What is the best budget GPU for gaming under $300 right now? The Intel Arc B570, and it's nearly the only one

The best budget GPU for gaming under $300 right now is the Intel Arc B570 10GB. On Tom's Hardware's US price tracker (updated Nov 3, 2026) it was $289, and it was the only current-generation card under $300. The Arc B580 12GB, the stronger card, was $329. Nvidia's RTX 5060 and AMD's RX 9060 XT 8GB both launched at $299 but sold for $449 and $459. Prices checked Nov 6, 2026.

Which GPU gives the most frames per dollar under $300?

The two Intel cards, at today's prices. We divided each card's 1080p Ultra average from Tom's Hardware's GPU Benchmarks Hierarchy (updated Jun 24, 2026) by its best US price on Tom's tracker (Nov 3, 2026). The faster Nvidia and AMD cards would win at their $299 launch prices. At $449 and up, they don't.

The fps figures are Tom's Hardware's averages across its own game suite at 1080p Ultra with no upscaling. Your games will differ, but the order holds.

Is the Intel Arc B570 good enough for 1080p gaming?

Yes, for 1080p at high settings. Tom's Hardware measured a 63.5 fps average at 1080p Ultra and 44.3 fps at 1440p Ultra, about the same as an RTX 3060 12GB (61.5 fps at 1080p). Intel lists it with 18 Xe-cores, 10GB of GDDR6 on a 160-bit bus and a 150W board power. Tom's calls it "the only modern, decent graphics card available for (well) under $300", and also says that "recent software ills that took months to fix" made it "more of a gamble than a product worthy of a recommendation, even though those issues did eventually get corrected." Read that as: a fair buy now, but update the driver on day one.

One catch: Intel's support page says Resizable BAR "must be enabled for optimal performance" on Arc (the page is written for the A-Series). Intel describes it as a motherboard feature you turn on in the BIOS. If your board doesn't offer it, skip Arc and look at the 8GB Nvidia or AMD cards instead.

ASRock Intel Arc B570 Challenger 10GB OC

A B570 board from ASRock with 10GB of GDDR6 (Intel's spec). Buy it only if today's price is under $300; above that, the B580 is the better card.

Best for: 1080p gaming on the smallest budget.

Check price on Amazon

Today's price shows on Amazon

Is the Arc B580 worth about $40 more?

Usually, yes. The B580 has 20 Xe-cores and 12GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus per Intel, and Tom's measured it about 13% faster than the B570 at 1080p Ultra (71.5 vs 63.5 fps) and about 14% faster at 1440p Ultra (50.7 vs 44.3 fps). It costs about 14% more at the Nov 3 prices ($329 vs $289), so the value is close to even. The extra 2GB matters more over time: discussing 8GB cards, Tom's notes that "game requirements continually grow regarding shader and texture memory requirements." Intel still lists the B580 at $249, so $329 is a shortage price, not the card's real value.

Why are the $299 RTX 5060 and RX 9060 XT no longer under $300?

Memory. Tom's Hardware's tracker blames "the sad state of the memory industry, which is besieged by insanely large memory orders for AI data centers and AI GPUs." TechTimes, citing 3D Center's German retail tracking, reported on Oct 12, 2026 that Arc cards rose 38% year over year against 66% for Nvidia, calling Arc "the most price-stable category over the past year." That is why Intel now wins the budget tier by default.

The faster cards are still real options if you find them near launch price. NVIDIA's own RTX 5060 page still says "Starting at $299" (read Nov 6, 2026), with 8GB of GDDR7. Tom's measured the RTX 5060 24% faster than the B580 at 1080p, and the RX 9060 XT 8GB 30% faster. Tom's view: "Save up a few more bucks and grab an RTX 5060 or RX 9060 8GB instead." At $449 and $459, that is $120 to $170 more than the Intel cards, not a few bucks.

Should I buy an 8GB card or a 10–12GB card on a budget?

At the same price, take the extra memory. Under $300 that choice makes itself, because the only new cards there are Intel's 10GB and 12GB models. Above $300, an 8GB RTX 5060 is faster today, but writing about the 8GB RX 9060 XT, Tom's says 8GB of VRAM means the card "isn't terribly futureproofed"; our 8GB VRAM guide shows where it runs out. For 1440p you need more card than this budget buys; see the best GPU for 1440p. To check a specific game against your card, try Can I run it?.

If you also want to run local AI models on the same card, memory matters more than frames. Use the VRAM calculator and see our best budget GPU for local AI.

We'll re-check these prices regularly. The fps figures are Tom's Hardware's measurements, not our own tests; we compared them against each card's dated price.