Keep in mind that you shouldn’t expect a flawless 4k gaming experience, or to play cutting edge titles at any better than medium settings, but the PC is a platform that is a treasure trove of gaming experiences that have accumulated over the decades. There are a great wealth and variety of virtual experiences that are playable even on lower-end, older video cards. Additionally, there are many excellent current games such as DOTA 2, League of Legends, and Minecraft, which are specifically intended and maintained to be playable on older hardware. Our top pick, the MSI GTX 1660 Super can handle most modern titles with reasonably high settings at 1080p. Whether you’re looking for a low-profile graphics card for a mini-PC build or just building the cheapest PC you can, we’ve researched the best graphics cards under $250 to help you decide. It also features a quiet and effective cooling system to handle those higher clock speeds while not overwhelming the room with noise. It’s not quite as good a value as our pick for the best overall AMD card, but it has the edge in terms of raw power. The MSI GTX 1660 Super is the perfect pick to power any budget PC. Despite all that power, this card is actually quite power-efficient, thanks to AMD’s unique architecture, and RGB lighting pairs with an attractive design that is perfect for PC builds that show off your internal components. The MSI Radeon RX 5500 XT offers a lot of bang for your buck. If you’re looking to build a dual GPU setup, this RX580 is well suited to that task by way of AMD Crossfire and can use AMD XConnect to be used as a portable external GPU to supercharge your laptop. Additionally, this card supports AMD Freesync, which reduces screen tearing. As small as this card is, you still get a good selection of ports, including a display port, DVI, and two HDMI inputs. It also supports Nvidia G Sync with compatible displays for a smoother gaming experience. Taylor Clemons has over three years of experience writing about games and consumer technology. She has written for IndieHangover, GameSkinny, TechRadar, and her own publication, Steam Shovelers. David Beren is a tech writer with more than 10 years of experience, with a background in PC hardware, mobile devices and consumer tech. He’s previously written for tech companies like T-Mobile, Sprint, and TracFone Wireless.
What to Look for in a PC Video Card
Memory
When comparing two similar cards, look at the onboard VRAM. You can get by with 2GB for many games, but you’ll have a better experience with 4GB. Some cards on our list even come with 8GB of VRAM. If it comes down to a choice between a faster GPU or more memory, go with the faster GPU as long as it has at least 2 or 3GB of VRAM.
Size
If you built your own gaming rig in a full-sized tower case, you don’t need to worry about the physical size of your video card. If you’re upgrading a pre-built system that’s in a smaller case, look for a low-profile card that pulls under 75 watts of power.
VR Support
If it’s time to upgrade your video card, why not go with one that’s powerful enough to run a VR headset? Oculus, Vive, and Windows Mixed Reality all have different minimum requirements, but each one has a variety of compatible options.
