Are Older AMD GPUs Still Worth Buying?

When looking back at AMD GPUs released between 2020 and 2025, some of these cards span several generations of underlying architecture and require older drivers to work properly. But if you're looking to save a few bucks, you're likely wondering whether an old AMD card is worth it, given the memory and RAM shortage driving up component prices to ridiculous amounts. But the feature loss, pricing, and hardware/software compatibility issues with a badly outdated graphics card just aren't worth going back half a decade for.

In 2020, AMD released the Radeon RX 6800 and Radeon RX 6800 XT, along with the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT. These were based off of the company's RDNA 2 architecture, also used in Sony's PlayStation 5, Microsoft's Xbox Series S/X, and Valve's Steam Deck. Pricing is a bit inconsistent, and will vary by seller and brand. You'll also likely be forced into buying more experience variants of the cards, which came with better fans and features, but didn't sell as well after the launch fervor. Expect to spend about $800 for the RX 6800 XT (down about 3% from adjusted launch MSRP), $630 for the RX 6800 (about 12% down from launch), and $999 for the RX 6900 XT (down nearly 17% from its MSRP). Note that you can only acquire them new through third-party distribution from online retailers, which is another concern. By comparison, the Radeon RX 9070 XT costs around $830 (38% markup), but is also much more modern since it is based on the new RDNA 4 architecture that's half a decade newer than the RX 6000–and it's AMD's strongest graphics card available in 2026.

You can, however, get older AMD Radeon cards for cheaper on the used market. But you won't know how much of a beating they've taken in someone's computer, or whether they have any hard-to-spot damage or degradation. Plus, there are no manufacturer warranties to protect you, and the listing you find could end up being a scam for what you're paying–so it's much better to buy from retail if you're lucky enough to spot one.

If, circumstantially, your computer breaks down and you desperately need an AMD GPU replacement, downgrading might be the viable option if you can't find a new one in stock. But going back beyond products launched in 2024 generally isn't worth it. Even if those old cards eventually get newer features, they don't show up as quickly as they do on modern GPUs. That means you'll have to wait longer for free upgrades like FSR 4, if you'll get it.

Some newer graphically-intensive games also aren't optimized for older cards. For example, one of AMD's 2023-2024 budget cards is the Radeon RX 7600, which is $400 for one of the cards from XFX. This AMD chip is marketed as designed to play games at 1080p, and you'll start noticing technical hiccups with its 8GB VRAM at higher resolutions with maxed out textures. Still, if you're mainly a light gamer, a 48% bump from its original price isn't the worst in the world if it's maxing out your budget.

Its premium sibling is a lot more in line with what you'd expect from newer AMD cards today. The AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT, comes at $695 (over 111% markup from the $329 MSRP), which has double the VRAM, can support native 1440p, and provides a higher clock speed. The problem is that if you're trying to push heavier ray tracing workloads at higher resolutions, you might run into some inconsistencies with performance–that's when you start noticing a drop in value compared to current cards. At that point, you should just snag the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT on sale instead, as that gets you the best GPU AMD currently has on the market, and it's about equivalent in performance to Nvidia's GeForce RTX 5070 Ti.