Best budget GPU (April 2023)
Finding the best budget GPU can be a difficult task, as the prices of graphics cards have become ridiculously inflated during recent years, and there are many different makes and types of GPUs to choose from.
While PC gaming is more popular than it's ever been, the entry cost for getting into it is also higher than ever. This means you'll either need to spend a long time saving up, or go for the most efficient budget build possible. Luckily, we've highlighted four of the best budget GPUs that you can buy right now, allowing you to run some of the latest games, without breaking the bank.
So, check out the following list to find the best budget GPU that suits you.
- You may also want to check out the best motherboard for gaming in 2023, so you can grab the best part to go with your GPU.
Best budget GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6600
AMD have long been seen as second best to NVIDIA in the GPU market, resulting in them embracing the budget GPU and allowing people to get into PC gaming at a much cheaper price.
Currently, their Radeon RX 6600 card is one of the most powerful budget cards on the market, giving you great performance for well below $300. With excellent performance at 1080p, low power usage, and 8 GB of VRAM, you can play pretty much everything while still having money left over to actually buy games.
Best budget GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660
Moving on to the main players in the GPU market, we have the best budget GPU by NVIDIA for those aren't picky about ray tracing. The GeForce GTX 1660 performs about 62% worse than the Radeon RX 6600, but it is typically much cheaper.
You'll still get great performance playing the majority of games at 1080p, though for some newer releases you may need to dial it back to 720p or crank the settings right down. Overall, for those looking to get an NVIDIA card, it's one of the best you can get without RTX support.
Best budget GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
On the other hand, if you do want to make use of the swanky new ray tracing features that everyone is going on about, the GeForce GTX 3060 is the best budget GPU for the job.
While it's the most expensive card on this list, you can still find them for well under $400, which is relatively good considering the power and features this thing offers. With 12 GB of VRAM, excellent performance at both 1080p and 1440p, and the DLSS feature that comes with RTX cards, there's a lot to love about the RTX 3060.
Best budget GPU: Intel Arc A750
Our final choice for the best budget GPU is the Intel Arc A750, a brand-new graphics card from the newest player in this market. Intel decided to create GPUs that are more affordable than the rest of the competition without sacrificing the power you need for modern gaming, but there are some caveats.
While it performs faster than the RTX 3060 at a lower price, and contains a whopping 16 GB of VRAM, the biggest issue with Intel GPUs currently is the driver support. This means sometimes the performance can be inconsistent depending on the game, though this issue will likely fade away as they gain more market share and make deals with publishers.
That's all for our selection of the best budget GPUs, and now you know four of the best graphics cards on the market that can be bought at relatively cheap prices.
Make sure to also check out the best budget mechanical keyboard in 2023.