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Best budget GPU

The strongest option for a build where the graphics card has to stay under $350.

How this is ranked: Cards priced at $350 or below only. 55% performance per dollar at 1080p, 30% performance index at 1080p, 15% VRAM headroom. Only cards still in production are eligible. Any price-based element uses launch MSRP, because CompareYourGPU holds no verified current price for these cards.

#1
Top pickIntel$249 MSRPCategory score 75/100

Intel Arc B580

The most memory you can buy at this price: 12 GB on a 192-bit bus for entry-level money. Ray tracing is respectable for the tier, but the card needs Resizable BAR to perform as intended, and driver maturity varies more than it does on NVIDIA or AMD.

  • $249 launch MSRP.
  • Estimated 75-105 FPS at 1080p in a typical modern AAA game at High settings, no upscaling. Modelled estimate, not a measurement.
  • 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus.
  • 12.4 performance index points per $100 at 1080p.

Strengths

  • 12 GB of VRAM and 456 GB/s of bandwidth at an entry-level price
  • Ray tracing performance is competitive with cards costing more
  • AV1 encode and decode, plus VVC decode

Trade-offs

  • Requires Resizable BAR; performance drops sharply on platforms without it
  • Driver behaviour in older titles is less consistent than the competition
  • 190 W is high for the performance it delivers

Cheaper alternative: Arc B570 at $219

More powerful: RTX 5060 at $299

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#2
AMD$299 MSRPCategory score 73/100

AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8GB

The same GPU as the 16 GB model with half the memory. At 1080p it is a competent budget card; the moment textures or ray tracing push past 8 GB, the 16 GB version pulls away for $50.

  • $299 launch MSRP.
  • Estimated 90-130 FPS at 1080p in a typical modern AAA game at High settings, no upscaling. Modelled estimate, not a measurement.
  • 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus.
  • 12.7 performance index points per $100 at 1080p.

Strengths

  • Same GPU and clocks as the 16 GB model
  • 150 W and a single 8-pin connector
  • FSR 4 support at an entry price

Trade-offs

  • 8 GB of VRAM is already limiting in recent releases
  • Shares its product name with the 16 GB card
  • Little headroom for future titles

Cheaper alternative: Arc B580 at $249

More powerful: RX 9060 XT 16GB at $349

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#3
AMD$349 MSRPCategory score 71/100

AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB

The cheapest 16 GB card in this database. Its 128-bit bus limits how far the memory advantage stretches, but for 1080p and light 1440p it removes VRAM from the list of things to worry about.

  • $349 launch MSRP.
  • Estimated 95-135 FPS at 1080p in a typical modern AAA game at High settings, no upscaling. Modelled estimate, not a measurement.
  • 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus.
  • 11.2 performance index points per $100 at 1080p.

Strengths

  • 16 GB of VRAM at well under $400
  • 160 W on a single 8-pin connector
  • FSR 4 and modern ray accelerators in a budget card

Trade-offs

  • 128-bit bus and 320 GB/s of bandwidth cap its ceiling
  • The 8 GB variant shares the name and is a different product
  • Ray tracing is usable rather than strong

Cheaper alternative: Arc B580 at $249

Full specificationsCompare with alternatives

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The thinking behind this category

These picks come from the database. The guide explains the decision they are meant to answer.

The best budget graphics cards

This ranking covers cards priced at $350 or below. At this end of the market the differences between products are large in percentage terms and small in absolute money, so a careful choice is worth more here than anywhere else in the range.

Other categories

The same database, weighted for a different priority. Expect different winners.