Cheapest option for 1080p gamin in 2022

[AndreiK]

Hello LTT community!

 

I need your advice! Assuming I'm buying it new, what would be the most affordable GPU option for 1080p gaming. 

I'm looking to upgrade the Radeon RX550 that's currently running on my son's computer (a HP Elitedesk 800 G1 SFF transplanted in an ATX case, with 16GB RAM and 4th generation Core i7).

I guess my aim is to create a 1080p 60FPS Game Pass machine... with the main interest title being Forza Horizon 5 (some world of tanks too, rocket league, Counter Strike). I was thinking that a 1050/1050Ti/1650 would do the job, but since I've fallen behind quite a lot in terms of computer hardware, I have just a vague clue how these cards stack up against RX5000 and RX6000 series from AMD.

 

So, I'm open to any suggestion, I have no preference towards AMD or NVidia... I would even consider Intel without hesitation, but as far as know, not having ReBAR is a real deal braker.

 

Secondhand market is really lousy in my country, this is why I'm considering mainly new cards. 

 

Let me try another spin to the question: what's the "oldest" GPU that can deliver 1080p 60FPS gaming?

[IPD]

I mean, technically a new Ryzen CPU can probably handle 1080p gaming on quite a few games--GPU isn't even needed.

 

*Edit*

Specifically talking about 6000 series.  I haven't seen numbers on 7000 series yet....

[SpookyCitrus]

No need for this "oldest GPU" crap.

What is your budget?

What country are you in?

[AndreiK]

1 minute ago, IPD said:

I mean, technically a new Ryzen CPU can probably handle 1080p gaming on quite a few games--GPU isn't even needed.

Yes, I thought of that too. But a Ryzen CPU basically means a new build (ok, I could re-use the case and SSD but that's not the bulk of the cost) and that would cost more than just a GPU. 

 

[AndreiK]

5 minutes ago, SpookyCitrus said:

How about this. No need for this "oldest GPU" crap.

What is your budget?

What country are you in?

Country = Romania, this means that prices here are somewhat higher that prices after sale tax in US.

Budget = optimum would be as close as possible to 1000 RON (~200 Euros, give or take) with a hard limit at 1500Ron (~300 Euros).

[SpookyCitrus]

10 minutes ago, AndreiK said:

Country = Romania, this means that prices here are somewhat higher that prices after sale tax in US.

Budget = optimum would be as close as possible to 1000 RON (~200 Euros, give or take) with a hard limit at 1500Ron (~300 Euros).

You're not going to even be able to really find any new GPUs in that price range. If you can purchase on Ebay in your country you can find newer RTX cards for less than $300 USD before shipping. Check your local listings too, with that kind of a budget your best bet is a used card.

[PDifolco]

How much is a 6600 in Romania?

[IPD]

15 minutes ago, AndreiK said:

Yes, I thought of that too. But a Ryzen CPU basically means a new build (ok, I could re-use the case and SSD but that's not the bulk of the cost) and that would cost more than just a GPU. 

 

4th gen Intel is essentially e-waste at this point, imho.

 

You're also forgetting that DDR5 (or even DDR4) is going to be a massive improvement over DDR3. 

[AndreiK]

11 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

How much is a 6600 in Romania?

An XFX Swift RX 6600 can be found for 1500 RON (300 Euros)... a GTX 1650 can be found in the range of 900 - 1000RON (~200 Euros). These are prices for new cards.

[PDifolco]

2 minutes ago, AndreiK said:

An XFX Swift RX 6600 can be found for 1500 RON (300 Euros)... a GTX 1650 can be found in the range of 900 - 1000RON (~200 Euros). These are prices for new cards.

Ok but a 1650 sucks a__ compared to a 6600!!

[AndreiK]

11 minutes ago, IPD said:

4th gen Intel is essentially e-waste at this point, imho.

 

You're also forgetting that DDR5 (or even DDR4) is going to be a massive improvement over DDR3. 

E waste or not, it would have to work for another one or two years before I can afford of building a new rig. I'm aware of the advantages of having an up-to-date build. When time would be right, I'll build new computers for me and my children. Until then, this is not a top priority.

I'm considering a GPU upgrade for my son as a Christmas present, as long as I can get something that makes sense within the budget. 

[IPD]

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/8cRj2m

 

I really do think this is an opportunity to go with a new setup entirely.  You're going to be spitting into the wind trying to shoehorn a newer, mediocre GPU into a hardware setup that is well past its prime.

[AndreiK]

2 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

Ok but a 1650 sucks a__ compared to a 6600!!

Now that is an answer I can work with! It's a direction I can follow. Now let's see what I can find on the used market or maybe e-bay. 

Thank you!

[IPD]

1 minute ago, AndreiK said:

E waste or not, it would have to work for another one or two years before I can afford of building a new rig. I'm aware of the advantages of having an up-to-date build. When time would be right, I'll build new computers for me and my children. Until then, this is not a top priority.

I'm considering a GPU upgrade for my son as a Christmas present, as long as I can get something that makes sense within the budget. 

The problem is, you can spend in the ballpark of what you would spend on that RX 6600, and the integrated graphics would still be better than what you have now.  The difference being, you wouldn't have to "Build new" later--as you'd already have a good PC.  So the "later upgrade" could be a better discreet GPU.

[AndreiK]

2 minutes ago, IPD said:

The problem is, you can spend in the ballpark of what you would spend on that RX 6600, and the integrated graphics would still be better than what you have now.  The difference being, you wouldn't have to "Build new" later--as you'd already have a good PC.  So the "later upgrade" could be a better discreet GPU.

Let's assume I start a new build around a Ryzen 5 5600G. A quick search for mobo, ram and power supply took the grand total in the range of 1800...2000 RON (363 Euros...404 Euros). That's clearly over my hard limit for the budget. I see your point, though, and believe me, I've been chewing at this problem for some time. Perhaps if I find a GPU on the used market that's below the optimum budget limit, I'll go that way... If not, maybe I'll reconsider my approach. But, regardless of what path I will chose, I still need an answer to my question. 

[Squanchy]

2060 should be just fine, I just looked it up on the UK amazon site. I even edited it to deliver to romania. (looked up a random 2022 benchmark for the screenshot below so it shows everything). Also, Technically I'm more of a AMD guy now, but looking at the UK amazon site, its a bit hard to find stuff in stock. But this should be more then enough.

 

 

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUS-GeForce-Express-1365MHz-1785MHz-14000MHz/dp/B07V1Y6Y2J/ref=sr_1_8?crid=3HOOLH9RTSKL3&keywords=6600&qid=1667937437&refinements=p_76%3A419159031&rnid=419157031&rps=1&sprefix=6600%2Caps%2C178&sr=8-8

 

 

For comparison:

 

 

 

[bezza...]

41 minutes ago, IPD said:

4th gen Intel is essentially e-waste at this point, imho.

 

You're also forgetting that DDR5 (or even DDR4) is going to be a massive improvement over DDR3. 

4th gen intel still holds up. as some one who has worked on many 4th gen intel builds they are not that bad and can deliver decent gaming performance

[AndreiK]

22 minutes ago, IPD said:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/8cRj2m

 

I really do think this is an opportunity to go with a new setup entirely.  You're going to be spitting into the wind trying to shoehorn a newer, mediocre GPU into a hardware setup that is well past its prime.

The parts in your list are quite similar to what I found, minus the SSD, and I opted for a B550 based motherboard. Those prices sure look nice. A Ryzen 5 5600G goes as low as 705 RON tray version (~142 Euros) here... This is why I'm more inclined to add a GPU now and upgrade the whole rig later... The mobo is closer to 100 Euros, the power supply is around 60 Euros (and 80+ gold rated one from a decent manufacturer), the same ram is ~43 Euros. And if the Euro/US Dollar exchange rate is still close to 1:1, then those would be the prices in dollars too. 

[RealFlameknight]

Hey, I have just bought an RX 6600 (Gigabyte EAGLE model) and are yet to put it inside my machine. It's something of an 80% to 110% increase in performance compared to my ASUS GTX 1050Ti from what I've seen online. It really helps when the GPU has 8GB of video ram. I'm from Serbia so prices aren't any better, paid 48.000 RSD (around 410 euros) for a brand new one, so if you can get it for cheaper I'd say only then it'd be worth it.

 

I heard the RX 6600 also has the best performance-to-power ratio in its range, meaning it gives a great amount of performance compared to how much power it consumes.

 

In summary: I think it's a pretty good GPU for 1080p gaming, almost always 60+ fps (on the highest settings) even in the newest games from the benchmark videos I've seen.

[xAcid9]

7 hours ago, AndreiK said:

I'm looking to upgrade the Radeon RX550 that's currently running on my son's computer (a HP Elitedesk 800 G1 SFF transplanted in an ATX case, with 16GB RAM and 4th generation Core i7).

Which i7? 

[AndreiK]

7 hours ago, xAcid9 said:

Which i7? 

i7 4790 @3.6Ghz if I'm not mistaking

[david cassar]

On 11/9/2022 at 11:44 AM, AndreiK said:

i7 4790 @3.6Ghz if I'm not mistaking

not sure about shipping to romania but on amazon.de or computer universe you can find an rx 6600 for around 270 euro. Here is one for 267 euro on computer universe. 
https://www.computeruniverse.net/en/p/90846521

[xAcid9]

On 11/9/2022 at 6:44 PM, AndreiK said:

i7 4790 @3.6Ghz if I'm not mistaking

For 1080p60, that's good enough/barely passable. You can try hunt RX6600 or RTX 3050 if it 40% cheaper than the former.