1080p remains the most popular resolution for PC gamers shopping on a budget. With less pixels to render, you need less powerful hardware, which means that GPUs oriented towards 1080p gaming are generally much more affordable when compared to their 1440p and 4K capable counterparts. But in a market filled with options from NVIDIA, AMD and Intel, which are the best graphics cards for 1080p gaming?
To determine which graphics cards are the best options for 1080p gaming, we’ve tested all of the current and previous generation of graphics cards in a range of titles. These titles range from easier to run games like Apex Legends and Fortnite, through to AAA titles such as Hogwarts Legacy and Alan Wake II. This testing gives us a really well-rounded view of performance, and allows us to reliably recommend the best options for gaming at this entry-level resolution.
Our Top Pick: AMD Radeon RX 7600
The RX 7600 from AMD is the best graphics card for 1080p gaming. This card comes in at the lowest price point, while offering the best performance versus competitor options on the market. The RX 7600 is one of the few budget options that can offer great performance within a plethora of titles at 1080p, while catering to a range of buyers.
The Best GPUs for 1080p Gaming
1. AMD Radeon RX 7600
AMD’s Radeon RX 7600 is the first truly budget-friendly graphics card to emerge from both the Radeon 7000 or RTX 4000 generation. It is by far the cheapest point of entry for the newer hardware with an MSRP at launch of $269, making it an excellent choice for budget gamers building a 1080p gaming PC. Cards like this Gigabyte Gaming OC Edition provide a modest boost to clock speeds, and a small uplift in performance for a small price premium over MSRP.
Despite the more imposing three fan cooler on this card, it’s fairly compact length and thin two-slot form factor does make it easy to slot in to most builds and PC cases, meaning you don’t need to spend a fortune on a premium, large form-factor chassis for a GPU like this.
| Key Specs | AMD Radeon RX 7600 |
|---|---|
| Video Memory Capacity | 8GB GDDR6 |
| Memory Bus | 128-Bit |
| Base Clock Speed | 1.72GHz |
| Boost Clock Speed | 2.62GHz |
| Stream Processors | 2048 |
| Ray Accelerators | 32 |
| Power Draw | 165W |
| MSRP | $269 |
Longevity is however our biggest concern for the RX 7600. While this GPU is the strongest out of the bunch for 1080p gaming, its 8GB of VRAM isn’t really enough for the performance demands of new AAA titles, making it weaker versus cards like the RX 6750 XT and more. This performance downside is especially prominent at 1440p, rather than 1080p. Despite this, the RX 7600 still remains to be the strongest option for 1080p gaming based on its exceptional value-proposition versus the rest of the market.
Pros
- 1080p performance
- Competitive price
- Power efficient
Cons
- 8GB of VRAM
- Longevity in AAA titles
2. Intel ARC B580
The Intel ARC B850 is part of Intel’s second generation of ARC graphics cards codenamed ‘Battlemage’. With a mass amount of refinement to drivers and improved hardware, the Intel ARC B580 launched with a much more positive tone compared to its predecessors. With an MSRP of $250, the ARC B580 targets the budget market, competing with GPUs like the AMD Radeon RX 7600 and NVIDIA’s RTX 4060.
Regarding the specs, the ARC B580 comes with a whopping 12GB of GDDR6 VRAM, contrasting to the 8GB on the ARC A580 and ARC A750 cards. 12GB offers more longevity than 8GB, as modern games increase intensity, requiring more VRAM. It sits on a 192-bit memory bus and has a power consumption of 190W, which is fairly modest. On paper, the ARC B580 has a solid set of specs.
| Key Specs | Intel ARC B580 |
|---|---|
| Video Memory Capacity | 8GB GDDR6 |
| Memory Bus | 192-Bit |
| Base Clock Speed | 2.67GHz |
| Boost Clock Speed | 2.85GHz |
| Xe Cores | 20 |
| Render Slices | 5 |
| Ray Tracing Units | 20 |
| Power Consumption | 190W |
| MSRP | $250 |
Performance-wise, we were impressed across the board. The ARC B850 can compete at 1080p, where it thrives in titles where rasterisation is the focus. For example, in Cybperunk 2077 at 1080p, the ARC B850 saw an average framerate of 104FPS, which beats out the RTX 4060 at 93FPS and the AMD Radeon RX 7600 at 88FPS. However, this card also has some decent legs at 1440p, again beating out the RX 7600 and RTX 4060.
The biggest weakness of the ARC B850 is its performance against DLSS and FSR. These pillar technologies give NVIDIA and AMD inherent advantages over Intel GPUs, allowing gamers to enjoy exceptionally high framerates at no cost. While Intel has a competitor version of this known as XeSS, it doesn’t offer the same bonuses as FSR and DLSS, which may make prospective buyers likely to consider spending an extra $30 – $50 to enjoy smoother gameplay.
3. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 card was widely criticised upon its initial launch. Due to pricing and VRAM concerns, it was essentially doomed upon release. However, a year later, according to the Steam Hardware Survey, it became one of the most popular graphics cards for gaming.
The RTX 4060 is competitively priced at $299. The only two cards released within the past year that beat it in price are the RX 7600 and ARC B580. With 8GB of VRAM on a 128-bit memory bus, this GPU’s specs won’t blow you away, but for 1080p gaming, it is definitely worth considering.
| Key Specs | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 |
|---|---|
| Video Memory Capacity | 8GB GDDR6 |
| Memory Bus | 128-Bit |
| Base Clock Speed | 1.83GHz |
| Boost Clock Speed | 2.46GHz |
| CUDA Cores | 3072 |
| RT Cores | 20 |
| Tensor Cores | 96 |
| Power Draw | 115W |
| MSRP | $299 |
In terms of performance, the RTX 4060 is an incredibly solid competitor at 1080p. Across our testing, the RTX 4060 can hold its own against the Intel ARC B580 and B570, often coming out on top at 1080p. Frame rates do suffer at 1440p, but only by a small margin, and with technologies like DLSS and Frame Generation, the RTX 4060 can gain some easy frames, reducing the impact of a higher resolution.
There are a couple of distinct weaknesses of the RTX 4060 worth highlighting. The first is its 8GB of VRAM. As games become more intense, 8GB of VRAM is struggling to cut it, especially in modern AAA titles. Additionally, with the RTX 5000 series announced at CES in January, there’s a reasonably high likelihood that the RTX 4060 will be discontinued over the next year to make way for the RTX 5060.
4. Intel Arc A750
Intel’s Arc A750 is a great graphics card for the budget buyer due to its highly competitive price point. The Arc A750 is one of the few GPUs that sits below $300 and caters to the 1080p market. Intel have made waves with their driver updates, improving gaming performance across DX9, DX10, DX11, and DX12 games. Stability has improved massively, as Intel continues to constantly upgrade the software that their cards use.
What’s more, the Arc A750 competes surprisingly well within newer games. DX12 titles are much newer and tend to be more demanding, so being able to pick up a card that has strong DX12 drivers is huge bonus for the Arc series of cards. This also isn’t to say that performance is weak within older games, but generally speaking the Arc A750 is better suited to newer titles.
| Key Specs | Intel Arc A750 |
|---|---|
| Video Memory Capacity | 8GB GDDR6 |
| Memory Bus | 256-Bit |
| Base Clock Speed | 2.05GHz |
| Boost Clock Speed | 2.4GHz |
| Xe Vector Engines | 448 |
| Ray Tracing Units | 28 |
| Power Draw | 225W |
| MSRP | $249.99 |
The biggest weakness of the Arc A750 is performance volatility. While Intel have hugely improved gaming performance across a myriad of titles, this GPU does have some difficulties with certain games, resulting in choppy or weaker framerates.
Pros
- Competitive pricing
- Ideal for modern games
- Being constantly updated
Cons
- Not great for first-time builders
- Volatile performance
How We Tested the Best Graphics Cards for 1080p Gaming
To figure out which graphics card is the best for 1080p gaming, our in-house benchmarker Harry Coleman has put all of these GPUs through the wringer. This involves benchmarking them against the current and old-gen options from both NVIDIA’s and AMD’s product ranges within a number of different games. Our testing suite includes modern triple A games like Starfield, and Hogwarts Legacy, along with Esports games such as Apex Legends and Fortnite. The main factors that we’ve taken into account when testing were:
- 1080p Gaming Performance
- Thermal Capability
- Power Consumption
- Value for Money
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I Need a 12VHPWR Cable?
Only RTX 4000 cards require a 12VHPWR cable at present, while all other cards use a standard 8-Pin PCI-E connector
Should I Worry About Case Clearance?
All of the GPUs in this article aren’t likely to cause clearance issues, due to their fairly compact form factor, but you should always check the length of your card versus the max clearance of your case.
Is Ray Tracing Possible on a Budget GPU?
Because ray tracing is still a developing technology it can be harder to run on average compared to most rasterized games. It is also technology which currently works far better on NVIDIA GPUs than AMD, which is important to keep in mind.
