Just when you thought it couldn't get worse....it gets worse.
Okay, so you know how it is, Im gonna use PCpartpicker and list the prices of the most recommended GPUs by price, focusing primarily on more budget segments I'm more sympathetic toward.
GT 1030- $105
Okay so this came back down, for a while this was up to $125, which is insane given it's basically my old HD 5850 from 2010 except with 2 GB VRAM. Seriously, this card launched for $80 10 years ago. The 1050 which was priced at $110 at the time cost as much as this. The 1050 ti was $140. And again, this was 10 whole years ago. Imagine wanting $100 for like an 8600 GT in 2017. I mean...to be fair, that's not far off from the GT 710 being $96, or the 9500 GT for $120, so yeah, the market really IS that crap...
Maxsun RX 580- $140 (chinese) (4x 1030)
This one doesn't show up on PC part picker, but times are so desperate I'd actually legit consider this one. Sure there are cheaper ones at $120, but they're even sketchier chinese brands and mostly refurbs and old mining cards of questionable quality. Maxsun is actually new and while the brand is chinese, and from what I can tell they're basically selling 570s with a bios upgrade, uh....have you seen the market lately? Yeah, if I had to buy a cheap GPU, I'd seriously be considering this. Buyer beware, there is some level of sketch here, it's really the fact that the market is so awful that I'm including this one.
Arc A380- $160 (3x 1030)
Yeah, even the Arc cards are going up now. The 570/580 IS a little faster than this, and AMD has better drivers, but again...the 580 I recommended above is kinda sketchy. You could get this instead and it would be more reputable. Arc cards are iffy on drivers and their compatibility is iffy on the kinds of older systems that would use budget cards like this. Still, again, it's basically the best that's available. That's how bad the market is.
Arc A750- $210 (7x 1030)
A much stronger card for $50 more. That's...what happens at the bottom of the market. You spend a little more you get far more value than if you spent less. Kinda "the more you buy the more you save" but for real. Again, it's intel. So....unreliable drivers, not the best for older systems, but hey, it's a relatively decent card on paper for not a ton of money. Again, I surfed through ewaste to find these, there isnt anything better. I did see R9 290xs and GTX 1050 tis at this price point though, but that's basically Arc 380/RX 580 tier performance.
RTX 3050 6 GB- $245 (4x 1030)
"What happened to the 3050 8 GB?" It's like $350 now, that's what. Which is...awful. Absolutely awful. Still, the 6 GB exists. And that's bad because it lacks the 8 GB VRAM needed for modern titles, but this card still will do in a pinch I guess. Just be aware it might not run ALL games. The A750 is actually better, but again...intel just has those issues where I cant just say "buy an intel." It sucks.
RTX 2060 6 GB- $274 (6x 1030)
Better than the 3050 by a rather significant margin. Another upsell. Getting closer to A750 performance, but again, 6 GB VRAM is a limitation. I would consider all these GPUs up to this point below the minimum specs for modern games.
Well, ok, the A750 technically hits them, but then the drivers suck on older ones. Especially on old systems that dont have rebar. Bleh.
Arc B570- $290 (8x 1030)
Not much stronger than the A750, but should be included regardless. Has 10 GB VRAM and is a newer series. Still, doesnt bring much to the table honestly. Still Arc. Still flawed.
Arc B580- $330 (9x 1030)
Another marginal increase, but this one has 12 GB VRAM
RX 7600- $340 (8x 1030)
So, this is my official go to recommendation. You want something that is, IMO: 1) new enough to have RT and modern features, 2) AMD or intel, 3) 8 GB VRAM, and 4) At least 6x GT 1030 if you want a comfortable gaming experience. The 3050 8 GB kinda squeaks by, only running below the 6x the 1030 mark, but it's not by much and you can basically make it work, you know? But this is the first one that actually meets ALL specifications. If you wanna put up with Arc, that A750 is a good bet, and you can probably make do with like the 2060 if you're willing to risk issues on some VRAM intensive games. But yeah, as far as something that I say actually clears ALL the bars, having good compatibility with almost every game out there, this is your card. And this is about where my own RX 6650 XT is performance wise too. It's solid. Feeling a little dated, but more akin to using a RX 580 or GTX 1060 in 2020-2021 or something. Like, it works, it gets the job done, but it's not great. Such a card should NEVER be worth $340. Maybe $125-150ish if I were being honest, but yeah, again, this is how insane the modern market is.
RTX 5050- $390 (9x 1030)
Not really worth it over the 7600 for $50 more. But hey, yeah, that's where this is at. Pathetic, isn't it?
RTX 5060- $430 (11x 1030)
I mean, worth it over the 5050 at least if you're gonna spend this much...
9070 GRE- $550 (15x 1030)
So, I skipped over some choices. You have the 9060 XT 8 GB for $460, the 5060 ti 8 GB for $500, and the 9060 XT for 16 GB, but you should probably skip all 3 of those and just grab this. Sure, it only has 12 GB VRAM, but is probably far more worth it in terms of power than say, the 16 GB 9060 XT. Seriously, Im offering too many choices here.
Anyway, I dont even consider above $300 "budget" any more, let alone $500-600, so let's simplify the recommendations here.
Arc A750- $210
It's a solid card that tends to offer far more performance than a lot of cards above and below it. in terms of value. Seriously, its like the lower end card exist to upsell you to this. it's only real flaw is being intel which means spotty driver compatibility with old games, and old systems. It's okay, but yeah, it's cheap for a reason.
RX 7600- $340
The first real "no compromise" modern gaming experience card. Way overpriced for what it's worth, for the record I bought a 6650 XT 4 years ago that's comparable for this, and it is showing its age, but this is kinda the minimum experience if you want something that both runs new games and has broad compatibility with older games and equipment.
RX 9070 GRE- $550
While the 9060 XT 16 GB is kinda the new "minimum card" for a FUTUREPROOF experience, I'd still rather buy this despite the lower VRAM because it's only $30 more.
And of course:
RX 9070 XT- $815
If you're rich but not like "I wanna throw money away" kind of rich, buy this one.
And yeah, that's the market. I never planned on writing these regularly, but the market is what it is, and the prices are changing so much that articles I should be writing once a year or once every two years are suddenly requiring constant updates and revision because these things are going up constantly. I cant wait for this AI bubble to pop.
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