Cheap graphics card deals
I can't believe it. GPUs are back. This means the return of cheap graphics card deals. It's been a while, but the supply chain situation has finally gotten, the stock is flowing, and cryptocurrency miners are buying up every GPU in sight, thanks to events like the Merge.
Not only are most of the most popular graphics cards back in stock, but some are even affordable again. The inflated pandemic pricing has slowly been easing up as some cards are actually selling at or below MSRP thanks to some generous discounts. Notice I said, "some." You'll still find a handful of RTX 30-series cards selling over their usual retail price. Thankfully, this is a trend we see fading pretty soon.
If you have your eyes on upgrading to a premium GPU, expect to see some hefty discounts as we get closer to the holiday season. However, keep in mind that new GPUs should launch before the end of the year, so if you're looking for the most powerful graphics to stick into your PC, you may want to hold off buying one for a couple of months.
I picked out some of the best GPU deals the internet has to offer, from the very top cards to the very cheapest, to help you find the right graphics card for you and your wallet.
Graphics card deals
MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Ventus 3X | 12GB GDDR6X | 10,240 shaders | 1,665MHz Boost | $1,259.90 $979.99 at B&H Photo (save $279.91)
That is a good saving on one of our favourite, high-end, current-gen GPUs. Here you're getting the benefit of GDDR6X, which offers significant performance increases over GDDR6. This one will see you through at 4K, no issues.View Deal
Asus TUF RTX 3070 Ti | 8GB GDDR6X | 6,144 shaders | 1,815MHz Boost | $699.99 $683.99 at Newegg (save $16)
At this price, the RTX 3070 Ti starts to look like a much more tempting purchase. This is the full-fat GA104 GPU and comes with speedier memory than the standard RTX 3070. But it does trail the RX 6800 XT in terms of performance, so if the prices are close enough for you not to worry about the extra, the AMD card is the one to go for.View Deal
XFX Speedster RX 6900 XT MERC319 | 16GB GDDR6 | 5,120 shaders | 2,365MHz Boost | $899.99 $729.99 at Amazon (save $170)
Sitting somewhere between the RTX 3080 Ti and RTX 3080 in terms of performance, the RX 6900 XT's pricing is making a bit more sense. I mean, it's still a silly price for a graphics card, but if you buy a high-end GPU today, it's a great saving. Though high-end graphics cards are likely to be superseded faster than mid-range GPUs, probably by the end of the year or early next. View Deal
EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti XC3 Ultra Gaming | 12GB GDDR6X | 1,725MHz Boost | $1,099 $899.99 at Newegg (save $199.01)
The RTX 3080 Ti was simply too expensive even at MSRP—it was a product of the GPU shortage, that's for sure. However, since that's all chilled out a bit now, it's come down to a far more sensible price below MSRP, and this basic EVGA model is prime example of that saving.View Deal
Gigabyte RTX 3080 Gaming OC | 10GB GDDR6X | 8,704 Shaders | 1,800MHz Boost | $839.99 $739 at Newegg (save $80)
This is the original take on the RTX 3080, which means you get 10GB of GDDR6X and 8,704 CUDA Cores—256 less than you get with the slightly newer 12GB version of the GPU. Importantly, you can max everything out with this card, even at 4K, and enjoy some serious high-end gaming. It's not necessarily as cheap as we'd like, but it's not too bad if you must have a new graphics card right now.View Deal
ASRock RX 6800 XT Phantom | 16GB GDDR6 | 4,608 shaders | 2,310MHz Boost | $639.99 $579.00 (after rebate) at Newegg (save $110.99)
When they first launched, the RTX 3080 and RX 6800 XT went head-to-head and could barely be separated. So long as ray tracing isn't right at the top of your must-have list, opting for the cheaper AMD card is possibly the smarter choice.View Deal
XFX Speedster RX 6800 XT MERC319 | 16GB GDDR6 | 4,608 shaders | 2,250MHz Boost | $719.99 $619.99 at Amazon (save $100)
This is a better deal than the ASRock RX 6800 XT from Newegg, but stock is limited of this one. It's also a lot cheaper than the cheapest RTX 3080 we've seen and can also deliver the same gaming performance.View Deal
PNY GeForce RTX 3070 Ti XLR8 Gaming Revel Epic-X RGB Triple Fan Edition | 8GB GDDR6X | 1,770MHz Boost | $749.99 $619.99 at B&H (save $130)
Phew, that's one heck of a name. But look past its absurd title and you'll find a hefty triple-fan GPU with plenty of performance to offer at 4K and below. At just $20 over the MSRP of this card, it's not a bad get right now, though the next generation is just around the corner.View Deal
Gigabyte RTX 3070 Vision OC LHR | 8GB GDDR6 | 5,888 shaders | 1,815MHz Boost | $759.99 $569.99 at B&H Photo (save $190)
Of all of Nvidia's GPUs, it's the RTX 3070 that is often closest to the MSRP. To the point that you can get an RTX 3070 for less than some RTX 3060 Ti cards. This snazzy-looking Gigabyte card is a case in point. You're looking at a triple-fan beast that can handle 1440p with ease and 4K is possible too. View Deal
Gigabyte RTX 3070 Gaming OC | 8GB GDDR6 | 5,888 shaders | 1,815MHz Boost | $599.99 $529.99 at Newegg (save $27.90 )
This is an Nvidia card getting dangerously close to its MSRP in factory overclocked guise. That makes it a rather rare beast indeed and a great little GPU to boot. It's comfortably faster than the last-gen $1,200 card, and it's only a little more than the cheapest RTX 3060 Ti deals today.View Deal
Gigabyte RTX 3060 Ti Eagle | 8GB GDDR6 | 4,864 shaders | 1,695MHz Boost | $479.99 $434.99 at Newegg (save $30)
This is as cheap as we've found the RTX 3060 Ti anywhere, but with the highest boost clock of any. TThis is a great graphics card right now, and probably isn't due a 40-series replacement any time soon, so we'd definitely rate it highly as a cheap deal to buy. The fact an RTX 3060 Ti is actually the same price as an RX 6700 XT isn't bad either. Make sure use promo code DSABWA367, limited offer at check out.View Deal
XFX RX 6700 XT Speedster | 12GB GDDR6 | 2,560 shaders | 2,622MHz Boost | $494.99 $424.99 at B&H Photo (save $70)
The Radeon RX 6700 XT is a great mid-range offering that can take the fight to the RTX 3060 Ti, excluding ray tracing. A $70 discount isn't too shabby, either. View Deal
XFX RX 6700 XT Speedster SWFT309 | 12GB GDDR6 | 2,560 shaders | 2,581MHz Boost | $519.99 $429.99 at Amazon (save $90)
I am so over XFX's naming scheme for its graphics cards, but suffice to say that this is almost identical to the one above, but with a slightly lower Boost clock. Though how much difference that will make in gaming will be negligible. This one's cheaper, though, which is always important.View Deal
Gigabyte RX 6700 XT Eagle | 12GB GDDR6 | 2,560 shaders | 2,581MHz Boost | $449.99 at Newegg
This RX 6700 XT is $50 cheaper than the lowest cost RTX 3060 Ti we've found, and delivers the same rasterized gaming performance. Ray tracing, it's admittedly slower, but honestly, you're probably not going to want to turn RT on with the Nvidia card, either. This is a quality mid-range card, with a serious triple-fan cooler to boot.View Deal
MSI Mech RX 6600 XT | 8GB GDDR6 | 2,048 shaders | 2,602MHz | $349.99 $329.99 at Newegg (save $20 after rebate)
Once again the smart money is buying AMD graphics cards at the low end of the GPU market. The RX 6600 XT is both cheaper and faster than the RTX 3060, despite losing out on the memory front. Don't be fooled by that 12GB vs. 8GB thing. The deal drops this from $349.99 to $329.99 with a $20 rebate card—don't forget to print that out.View Deal
Gigabyte Eagle OC RTX 3060 | 12GB GDDR6 | 3,584 shaders | 1807MHz| $429.99 $379.99 at Newegg (save $50)
This is an okay price on an RTX 3060 with a decent boost clock and 12GB of GDDR6 VRAM, though still too expensive versus the card's expected MSRP. Though since the RTX 3060 is likely to stick around for a while longer, it may be that retailers aren't so desperate to ditch what stock they still have, and thus prices appear to be sticking higher for now.View Deal
PNY RTX 3060 XLR8 Revel Epix-X | 12GB GDDR6 | 3,584 shaders | 1,777MHz Boost | $459.99 $369.99 at B&H Photo (save $90)
This compact RTX 3060 would be a great option for that mini-ITX build you've been planning, but couldn't find a graphics card to fit. Or even one you could afford. While over the card's expected MSRP, it's not a bad price for the lowest-spec Nvidia card we'd recommend today in a compact frame.View Deal
XFX Radeon RX 6600 Speedster SWFT210 | 1,792 cores | 8GB GDDR6 | 128-bit bus | 2,491MHz boost | $299.99 $259.99 at Best Buy (save $40)
The RX 6600 is built using AMD's excellent RDNA 2 architecture. It's a nifty GPU comparable to the RTX 3060 in some games, maybe a bit slower at times, but often found for a lot cheaper. In this case, it's miles cheaper than most RTX 3060 models on the market today, making it worth picking up.View Deal
What to look out for
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 10GB
Specs
CUDA cores: 8,704
Base clock: 1,440MHz
Boost clock: 1,710MHz
TFLOPs: 29.76
Memory: 10GB GDDR6X
Memory clock: 19GT/s
Memory bandwidth: 760GB/s
The RTX 3080 is the best graphics card out there today. Well, the 10GB one is, at its original MSRP. You might find it going for a little more than that today, and don't forget the 12GB model that Nvidia later released, which is even more expensive still.
The thing which really stands out from our testing is the difference it makes to ray-tracing performance. The first generation of ray tracing-capable cards required such a huge frame rate sacrifice that most people shied away from turning it on, but that's no longer the case with this generation.
The RTX 3080 may need a fair chunk more power—you'll want at least an 850W PSU—but this is the most desirable graphics card around today.
The performance uplift you get over the previous generation is huge and pretty much unprecedented. Maybe we've become used to more iterative generational deltas, especially considering the slight difference between the GTX 1080 Ti and RTX 2080, for example. But we're going to continue beating the Ti drum because it bears repeating—the fact the $699 RTX 3080 absolutely smashes the $1,200 RTX 2080 Ti is still staggering.
The RTX 3080 represents a huge generational performance boost over the previous RTX 20-series.
Nvidia has gone big with the RTX 3080, and the result is an outstanding gaming card that sets a new benchmark for both high-end 4K gaming performance and for ray tracing. As I said at the top, it's the 10GB model we love more for its blend of performance and price, but the 12GB model is still a viable option. Just that much less affordable.
Read our full Nvidia RTX 3080 review (10GB Founders Edition).
AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT
Specs
RDNA cores: 4,608
Base clock: 1,825MHz
Boost clock: 2,250MHz
TFLOPs: 20.74
Memory: 16GB GDDR6
Memory clock: 16GT/s
Memory bandwidth: 512GB/s
As a red team alternative to Nvidia's high-end graphics cards, there have been few finer than the RX 6800 XT. A highly competitive card that comes so close to its rival, with a nominal performance differential to the RTX 3080, is truly an enthusiast card worth consideration for any PC gamer with 4K in their sights.
A key battleground for Nvidia and AMD this generation has been on the memory front—covering both bandwidth and capacity. The RX 6800 XT comes with 16GB of GDDR6 across a 256-bit bus for a total bandwidth of 512GB/s. That means AMD has Nvidia's 10GB RTX 3080 on the ropes in terms of capacity but falls slightly behind in raw bandwidth to the RTX 3080's 760GB/s.
AMD has an ace up its sleeve in throughput terms in the form of its Infinity Cache, which bolsters the card's 'effective bandwidth' considerably. Some 1,664GB/s, by AMD's making—a 3.25x improvement over the RX 6800 XT's raw bandwidth. In gaming terms, it means you're looking at similar performance, despite the very different underlying technologies.
We're big fans of what AMD has managed to accomplish with the RX 6800 XT.
It's a tough call between the RX 6800 XT and the RTX 3080, but the latter pips AMD to the post with the final touches à la RTX. The RX 6800 XT is $50 cheaper, delivers high 4K performance, and a hefty VRAM increase over the RTX 3080. However, it's easy to argue that an extra $50 dropped on the RTX 3080 is money well spent: a small price to pay for greater 4K performance, much-improved ray tracing, and DLSS. All are available today and with years of developer support in the bank.
Though AMD has evolved on what was already a promising architecture in RDNA and delivered it in a fantastic graphics card in the RX 6800 XT. And not the least bit impressive in just how swiftly it has achieved near performance parity with Nvidia. There's still some way to go to claw back market share from the green team, but step one on RTG's to-do list (build a high-end GPU) can be confidently checked off with the release of the RX 6800 XT.
Read our full AMD RX 6800 XT review.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti
Specs
CUDA cores: 4,864
Base clock: 1,410MHz
Boost clock: 1,665MHz
TFLOPs: 16.20
Memory: 8GB GDDR6
Memory clock: 14GT/s
Memory bandwidth: 448GB/s
The best value Ampere to date, the RTX 3060 Ti is very closely related to the RTX 3070. Both utilize the same GA104 GPU (the RTX 3060 Ti has fewer SMs enabled), with the same 8GB of GDDR6 memory across a 256-bit bus.
While 17% less capable in core count than its pricier sibling, the RTX 3060 Ti makes up for it with some judicious GPU Boost frequencies. That partially explains why the RTX 3060 Ti can be within 17% to just single digits off the pace of the RTX 3070, despite operating at a silicon disadvantage. Not bad for a $399 card (if you can find it for that price).
If you haven't already done the maths: At $399, the RTX 3060 Ti is 20% cheaper than the RTX 3070, so performance per dollar is on the up with the diminutive graphics card. That's why we love it so; it's a great GPU for the full stack of resolutions and has decent ray tracing capability to boot, courtesy of second-generation RT Cores.
The RTX 3060 Ti delivers gaming performance that's rather stupendous.
The RTX 3060 Ti delivers gaming performance that's rather stupendous when you look at generational gains over even the RTX 20-series—next to the GTX 10-series, it's quite frightening, actually. There's exceptional 1080p and 1440p performance in a tiny package here, the likes of which would've set you back something close to twice as much cash a couple of years ago. And that's pretty great.
The Nvidia extras can help here too—DLSS, Reflex, and even Nvidia Broadcast all add to the overall experience. There's a solid base of genuinely great features behind RTX and the Nvidia package that's only been improved upon with Ampere, none more so than the ray-tracing performance for that matter.
Read our full Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti review (Founders Edition).
Performance comparison
Every new GPU generation offers new features and possibilities. But rasterized rendering is still the most important metric for general gaming performance across the PC gaming world. Sure, Nvidia GPUs might well be better at the ray tracing benchmarks they more or less instigated, but when it comes to standard gaming performance AMD's latest line up can certainly keep pace.
It's also worth noting that the previous generation of graphics cards do still have something to offer, with something like the GTX 1650 Super able to outpace a more modern RTX 3050 in most benchmarks.
We're not saying you should buy an older card in 2022, but it's worth knowing where your current GPU stacks up, or just knowing the lie of the land. But there is also the fact there will be gaming rigs on sale with older graphics cards over the next few days, and if they're cheap enough they may still be worth a punt as a cheap entry into PC gaming.
We've benchmarked all the latest GPUs of this generation, and have tracked their performance against the previous generation in terms of 3DMark Time Spy Extreme scores. Where we don't have the referential numbers for an older card we have used the average index score from the UL database. These figures track alongside an aggregated 1440p frame rate score from across our suite of benchmarks.
MSRP list
Here's a list of the manufacturer set retail prices (MSRP), or recommended retail price (RRP), for most the latest graphics cards. For the most part, these are the set prices for the stock or reference versions of these cards, if applicable, and not representative of overclocked or third-party graphics cards, which may well be priced higher.
Nvidia
RTX 3090 Ti - $1,999
RTX 3090 FE - $1,499
RTX 3080 Ti FE - $1,199
RTX 3080 FE - $699
RTX 3070 Ti - $599
RTX 3070 - $499
RTX 3060 Ti - $399
RTX 3060 - $329
RTX 3050 - $249
AMD
RX 6950 XT - $1,099
RX 6900 XT - $999
RX 6800 XT - $649
RX 6800 - $579
RX 6750 XT - $549
RX 6700 XT - $479
RX 6650 XT - $399
RX 6600 XT - $379
RX 6600 - $329
RX 6500 XT - $199
