Earlier-Era Playing cards
Usually, I’d advocate a earlier era card, however the RTX 40 Sequence and AMD 7000 playing cards are nearly totally out of inventory or massively marked up at main retailers. There are nonetheless a couple of older-generation playing cards you may decide up comparatively simply, and so they’re a few of the solely choices underneath $500, with newer generations solely having the dearer playing cards stay. These playing cards are squarely focusing on 1,920 x 1,080 for gaming, so don’t get your hopes up when you have the next decision or refresh fee.
AMD
Earlier than the 50 Sequence launch, I used to be utilizing a Sapphire Pulse 7900 XT, a card I’d like to advocate now, because it served me effectively for 2 years at 3,440 x 1,440 and was underneath $700 in June 2023. Sadly, it’s at present arduous to search out in inventory, and restocks will decelerate significantly now that the brand new AMD playing cards are in the marketplace.
As a substitute, I might attain slightly additional down the facility scale and seize an RX 7600. Whereas I have not hung out with this mannequin, I’ve been traditionally happy with Sapphire’s playing cards, and it needs to be pretty succesful at 1080p in older titles, indie video games, and nice to your common night of Rocket League or Minecraft.
Once more, this card isn’t going to push 1440p, particularly in newer video games, and it’s going to lack a few of the options you’re seeing on the newest and biggest GPUs. It ought to get you down the street till issues have hopefully calmed down a bit, although.
Nvidia
As of early April 2025, the one previous-generation card I can constantly discover in inventory from Nvidia is the RTX 4060, a GPU which can be approaching two years in the marketplace. It was a succesful card at 1080p, however it would not sustain fairly as effectively with at this time’s video games, and you will have to show the settings all the way down to even contemplate 1440p.
Of the accessible picks, I just like the MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ventus 2X Black, a compact card with a low energy requirement that ought to match into mainly any fashionable system. MSI has an amazing observe report for dependable, simple graphics playing cards, and this one is in inventory and not too long ago discounted.
Of the 2, I believe the AMD is a greater purchase, regardless that it’s efficiency is barely much less spectacular on paper than the RTX 4060. On the sub-$500 worth level, a $100 worth distinction will be huge, so preserve a watch out for reductions to ensure you’re getting the very best deal, particularly as these generations start to shut out.
Shopping for Used
On the subject of GPUs, I am usually a fan of shopping for new. Not solely will you guarantee you might have correct guarantee and RMA help if one thing goes fallacious, however it may be arduous to know if somebody misused the GPU, both by heavy crypto mining, poor temperature management of their system, or artifacts and points they did not disclose. I am usually a fan of shopping for utilized in different areas, however with demand and costs so excessive, it may be arduous to belief strangers.
In the event you do purchase used, be sure that to do your legwork. Native meetups through Craigslist or Reddit can have nice offers and provide you with an opportunity to examine the GPU, even if you cannot be sure that it boots up. You may as well ask for video proof of the cardboard working a sport that additionally contains the serial quantity in a single steady shot. In the event you’re contemplating shopping for a used card on-line, ensure you’re conscious of {the marketplace} and cost processors’ return and dispute insurance policies.
If you get the cardboard residence, examine it instantly for any injury to the cardboard, significantly on the PCIe fin and the facility connectors. As soon as put in, a software program instrument referred to as GPU-Z can confirm the cardboard’s {hardware} to verify it matches the anticipated numbers for the mannequin. Run some video games on it straight away, in order that if something is fallacious you may attain out to the vendor straight away.
