Introduction
Although we seem to be in an uninterested market when it comes to purchasing graphics cards, now is a perfect time to start building a PC if you’re looking for a bargain. We’ve seen a number of interesting SKUs significantly drop in price, resulting in the market leaning towards AMD. Although many of NVIDIA’s RTX 3000 GPUs are still somewhat compelling options, the newest RTX 4000 range has been overly disappointing, causing reduced interest in the newer cards.
So what are your options right now if you’ve limited yourself in terms of budget? Is it best practice to pick up the cheapest yet best performing option available? Or are you better off spending the most that you can within reason to ensure your GPU will stand the test of time?
In today’s article we’ll be discussing these very questions with a roundup of the best graphics cards. We’ve limited ourselves to a budget of $450 allowing us to find the most decent options at this particular price point.
Suggested Article: Best NVIDIA GPUs to Buy in 2023
Our Recommendations
1. AMD Radeon RX 7600
👑 The best budget graphics card under $450.
Introduction
The first option in our roundup is AMD‘s newest entrant on the market, the Radeon RX 7600. Team Red have only released three GPUs so far on their RDNA 3 architecture, with this being the latest one. And despite the first two being rather expensive, RDNA 3 has shown how capable it is versus NVIDIA’s overpriced Lovelace cards. Although the Radeon RX 7600 is a budget graphics card, it is more than capable in a number of current generation titles at both 1080p and surprisingly 1440p too. This card provides a direct generational improvement versus Radeon 6000 cards, and is well worth considering just for the lower price point.
Performance wise, as I’ve alluded to, 1080p and 1440p pose no problems for this card, with the 7600 being definitively more capable at the former. You might see some reduced framerates at 1440p, but we found the 7600 to offer very solid metrics at this resolution. The only major performance caveat will be the longevity of this GPU in newer and modern titles. The 8GB of VRAM that this card comes with, will limit how well it performs in the latest games, so if you play triple A titles on the regular, you’ll want to consider other options that have more VRAM available to them.
Key Specs
| Spec | AMD Radeon RX 7600 |
|---|---|
| Base Clock (GHz): | 2.25 |
| Boost Clock (GHz): | 2.66 |
| Memory Size: | 8GB |
| Memory Type: | GDDR6 |
| AMD Architecture: | RDNA 3 |
| AMD FSR: | Yes |
| AMD Super Resolution: | Yes |
| AMD Radeon Software: | Yes |
| PCI Express Gen 4: | Yes |
| Graphics Card Power (W) | 165 |
| Required/Recommended System Power (W) | 550 |
Things We Like
One of the cheapest options on the market: The RX 7600 is incredibly cheap right now, releasing with an MSRP of $269, making it one of the best priced options versus competitors. We only expect this to drop further as more SKU’s release in the future.
Excellent budget gaming performance: This GPU is more than capable of handling current titles at both 1080p and 1440p. This GPU is a solid option for those looking to play their current favourite games at high framerates without having to break the bank.
Things We Don’t Like
Not great for modern titles: Unfortunately the VRAM capacity is the biggest limiting factor about this card. If you plan on playing modern games on the regular, you’ll want to take a look at a card with more VRAM, as it’ll be better positioned to handle more intense titles.
Can’t handle 4K: Although the 7600 is a very strong performer, it’s performance does ‘run out’ when it comes to 4K gaming. This GPU doesn’t have the hardware required to play 4K games, so you’ll want to look at some alternatives if this is your chosen resolution.
Summary
AMD Radeon’s RX 7600 is an extremely strong competitor in the budget graphics card space, offering very solid metrics at both 1080p and 1440p for a more than reasonable price point. This GPU does lose out to some of the competition with regards to VRAM capacity and general hardware performance, but if we put these aside, I’d argue that the 7600 is one of the best budget cards at this price point.
Features: 4.4/5
Size: 4.5/5
Performance: 4.3/5
Value for Money: 4.3/5
Pros
- Can handle 1080p and 1440p gaming with no problems.
- Very competitively priced.
- Utilises modern hardware.
Cons
- Can’t really handle 4K games.
- Will be weaker than other options in modern titles.
Where to Buy
Buy the AMD Radeon RX 7600 on:
2. AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT
👑 The best value GPU under $450.
Introduction
Next up is one of our favourite graphics cards on the market right now and is an incredibly strong option sitting well under the $450 mark. The 6750 XT is one AMD’s most recent cards to have dropped in price with the release of the RX 7600. Because of this price drop, the 6750 XT is an incredibly strong graphics card option right now, and is worth considering if you’re planning on building a mid-range PC, but you’re limiting yourself with a tighter budget. It can be difficult to find a good mid-range graphics card at this price point, which is why the 6750 XT is especially strong.
Hardware wise, the biggest standout feature is the 12GB of GDDR6 memory. This provides more longevity when it comes to modern games, allowing you to play the newest triple A titles without any problems. In terms of performance the 6750 XT is more than capable of handling 1440p games, offering very strong framerates in modern titles. This GPU does utilise older hardware, so you are losing access to the stronger Ray-Tracing performance and FSR capabilities with this card, but I’d say based on the price point, this shouldn’t be much of an issue.
Key Specs
| Spec | AMD RX 6750 XT (Founders) |
|---|---|
| Base Clock (GHz): | 2.15 |
| Boost Clock (GHz): | 2.60 |
| Memory Size: | 12GB |
| Memory Type: | GDDR6 |
| AMD Architecture: | RDNA 2 |
| AMD FSR: | Yes |
| AMD Super Resolution: | Yes |
| AMD Radeon Software: | Yes |
| PCI Express Gen 4: | Yes |
| Graphics Card Power (W) | 250 |
| Required/Recommended System Power (W) | 650 |
Things We Like
Perfect for modern 1440p gaming: The hardware capability of this graphics card allows consumers to play the newest games at 1440p without any problems. Definitely worth considering if you play a multitude of triple A hardware.
Well priced versus the competition: Although the 6750 XT is pricier than the RX 7600, it is still cheaper than the majority of other 1440p capable graphics cards on the market right now.
Things We Don’t Like
Older hardware: Radeon 6000 is pretty strong even in today’s market, but we’d love to see a refresh of this card utilising the RDNA 3 architecture. Needless to say, this card is likely to miss out on some of the more modern features and performance due to it’s age.
Not capable at 4K gaming: Much like the 7600, the 6750 XT too isn’t quite capable of handling 4K. Whilst there are mid-range graphics cards that can, you’ll want to spend a little bit more to secure one.
Summary
AMD’s Radeon RX 6750 XT is an awesome graphics card extremely capable of handling 1440p gaming without any major frame drops or stutters. Whilst this card is older in comparison to some of the options we’ve seen on the market recently, it is one of the best value GPUs given its much lower price point in comparison to the competition.
Features: 4.2/5
Size: 4.2/5
Performance: 4.6/5
Value for Money: 4.6/5
Pros
- Perfect for high framerate 1440p gaming.
- Ideal for modern triple A titles.
- Very well priced versus the alternatives.
Cons
- Not ideal for 4K gaming.
- Older hardware may miss out on modern features.
Where to Buy
Buy the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT on:
3. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070
👑 The best NVIDIA graphics card under $450.
Introduction
For our third selection we’ve chosen the RTX 3070 from NVIDIA a titan of the RTX 3000 range, and perfect for a mid-range system. This graphics card comes in at a price point of around $409 or so, which is teetering on the edge of our ceiling with the budget. And boy is this card worth the higher price.
Similar to the 6750 XT, this GPU is more than capable of handling 1440p games, especially when a technology like DLSS is thrown into the mix, reducing the performance overhead, at the very slight cost of visual fidelity in certain titles. This card does unfortunately miss out on Frame Generation due to the architecture, which is a bit disappointing.
But due to the lack of games that actually support Frame Generation, I feel the majority of consumers won’t feel like they’re missing out. Regardless of this, the RTX 3070 is a more than capable option at it’s given price point. The biggest caveat to picking up this GPU, will yet again be the VRAM capacity, with this card sitting at 8GB in total. For the price point, it is a little bit disappointing that the 3070 doesn’t have at least 10GB as a minimum, as this would provide it with more longevity when playing modern triple A games.
Key Specs
| Spec | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 |
|---|---|
| Base Clock (GHz): | 1.5 |
| Boost Clock (GHz): | 1.73 |
| Memory Size: | 8GB |
| Memory Type: | GDDR6 |
| NVIDIA Architecture: | Ampere |
| NVIDIA DLSS: | 2.0 |
| NVIDIA Frame Gen: | No |
| NVIDIA Reflex: | Yes |
| PCI Express Gen 4: | Yes |
| Graphics Card Power (W) | 220 |
| Required/Recommended System Power (W) | 650 |
Things We Like
Perfect for 1440p gaming: The RTX 3070 is an incredibly capable card at a 1440p resolution, and is a direct competitor to the RX 6750 XT. Although it sits at a higher price point in comparison, it is well worth it for the performance.
DLSS is absolutely excellent: NVIDIA’s AI-backed upscaling technology is extremely strong and worth using if you’re playing games at a higher resolution. DLSS also has a vast amount of support in a huge variety of games too.
Things We Don’t Like
Weaker VRAM compared to cheaper cards: The biggest downfall of the RTX 3070 is the lower VRAM capacity versus alternative options on the market, such as the RX 6750 XT. This does definitely hurt the value of this card based on it’s price point.
Price point could be better: Although the RTX 3070 sits within our budget of $450, there are only a few of these cards that sit under this price point, which does limit your options in terms of themes, and size. But I’d say that this is teetering on the edge of reasonable in terms of pricing.
Summary
NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3070 is an awesome mid-range graphics card, that can easily handle the performance demand that comes with 1440p gaming. Whilst this card is pricier than some of the alternatives, it is well worth a consideration if you’re looking to play games at a higher resolution, and gain access to some of NVIDIA’s incredibly strong technologies.
Features: 4.2/5
Size: 4/5
Performance: 4.4/5
Value for Money: 4.3/5
Pros
- Perfect for high framerate 1440p gaming.
- NVIDIA’s technologies are extremely strong.
- Ideal for those buying into the NVIDIA ecosystem.
Cons
- Pricier compared to some of the alternatives.
- 8GB of VRAM is pretty poor.
Where to Buy
Buy the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 on:
4. AMD Radeon RX 6800
👑 The best performing graphics card under $450.
Introduction
Finishing up this roundup, we’ve picked out the Radeon RX 6800, another excellent card from AMD. The 6800 is one of the strongest previous generation cards on the market right now, and available for just under $450 from a select few retailers. This is another one of AMD’s options that’s faced some rather hefty price drops in recent months, making it a worthwhile option for those looking to pick up a GPU at a more than reasonable price point. Although this card just sits on the edge of ‘under $450’, it is well worth taking a look at if you’re being a bit more restrictive in terms of your budget.
Hardware wise, the Radeon RX 6800 is a bit of a step up from the 6750 XT and is more capable due to the stronger hardware. This GPU can handle 4K gaming pretty well, and is one of the few graphics cards available at this price point that can actually handle this resolution. The 6800 can also easily cope with 1440p gaming too, making it ideal for those with high refresh rate displays. Needless to say this card is one of the best options geared towards those that need the best performance possible, but it definitely not a budget card which is worth keeping in mind.
Key Specs
| Spec | AMD RX 6800 (Founders) |
|---|---|
| Base Clock (GHz): | 1.7 |
| Boost Clock (GHz): | 2.1 |
| Memory Size: | 16GB |
| Memory Type: | GDDR6 |
| AMD Architecture: | RDNA 2 |
| AMD FSR: | Yes |
| AMD Super Resolution: | Yes |
| AMD Radeon Software: | Yes |
| PCI Express Gen 4: | Yes |
| Graphics Card Power (W) | 250 |
| Required/Recommended System Power (W) | 650 |
Things We Like
Ideal for 4K gaming: The Radeon RX 6800 is one of the few graphics cards capable of offering reasonable 4K gaming performance, especially at such a low price point. This GPU is definitely worth considering if you’re being a bit more price conscious about a top-end 4K system.
Competitively priced: There are very few graphics cards, if any that come in at this price point whilst being able to offer similar performance. The Radeon RX 6800 is almost in a league of its own when it comes to value.
Things We Don’t Like
4K could pose a problem in more modern games: Although this card is likely to be able to hold up for the next couple of years at 4K, there’s no guarantee that triple A titles that release over the next few years will be optimised enough for the 6800 to perform well.
Won’t be $450 for ages: If you’re looking to pick up an RX 6800 you’ll want to be quick on the draw as this card isn’t likely to stick at this price for a long time, especially as stocks diminish.
Summary
AMD’s Radeon RX 6800 is an incredibly strong graphics card in the 1440p and 4K gaming spaces. This GPU is extremely powerful and is a worthwhile consideration for those looking to play their favourite games at very high settings. But keep in mind that this GPU is not the cheapest, and won’t sit at this competitive price point forever.
Features: 4.2/5
Size: 4/5
Performance: 4.7/5
Value for Money: 4.8/5
Pros
- Ideal for 1440p and 4K gaming.
- Will be able to hold up more well in modern games.
- Incredibly competitive pricing.
Cons
- Won’t be $450 for ages.
- Moderns games at 4K could pose an issue.
Where to Buy
Buy the AMD Radeon RX 6800 on:
Who is Better, AMD or NVIDIA?
As you’ve probably seen from the amount of recommendations in this article, we’re definitely leaning towards AMD. Team Red have been in our good graces in the past few months due to their sudden drops in pricing on a number of different SKUs. But despite this, AMD haven’t always been the best option in terms of performance or pricing, which raises the question, who is better, AMD, or NVIDIA?
Currently I would say AMD leads the fore when it comes to both value and performance, but this isn’t likely to stay this way when NVIDIA release more SKUs later down the line.
But why is this the case? While AMD are a better option right now because of the lower prices, this hasn’t always been the case. AMD has somewhat of a track record of releasing a couple of rubbish generations of cards, and then improving the drivers a year or two later on one of them, making them a more compelling option versus NVIDIA. This means that the NVIDIA tends to get the limelight when AMD are pulling themselves together, which is both a positive and a negative. Regardless, both AMD and NVIDIA are always competing in one particular area, but AMD have dominated both sides of the playing field this time around.
But it is worth keeping in mind that whilst AMD are better currently, they won’t be forever. We’re hoping that NVIDIA get things right with a potential RTX 5000 range, undercutting AMD on pricing, and absolutely blowing them out of the water in performance. NVIDIA’s RTX 4000 range only fell short in one of these areas, so it is quite likely that any new cards could absolutely come back with a vengeance. But until then, AMD is the clear winner for the time being and a huge competitor in this space versus Team Green.
Is $450 Enough for A Graphics Card Today?
In short, yes, but it also depends. It is definitively clear that graphics cards have surged in price over the past couple of years. We saw ridiculous prices during the silicon shortage, and both NVIDIA and AMD have only added to this by attempting to compete with NVIDIA. However, not all is lost when it comes to component pricing, and despite their being a clear component cost increase, there are a number of cards available at very reasonable prices, but this entirely depends on your use-case as a consumer.
$450 is a lot of money to spend on an individual component, and there are only a few components that would reach that price even at the top-end, so what are your options at $450? You’ll definitely be looking at more mid-range and budget builds at this price point with many of these graphics cards being capable at 1440p gaming. 4K is less viable at this price point just because of the hardware capabilities. Although the Radeon RX 6800 is a very good option, the latest and greatest triple-A titles could potentially pose some issues for cards at this price point.
In terms of card options you’ll primarily be looking at previous generation GPUs such as Radeon 6000 and RTX 3000 cards. There are a couple of modern cards that sit around this price point, but the majority of Radeon 7000 and RTX 4000 cards will be sitting well above the $450 mark. Regardless of this, if you’re willing to do some savvy shopping you can find a graphics card at a very solid price point that won’t cause you to break the bank. But if you’re willing to shell out more, you’ll get access to more performance, unlocking more options when it comes to resolutions and in-game settings.
Why You Can Trust Us
Whenever a new component, or product arrives in the GeekaWhat office, our team of PC hardware experts won’t hesitate to test and evaluate it straight away. After putting it through the wringer with a number of gaming and productivity benchmarks, the results that we get afterwards are used to devise an extensive overview that we can then use to compare to the rest of the market when it comes to quality, performance, and value for money. If you’re interested in learning more about our editorial team and promise, head to the About Us section on our website.
How We Tested the Best Graphics Cards Under $450
In order to test and evaluate the best GPUs under $450, there are a number of factors that we take into account, these are:
- Performance
- Size
- Thermals
- Aesthetic
- Value for Money
Conclusion
Best Graphics Card to Buy Under $450: AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT
AMD‘s Radeon RX 6750 XT is an extremely solid option in the current market, and worth considering if you’re looking to play your favourite games at 1080p or 1440p. There aren’t many major caveats to this card other than it’s age, so we recommend picking one up sooner rather than later if you’re looking to find a solid mid-range graphics card.
Read our full read our AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT coverage, or Buy the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT on Amazon
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Play Ray-Traced Games with Any of These Cards?
You can, but we wouldn’t recommend it. Ray-Tracing comes with a high performance overhead, so you’ll want to look at stronger options if you plan on turning on this setting.
Is 4K Quite Demanding?
Yes it is, this is why we’ve only recommended one card that is capable of playing games at 4K.
Which is Better, DLSS or FSR?
DLSS generally speaking has come much further than FSR offering stronger performance improvements, and being offered in a wider variety of games.
Do I Need a Graphics Card for Gaming?
Yes you do. Whilst you can game on internal graphics using your CPU, this will lag more and stutter compared to a discrete graphics card.
