Best cheap graphics card deals in July 2023: affordable GPUs for today's top games

Cheap graphics card deals
(Image credit: AMD / Nvidia)

The best cheap graphics card deals will get you the best 1080p and 1440p performance there is for less. As video cards are becoming cheaper and generally easier to find, we're seeing some of the best prices of our favorite models in the US and the UK to date. 

While these cheap graphics card deals primarily focus on the budget side of the scale from AMD and Nvidia, we've done our best to find some suitable mid-range models at rates in line with current market trends. If your sole interest is to play games in 1080p utilizing the latest in AI frame generation technology, then our handpicked selection is sure to suffice. While our offerings here might not match that of the best graphics cards on the market, you'll still be able to get by in the latest games if you're careful with your settings sliders.

Alternatively, you can shop for some of the best cheap gaming PC deals and cheap gaming laptop deals for wallet-friendly rigs ready to go right out of the box. 

Best cheap graphics card deals – US

AISURIX Radeon RX 580 8GB | $159.99 $110.99 at AmazonSave $49

AISURIX Radeon RX 580 8GB | <a href="https://target.georiot.com/Proxy.ashx?tsid=8426&GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Famazon.com%2FAISURIX-Graphic-Express-Desktop-Computer%2Fdp%2FB0BLCRNCX9%2Fref%3Dsr_1_5%3Fkeywords%3Dcheap%2Bgraphics%2Bcard%26qid%3D1681992476%26s%3Delectronics%26sprefix%3Dcheap%2Bgraph%252Celectronics%252C211%26sr%3D1-5%26tag%3Dhawk-future-20%26ascsubtag%3Dhawk-custom-tracking-20" data-link-merchant="Amazon US"" target="_blank">$159.99 $110.99 at Amazon
Save $49 - A cheap way to get a graphics card that will deliver adequate settings for moderate PCs. Ideal for PC players not fussed about next-gen games with the 38% discount making it even sweeter. 

Sapphire Pulse AMD Radeon RX 3500 XT 4GB | $209.99 $146.99 at Best BuySave $63

Sapphire Pulse AMD Radeon RX 3500 XT 4GB | <a href="https://shop-links.co/link?skuId=6502663&publisher_slug=future&exclusive=1&u1=hawk-custom-tracking&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bestbuy.com%2Fsite%2Fsapphire-pulse-amd-radeon-rx-6500-xt-4gb-ddr6-pci-express-4-0-graphics-card-black%2F6502663.p%3FskuId%3D6502663&article_name=hawk-article-name&article_url=hawk-article-url" data-link-merchant="bestbuy.com"" target="_blank">$209.99 $146.99 at Best Buy
Save $63 - Now onto a clearance, this is an extremely cheap option for anyone who's not fussed about playing the absolute latest games. If you pick up games now and then and can get away with the 4GB memory, this could be a great budget option. 

Image

Gigabyte Radeon RX 6500 XT Gaming OC | <a href="https://shop-links.co/link?skuId=6496021&publisher_slug=future&exclusive=1&u1=hawk-custom-tracking&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bestbuy.com%2Fsite%2Fgigabyte-radeon-rx-6500-xt-gaming-oc-4gb-64-bit-gddr6-graphics-card-with-windforce-3x-fans%2F6496021.p%3FskuId%3D6496021&article_name=hawk-article-name&article_url=hawk-article-url" data-link-merchant="bestbuy.com"">$299.99 $249.99 at Best Buy
Save $50 - There's a decent discount off this Gigabyte Radeon RX 6500 XT GPU, taking this once high-end model down to much more affordable pricing. At just under $250, we feel confident recommending this budget RDNA 2 GPU.

PNY RTX 3050 8GB | $329.99$229.99 at Best BuySave $100

PNY RTX 3050 8GB | <a href="https://shop-links.co/link?skuId=6510164&publisher_slug=future&exclusive=1&u1=hawk-custom-tracking&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bestbuy.com%2Fsite%2Fpny-nvidia-geforce-rtx-3050-8gb-gddr6-pci-express-4-0-graphics-card-with-dual-fan-black%2F6510164.p%3FskuId%3D6510164&article_name=hawk-article-name&article_url=hawk-article-url" data-link-merchant="bestbuy.com"" target="_blank">$329.99 $229.99 at Best Buy
Save $100 - A great $100 discount makes this RTX 3050 a decent buy with 8GB of memory to keep your rig happy too. This is the lowest ever price we've seen. 

MSI Mech Radeon RX 6600 XT + The Last of Us Part 1 | $399.99 $260.39 at Newegg
Save $139 -

MSI Mech Radeon RX 6600 XT + The Last of Us Part 1 | <a href="https://click.linksynergy.com/deeplink?id=kXQk6%2AivFEQ&mid=44583&u1=hawk-custom-tracking&murl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newegg.com%2Fmsi-radeon-rx-6600-xt-rx6600xt-mech2x-8goc%2Fp%2FN82E16814137682" data-link-merchant="newegg.com"" target="_blank">$399.99 $260.39 at Newegg
Save $139 - This is a great price on the MSI Mech Radeon RX 6600 XT taking the price down to well under $300. You also get a copy of The Last of Us Part 1 to test the new graphics card out. 

PNY Nvidia RTX 3060 12GB | $649.99 $369.99 at Best Buy
Save $280

PNY Nvidia RTX 3060 12GB | <a href="https://shop-links.co/link?skuId=6454318&publisher_slug=future&exclusive=1&u1=hawk-custom-tracking&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bestbuy.com%2Fsite%2Fpny-nvidia-geforce-rtx-3060-12gb-xlr8-gaming-revel-epic-x-rgb-single-fan-graphics-card%2F6454318.p%3FskuId%3D6454318&article_name=hawk-article-name&article_url=hawk-article-url" data-link-merchant="bestbuy.com"" target="_blank">$649.99 $369.99 at Best Buy
Save $280 - A big saving to be had on this RTX 3060, bringing it down to a much more affordable price. That's a huge 43% discount for something that will give you top 1080p graphics with room to spare for futureproofing.

Best cheap graphics card deals – UK

PowerColor Radeon RX 6500 XT | £179.99 £158.99 at Overclockers UK
Save £21 -

PowerColor Radeon RX 6500 XT | <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=92X1161492&xcust=hawk-custom-tracking&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.overclockers.co.uk%2Fpowercolor-radeon-rx-6500-xt-itx-4gb-gddr6-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-1ag-pc.html&sref" data-link-merchant="SkimLinks - overclockers.co.uk"">£179.99 £158.99 at Overclockers UK
Save £21 - At just under the £160 mark, this is an excellent price on the RX 6500 XT which features enough grunt under the hood to deliver Full HD gaming with few compromises. This is one of the cheaper listings we've seen since the video card launched, so if you're in the market for budget RDNA 2, you can't do too much better than this.

Palit GTX 1660 StormX | £449.99 £179.99 at Overclockers UKSave £270 -

Palit GTX 1660 StormX | <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=92X1161492&xcust=hawk-custom-tracking&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.overclockers.co.uk%2Fpalit-geforce-gtx-1660-stormx-6144mb-gddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-04r-pl.html&sref" data-link-merchant="SkimLinks - overclockers.co.uk"">£449.99 £179.99 at Overclockers UK
Save £270 - This is one of the cheapest rates in the UK that we've come across on a GTX 1660, and this single fan design unit is ideal for smaller setups while still providing enough punch to offer 1080p gaming.

ASRock Radeon RX 6600 8GB | £267.59 £203.99 at Newegg
Save £64 -

ASRock Radeon RX 6600 8GB | <a href="https://click.linksynergy.com/deeplink?id=kXQk6%2AivFEQ&mid=44583&u1=hawk-custom-tracking&murl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newegg.com%2Fglobal%2Fuk-en%2Fasrock-radeon-rx-6600-rx6600-cld-8g%2Fp%2FN82E16814930066%3FItem%3DN82E16814930066" data-link-merchant="newegg.com"" target="_blank">£267.59 £203.99 at Newegg
Save £64 - You are paying just over £200 for this AMD Radeon graphics card with a decent amount of memory packed in that will give you 1080p and 1440p capabilities. Low-form ray tracing is available too. 

MSI GTX 1660 Super Ventus XS 6GB | £438.44 £291.24 at BoxSave £147

MSI GTX 1660 Super Ventus XS 6GB | <a href="https://www.awin1.com/awclick.php?awinmid=33021&awinaffid=103504&clickref=hawk-custom-tracking&p=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.box.co.uk%2FMSI-GeForce-GTX-1660-Super-Ventus-XS-OC-_2785127.html" data-link-merchant="box.co.uk"" target="_blank">£438.44 £291.24 at Box
Save £147 - The Super Ventus is down by a big price, getting closer to that sweet £250 price point. This is great for getting a smooth 1080p out of the top games on the market without any hassle. 

ASUS GeForce RTX 3060 12GB Dual V2 | £389.99 £303.98 at EbuyerSave £86

ASUS GeForce RTX 3060 12GB Dual V2 | <a href="https://track.webgains.com/click.html?_sgm_campaign=scn_8714e1eb7e000&_sgm_source=1287424&_sgm_action=click&wgcampaignid=162949&wgprogramid=267255&clickref=hawk-custom-tracking&wgtarget=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebuyer.com%2F1287424-asus-geforce-rtx-3060-12gb-dual-oc-v2-graphics-card-dual-rtx3060-o12g-v2%3F_sgm_campaign%3Dscn_8714e1eb7e000%26_sgm_source%3D1287424%26_sgm_action%3Dclick" data-link-merchant="ebuyer.com"" target="_blank">£389.99 £303.98 at Ebuyer
Save £86 - If you want to guarantee next-gen gaming for the next few years then this GeForce RTX 3060 graphic card is the way to go. It's got a decent discount and getting closer to that £300 mark. 

Cheap graphics cards from AMD

Radeon RX 6500 XT

(Image credit: Gigabyte / AMD)

AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT

Decent 1080p PC gaming from $199

Graphics processor: Navi 24 | GPU cores: 1024 | Memory type: GDDR6 | Memory: 4GB | Memory bus width: 64-bit

Affordable and available
Performs at 1080p60 
High clock speed
Limited to 4GB VRAM 
64-bit memory bus 

If you're after a moderate cheap graphics card aimed squarely at 1080p then the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT can manage to keep up with modern games despite its lower spec. The biggest advantage to this particular GPU is the fact that is that RX 6500 XT stock is available in both the US and UK for its respective starting MSRP of $199 / £179. 

The AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT is best combined with a Ryzen 3000 or Ryzen 5000 Series CPU, which would give you the overall best compatibility to take full advantage of the 2815 MHz total boost clock speed. On the technical side, there's 4GB GDDR6 memory with a 143.9 GB/s  bandwidth. What this means in terms of real-world application is performance surpassing that of the GTX 1650 Super, while being more available and affordable.

Medium/high settings at 1080p will see 60 FPS in titles such as Call of Duty: Vanguard, Kena: Bridge of Spirits, Forza Horizon 5, and Watchdogs Legion. Keep in mind, though, that this GPU is very much PCIe 4.0 bandwidth dependent to get the most out of its humble architecture. Be sure to check your system's compatibility before slotting it in. 

AMD RX 6600

(Image credit: MSI)

AMD Radeon RX 6600

One of the best cheap graphics cards from AMD

Graphics processor: Navi 23 | GPU cores: 1792 | Memory type: GDDR6 | Memory: 8GB | Memory bus width: 128-bit

Easier to find than RTX 3060 
Strong 1080p and 1440p performance
Affordable price-to-performance ratio
Ray tracing isn't great

The AMD RX 6600 was launched as the company's direct competition to the RTX 3060 at a slightly more competitive rate. What gives the AMD RX 6600 the edge in this instance is the fact that it is more available than Nvidia's Ampere video card, with comparable performance across the board in both 1080p and 1440p. 

It's still entirely possible to find the AMD RX 6600 for around the $350 - $450 mark if you know where to look, which is an affordable price given what the benchmarks show. Games such as Far Cry 6 running at Ultra in 1080p are no problem for the GPU, averaging around 100 FPS. Similar can be said for Resident Evil: Village which the AMD RX 6600 smashes at over 150 FPS at Ultra with FSR set to Ultra quality. 

Cheap graphics cards from Nvidia

GTX 1660 Super

(Image credit: EVGA)

Nvidia GTX 1660 Super

One of the most popular cheap graphics cards for a reason

Graphics processor: TU116 | GPU cores: 1408 | Memory type: GDDR6 | Memory: 6GB | Memory bus width: 192-bit

GDDR6 memory
Still keeps up with today's games
More available than other GPUs
Harder to find than other 1660 models

The GTX 1660 Super is still a very capable cheap graphics card in 2023 while also being far more available than another budget Nvidia GPUs. It's continuously proven to be one of the most popular graphics cards of all time since launching, still appearing on the 2023 Steam hardware survey, and the benchmarks go a long way to show why. 

You can expect an average of 60 FPS in the likes of God of War, Hitman 3, Deathloop, Forza Horizon 5, Far Cry 6, and more titles running at High settings, which is certainly commendable. While you're missing out on ray tracing and DLSS support here, the native performance on display more than makes up for these omissions, especially if you're after sharper image quality overall. 

Gigabyte Eagle RTX 3050

(Image credit: Gigabyte)

Nvidia RTX 3050

Ray tracing and DLSS starting at $250

Graphics processor: GA106 | GPU cores: 2560 | Memory type: GDDR6 | Memory: 8GB | Memory bus width: 128-bit

8GB memory 
Decent 1080p and 1440p performance
Ray tracing support 
Reliant on DLSS for 60 FPS 
Hard to find at MSRP right now

Launching in January 2022, the RTX 3050 was the final member of Nvidia's 30-series line and is focused on PC players wanting to push 1080p gaming. We gave this video card a solid write-up in our Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3050 Eagle OC review with some respectable numbers for high-end Full HD gaming. 

One of the biggest advantages that the RTX 3050 has is its support for Nvidia's newest proprietary technology. We found that even more demanding titles such as Guardians of the Galaxy, Control, and Metro Exodus ran at a rock-solid 60 FPS with ray tracing and DLSS enabled in Full HD. 1440p is also decent in many games, though it's usually going to be a toss-up between having visual fidelity and performance, as a 60 FPS average normally means disabling ray tracing and going heavier on the DLSS upscaling options. 

RTX 3050 stock is finally catching up to what it should be. If you can find the GPU for around the $250 mark (which was its original MSRP though we never saw it due to stock issues and scalpers) then we recommend getting it but don't advise spending over the odds (say $350) if more powerful alternatives are available. 

Cheap graphics cards: Frequently asked questions

RTX 3050

(Image credit: Nvidia)

What to avoid with cheap graphics cards

If you've found a low price on some cheap graphics card models that seem too good to be true, chances are that it is. We've found listings both in the US and UK from major retailers pedaling video cards that are simply not worth your time or money. There are often hidden fees such as unusually high delivery or taxes that many scalpers try to fleece you for more money. Beware!

In 2023, you'll want to steer clear of any cheap graphics card utilizing GDDR5 memory as this type is far slower bandwidth-wise than what's currently possible with GDDR6 support. Modern games are relying more and more on faster SDRAM for all manner of processes, so you wouldn't want to drop frames unnecessarily or bottleneck your system's performance in this way. 

Avoid any cheap graphics card running less than 8GB of memory, these days as this amount should be considered the absolute minimum. Generally, we recommend between 8GB to 16GB to push the texture quality up on the latest titles, as we're seeing games in 1080p at Ultra coming close to the VRAM cap already. An 8GB GDDR6 GPU is still more than capable with some graphics options scaled back, or utilizing A.I. upscaling technology such as DLSS or FSR, though. 

How much should I spend on a cheap graphics card?

You can expect decent performance from a cheap graphics card starting at around $200 to $250 if the Radeon RX 6500 XT has taught us anything. Should you want to go cheaper than the $200 range, you're going to struggle to play the latest games competently at 60 FPS in 1080p, so we recommend starting your search at this budget. 

Can cheap graphics cards do 4K?

Cheap graphics cards are geared primarily around stable performance in lower resolutions such as 1080p. Really, it's only the higher-end GPUs from both Nvidia and AMD that are capable of decent performance in Ultra HD. That's not to say that 1440p isn't possible with a cheap graphics card but to earn 4K you need to look at the likes of an Nvidia 3080 for around $700 to make it possible in 2023. 

How long do cheap graphics cards last?

Today's cheap graphics cards are going to be able to keep up with the latest games for at least a good few years but with DLSS now pretty much a factor of every modern game, it's hard to tell exactly how many years you will get out of them. It's worth noting that the PC gaming scene moves rapidly so it's difficult to predict how competent these cards will be in a year or two but we'd be confident in saying you will be able to play the majority of modern games at a comfortable 1080p. 

Today's best graphics card deals

Our price comparison technology pulls through some of the best graphics card prices available online right now from on models regardless of spec or manufacturer. 


Looking for more? Here's where to find the best cheap gaming PC deals and best cheap gaming laptop deals on the market today. We're also rounding up the best gaming laptops for more options on portable power without the need to spend extortionate amounts of cash.

Aleksha McLoughlin
Hardware Editor

Aleksha McLoughlin served as the Hardware Editor for GamesRadar from June 2021 until August 2022. Her main area of expertise was the PC gaming platform, which comprised buying guides, features, reviews, and news coverage on components and prebuilt machines. She was also responsible for gaming chairs and storage. She now works on a freelance basis while studying to become a university lecturer specializing in English for foreign territories. Prior to joining GamesRadar, she wrote for the likes of Expert Reviews, The Rory Peck Trust, No Clean Singing, Vinyl Chapters, and Tech Spark while also working with the BBC. 

With contributions from