Best Graphics Cards for Under $200 in 2022
A graphics card is one of the most expensive parts of building any gaming PC, but it doesn't mean you can't still have a good experience without spending a fortune. Each of these graphics cards costs less than $200 and will deliver a great 1080p PC gaming experience.
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More grunt
For a little more power from your budget AMD gaming PC, the excellent RX 580 8GB is a really good buy. It's a smart looking graphics card with a snazzy backplate, and the pair each of HDMI and DisplayPort connections are perfect for multi monitor setups. The boost clock is 1366MHz and the dual-fan cooler will keep things frosty under load.
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Esports tested
This graphics card has been tested for popular esports titles like League of Legends, Overwatch, and PUBG, and has built-in software to monitor performance and provide a boost when you need it. ASUS has a great twin-fan cooler to keep things frosty, and with HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.4, you're ready for the latest display standards.
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Red team
AMD's RX lineup offers solid graphics cards at great prices and this one is no exception. It combines 8GB of GDDR5 memory and XFX's twin-fan cooler with HDMI, DVI-D, and a trio of DisplayPort connections perfect for multi-monitor setups. Paired with a Freesync monitor you'll get crispy, tear-free 1080p gaming, too.
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Entry level
The GTX 1050 isn't going to deliver ultra-heavy graphics and high frame rates, but if you're on a tight budget or building your very first gaming PC it's a solid choice. This one will be great for lighter titles like CS:GO, Overwatch and Fortnite, and supports multiple displays through HDMI, DisplayPort, and DVI-D.
If we had to choose...
Why you can trust Windows Central
It's not necessary to spend an absolute fortune to build yourself a decent gaming PC (though some of the very best graphics card options sure are pricey), and part of that is down to the improvement in recent years from both AMD and NVIDIA on their respective GPU technologies.
If we had to pick a sub-$200 GPU right now it would either be a GTX 1050 Ti or an AMD RX 580 8GB, depending on which company you'd prefer to use and what type of PC you're going for. The RX 580 8GB will deliver much better overall gaming performance for a similar price, with better textures and higher frame rates possible at 1080p.
But, NVIDIA has recently done some serious work on its NVENC encoding engine for video, which is important for videographers and streamers in particular.
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Richard Devine is a Managing Editor at Windows Central with over a decade of experience. A former Project Manager and long-term tech addict, he joined Mobile Nations in 2011 and has been found on Android Central and iMore as well as Windows Central. Currently, you'll find him steering the site's coverage of all manner of PC hardware and reviews. Find him on Mastodon at mstdn.social/@richdevine