Thrifty gamer: 5 best low-cost graphics cards under $200

NVIDIA GeForce GT 1030 is the cheapest graphics card that will run any modern game at least 30 FPS on low graphics settings at 720p resolution. Many games run at higher resolutions, settings, and frame rates.

But all this is relevant only for the GDDR5 version of the GT 1030 graphics card, while recently a cheaper modification with DDR4 memory has begun to be found on the market. We strongly do not recommend taking it. Saving money is minimal (10 percent), and the difference in performance is significant (by a third). It's all about the narrow 64-bit bus (the only modern graphics card with such a bus), which makes the memory frequency (in GDDR5 it is a third higher compared to DDR4) critical for fast loading and unloading of game textures. You can distinguish the younger version from the older one by the inscription "D4" in the full name of the model.

Due to its ultra-low power consumption (only 30 W), the GeForce GT 1030 can be cooled not only by a large fan, but also by a small one, or even passively (in a case with poor air circulation, it can reduce frequencies due to overheating). The low-profile ASUS GeForce GT 1030 LP with a small turntable (the noise is average, but the temperature is very low — up to 65 °C) is suitable even for narrow computer cases. The main drawback of the GT 1030 is its unsuitability for professional video editing. It supports NVIDIA CUDA technology, but NVENC (the second mandatory feature for video editing) does not. Therefore, we can recommend for purchase only unpretentious gamers with a very limited low-cost. Moreover, after a couple of years, an upgrade is guaranteed to be required.

The AMD Radeon RX 550 is a direct competitor to the GeForce GT 1030(20 percent more powerful and the same amount more expensive). The advantage in performance is achieved primarily due to the 128-bit memory bus, which is mandatory even for the cheapest modern video cards. But at the same time, the RX 550 heats up significantly more — by 65 watts, which makes passive cooling impossible.

Games with an average "appetite" for computer hardware like The Witcher 3 and Rise of the Tomb Raider on the Radeon RX 550, compared to the GT 1030, allow you to increase either the screen resolution from HD to Full HD, or graphics settings from low to medium. But not both parameters at once — this is already the prerogative of more expensive and powerful video cameras.

We recommend, if possible (not necessary, but desirable), to take a specific RX 550 model from companies specializing in AMD video cards, such as Sapphire. Whereas universal manufacturers (ASUS, MSI, Gigabyte) often make Radeon video cards based on NVIDIA models that are more priority for them. At the same time, the printed circuit board, power subsystem and cooling system may not be the best suited for AMD. Whereas the Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 550 definitely does not have such flaws: the design of the Cooling system is well thought out, the component base is reliable. It is also worth noting that despite the single-slot interface panel, the Sapphire Pulse cooler still covers two PCI-E slots. But even a fan operating in almost silent mode is able to keep the temperature at a comfortable level (up to 75°C).

Another advantage of the Radeon RX 550 over the GeForce GT 1030 is the support for VCE technology (another name for ReLive, analogous to NVIDIA NVENC/ShadowPlay). This GPU-integrated co-processor speeds up video editing and allows you to record and stream gameplay without much frame rate loss. If you're not only a gamer, but also a worker, the low-cost Radeon graphics card is clearly better for you than the similarly priced NVIDIA.

The GeForce GTX 1050 is a basic graphics card that lets you comfortably play the latest games at 1080p and medium settings. It could have been more if it had not 2, but 4 gigabytes of video memory, like its laptop "sister". But at $150, it's a shame to complain, and in general this is probably the best low-cost vidyukha in terms of price and gaming performance.

Unlike the youngest graphics card based on the Pascal architecture (GT 1030), the GTX 1050 supports both CUDA and NVENC, which makes it the best option for professional video editing (using a more powerful graphics card gives only a minimal increase in video rendering speed). Moreover, the GTX 1050 has the newest version of NVENC: it supports not only the widespread H.264 AVC codec, but also the progressive H.265 HEVC (video files weigh less).

The design of the ASUS Phoenix GeForce GTX 1050 is extremely simple: a reference (designed by NVIDIA) printed circuit board, three digital video outputs (DVI, HDMI, Display Port) and a simple cooler made of a small aluminium heatsink and one 8 cm fan. Fortunately, at least the fan is not bushed, but based on a ball bearing (not the quietest, but durable). Finally, we note that the DVI port of the GTX 1050, like all modern video cards, cannot output an analogue VGA signal. If you have a monitor with a VGA connection, buy an active HDMI-VGA adapter.

The Radeon RX 560 is the most affordable 4GB graphics card on the market (also available as a 2GB version). Its performance is somewhere between the GeForce GTX 1050 and 1050 Ti. In the latest games, the amount of occupied memory, even at low settings, can exceed 3 GB, so additional gigabytes will not be superfluous. In case of insufficient video memory, some of the textures will be stored in the slower RAM (64-bit DDR3/DDR4 versus 128-bit GDDR5). With the 4GB RX 560, you can safely try to increase the settings from medium to high.

In addition, the RX 560 is also the most power-hungry vidyuhi of the low-cost (as much as 80 watts). Moreover, it is built on the same Polaris 11 chip as the 75-watt RX 460, but all 1024 microcores are unlocked in it (it used to be 896), which explains the increased power consumption and the need for an additional 6-pin power supply (PCI-E x16 slot capable of delivering less than 75 watts of electricity). But enhanced power provides access to manual overclocking, which allows you to get an increase of up to 5 FPS in games for free.

At the same time, the RX 560 is not yet hot enough to overpay for a dual-fan modification. A safe temperature at which the crystal does not degrade (up to 75 °C) can be maintained even by a simple radiator without heat pipes and one fan, like the Gigabyte Radeon RX 560 OC. The ReLive video encoder (VCE) of the RX 560, by analogy with the younger RX 550, of course, also has. The main reason to buy a low-cost Radeon graphics card in 2018 is AMD's partnership agreement with two major gaming publishers (EA and Capcom) at once. Thanks to this, new games such as Battlefield V and Monster Hunter World will deliver significantly more FPS on Radeon graphics cards than on similarly priced NVIDIA ones.

The GeForce GTX 1050 Ti is the most powerful video adapter in the sub-$200 price segment. It has 768 Pascal micro-cores (GTX 1050 has 640 micro-cores) and 4 GB of video memory. Most games from 2017-2018 run on the GTX 1050 Ti at Full HD resolution on high graphics settings, and some even on ultra. Moreover, lightweight multiplayer projects like Dota 2, CSGO and WoT can be played even on a Quad HD (2K) monitor.

The GTX 1050 Ti (GP107) graphics chip is difficult to manually overclock. And all because NVIDIA has implemented an automatic overclocking function, provided that the graphics card has enough cooling and power supply. Everything depends on the power supply limit — 75 W via the PCI-E bus without additional connectors. Simply put, the GP107 runs almost to its limits by default. But you can manually squeeze a good 500 MHz from the video memory, which we recommend using the MSI Afterburner application.

More powerful low-profile graphics cards than the MSI GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GT LP do not yet exist. Even the not-so-hot GTX 1050 Ti can't be called silent: two tiny fans have to work hard to dissipate 75 watts of heat. And the 120-watt GTX 1060 is nowhere near capable of being cooled by such a cooler. We recommend buying the low-profile version of the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti primarily for building a PC from scratch in a Desktop-case or upgrading ready-made compact PCs.