Top 5 powerful GPUs under $300

GPU is one of the essential components when building a gaming rig, upgrading your old system, or looking for a spare GPU. You do not have to spend a thousand bucks for a powerful GPU because you can get the best GPU at $300.

But the main question is, what brand of graphics card is best for gaming? To answer this question, 5 best GPU is explained with their features and specifications, which helps you to choose the best brand that caters to your graphics need.

If you could find the best GPU at an affordable price, then you can use the extra money to buy a cooling unit or other necessary components.

The $300 graphics card provides you with enough freedom to play 1080p gaming titles without having to worry about the performance at all.

Here are some of the best GPU that you can buy under $300 and can give you the best performing graphics card:

Powerful GPUs under $300

➢ MSI GeForce GTX 1060 Gaming 6GB

➢ EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB

➢ Sapphire Radeon Pulse RX 580 8GB

➢ EVGA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB

➢ AMD Radeon RX 570 4GB

The features and specifications, along with their pros and cons, will be discussed below.

You can also look for the buying guide, which will be helpful for you to buy the best GPU available in the market.

MSI GeForce GTX 1060 Gaming 6GB

Nvidia has always provided its customers with the best graphics card, and some of them are a bit expensive, but the MSI GeForce GTX 1060 comes under $300, which is quite affordable.

This graphics card is the best mid-range graphics card that will give you the best performance, and if you want to take the performance to another level, you can invest some more for the newer versions.

The GTX 1060 6GB is built using Nvidia’s Pascal architecture to bring you a power-efficient GPU and ten streaming multiprocessors and 1280 Cuda cores.

It has plenty of useful features, making it the best pick at this price range, such as the 1759 MHz base clock frequency along with 6GB, which is considered the future proof graphics card.

MSI GeForce is packed with features and is VR, G-SYNC, and GAME Stream-Ready, and if you are looking for a graphics card under $300, then this can be your best choice among all the other graphics cards available in the market.

Features of MSI GeForce GTX 1060 Gaming 6GB

➢ It has DX12

➢You will also get an EVGA XOC

➢ You can avail a 3 Year Warranty & EVGA’s 24/7 Technical Support

➢ This graphics card is based on Pascal Architecture

➢ It consists of HDMI 2.0b, DisplayPort 1.4, and Dual-Link DVI outputs

➢ It has a 6GB / GDDR5

➢ The power supply requirements are120W / 400W / 6-pin; Power supply

➢ It has a speed of around 192 Bit / 8 Gbps / 192 GB/s

Pros

➢ It is great for 1440 and 1080p gaming

➢ It is power efficient

➢ The operating temperature is cooler

➢ It is easy to overclock

➢ It operated very quietly

Cons

➢ It has a VRAM that is 2GB lesser than the RX 580

➢ Nvidia G-Sync monitors are overpriced

EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB

If you are looking for a cheaper version of the previous graphics card, you need not look any further because the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 3GB offers you similar features in an affordable price range.

It comes with nine streaming multiprocessors, and 1152 Cuda cores only difference is that it has a 3GB onboard video memory, but the performance is not compromised at all.

This GPU is exceptionally power efficient and relatively quiet as compared to its peers. The only downside to it is that it lags when it comes to 1400p gaming titles.

You also need to buy a great 1080p gaming monitor compliment this GPU.

If you are looking for a graphics card that is worth every penny that you pay and the best GPU under 300, then you should look no further and buy this GPU for your gaming rig.

Features of EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB

➢ It is completely VR ready and comes with a Dual HDMI 2.0 Ports

➢ It consists of GPU Tweak II

➢ It has a 3GB / GDDR5 onboard video memory

➢ The power requirements are 120W / 400W / 6-pin

➢ It has a speed of 192 Bit / 8 Gbps / 192 GB/s

➢ 1506 MHz /1708 MHz

Pros

➢ It is great for 1080p gaming

➢ It is power efficient

➢ Cooler operating temperature

➢ Better at overclocking

➢ It works very quietly

Cons 

➢ It only has 3GB of VRAM

➢ It is not ideal for 1440p gaming

➢ Nvidia G-Sync monitors are more overpriced

Sapphire Radeon Pulse RX 580 8GB

This graphics card is one of the best choices for GPU under $300 because of its features that compete with the best brands.

This graphics card can give you the best performance when it comes to gaming titles of FHD and QHD resolutions and is the best GPU for 4K gaming.

Also considered as the best AMD graphics card available for gaming, the RX 580 also comes with a boost clock of 1750 MHz.

It also consists of the Radeon Chilled technology, which the AMD’s exclusive technology and 4th Generation GCN graphics cores.

All of the latest AMD technologies right from FreeSync to LiquidVR, which gives lag-free gaming, are available on this graphics card, but if you are going for RX 580, you would probably need a 600W PSU.

Features of Sapphire Radeon Pulse RX 580 8GB

➢ It has a GCN 4 Architecture

➢ It boasts about the AMD’s exclusive Radeon Chill Technology 

➢ The speed is about 256 Bit / 8 Gbps / 256 GB/s

➢ It has an onboard storage of 8GB/ GDDR5

➢ The power supply requirements are 185W / 600W / 6-pin

➢ It comes with an HDMI (4K60) and DisplayPort 1.4 outputs

Pros

➢ It is considered to be great for 1440 and 1080p gaming

➢ It is much faster than the GTX 1060 6G

➢ It is also compatible with cheaper Radeon Free-Syn

➢ It has the best AMD’s Radeon Chill technology

➢ It runs quietly

Cons

➢ Power consumption is higher than usual

EVGA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB

This GPU was built on the new TU116 graphics processor, which is exclusively designed for those gamers who want a budget-friendly gaming rig.

The Turing architecture offered by the EVGA 1660 Ti considerably improves the power efficiency and is a highly efficient buy.

This GTX 1660 Ti has the same core count as any other brand of the same variant, and it is also good at overclocking.

The graphics card can reach the clock speed of up to 2.1 GHz with minimum tweaking and an excellent Full HD gaming experience.

EVGA is one of the best video cards under $300 and is powered by Nvidia’s Turing Architecture, which is known to be the best to provide its users with the best performance and speed and give the gamers the immersive gaming experience.

Features of EVGA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB

➢ It consists of a single HDB fan

➢ GPU is of the architecture Turing (TU116)

➢ It has a 6GB GDDR6

➢ Core Clock speed is at 1,500 MHz

Pros

➢ It provides High-quality performance 1920 x 1080

➢ It supports gaming titles of 1440p

➢ It offers great value for your money

Cons

➢ The fan does not stop when kept idle

➢ The game noise can be annoying

AMD Radeon RX 570 4GB

It is an upgrade to the RX 470 GPU, and it consists of the AMD’s best GCN 4 architecture along with the Polaris 10 GPU.

It also features a 4GB onboard video memory, which is much bigger than its other variants. It also provides you with an immersive gaming experience with the excellent VR capabilities of this GPU.

The card has a boost clock of 1244MHz and the memory clock speed of 7GBps, enabling the GPU to run the 1080p gaming titles on ultra-settings.

Even after providing you with great features, it also surprises its user by operating silently.

The AMD’s Radeon Chill Technology makes sure that your GPU delivers improved speed and power efficiency. This feature also allows the gamers to play e-Sport games without any struggle or lag during their gaming sessions.

The added benefit of this GPU is that it can be used with much cheaper Free-sync monitors and perform at its optimum level.

Features of AMD Radeon RX 570 4GB

➢ It is built on GCN Architecture

➢ It features an ASUS Aura Sync RGB lighting

➢ It is composed of Aerospace-grade Super Alloy Power II component

➢ It also has onboard storage of 4GB / GDDR5

➢ It consists of Polaris 10 GPU

➢ It comes with an HDMI (4K60) and DisplayPort 1.4

➢ The speed can vary from 256 Bit / 7 Gbps / 224 GB/s

Pros 

➢ It is much faster than GTX 1060 3GB

➢ It provides great gaming experience for 1080p gaming

➢ It operates very quietly

➢ It has the best AMD’s Radeon Chill technology

Cons

➢ It is not ideal for 1040p gaming

➢ It is known to consume a lot of power

These are the 5 best GPU available under $300 with loads of features and functionalities if you are looking for the best GPU to add to your gaming rig then you should choose one of these.

Choosing the right GPU for your gaming need can be a very complicated process.

To overcome that, we have designed a set of factors that might help you decide which of these will cater to your gaming needs.

Here is a buying guide for you to decide which GPU is better and why:

Buying Guide for buying the best GPU

You may think that you will get higher performance in gaming if you have a thousand bucks graphics card, but that is not entirely true because there are GPU under $300 that provide the same features.

Here are some points that you should consider while you buy a GPU for your gaming rig:

Budget-friendly

You probably do not want to spend all your money on the graphics card because you might miss out on the main components of your CPU.

You might want to get the processor that suits your need and a graphic card that fits your budget.

The 5 GPU s mentioned above are the best budget-friendly GPUs that you can get, and they are all branded.

So when you shop for your gaming rig, make sure that you look for a budget-friendly GPU rather than invest a lot on it.

Monitor resolution

You need to consider your monitor’s resolution to find a great graphics card that matches it, but most of the graphics card can run a 1080p gaming tile with 30-60 frames per second.

But if your monitor has a 4K resolution, you have to buy a high-end graphics card that will cater to its graphics needs.

If you are an avid gamer and do not want to compromise on your graphics, you can go ahead and buy one of the 5 GPUs mentioned or their latest variants to match the performance.

Therefore, your monitor’s resolution also plays a vital role in the selection of the right GPU

The power and space needs

Since some of the graphics cards have a higher demand for power and space, you should make sure that your case can hold the care as well as provide it with enough power.

Most of the time, when we select a high-end graphics card we end up with no space to spare for the GPU in the case.

Make sure that you check the GPU specifications for its power utilization and then match with your CPU case to make sure you do not make the wrong decision.

The memory bandwidth available

This is the most important specification that you should look for because a GPU with a 4 GB will give an excellent performance at 1080p, but an 8GB would provide much better performance at 4K resolutions.

It is essential to know the memory bandwidth of the GPU that you are thinking of buying.

Memory bandwidth can be one of your reference points to make the right decisions when it comes to GPUs

The form factor of the GPU

You should have enough room for the GPU to fit in your case, but you can also find it out by looking at the GPU form factor.

Graphic cards are available in single-slot, double-slot, and triple-slot, which you need to decide depending upon the case that you have.

If it already has a big heat sink and PSU shroud, it might be difficult for your GPU to fit in.

Therefore, you should make a proper decision while buying the GPU.

The clock speed and benefits

The most important specification that you have to look out for is the clock speed, and the more the clock speed, the more the processing power of your GPU.

The clock speed of 3GHz will provide you a better frame rate than all the others, and some of them might be overclocked by the manufacture for you to make some changes, but you should not do it.

Since overclocking needs a technical person who is experienced, it will be better to keep your hands oFf the GPU.

Consider the refresh rates

Another aspect that you should be looking after is the refresh rate of your monitor if your monitor has more than two digits refresh rate, you will need a powerful graphics card to cope with that.

But if it has an average refresh rate, then you need to go for a high-end cards

TDP – Thermal Design Power of the GPU

The thermal design power shows how much power your GPU is capable of working, and more the number in watts more will be the performance.

Some of the graphics cards come with their coolers, but some might need to buy it separately.

But as a precaution, you can always buy an extra cooler in case if you need it in the future.

Graphics card memory

There is an onboard memory that comes with GPU. You need to check that if you play high-resolution games.

Because memory lower than 4GB is no good for great gaming experience, and if you are someone who only plays the game at 4K resolutions, you will need a much larger memory.

The onboards memory ranges from 3GB up to 11GB, but it depends on what resolution you prefer and the memory you might need for it

These are some of the specifications that you should seriously consider if you want to buy the GPU at an affordable price.

We will now look at the various questions that the users have about the GPU, and this can help you to buy the right GPU for your need:

Frequently Asked Questions

Nvidia or AMD, which is better? This question does not have an obvious answer, but both the tech giants have come up with their versions of the best GPU, and most are affordable. It entirely depends on your needs and the budget to choose from the two top brands that have been delivering quality GPU to you.

Which is the most powerful GPU of all the others? You can refer to the buying guide to know how to buy the best GPU, but it entirely depends on what tasks you want to perform. GPUs with 11GB RAM are available for sale, which is considered the powerful GPU, but it still depends on what you want your GPU to do. You do not want to buy a high-end GPU for playing 1080p resolution gaming.

Are integrated graphics enough for a system to perform better? No, if you are looking for a higher resolution and a flawless gaming experience, you would want to buy a dedicated one. The dedicated GPU comes with a host of features that makes the system worth gaming and gives the gamers like you the real thrill of the game.

How much should I spend on a decent GPU that matches my expectation? You can spend as little as $300 and still get the great features of high-end GPU prices at $1,000. The only thing that you should know is to find the right specifications for your need. You can spend somewhere near $300 and get your system to play a 1080p game without any lag.

These were some of the frequently asked questions by the users about the GPU. This might help you further understand how you should be buying your GPU to set up your gaming rig.

Conclusion

The 5 best GPUs are mentioned above with all the specifications. You need to decide the best GPU that caters to all your gaming needs, including the memory.

If you love to play a lot of high-resolution games right from 1080p to 4K, you must buy one of these dedicated graphics cards to help you in immersive gaming.

You can experience the goodness of a good performing graphics card with the help of the suggestions and specifications mentioned.

You need to consider your needs before you jump off to buy a GPU because your decision will solely depend on your system requirement, and apart from the graphics card, you need to buy the PC case, motherboards, and other components.

If you accidentally spend all your budget on getting the best graphics card, you might be in a difficult position.

You must also take a close look at the monitor’s specifications because the graphics card selection has a lot to do with your monitor’s resolution.

Once you find the GPU that will suit your monitor’s resolution, gives higher performance and helps you play without any lag, then you can go ahead and buy from any leading store!