Best graphics cards under $300
Our task today is to find the best graphics cards under $300. The GPU is an essential pillar for gaming, graphic design, and general content creation, but needn’t cost the world.
With the release of new-gen graphics cards, like the RTX 4090 and forthcoming RNDA 3 cards, people are buying cards up in droves. But not all PCs must be equipped with cutting-edge components, as gaming is a pastime that can and should be enjoyed by everybody. For that reason, manufacturers build mid-range components that are situated at a more reasonable price point.
These are components built under great architectures and materials that cut costs by dimming down the performance.
Products at a Glance
How we picked the best GPUs under $300
We reviewed the best graphics cards on the market and classified them according to their performance in measured benchmarks. Once we have determined their abilities, we contrasted those numbers with the price and availability of the graphics card to see where best they can be added to the list.
Features and considerations
These graphics cards offer the best price for casual to intermediate gamers. However, it’s important to discern between a good and a bad unit. One of the main features one must look out for in a GPU is its VRAM capacity; the greater this is, the better and easier it’ll be for the unit to perform.
Furthermore, there is a dichotomy you’ll have to solve: AMD or Nvidia. These are the kings of the GPU market. Generally speaking, Nvidia has offered more power and AMD wins the crown when it comes to pricing and performance-per-watt. Each brand has its own strengths and weaknesses. This list will have a curation of the best AMD and Nvidia GPUs for you, whether you are a gamer looking for the best 4K experience or a content creator looking for the best performance your budget can buy.
Best graphics cards under $300
- Great 1080p performances
- Fast and efficient
- Amazing price
- Single 8-pin power connector
- Ray tracing is not the best
AMD offers the best GPU prices on the market. In contrast with Nvidia’s units, AMD cards improve their price over time; they get cheaper without compromising overall performance. This is due to AMD’s fixation on improving its most important metric performance-per-watt.
The RX 6600 was built on the TSMC N7 process, utilizing 11.1 billion transistors, 28 CU, and 1792 GPU cores. It also has 2,048 Stream processors, a base clock speed of 1,968MHz, and a boost clock speed of 2,589MHz. It has 8GB of VRAM at 16Gbps with a great TDP of 160W. It was launched at $379 and can now be purchased for under $280.
The AMD RX 6600 offers the best bang for your buck while being widely available. This GPU is great for 1080p gaming and works considerably well in 1440p and 4K resolutions. It draws more power than an RTX 3050 but, at the same time, is faster and more efficient than most of its contenders. If you’re looking for the best price and performance, you should seriously consider acquiring the RX 6600 as it’s among the best GPUs under $300 right now.
- Tensor cores
- Plenty VRAM
- Ray tracing enhancements
- Fast performance
- Lacks availability
The RTX 3050 was built under Nvidia’s previous Ampere architecture, which leverages Samsung’s 8nm process technology. This GPU has 12 billion transistors, 2,560 GPU cores, 80 Tensor Cores, and 20 RT cores. These various internals provide a boost clock speed of 1,777MHz. The card was launched back in January 2022 under an MSRP of $249. It has suffered a bit of a bump in price, but can be purchased for $299 via several discounts.
One of the best features of Nvidia GPUs is the implementation of Tensor cores, an architecture that allows its cards to free up space and tasks from the CUDA cores to run the most demanding workloads, like single threading tasks for gaming or multi-threads for content creation. If we add that up with its 8GB VRAM running at 14Gbps, we end up with a terrific GPU capable of running most tasks.
If you’re looking for the best performance $300 can buy, the RTX 3050 is definitely a solid option, you just can’t go wrong with the enabled tensor cores and RT cores, making this the 1080p gaming King.
- Great 1080p performance
- Amazing cooler system
- Quiet
- Good price
- High power requirements
- Low 4K FPS performance
The RTX 2060 has been crowned as one of the most characteristic GPUs via Nvidia. Even upon the launch of the RTX 3060, the former has delivered amazing results in every benchmark thrown at it.
The best part about this unit is its speed. It offers a 1,365MHz base clock speed and a 1,680 boost clock speed. The 2060 was built under the Turing architecture with 1,920 Cuda cores, 240 Tensor cores, a peak F32 compute of 6.45 TLFOPS, and 30 RT cores. It won’t give you the absolute best 4K performance, but it can ensure amazing 1080p 60+ FPS gaming.
- Great power efficiency
- Strong 1080p performance
- Steady 1440p results
- Good cooling system
- Not opt for 4K gaming
Gigabyte took the RX 5600 XT and increased its clock speed, while also adding the perfect cooling system for it: the Windforce 3. This change boosts the performance of this GPU, making it one of the best graphics cards under $300 from AMD. This graphics card behaves amazingly in 1080p workloads, delivering a solid 60+ FPS. It can even handle 1440p when the settings are limited to medium or high.
Talking about specs, the 5600 XT was built under the first Navi architecture, with 2,304 Stream processors, a Peak FP32 Compute of 8064 GFLOPS, 6GB of memory capacity, and a base/boost clock speed of 1,670MHz and 1,750MHz. It goes fast and steady, all while not putting a massive load on the consumer’s wallet.
It’s certainly not easy finding the best graphics cards under $300 that suit your needs. Even as the chip shortage dwindles and crypto price gouging has waned, the GPU market still remains in a spiral of confusion as consumers grow more accustomed to this new climate. Newer products, like the RTX 4090 and the upcoming 4080 will ensure competition in the space, which will come in the form of AMD’s RDNA 3 architecture. While Intel has delivered with a new ARC GPU line, pundits aren’t too impressed by the results, even when stacked alongside one of the firm’s own (rather renowned) CPUs.
Our Verdict
Graphic solutions in the $300 range are vast enough to keep you thinking. Although every option in this list will make the user happy by keeping money in their pocket, the best performances are clearly all made via AMD when situated at a reasonable price point. The result was to be expected, thanks to AMD’s ability to stay firm in their initial MSRPs, sometimes even improving upon them.
The AMD Radeon RX 6600 will enlist great gaming performance and incredible content creation results. The benchmarks made have proven this GPU to be the best bet in its price range, so it tops our list of the best graphics cards under $300.