Are Any Nvidia GPUs Really Affordable In 2026? It's Complicated - BGR

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 is the second most popular discrete GPU according to Steam, but its price remains high.

The RTX 5060 was introduced at an MSRP of $299, though it never really sold for that price.

The most affordable deal we spotted is a PNY Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 at Best Buy for $449.99.

PNY also offers the most affordable deal on the RTX 5060 Ti, with a price of $499.99 at Best Buy.

The additional CUDA cores in the 5060 Ti are well worth an extra $50 if you want to future-proof your rig and dip your toes into 1440p gaming.

There aren't many 5070s (and even fewer 5080s/5090s) in stock at major retailers, and those that are come in at nearly double the original $549 MSRP.

Budget GPU market shrinking

The budget GPU market is shrinking every day. AMD and Intel graphics cards used to be an affordable alternative, but all GPUs are rising in price now.

With that said, there are still a few graphics cards that offer respectable value at their current asking prices if you're not married to Nvidia.

You shouldn't expect to find them at MSRP, but they might get close when on sale.

Intel and AMD alternatives

The Intel Arc B580 sets a good example — it originally launched at $249, but you can find the ASRock Intel Arc B580 Challenger for $309.99 at Micro Center.

The cheapest Intel Arc B570 is $307.49 at Newegg (on sale for $289.99 when written), which is still close to $100 (41%) over the original $219 MSRP.

This is one of the best graphics cards if you're into competitive online games and don't mind 1080p over higher resolution gaming, though.

As for AMD cards, there are some decent deals floating around on the Radeon RX 7600.

Best Buy carries the XFX – SPEEDSTER SWFT210 AMD Radeon RX 7600 for $369.99, which is almost exactly $100 above the original $269 MSRP.

If you're looking for a Radeon 90-series card, the GIGABYTE Radeon RX 9060 XT (8GB) for $459.99 at Best Buy is the best deal we found, though it's still considerably more than the original $299 asking price.

If you can find any of these Intel or AMD cards on sale, don't wait — it's only a matter of time before these prices rise even higher.

Where to find affordable cards

Amazon is a poor choice for affordable graphics card, at the moment.

We researched several popular GPUs across major retailers including Best Buy, Newegg, Micro Center, and Amazon, and didn't find a single deal on Amazon worth recommending.

But if you do want to snag a deal, there are a few methods you can try, including browse used or refurbished GPU listings on sites like eBay and Craigslist along with the usual suspects of Best Buy, Newegg, and Micro Center.

You have to be careful with these sites, though. There are a lot of non-functioning and 'box only, no graphics card and no returns!' listings to wade through.

Double- and triple-check the condition, photos, and description before making a purchase, and reach out to the seller if you have any questions.

Try to locate a return policy first, too, in case the GPU shows up broken.

There are some genuinely good deals to be found this way, though.

Method number two involves setting up price alerts for listings at Amazon, Best Buy, and more.

Punch in the name of the graphics card (or cards) you want and get notified as soon as they go on sale.

Just know that thousands of other buyers already have this set up, so you have to be quick on the draw when popular GPUs go on sale.

Lastly, try purchasing a graphics card directly from someone you know; if a friend recently upgraded their PC, they might give you a good deal on their previous card.

Similarly, a neighbor running a garage sale might be trying to offload some spare computer parts.