Graphics cards are only getting more expensive, but there are still a handful of excellent budget GPUs you can pick up today. As the generation nears its end and we await the arrival of RTX 50-series and RDNA 4 graphics cards, we've seen GPU prices drop on last-gen options like the RTX 4060 and RX 7600, which are some of the best budget graphics cards you can buy.
For the purposes of this guide, we're defining a budget graphics card as anything that costs less than $300. In the context of a full PC build, that should mean the overall price you're spending on a PC is between $600 and $700. If you have a bit more money to spare, make sure to read our full roundup of the best graphics cards, which has a few more expensive options.
Although the RTX 4060 loses some points compared to AMD's cheaper RX 7600, it's become much more attractive over the past several months. You'll still find most models for the $300 list price, but some have dropped below that mark. And when on sale, the RTX 4060 is a steal, offering not only solid raw performance, but also features like Nvidia's coveted DLSS 3.5.
Those features are where the RTX 4060 truly shines. In Cyberpunk 2077 with the Ultra RT preset, the card just barely makes it past 30 fps. Turn on DLSS 3, however, and you'll get well over 90 fps, all with the ray tracing sliders tuned to the max. That's unheard of for a $300 graphics card, and it's all enabled by Nvidia's next-gen feature set.
Raw performance isn't bad, either, though there are better options around the same price if you aren't concerned about ray tracing and DLSS 3. Overall, the card falls just short of last-gen's RTX 3060 Ti, though it manages to outpace the Arc A770. And, if you factor in ray tracing performance, it's actually faster than the AMD RX 7600.
The AMD RX 7600 was destined for failure, but a quick pricing adjustment days before releasing has transformed it into the go-to budget graphics card this year. You can find it between $250 and $280, and there isn't another current-gen GPU targeting that price. And compared to last-gen options, the RX 7600 is much faster.
It's most comfortable at 1080p, where you'll soar past 60 frames per second (fps) in demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077 with maxed-out settings. It can crack 100 fps in a lot of titles, too, such as Horizon Zero Dawn and Assassin's Creed Valhalla without lowering any of the graphics settings.
Compared to the competition, the RX 7600 manages to match Intel's Arc A770 overall, and that GPU still costs $300 to $350. It also ends up around 13% faster than last-gen's RX 6600 XT and RTX 3060, both of which sell for around the same price. Most importantly, the RX 7600 beats Nvidia's $300 RTX 4060 outside of ray tracing, which is its most direct competition.
Intel's Arc GPUs had a rough start, but they're a surprisingly good value a year after launching, assuming you don't mind dealing with a few quirks. The Arc A750 wasn't much of a GPU when it released, but it has quickly become a go-to budget graphics card after Intel cut the price. Now, you can find it between $220 and $240, and that's a price range that AMD and Nvidia don't have a current-gen offering in.
You're getting performance about on-par with an RTX 3060, just for slightly cheaper. It's a 1080p graphics card that can hit 60 fps in the most demanding games with all of the settings cranked up, but you should expect lower performance in titles with ray tracing. This is a card that's just hitting 60 fps at 1080p Ultra, while cards like the RTX 4060 and RX 7600 can comfortably shoot past that mark.
It's a great value, especially if you can pick up a card for around $220. You should keep in mind some of the issues with Intel GPUs, though. The drivers continue to improve with each new release, but there are still games that occasionally pop up that inexplicably won't work on the cards. Intel is usually fast to issue a patch, but it's something to keep in mind.
AMD's last-gen RX 6750 XT isn't a budget graphics card. It's sure priced like one, though. The previously midrange card is now available for around $310 to $330. That's above what we set as a "budget" graphics card, but the RX 6700 XT is well worth stretching your budget for.
The RX 6750 XT is priced like a budget graphics card, but it doesn't perform like one. It gets close to the performance of the $400 RTX 4060 Ti, and it sometimes even beats that card. In Assassin's Creed Valhalla and Forza Horizon 5, the RX 6700 XT is faster, hitting 120 fps and 150 fps at 1080p, respectively.
As is the case with all AMD cards, the main trade-off is ray tracing performance. The RX 6750 XT is often slower than even the Arc A750 when ray tracing is brought into the mix, and it doesn't have access to Nvidia features like DLSS 3.5. However, for PC gamers look for the best bang for their buck, there's no deal like the RX 6750 XT right now.
If you're on a strict budget, you don't have a lot of options for GPUs in 2023. The main GPUs are Nvidia's RTX 3050 and AMD's last-gen RX 6500 XT, both of which have major issues. Thankfully, Intel has the Arc A580 at $180. It's not a showstopping GPU, but it's faster than both the RTX 3050 and RX 6500 XT, nearing the performance of AMD's RX 6600.
While the most of the GPUs on this are 1080p Ultra picks, this is more of a 1080p High pick. You'll get above 60 fps in games like Forza Horizon 5, but you'll need to bump down some settings in games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart to get smooth performance. That's a reasonable trade-off considering how inexpensive this GPU is, though.
Once again, the only caveat is Intel's driver support. Some titles, such as Starfield, don't play nicely with Arc GPUs at launch, and the A580 is no exception. It's a solid card at a great price, but you may need to deal with some strange performance occasionally.
The Arc A770 is a solid graphics card, but it's often beat by the RTX 4060 and RX 7600, and it still costs between $300 and $350. It's not a bad graphics card, but it would need to drop to around $250 to be a really good deal in 2024. Intel Arc A770 Review
The RX 7700 XT was certainly not a budget graphics card when it launched for $550. However, it's seen several price drops over the past year, and it now sells for around $400. That's out of the price range for this guide, but if you can save up a bit, it's a great offering at $400 -- or even less on sale. AMD RX 7800 XT Review
The RTX 3070 is very difficult to find in stock, but there are still some retailers with listings around $350. And if you shop the secondhand market, you can find it as low as $260. It's a very solid graphics card for that price, though the 8GB VRAM capability could cause some issues in modern games above 1080p.
If you're shopping on a budget, AMD graphics cards usually provide the best bang for your buck. Nvidia's latest GPUs come packed with extra features that warrant a price premium, and although those are worth the extra cost, AMD's cards come out on top for value when it comes to raw performance.
Intel has also made a name for itself with the Arc A750 and A770, which remain two very impressive GPUs considering their price. However, we're still waiting on next-gen Intel graphics cards to see what they can offer to gamers on a budget.
Despite solid pricing, there are some budget graphics cards you should avoid. The most prominent one is the RTX 3060. Although it was a great GPU for its time, Nvidia's last-gen option hasn't really dropped in price. You'll still find it for around $250 to $300, despite the fact that both the RX 7600 and RTX 4060 offer much better performance at the same price.
There's also the extreme budget tier of GPUs -- graphics cards that cost around $100 to $150 like the RTX 3050 and Intel Arc A380. It's best to avoid these GPUs if you can. Spending up for a $200 or $250 graphics card will unlock much higher performance, so it's worth saving up a bit more for a card like the RX 7600 if you can.
You can find graphics cards for as cheap as $50 on websites like Newegg, but the cheapest modern option is the Intel Arc A380 at around $110. Considering the price, it's actually a fairly impressive offering, but it's still much weaker than an RTX 3050. You should only consider the Arc A380 if you plan on playing lightweight games like Rocket League or Minecraft at 1080p.
Most budget graphics cards fall between $100 and $300, but the sweet spot for trying to get the most performance for your dollar is around $250 to $300. That's where we find cards like the RX 7600, RTX 4060, and Arc A770, all of which deliver a fantastic value when comparing their price to their performance.
Once you start going below $200, GPUs often deliver far lower performance than their price would suggest, similar to how expensive graphics cards show diminishing returns on performance. If you're trying to get a GPU that will last you a long time, spending between $200 and $300 is your best bet.
Jacob Roach is the lead reporter for PC hardware at Digital Trends. In addition to covering the latest PC components, from graphics cards to processors to PC cases, Jacob also writes the ReSpec column and newsletter that covers the intersection of PC hardware and gaming. If it's something you can plug into a gaming PC, there's a good chance Jacob has used it.
Although Jacob is interested in just about anything in or around a PC, he's currently reporting on graphics cards, PC game optimization, and gaming monitors. At Digital Trends, he's dug deep on the untold origins of the Steam Deck, uncovered the truth behind poor PC port optimization, and broke the story on Microsoft's Bing Chat going off the rails.
Before joining Digital Trends, Jacob contributed to Business Insider, Forbes, and PC Invasion, among various other outlets. Jacob has been a guest on TWiT and NBC, and his work has been cited in Fox News, Futurism, and Business Insider.
As if tinkering with the latest PC hardware wasn't enough, Jacob spends most of his free time living the PC gamer life he writes about so frequently. That includes playing the latest games, but also poking around on his PC to see what he can break, just to see how it works. When he gets a moment to step outside and "touch grass," Jacob enjoys tabletop games, wandering the shops of St. Louis, and forcing his lazy Corgi onto walks.
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