands as one of the best value budget GPUs even in 2024, surpassing even the latest-gen RX 7600 XT GPU. The card is excellent for maxing out games at 1080p resolution and is even ready to play most games at 1440p. With a powerful memory configuration, it is capable of delivering consistent performance in the latest titles. The XFX SWFT309 edition brings a triple fan design that keeps it cooler in longer operation and is a dual slot card.
The ASRock Challenger D Radeon RX 6700 XT is arguably the best budget gaming GPU so far in 2024. It offers decent rasterization performance that sits between the RTX 4060 and 4060 Ti, more VRAM at 12GB, and decent cooling that also runs quieter than some of its peers. When tested against the RX 7600 XT, the RX 6700 XT wins quite convincingly while being around the same cost.
It targets 2K resolutionsand currently continues to make inroads on newer titles, offering performance gains on certain AMD-centric titles such asCall of Duty: Warzone,among others. With plenty of power under the hood for its price point, in addition to a 33% increase in VRAM versus the competition, the 6700 XT makes for an excellent bargain for gamers on a budget.
Gamers and enthusiasts alike can overlook the slight performance dips that the RX 6700 XT encounters when dealing with Ray Traced content, a common theme in AMD’s 6000 series GPUs, given its outstanding value at its current price point. At just $330 for what is arguably the best value-for-money budget GPU, the ASRock Challenger D Radeon RX 6700 XT holds its own as a GPU that has aged considerably better than its competition in 2024.
ASUS Dual GeForce RTX™ 4060 OC Edition 8GB
The ASUS Dual RTX 4060 GPU offers a higher boost clock than many of its peers while offering a compact, 2.5-slot GPU that can easily fit in most cases. Powered by a single 8-pin connector with a thermal design power (TDP) of 115W, it offers more efficiency than its predecessor but has no RGB lighting whatsoever in a bid to match Nvidia’s MSRP for the Founder’s Edition.
The ASUS DualGeForce RTX 4060OC Edition 8GB is an excellent entry-level Ada Lovelace-based GPU that offers superior DLSS 3 performance versus its predecessor, the RTX 3060. However, it does sacrifice some VRAM in the process, dialing down to 8GB of available memory out of the box. It also offers a similar rasterization performance as its last-generation counterpart, the RTX 3060.
At the same time, it does offer more efficient gaming and better performance in titles that support Ray Tracing with DLSS 3 under the hood. While it isn’t a great upgrade for users coming from an RTX 3060, it does make for a viable new GPU upgrade for others coming in from older GPUs while wanting to reap the benefits of the newer RTX 4000 GPU lineup’s offerings.
ASUS Dual Radeon RX 7600 XT OC
ASUS Dual Radeon RX 7600 XT OC brings a dual Axial-fan tech design to provide ample cooling for its board. The RX 7600 XT boasts 16GB of memory, providing a decent upgrade over the RX 7600 and RTX 4060 for modern titles. With a dual BIOS switch on the GPU, users can switch between Silent and Performance modes with ease.
Even after launching the RX 7600 for a lower price than the RTX 4060, the AMD card didn’t receive the love AMD expected from the gaming community. The reason is quite obvious: with little to no significant gains over the RTX 4060, and drastically poor performance with ray tracing turned on, the RTX 4060 appears to be a reasonably better choice for $30 more. The 8GB VRAM of the RX 7600 particularly made the case worse, but this is where the RX 7600 XT shines.
Not only does it provide twice the memory size of the RX 7600 and the RTX 4060, but it is noticeably faster than both for a mere sub-$350 price tag. It does get outperformed by the RTX 4060 Ti, but the latter is also $50-$150 more expensive, depending on the edition users are looking at. The 16GB RTX 4060 Ti is far more expensive than the 7600 XT and makes no sense at all, considering that the 7800 XT is out there for the same price. The RX 7600 XT, on the other hand, is fairly powerful for 1080p and 1440p gaming, and brings plenty of VRAM for future-proofing the build. By using one of the latest budget ormid-range CPUs for the RX 7600 XT, achieving 60+ fps is going to be a walk in the park.
ASRock Intel Arc A380
ASRock Intel Arc A380 is a low-profile GPU that takes very little space inside the chassis but boasts an effective cooling solution, packed with two small fans. The ARC A380 is an entry-level GPU aimed at providing a satisfactory gaming experience on medium settings. Its sub-$150 price tag allows users to build a gaming build costing $300-$500.
Unfortunately, in 2024, it’s almost impossible to find a $100 GPU. With AMD and Nvidia focusing on the mid-range and higher-end tiers, the entry-level price range has been abandoned for a while. With Intel’s entry into the GPU market, the budget category feels alive once again and the company is not just focused on the $200 and $300 price tags, but also seems keen to offer entry-level offerings such as the Arc A380, which costs slightly over $100. Thelong-lived budget GPU king, the GTX 1650 from the Turing series, can be seen selling for over $150 most of the time, but the A380 consistently sells at around $120-$140.
The card does match the GTX 1650 in quite a number of games, but loses by a noticeable 10-20% margin overall. The ARC A380 is based on Intel’s first Alchemist architecture and brings 6GB GDDR6 video memory on a 96-bit bus. Therefore, the GPU is ideal for 1080p gaming on medium settings, where it delivers 40+ fps in most titles. Users shouldn’t expect too much from it, as the card suits less intensive titles, particularly esports games the most.
XFX Speedster SWFT319 Radeon RX 6800 Core
XFX Speedster SWFT319 RX 6800 Core is a reasonable mid-end offering from the RDNA 2 lineup that still holds up in 2024. With its fair pricing and excellent performance at 1440p resolution, the RX 6800 is an even better choice than some of today’s budget GPUs. This particular edition provides up to 2105MHz boost clock, 16GB GDDR6 VRAM, and a triple fan design to run it cooler.
Even with RDNA 3-based AMD GPUs having been in use for more than a year, the RDNA 2 lineup is still alive after all. The prices of RX 6000 GPUs saw heavy discounts soon after the RX 7000 GPUs were launched. The RX 6800, fortunately, got a massive price cut too, going down straight to less than $400 from $579 MSRP. The XFX Speedster RX 6800 Core is currently cheaper than our next entry and is equivalent in performance. At the same time, it brings better specifications, including 4GB more VRAM on a bigger 256-bit bus.
Surely, it lacks the AV1 encoding support, which can be a deal-breaker for streamers, but for regular gamers who want to maximize theirperformance at 1440p resolution, the RX 6800 is hands down unparalleled at the moment. The only reason why it didn’t take GR’s Overall Pick badge is that the RX 6700 XT provides slightly higher value, though the 6800 is definitely a more future-proof choice for enthusiasts.
The GIGABYTE Radeon RX 7700 XT GAMING OC 12G graphics card is a mid-tier offering in the Radeon 7000 series. Based on the Navi 32 platform, the graphics card comes with a boost clock speed of up to 2599 MHz and a game clock speed of up to 2276 MHz. The GIGABYTE Radeon RX 7700 XT GAMING OC 12G comes with a triple-fan cooler design, two 8-pin connectors, two DisplayPort 2.1, and two HDMI 2.1 ports.
With the launch of one of the most disappointing GPUs in the mid-range category, i.e., the RTX 4060 ‘Ti’, there seems to be no $400 GPU other than the Radeon RX 7700 XT when the latest Ada and RDNA 3-based lineup is considered. Even though the RX 7700 XT isn’t priced as low as its bigger sibling, the RX 7800 XT, with the recent launch of higher-end cards by Nvidia, the 7700 XT came down in price slightly to provide a higher value than it did previously.
Compared to the 4060 Ti 16GB edition, which officially costs much more than the 7700 XT, it is not only 10% faster than the former in raster, but is equivalent in ray tracing too. This is enough of a reason to skip the Nvidia card and go for the RX 7700 XT, especially when the latter brings a higher memory interface that helps it out at higher resolutions, such as 1440p. With 12GB of VRAM, it’s capable of handling any modern title with ease at both 1080p and 1440p and serves as a wonderful option for mid-rangegaming builds that cost between $1000and $1500.
Gigabyte Radeon RX 6600 Eagle 8G is the company’s mid-range graphics card from the most popular Radeon RX 6000 series. It is built with the AMD RDNA 2 architecture and provides a 128-bit memory interface with 8 gigabytes of GDDR6 memory. It is installed with Gigabyte’s Windforce 3X cooling solution, which means that it sports three alternate spinning fans for optimal airflow. The GPU supports multiple high-resolution monitors simultaneously with two DisplayPort connectors and two HDMIs.
Users who are looking for the sweet spot in gaming performance, without spending over $200, should go for the Radeon RX 6600. In particular, the Gigabyte Eagle edition, which boasts a Windforce 3X cooling solution, incorporating a triple-fan configuration for maximum heat dissipation. The RX 6600 is still available abundantly at a significantly lower price than what it was at when launched initially. It is the fastest $200 GPU at the moment withgreat 1080p gaming ability, and it also supports Ray Tracing.
Even though Ray Tracing isn’t going to be a pleasurable experience, the rasterization performance is going to blow everyone’s mind at 1080p. With 1792 SPs and video memory of 8GB GDDR6, the card can sustain over 60 fps easily in most titles. Of course, there are exceptions where the 8GB VRAM may succumb, but lowering a few graphical settings will maintain a stable and steady gaming performance. This RDNA 2-based GPU is still among the top-selling GPUs in 2024 due to its excellent price-to-performance ratio.
FAQ
Q: Is an Nvidia or AMD GPU better for gaming in 2024?
Both Nvidia and AMD offer excellent GPUs as part of the RTX 4000 and RX 7000 series of graphics cards in 2024. However, they do tend to be pricier than their last-generation counterparts. Researching which model works best for your needs and budget can help you make an informed choice.
Q: What is the best budget GPU for gaming under $500?
The best budget GPU for gaming at around $500 would be the older but very capable AMD Radeon RX 6800XT. It features excellent rasterization performance, high amounts of available VRAM, and multiple well-priced SKUs in a GPU market that continues to be heavily hit by higher prices for all next-generation GPUs.
