Best Budget PC Graphics Cards

Thanks to the continued release of new graphics cards, previous generations of graphics cards have dropped in price. This has allowed the one high end GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 graphics cards to become much more affordable. For between $180 and $200, it is possible to get the EVGA version of the graphics card with 896MB of memory. Games can easily be run up to the 1920x1200 resolution on this card with anti-aliasing and anisotropic filters enabled. It can even run games at the massive 2560x1600 resolution without filters. Connectors include two DVI-D with DVI-to-HDMI and DVI-to-VGA adapters. The card is a dual slot card that requires two PCI-Express 6-pin power adapters from a 500W power supply minimum.

The ATI Radeon HD 4870 graphics processor may be a bit older these days, but it still offers some very strong performance. Sapphire's 1GB version of the card can be found between $180 and $200. The extra memory allows the card to handle high resolutions with filters enables better than the 512MB version of the card. It still uses the GDDR5 memory bus for some incredible graphics memory performance. Gaming at 1920x1200 with high filtering should be possible for many games. Connectors include two DVI-D with DVI-to-VGA and DVI-to-HDMI adapters. The card is a bit longer than average and is a double slot design. It requires two 6-pin PCI-Express graphics power connectors and a 500W minimum power supply.

Well, the GeForce GTS 250 isn't really a new card. Essentially it is a rebadged GeForce 9800 GTX+ graphics processor. It has roughly the same performance as a similarly clocked and configured 9800 GTX+ card. Expect it to play games up to the 1920x1200 resolution without any issues. Some changes have been made to this new $150 version of the chip though. Most notable of these is the requirement of only a single 6-pin power connector and a 450W power supply. It still uses a double card slot design though. The card features two DVI-D connectors with a DVI-to-VGA adapter included. It also features a special video cable for output to component video for HDTVs. Prices are around $145.

Sapphire has been one of the longest running partners with ATI for their graphics cards and the Radeon HD 4850 512MB is a solid value for those looking to get a good gaming card for under $150. The Radeon HD 4850 can provide solid 3D graphics up to 1920x1200 without filters or 1680x1050 with filters. The card doesn't run as fast of the 4870 and uses less expensive GDDR3 memory to make it more affordable. The card has two DVI-D connectors but can connect to HDMI based TVs or monitors with the supplied adapter cable or to older VGA analog displays with the supplied converters. It also uses less power than the other cards and only requires a single 6-pin PCI-Express power connector. Prices range from $130 to $140.

The new Radeon HD 4770 is kind of a mislabeled graphics core. It has a lower model number than the 4830 but this new 40nm graphics core actually has performance that in some ways equals to the 4850. The Sapphire Radeon HD 4470 card comes with 512MB of memory on a 128-bit bus but with GDDR5 memory for improved memory performance even with the small bus. The card is able to reliably run games up to 1680x1050 with some running up to 1920x1200 with some filtering enabled. It features two DVI-D connectors with DVI-to-VGA and DVI-to-HDMI adapters. The card only takes up a single slot of the backplane but the cooler does prevent use of the slot immediately next to the card. A single 6-pin PCI-Express power connector is needed. Priced at $100.

NVIDIA's GeForce 9600 GT is a fairly old graphics processor these days but it also comes with a very affordable price. Galaxy has boosted the performance of the graphics core by pushing the core clock speed up to 675MHz over the standard reference clock of 650MHz to give it a slight edge in performance. While the card isn't going to be running the latest games at super high resolutions, it is able to achieve 1680x1050 without filters in some games. The card features dual DVI-D connectors and can be used with analog VGA monitors with the supplied DVI-to-VGA adapter. The card requires a single 6-pin PCI-Express power connector. Prices range from $65 to $85.