So....another GPU related article. Sorry for my political audiences, but hey, fired up on this subject, and after seeing another topic about how expensive GPUs were, I decided to check amazon, only to be met with tons of listings for VERY cheap GPUs. Like too good to be true cheap. We're talking R7 350 or GT 740 (~0.8x 1030) for $60-80 cheap. We're talking RX 580s (4x 1030) as low as $120 cheap. Why dont these show up on PC part picker? What's going on?
Well, it looks like a lot of these GPUs come from china. Googling them, most of them seem to be refurbished cards from china, or ex mining cards. With that said, many of these listings are very sketchy, and are they worth it? Eh....in this market, MAYBE? I mean, the market is pretty dismal for the sub $200 range. Obviously, if you have the money, just buy like an RX 5050 at $300 or a 9060 XT 8 GB for $360. If you really have money, the 16 GB of the 9060 XT for $470 is probably the best "budget" deal. But since when is $500ish "budget?" I mean, that's the problem with this market, it's insane. And given I dont like to pay more than $300 for a GPU if I dont have to, I believe in cheaper options for gamers. Even if they come with compromises. It's just good to know what the compromises are and what youre getting.
So yeah, should you buy these? Eh...it depends. For the most part, I'm gonna say no. I will make one exception though. ONE of these brands isn't terrible to my knowledge and is a reputable brand partner to Nvidia and other major brands. It just doesnt actually primarily appeal to the US market, but rather, the chinese market. And that's Maxsun. Again, they're chinese, they primarily appeal to chinese consumers. And if you ever wanna do a warranty with these guys youre gonna be sending the card all the way to China, but that might be a risk you gotta take in this economy. The US market for older cards has dried up, and given my current $140ish recommendation is the Arc A380....well.....their 580s for the same price are arguably a better value.
I mean, the RX 580 is one of the most legendary cards of all time. It's on par with the 1060 (4x GT 1030), it has 8 GB VRAM. It doesnt do ray tracing or have modern APIs, but it'll run most games through 2022 or so adequately and will at least start and maybe get 30 FPS in many made after that. It also is probably better with older games and less finnicky with older systems than an arc card would be. I imagine most people buying a 580 in 2026 are also using dated components like early ryzen or maybe some quad core intel 14nm CPU. Not all of those have resizeable bar, for example. So....again, if we wanna whip out old reliable for an old system, this might be the play.
Other than that, I'd probably stick to my go to recommendations. GT 1030 for $100, but this would be a massive step up for $140 (4x the performance) and is not only faster than intel arc, but again, less finnicky with the aging systems that people will probably throw this kind of card into.
In the $200-300 range, you got the RTX 2060 6 GB, I just noticed they're selling those again for $210 from reputable brands like ASUS. Id recommend that over the 3050 6 GB at the same price (4x 1030 vs 6x 1030).
The 3050 8 GB has more VRAM at $260 but is less powerful than that.
And then beyond that it's the 5050 for $300 (my go to recommendation for a decent minimum gaming experience). 7600 is $320, which isnt great.
And again, Arc always has options. A380 for $140, A580 for $200, B570 for $260, and B580 for $310. They sometimes offer more value for the money, but again, spotty driver compatibility with older games and finnicky with older systems.
Idk. I just wanted to throw out a few more options.
Anyway to give you a low down:
R7 350 (sketchy brand)- $60 (0.8x 1030)
GT 740 (sketchy brand)- $80 (0.8x 1030)
GT 1030 (reputable) - $100
Arc A380- $140 (3x 1030)
RX 580 8 GB (semi reputable)- $140 (4x 1030)
Arc A580- $200 (7x 1030)
RTX 2060 6 GB- $210 (6x 1030)
RTX 3050 8 GB- $260 (5x 1030)
Arc B570- $260 (8x 1030)
RTX 5050- $300 (9x 1030)
Arc B580- $310 (9x 1030)
And yeah, that's the market right now. It's not great. The sub $200 options wont run new games). Most sub $300 options have compromises. My go to recommendation would be just get a 5050, if not a 9060 XT (either 8 or 16 GB depending on budget) if you can afford it. I just understand not everyone can, and I want to keep budget gaming open here. ANd yeah.
As always, do your own research, don't blame me if you end up with crap, especially if you do go for like, a sketchy chinese card. I mean, they ARE sketchy for the most part. But yeah. Again, trying to find ways to get affordable GPUs into the hands of gamers who need them, even if they do have compromises....
