Skip to main content

Best graphics card under $200

A good graphics card is the keystone of a capable gaming PC. Unfortunately, things have gone off the rails in the world of PC graphics cards, so while we are still able to pit the Radeon RX 5700 XT vs. RTX 2070 and can create a stack of the best graphics cards for 2021, it gets a bit theoretical when we try to point you to the best place to actually buy your chosen graphics card.

The problem, as we detailed here, is the big shortage that is affecting supplies of all manner of materials. GPUs have been particularly hard hit as they are produced by the same handful of chip foundries that produce silicon for Apple, car manufacturers, and games consoles. When Toyota and Volkswagen are scrambling for supplies, you know things have gone bad. The double whammy for the PC gamer who just wants to buy an RTX 3080 is that GPUs are a dual-use product in high demand from crypto miners as well.

That makes even affordable graphics cards hard to come by. We did a little digging to see what’s out there, and there are a few graphics cards under $200 you may want to consider.

Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming
Check your inbox!

The cheapest graphics card we could find: Zotac GeForce GT 710 1GB

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Let’s say you have built a PC powered by an AMD Ryzen or Intel F-model CPU that doesn’t have a graphics core and you’re still waiting for your shiny new Radeon RX 6800 XT to arrive — well, this Zotac GeForce GT 710 will get you up and running. Alternatively, you might be troubleshooting a faulty PC and are desperate for a graphics card — any graphics card — to pin down the problem.

The hardware inside the GeForce GT 710 is from 2013 and is rather basic; however, it supports DX12 and has a PCI Express x1 interface so you should have no trouble installing this graphics card inside your PC. The graphics outputs are rather restrictive and offer you VGA, DVI, and HDMI, but no DisplayPort. This Zotac card is so weedy that it is only rated at 25W power consumption and can get by with a passive cooler. There’s no denying the Zotac GeForce GT 710 is low-end, but it might prove to be a lifesaver in the right circumstances.

Reasonably competent: PNY GeForce GT 1030 2GB

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Anyone wanting to play low-end games like World of Warcraft or Dota 2 at 1080p will be happy enough with this card. If you have an old PC with horrendous integrated graphics that desperately requires an upgrade, the PNY GeForce GT 1030 2GB is certainly worth consideration, and the price is just about OK, even in these dark times.

With the GT 1030, we have just about arrived at the modern era of graphics with a clock speed of over 1, 200MHz and 2GB of GDDR5 memory. This PNY card is compatible with a PCI Express x16 slot, but it is rated at a lowly 30W and does not require a power connector. Let’s face it, if an expenditure of $130 can get you through 2021, the PNY GeForce GT 1030 2GB will pay for itself many times over.

Cheapest workstation graphics: PNY Quadro P400 V2 2GB

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Workstations are all about making money, so the multi-monitor support provided by this PNY Quadro P400 V2 2GB could easily pay for itself in a matter of hours in the right circumstances.

Despite its understated appearance, this is a serious graphics card that will be recognized by Nvidia’s drivers as a Quadro and will give you the option of hooking up as many as three displays using DisplayPort 1.4 connections. The hardware includes video encode/decode and 7.1 audio, so while gaming is not a realistic proposition, you can certainly use the PNY Quadro P400 V2 2GB to watch movies.

Reasonable gaming on a low budget: Yeston RX550-4G D5 LP 4GB

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Hiding behind the garish heatsink shroud is an AMD Radeon RX 550 along with 4GB of GDDR5 memory. Once upon a time, the RX 550 would have cost about $80; however, those days are long gone.

It breaks our heart to recommend an RX 550 that costs the better part of $200, but right now it’s a decent deal. Naturally, you will have to accept your gaming experience will be unimpressive (and will look downright poor compared to the latest gaming consoles), but you could do considerably worse while you wait for a proper, modern graphics card to arrive at your front door.

Leo Waldock
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Leo has been reviewing PC hardware for 20+ years. Always PC, never Mac. He writes in British English and considers the word…
Nvidia RTX 50-series GPUs: performance, specs, prices, availability
The RTX 5090 sitting next to the RTX 4090.

Nvidia has announced its new line of GPUs, the RTX 50-series -- and the first two are almost here, ready to rival the best graphics cards. We were already able to get our hands on the RTX 5090, which is why we now have a better idea of what these cards are capable of.

While we're still waiting for the RTX 5080, RTX 5070 Ti, and RTX 5070, we know that Nvidia is promising some huge leaps in performance, thanks to the new AI powers of DLSS 4. Here's everything you need to know about Nvidia's RTX 50-series.
RTX 50-series: pricing and release date

Read more
Nvidia might’ve just given you a reason to skip RTX 50-series
A hand grabbing MSI's RTX 4090 Suprim X.

Nvidia's RTX 50-series graphics cards are set to arrive in a matter of days (you can read our RTX 5090 review now), and although they could be among the best graphics cards you can buy, Nvidia itself might've just given PC gamers a reason to sit out this generation. According to Nvidia's Bryan Catanzaro -- the company's DLSS champion -- it might be possible to add features like DLSS Multi-Frame Generation to older generations of graphics cards.

The news comes via an interview Catanzaro did with Digital Foundry, where the question about frame generation on RTX 30-series GPUs came up. Catanzaro says enabling frame generation on older generations "is primarily a question of optimization," and says that Nvidia will "see what we're able to squeeze out of older hardware in the future."

Read more
Nvidia says the RTX 5080 is ‘about’ 15% faster than the RTX 4080 without DLSS
Nvidia's RTX 5090 sitting at CES 2025.

Nvidia made some bold claims about its RTX 50-series GPUs when they were announced earlier this month, saying that the new range can outclass their previous-gen counterparts with twice the performance. Although Nvidia's new lineup might be among the best graphics cards when they launch, the vast majority of the extra performance comes on the back of the new DLSS Multi-Frame Generation feature that's exclusive to RTX 50-series GPUs.

During Nvidia's Editor's Day for Blackwell GPUs at CES 2025, GeForce desktop product manager Justin Walker said that the RTX 5080 was about 15% faster than the RTX 4080 without DLSS 4, and that the RTX 5070 would be about 20% faster than the RTX 4070 without the feature. Nvidia didn't provide hard performance numbers for any of the new GPUs it's releasing, so pay careful attention to the "about" at the start of that statement. Walker provided a general impression of the generational uplift you can expect, but it's important to wait for reviews before drawing any conclusions about the new cards.

Read more