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The five best budget GPUs for 1080p gaming, featuring the likes of the Intel Arc B580, Nvidia RTX 4060, and more.
According to the latest Steam hardware survey, 1080p is still the dominant resolution choice for gamers. Modern AAA titles are increasing their VRAM requirements with every new release. The standard 8GB VRAM for mainstream GPUs, introduced in 2016 with Pascal and Polaris architectures, is reaching its limits. As of 2025, we have several compelling budget GPU options coming from Intel, AMD, and Nvidia. Below are the mentioned GPUs that are pretty powerful for the 1080p segment and can easily run your desired titles.
Disclaimer: Due to the current GPU Pricing situation, the MSRP provided is for reference purposes only. For real-world pricing, kindly refer to your nearest retailer or trusted online store. We have omitted the core clocks of the GPUs due to the number of individual GPU variants offered by AIBs.
1. Intel Arc B580
MSRP: $249
The Arc B580 incorporates Intel’s latest GPU architecture, Battlemage. Given its name scheme, it might sound like this GPU is a replacement for the A580, but technically, it is significantly faster than the Arc Alchemist A770. Not only is it better at ray tracing, but it is also more efficient than the Alchemist. Overall, with its 12GB of VRAM and fantastic ray-tracing capabilities, the value it proposes at the MSRP of $249 is simply unbeatable, provided you can find it at retail at MSRP.
Key Specifications:
- Shading Units – 2560
- Tensor Cores – 160
- Raytracing Cores – 20
- Memory – 12GB GDDR6 (192-bit)
- Memory Bandwidth -19 Gbps effective
- Interface – PCIe 4.0 x8
- Power Connector – 1x 8-pin
- Estimated Power Consumption- 190W
2. Nvidia Geforce RTX 4060
MSRP: $299
With the RTX 4000 series, we get the Ada Lovelace GPU architecture from Nvidia. The RTX 4060 is Nvidia’s mainstream offering for budget gamers. Technically, the 4060 is faster than the 3060, but in some scenarios, the mere 8GB of VRAM in the 4060 causes issues. Considering the overall performance, the 3060 tends to be better than the 4060. But not everything is bad; we get the node efficiency enhancement in the 4060 compared to the 3060, along with DLSS MFG and better ray tracing, all done with a lower TDP of only 115W.
Key Specifications:
- Shading Units – 3072
- Tensor Cores – 96
- Raytracing Cores – 24
- Memory – 8GB GDDR6 (128-bit)
- Memory Bandwidth- 17 Gbps effective
- Interface – PCIe 4.0 x8
- Power Connector – 1x 12-pin
- Estimated Power Consumption- 115W
3. AMD Radeon RX 7600
MSRP: $269
The Radeon RX 7600 is AMD’s offering to the budget segment in 2025. Although speculation about the RX 9060 being on its way is running rampant, we will update the list upon its arrival. The RX 7600 trades blows with the 4060 in faster performance but lags behind for ray tracing tasks. With its 8GB VRAM, it suffers from similar problems as found on the RTX 4060 GPU. As for efficiency, RDNA 3 is not as good as ADA Lovelace.
Key Specifications:
- Shading Units – 2048
- Raytracing Cores – 32
- Memory – 8GB GDDR6 (128-bit)
- Memory Bandwidth- 18 Gbps effective
- Interface – PCIe 4.0 x8
- Power Connector – 1x 8-pin
- Estimated Power Consumption- 165W
4. Intel Arc B570
MSRP: $220
The Arc B570 is the younger brother of the B580; it has fewer GPU cores, memory bus-width, and VRAM cut down to be more aggressively priced. Both the B570 and B580 from Intel vanish as soon as stock arrives. With this, Intel is dominating the budget segment, but there is a slight problem. The Intel GPUs mentioned here are outright the fastest in pen and paper, but the drivers and the developer support need to be sorted ASAP. There is literally no competition for Nvidia in any segment. For the first time, things look good, but as we said, if only we could find GPUs at MSRP. Also, both the B570 and B580 can tackle 1440p high settings at ease (tuning required for B570); that’s the level of performance Intel offers, and it’s mind-blowing.
Key Specifications:
- Shading Units – 2304
- Tensor Cores – 144
- Raytracing Cores – 18
- Memory – 10GB GDDR6 (160-bit)
- Memory Bandwidth- 19 Gbps effective
- Interface – PCIe 4.0 x8
- Power Connector – 1x 8-pin
- Estimated Power Consumption- 150W
5. Intel Arc A580
MSRP: ~$200
Finally, the Arc Alchemist A580 incorporates the Alchemist architecture designed by Raja Koduri and his team when he was on board with Intel. This was Intel’s first response to the ray tracing bandwagon and an overall discrete GPU. The A580 is highly competitive with the AMD RX 7600, but due to driver and developer support, the architecture falls apart on titles that emphasize the presence of either an Nvidia GPU or an AMD GPU. Still, the performance it offers for under $200 is fascinating. A few cases where it falls apart are due to apparent issues within the Alchemist GPU architecture, one vital one is the power draw.
Key Specifications:
- Shading Units – 3072
- Tensor Cores – 384
- Raytracing Cores – 24
- Memory – 8GB GDDR6 (256-bit)
- Memory Bandwidth- 16 Gbps effective
- Interface – PCIe 4.0 x16
- Power Connector – 2x 8-pin
- Estimated Power Consumption- 175W
Final Verdict
Regarding budget options, we have intense competition from Intel against Nvidia and AMD, but keep in mind that each and every GPU mentioned here will be enough to get you through modern AAA titles. To be fair, the Arc B580 and B570s are 1440p segment cards; due to inconsistencies within Intel’s drivers and game developers’ support, these cards’ proper performance is held back. Here are a few suggestions if you worry about what you should get.
- Ray Tracing Only – Nvidia RTX 4060
- Budget Linux Gaming – AMD RX 7600
- Value for money – Any of Intel’s GPUs
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