Which GPU should you buy in each $100 price bracket?

The cost of PC hardware has been steadily increasing for years, but GPU prices, in particular, have blown out of proportion as of late. The amount that could buy a decent gaming PC just a few years ago can barely get you a semi-decent mid-range graphics card these days.

However, there’s at least one redeeming factor in the GPU industry of 2024: there are many options for the average consumer to choose from. So, we’ve compiled a list of the best graphics cards in each $100 price bracket to help you pick out the ideal companion for your gaming rig.

1 Around (and under) $100

Starting off with the sub $100 range GPUs, you might have some trouble finding decent current-gen options in this tier. Team Green is completely non-existent here, and trust me, you shouldn’t buy the GT 1030 unless it retails for $20 (but that’s a story for another time). For $100, you shouldn’t expect the dedicated graphics card to provide decent frame rates. That said, the Intel Arc A310 card serves as a worthwhile purchase if you want something affordable for light gaming and AV1 transcoding. The drivers on Intel discrete GPUs have gotten a lot better these days, and the A310 can deliver adequate performance at 1080p if you’re willing to reduce all the graphical settings to low.

ASRock Arc A310 Low Profile

$90 $100 Save $10

The outdated RX 580 from AMD is another honorable mention. The lack of official driver updates is quite disappointing, but you can still make do with third-party drivers. What really makes this card a worthwhile recommendation is its 8GB VRAM, which pairs nicely with apps and games that are hungry for video memory. Sadly, I’m a bit hesitant to recommend it because most of the RX 580 cards from unknown brands contain significantly fewer shading units than the reference models. So, you should do your thorough research before picking one up, especially if it’s priced at under $100.

2 Around $200

The situation is largely the same in the under $200 price range, as Intel’s Alchemist series delivers solid price per dollar. In particular, the Arc A750 is an amazing little GPU that packs plenty of firepower with its 2.05GHz clock frequency, 8GB VRAM, and 32 Xe and 32 ray-tracing cores. I recently picked this one up in a sale, and I was really impressed by its performance, considering Team Blue absolutely botched the Alchemist family’s launch. As long as you enable the Resizable BAR on your PC, the Arc A750 can even hold its own at 1440p, which is quite a feat for a GPU that costs slightly less than $200.

ASRock Intel ARC A750 Challenger D

$180 $220 Save $40

If you’re someone who can’t make do with 8GB of VRAM, then you might want to consider the last-gen RX 6700 from AMD. In most cases, the RX 6700 manages to get a few more frames than its Alchemist rival, and its 12GB VRAM lends the GPU some extra oomph in video rendering and AI-intensive workloads. The caveat with the RX 6700 is that it’s hard to find, as most models are out-of-stock at online retailers.

Sparkle Intel Arc A750 ORC OC Edition

3 Around $300

Finally, we arrive at the first (out of many) Nvidia graphics card. For just under $300, you can easily snag an RTX 4060 from most e-commerce platforms. Don’t get me wrong, I still criticize Nvidia for reducing the bus and memory width on the RTX 4060, on top of crippling it on the VRAM front. However, there’s no denying that it’s the best graphics card in the sub $300 tier, especially when you add ray-tracing into the fray. Plus, it supports Nvidia’s frame generation technology thanks to its compatibility with DLSS 3.5, making it a decent option for slow-paced titles where you might want superior graphics and higher resolution over zero input lag.

4 Around $400

The RX 6800 is yet another graphics card from AMD’s outdated RDNA 2 lineup, though it rocks solid specs that cement its standing as one of the best budget GPUs in 2024. For starters, its whopping 16GB of VRAM frees it from the shackles of limited video memory that bind the RTX 4060 (and the 8GB variant of the RTX 4060 Ti). Factor in its 72 Compute Units and 72 Ray Accelerators, and the RX 6800 single-handedly decimates every GPU in the sub-$400 range in pretty much every workload, be it 1440p gaming, video-editing, or even ray-tracing!

XFX Speedster SWFT 319 AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT CORE

$360 $460 Save $100

5 Around $500

For half a grand, AMD wins again with its RX 7800 XT. From 16GB of VRAM to 2.43GHz (boost) core and memory clock speeds, the RX 7800 XT is not only the best option for the $500 range, but it goes toe-to-toe with the Nvidia GPU occupying the slot in the next pricing tier (but more on that later). The only issue with the RX 7800 XT is that it’s a power-hungry beast with its 263W TDP, and AMD recommends a 700W PSU for anyone looking to tame this behemoth.

On the Nvidia side, it is worth mentioning that the RTX 4060 Ti lies in the same price range as the RX 7800XT. I’m obviously referring to the 16GB variant of the card, as the 8GB version isn’t even worth mentioning. While the 128-bit bus width was a terrible decision on Nvidia’s part, the 16GB of VRAM and slightly faster boost clock speed of 2.53 GHz serve as the redeeming features of the GPU. That said, the only situations where I can recommend the 4060 Ti over its AMD counterpart is when you can’t upgrade your PSU or plan to leverage the superior ray-tracing and DLSS features of Nvidia’s Ada Lovelace generation.

6 Around $600

For this tier, you get to choose between RX 7900 GRE from AMD and Nvidia’s RTX 4070/Super variants. If you’re going by sheer performance, the RX 7900 GRE is better than its Nvidia rivals. With its 16GB of VRAM and 256-bit memory bandwidth, the RX 7900 GRE can stand its ground even at 4K with HD textures. Unfortunately, it also requires a beefy PSU, and you’ll either need a highly efficient 750W or at least an 800W power supply to keep the RX 7900 GRE satiated.

PowerColor Hellhound Radeon RX 7900 GRE

$550 $580 Save $30

The RTX 4070 is also priced similarly to the RX 7900 GRE, though it barely manages to surpass the RX 7800 XT in normal games, let alone the RX 7900 GRE. Heck, it even has a lower VRAM of 12GB than the RTX 4060 Ti. But the reason why it climbed its way into the list is its power efficiency and – most importantly, support for Nvidia’s features. When it comes to ray-tracing workloads, the RTX 4070 handily surpasses the RX 7900 GRE. Throw DLSS 3.5 and frame generation into the mix, and there’s quite a bit of incentive to go with the RTX 4070.

ASUS Dual GeForce RTX 4070 OC

What’s more, there are a couple of RTX 4070 Super cards available for less than $600. While they possess the same video memory as their non-Super variants, the RTX 4070 Super GPUs have higher RT, Shader, and Tensor cores. As such, you should grab a Super variant of the RTX 4070 if you manage to find it for under $600.

Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4070 Super WindForce OC

7 Around $700

We’ve arrived at the upper echelon of the mid-range cards, and this is where the RX 7900 XT dominates with its impressive 20GB VRAM. Of course, the rasterization performance is just as impressive, with the 84 Computer Units and a 2400MHz frequency providing more than enough frame rates at 4K with all the graphical settings dialed up a notch. As for the drawbacks, the 7900XT isn’t as useful at ray-tracing workloads as its Nvidia counterpart, which occupies the next price tier. But for pure 4K goodness untouched by the likes of ray-tracing, super-sampling, or frame-generation? The RX 7900 XT is definitely the right choice!

8 Around $800

We’ve arrived at the price tier where an Nvidia GPU is our one and only choice. If your GPU budget hinges around the $800 mark, the RTX 4070 Ti makes for a solid graphics card. It’s easily superior to the RX 7900 XT at ray tracing and super-sampling, and that’s before you consider the Ada Lovelace family’s impressive frame-generation capabilities. Likewise, the CUDA cores on the RTX 4070 Ti surpass the RX 7900 XT’s performance at anything related to AI and machine learning.

9 Around $900

Before I reveal the GPU in this category, I’ll admit that we’re really stretching the limits of this (and the subsequent) price range, as you’ll find a handful of GPUs that go slightly over the $900 mark. Nevertheless, the RX 7900 XTX is AMD’s flagship offering for GPUs based on the RDNA 3 architecture, and its specs live up to its reputation. With 96 Computer Units and an equal number of Ray Accelerators, combined with a 2.3GHz clock speed and a whopping 24 GB of GDDR6 video memory, it’ll curb-stomp any game you throw it at with ease.

ASRock Phantom Gaming Radeon RX 7900 XTX

10 Around $1000

It should come as no surprise that Team Green dominates the high-end GPU market. For $1000, you can snag the powerhouse that’s the RTX 4080 Super. Sure, the 16GB of VRAM might be an issue if you want the highest frame rates at 4K for a long time. But otherwise, the RTX 4080 provides excellent performance at every modern title, especially if you value the mesmerizing lighting and shadows offered by Nvidia’s current-gen ray-tracing technology.

How will manufacturers set the price tags for the next-gen GPUs?

Once you leave the $1000 price bracket, there isn’t any competition. The RTX 4090 is the only GPU left, though the fact that you need to shell out at least $700 more than an RTX 4080 Super makes it hard to recommend Team Green’s current flagship offering.

With the way things are going, it doesn’t look like GPU prices will stabilize any time soon. Intel’s Battlemage is poised to target the budget audience, and given the company’s recent track record, the next-generation graphics cards from Team Blue might turn out pretty well.

However, the situation might worsen for the upper mid-range and high-end graphics cards. Rumors claim that AMD will only feature mid-range GPUs in its upcoming series. That leaves the high-end market under Nvidia’s complete control, meaning we might see absolutely unhinged price tags on the RTX 5000 series lineup.

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