5 Cost-Effective Graphics Cards From AMD And NVIDIA That Won't Disappoint

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If you're shopping for a cheap graphics card, AMD and Nvidia still offer excellent options that deliver strong gaming performance without the high price tag. As current-gen GPU prices continue to rise, many gamers might find themselves priced out of getting a top-tier card, forcing them to look for inexpensive graphics cards that can handle modern titles at 1080p and 1440p performance. 

Luckily, there are a few cost-effective options available for gamers who want to maximize their cost-to-performance ratio, including the graphics card that I currently use as my daily workhorse, the RX 7700 XT 12 GB, which is available for $400, down from $600, at the time of writing on Amazon.

I've combed through the reviews and tracked prices, and these are my five favorite cost-effective graphics cards. I've set the upper limit at about $475, and looked for graphics cards that fell into the sub-$500 range. Here are the best graphics cards that you can buy right now in the mid-range when it comes to power.

For those looking for a cost-effective graphics card that will deliver excellent 1080p and solid 1440p performance, check out Radeon RX 7700 XT (12 GB) from AMD. At the time of writing, the Radeon RX 7700 XT 12 GB is priced at $400 on Amazon, a -33% cut in its previous price of $600. While the RX 7700 XT was released in the fall of 2023, it remains a reliable 1440p graphics card and an excellent 1080p card two years later.

At launch, the Radeon RX 7700 XT was priced at $449 MSRP, but Amazon listings have been selling for an average price of $420 over the past year. This makes its current $400 price tag an even more appealing offer for gamers looking for a great 1080p and reliable 1440p graphics card. 

The Radeon RX 7700 XT hits the sweet spot in performance, and in 2025 it's a cost-effective solution for gamers who are looking for an entry-level 1440p resolution graphics card. It's been my daily driver for the past year, and I manage comfortable 1440p performance with this card, handling the bulk of modern titles at 60+ frames per second on high settings.

While the current generation of NVIDIA cards can be both difficult to find and pricey, that's not the case with the entry-level Nvidia RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB. At the time of writing, you can pick it up for a great price of $380, making it a great budget graphics card for the 1080p gamer. The card is based on NVIDIA's Ada Lovelace architecture, featuring 4,325 CUDA cores, 136 Tensor cores, and 34 raytracing RT cores, paired with 8 GB of GDDR6 VRAM on a 128-bit memory bus. It runs at a base clock of 3.2 GHz with boost speeds up to 2.6 GHz, while maintaining a power draw of about 160W.

 While a 16 GB model of the same card is available, it's difficult to find in stock at any given time and has a higher price, but benchmarks show comparable performance between the 8 GB and 16 GB editions of the 5060 Ti.

The 5060 Ti is an entry-level card in a crowded field, but for $380 and for being in stock frequently, it's something to consider, especially if you play games at a 1080p resolution. It delivers 60-100 fps in most modern AAA titles, with settings at High, while also supporting DLSS 3 frame generation and ray tracing for future-proofing. While 1440p is becoming a more popular resolution, for those who haven't purchased a 1440p-capable monitor, cards like the RTX 5060 Ti will save you a buck and provide solid performance in even newer Triple-A titles. Just make sure you're at 1080p resolution. 

One of my absolute favorite inexpensive GPUs in 2025 is the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16 GB. At the time of writing, you can pick up this graphics card that handles both 1080p and 1440p resolutions with ease for $390 from Amazon. Built on AMD's latest RDNA 4 architecture and featuring the Navi 44 GPU, this card packs 2,048 stream processors across 32 compute units, a boost clock of up to 3.13 GHz, 320 GB/s of memory bandwidth, and a total power draw of 160W.

 This 9060 XT 16 GB outperforms the RX 7700 XT at 1080p and sits in the upper end of the pack between the RX 7700 and RTX 5060 at 1440p, which, for $390, this card strikes a balance between price and performance. Its 16 GB of VRAM will be enough for high performance in AAA games, and it competes comfortably with the likes of NVIDIA's top cards. It's a slight push above the 8 GB RTX 5060 Ti, and in this case, it's worth the extra money for 16 GB of VRAM if you plan on playing modern titles and want to future-proof your rig.

For gamers on a strict budget, you can pick up the 8 GB version of the Radeon RX 7600 for just $280 at the time of writing. It's a great option if you're building a PC and want to keep prices down, but it will cost you a bit in performance. Equipped with 2,048 GPU cores, a 128-bit memory bus, and 8 GB of GDDR6 VRAM, the RX 7600 delivers respectable performance for mainstream titles. It runs at a game clock of approximately 1,720 MHz with a boost clock up to 2,655 MHz, and includes 32 MB of Infinity Cache to help offset its modest memory bandwidth.

In real-world testing, TechSpot reports that the card hits around 90 fps in Fortnite at 1080p, placing it in performance territory similar to older models like the RTX 3060 or 6600 XT. On the upside, it supports AMD's FSR frame-generation, which helps boost performance, making games look smoother.

Like many of the previously mentioned cards, the RX 7600 8 GB shines as a budget graphics card. It's not the most powerful card, and it's held back by only having 8 GB of VRAM, but otherwise, it's an excellent option for the builder on a budget.