Question Best value budget/mid-range ~450-500 USD graphics card in March?

[OscaAndShintjee]

I'm in a tough spot as I have a full system (i5 12400F and 16 GBs of DDR4 3000, 144 Hz monitor) with a GT 710...
The pathetic card barely suffices for anything but old pre-2010 games or Minecraft with extensive performance-enhancing mods to reach my 120-144 FPS target with acceptable looks. The card surprisingly overclocks to a 25% performance improvement in games but that's not enough to make it usable for me.

I thought about waiting for prices to fall, but that's months of waiting, so I'd like to purchase a graphics card. I put aside a budget of around 450 USD (Or 400 Eur, give or take, I live in Europe) to search for one, which I assume is reasonable based on how much the rest of my system is worth. Before these supply shortages I was sure that this amount would suffice for even upper-mid range cards, but that's not the case as this is just about the price of a brand new RTX 3050, which is in my opinion pathetic as I previously had a GTX 1660 Super which performs about the same. What are your recommendations? Worth buying used (or even used for mining) cards? Previous-gen ones a better value?

 

[Insert_Nickname]

With how things are at the moment, I'd take what I can get my hands on at the price I'm willing to pay. You can watch for deals, but that's about it. €400 should get a 3050, but I'd recommend trying to stretch a bit for a 6600non-XT.

I don't think there is much point in waiting if you need a card now.

 

[Glo.]

For that money you can get RX 6600 in most of European countries.

Enjoy.

 

[DeathReborn]

Grafikkarten PCIe mit Speichergröße ab 8GB Preisvergleich Geizhals EU

Preisvergleich und Bewertungen für Grafikkarten PCIe mit Speichergröße ab 8GB

geizhals.eu

Looking at €360+ for a 3050 & €430+ for a 6600 in the EU, the 1660 (S, Ti) is around the 3050 in price but only worth it for €30 lower price in my view.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Just a reminder to anyone that is reading: If you're gaming or doing anything with heavy GPU acceleration, ALWAYS buy the GPU first, then build the rest of the system around it.

Worst case scenario you plug the GPU into your old PC (maybe upgrade the PSU or some other incidental parts at the same time) and still get a solid performance boost with some bottlenecking while you wait around to upgrade your core system.

Better than being stuck with an advanced PC that is basically crippled by the lack of a good GPU.

 

[OscaAndShintjee]

Just a reminder to anyone that is reading: If you're gaming or doing anything with heavy GPU acceleration, ALWAYS buy the GPU first, then build the rest of the system around it.

Worst case scenario you plug the GPU into your old PC (maybe upgrade the PSU or some other incidental parts at the same time) and still get a solid performance boost with some bottlenecking while you wait around to upgrade your core system.

Better than being stuck with an advanced PC that is basically crippled by the lack of a good GPU.

Just in case you're wondering, I ended up in this situation because I lost my GTX 1660 Super, not because I built the base system first. Good advice regardless.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Just in case you're wondering, I ended up in this situation because I lost my GTX 1660 Super, not because I built the base system first. Good advice regardless.

Sorry for your loss, my condolences.

 

[OscaAndShintjee]

I've spent some time looking at RX 6600 deals and they're certainly not favorable. Minimum 460€ if buying locally, same on Amazon (except you get month-long shipping times in addition!), and the used market currently consists of delusional miners who think their 6600s are worth around 440€.
As much as this is a good enough deal for someone who has the money to burn and needs a graphics card then and there, I'd hate to spend so much on a card that's only like 30% faster than a card like the GTX 1660S.
Might just wait it out.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

I've spent some time looking at RX 6600 deals and they're certainly not favorable. Minimum 460€ if buying locally, same on Amazon (except you get month-long shipping times in addition!), and the used market currently consists of delusional miners who think their 6600s are worth around 440€.
As much as this is a good enough deal for someone who has the money to burn and needs a graphics card then and there, I'd hate to spend so much on a card that's only like 30% faster than a card like the GTX 1660S.
Might just wait it out.

- Time to go deep on the 2d/pixel art indie gaming scene for a while. Lot of gems in there.

 

[rstrohkirch]

What do used 1080ti go for locally around you?

 

[Whirlwind]

What do used 1080ti go for locally around you?

I have been looking into this as an option....seems around $600 o e-bay and on rare occasions high $500's

 

[OscaAndShintjee]

What do used 1080ti go for locally around you?

They're overpriced, you can expect to pay at least 480€ for one, while most are at the 500-550€ price mark.

- Time to go deep on the 2d/pixel art indie gaming scene for a while. Lot of gems in there.

Agreed. I also have no issues with just booting up something ancient like Half-Life 2, since that runs well on any hardware at this point.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

Just in case you're wondering, I ended up in this situation because I lost my GTX 1660 Super, not because I built the base system first. Good advice regardless.

Was it not under warranty? I thought Nvidia cards had 3 year warranties, or is that only in the US?

 

[OscaAndShintjee]

Was it not under warranty? I thought Nvidia cards had 3 year warranties, or is that only in the US?

I'm not sure on how manufacturer warranty works here, usually you're directed towards the retailer.
In my case, I bought it just as demand was up and major shortages happened. Someone I know who works in retail found me the card for around MSRP in some warehouse and I ended up paying only around 260€ for it. The catch is that the card was open box but not out of its inner packaging, and I never received any warranty papers from the retail store I was purchasing it from.

 

[Elfear]

I'm not sure on how manufacturer warranty works here, usually you're directed towards the retailer.
In my case, I bought it just as demand was up and major shortages happened. Someone I know who works in retail found me the card for around MSRP in some warehouse and I ended up paying only around 260€ for it. The catch is that the card was open box but not out of its inner packaging, and I never received any warranty papers from the retail store I was purchasing it from.

I would contact the card manufacturer and see what they can do. Worst they can say is "no".

 

[OscaAndShintjee]

I would contact the card manufacturer and see what they can do. Worst they can say is "no".

It's too late for that now. I never bother with any kind of non-local returns as they often end up costing money and/or wasting my time.