Rejoice, budget graphics cards are a thing once more and after many hours digging around the Prime D

If you're hoping for some GPU price relief in the Amazon Prime Day sales, you're probably going to be disappointed, as there has been no sign of any big discounts so far. But that doesn't mean there aren't any graphics cards for sale at sensible prices.

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I've just spent several hours going through every model and every major retailer to find the best options for $300 or less. To me, that's an important cut-off point because, beyond three hundred bucks, prices rapidly spiral into the realms of teeth-sucking, grimacing, and wrinkled foreheads.

The good news is that there is a range of GPUs to choose from, with models from AMD, Intel, and Nvidia vying for your attention and wallet. Sticking with brand-new cards only, here are six pixel pushers to ponder for your practically-perfect PC.

Quick links

1. GeForce RTX 5060 |
2. Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB |
3. Arc B580 |
4. Radeon RX 7600 |
5. Arc B570 |
6. GeForce RTX 5050 |

GeForce RTX 5060 (8 GB VRAM)

I've not started with the GeForce RTX 5060 because it's the best GPU of the six I've collated. It heads up the list simply because it's a cent under my $300 limit—in other words, it represents the best new Nvidia graphics card you can buy for that amount of cash.

It's fair to say that the RTX 5060 didn't have the most auspicious of launches, as few media outlets were given review samples directly from Nvidia (we weren't one of them) and the drivers available were somewhat shoddy. Our glorious hardware leader Dave spent several long days battling with the card for his .

Compared to its predecessor, the RTX 4060, the GPU can sometimes be much faster, but in some games, the minimum performance was either no better or actually worse. That's certainly a driver issue because the GPU's specs say it should be a lot better.

If one reads around the interwebs, the biggest criticism of the RTX 5060 is the 8 GB of VRAM and the fact that it should be more than that. However, AMD's bottom-end Radeon cards also sport 8 GB.

Radeon RX 9060 XT (8 GB VRAM)

Just like with the RTX 5060, AMD sent out very few samples of 8 GB cards to reviewers and to date, we've only . That also had driver wobbles on launch with some games, but when everything was working as intended, the RX 9060 XT was generally faster than the RTX 5060.

I bet you're waiting for the caveat of 'but only when ray tracing isn't being used'—well, you'll have to keep waiting, as AMD's RDNA 4 GPU architecture has made great strides in that area, and the little RX 9060 XT is easily on par with the RTX 5060.

Where it falls behind is when one compares FSR 4 to DLSS 4. The truth of the matter is that AMD's upscaling and frame generation tech still isn't as good as Nvidia's, and while it's pretty close, DLSS as a whole is far more widely supported than FSR. When it comes to the latest versions of either tech package, games with FSR 4 options are few and far between.

That makes things far more interesting, though, because you've got two GPUs at a similar price. One is faster than the other but has weaker performance-boosting tech. If that's not a problem for you, then the RX 9060 XT is the graphics card to pick. Or is it?

Arc B580 (12 GB VRAM)

Throwing a blue-colored gauntlet amongst the sea of green and red GPUs is Intel, with its Battlemage-powered Arc B500-series of graphics cards. I say series but there's only two of them at the moment, with the Arc B580 being the more powerful of the two.

In its favour are a lower price tag that the RTX 5060 and RX 9060 XT and 50% more VRAM. Going against it is the fact that its gaming performance just isn't as consistent. In Andy's review of the 16 GB RX 9060 XT, you can see the Arc B580 swinging from being miles behind the RTX 5060 to running way ahead of it, but always behind the AMD GPU.

However, note that the minimum game performance is generally more consistent than the RTX 5060 and RX 9060 XT. That can't be a VRAM issue as it has 4 GB less than the Radeon model—not to mention that it's always lower than the competition—but it's perhaps another feather in the Arc's cap.

It's certainly worth considering, but Intel has a better option for you if you like real value-for-money.

Radeon RX 7600 (8 GB VRAM)

This Radeon RX 7600 is one from AMD's last generation of GPUs but where most of the other RDNA 3 cards have disappeared from retailers' shelves, this is still around because it's relatively cheap compared to all the latest chips. It's not cheap-cheap as it's over the card's launch MSRP, but that's just how things are in the world of GPUs right now.

Although we've not used one much in recent times, when we first reviewed it, we were . It'll be easily out-matched by the RTX 5060 and RX 9060 XT, and probably the Arc B580 (when its drivers are behaving).

That makes it hard to recommend, and I've only included the RX 7600 in this list because (a) it's under $300 and (b) it's always in stock. Sure, it's cheaper than the others, but two more GPUs are cheaper still.

Arc B570 (10 GB VRAM)

I've saved the best to near last. Well, sort of. It's not the best in terms of performance because the Arc B570 is a slightly cut-down B580, so you know it won't be as good as the others in games. The RTX 5060 and RX 9060 XT are only 15% more expensive, and they're certainly more than 15% faster than the B570, so it's not the best in terms of bang-for-buck, either.

However, at $260, it's one of the cheapest of all the current-generation GPUs, and that counts for a lot these days. In a time where mainstream/mid-range graphics cards cost over $600, it's nice to have the option to have a genuinely affordable GPU, with a decent amount of VRAM, that will run most games quite happily at 1080p.

GeForce RTX 5050 (8 GB VRAM)

Nvidia , its baby of the Blackwell family, and we've not had a sample in for testing yet. But some reviewers have managed to grab one and as expected from its specifications, it's basically a slightly slower RTX 4060 but with the advantage of having DLSS 4.

While Nvidia's upscaling and multi frame generation technologies are borderline magic, in their ability to boost performance and make things look better at the same time, it's not enough to counter the lacklustre base performance and underwhelming price tag.

If you really must have DLSS 4, then just spend a bit more money and get an RTX 5060.

That said, if it was my $300 burning a hole in my back pocket, and I didn't want to get a secondhand graphics card, I'd go with the Radeon RX 9060 XT. It tops them all in terms of outright gaming performance, and it's been a long time since I've been able to say that about any AMD GPU.

Nvidia's DLSS 4 really is miraculous stuff, but I'd be happy to exchange it for higher frame rates in games, and there's always the chance that —its next planned update to FSR 4—closes the gap between the upscalers to the point where you're not going to notice it in games.

While there haven't been any real discounts in Amazon Prime Day so far, the RX 9060 XT feels like a proper deal to me.

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