Sub-$200 Graphics Cards in 2023: Top 5 Expert Choices

the last year 2019 was pretty hot for the video card market. NVIDIA has released a whole bunch of new cards on the core of Turing. Radeon approached on the other hand with the new generation of Navi and coolly dropped the prices of the previous lines.

Given that the system requirements of the top video games also do not stand still, 2023 can be safely called the ideal time to upgrade the base gaming PC. Therefore, in this article, we made a selection of the best graphics card for under 200$.

best graphics card under 200

best graphics cards under $200

  1. Asus Radeon RX 570 ROG-STRIX-RX570-O4G-GAMING
  2. Palit GeForce GTX 1650 StormX
  3. Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1650 OC 4G
  4. Sapphire Radeon RX 580 PULSE 8G G5 11265-05
  5. MSI RX 570 ARMOR 8G OC

5 best graphics card under $200

There are a lot of graphics cards on the market, and it can be tough to choose the best one for your needs. If you’re looking for a great graphics card that doesn’t cost a lot of money, then you should consider one of the options below.

Asus Radeon RX 570 ROG-STRIX-RX570-O4G-GAMING 

Asus Radeon RX 570 ROG-STRIX-RX570-O4G-GAMING
Pros
  • Powerful overclocking potential,
  • revised element base Super Alloy Power II,
  • built-in factory overclocking profiles,
  • efficient cooling system,
  • silent mode,
  • backlight synchronisation.
Cons

    As part of the ROG-STRIX line, Asus typically produces fully redesigned and overclocked models for demanding gamers. For example, the RX 570 ROG-STRIX boasts a high-quality element base Super Alloy Power II and a fully redesigned Asus DirectCU II dual-fan cooling system, which efficiently dissipates excess heat under heavy load and switches to passive silent mode at minimum load. 

    True, this affected the size of the card, since instead of a single cooler we have a rather large double cooler here. In addition to this, support for Asus Aura Sync’s proprietary backlight synchronization has appeared. here you can check Best Graphics Cards Under 400 $.

    Well, of course, it could not do without overclocking. First, out of the box, the Asus RX 570 ROG-STRIX operates at an increased frequency of 1310 MHz. Secondly, the overclocking potential was pumped from the card, 1410 MHz can be squeezed out of the kernel without problems, and the memory rises from 7000 to 8204 MHz (an increase of 17%). 

    Moreover, it is not necessary to tinker with the settings in the BIOS since the ASUS GPU Tweak II utility is included with the card, which allows you to quickly switch the video card’s operating modes from quiet “quiet” with reduced power consumption to extreme “gaming”, in which the core accelerates to the maximum MHz. Variations are added by the Radeon Chill switch, which allows you to limit the frame rate to the required level (for example, 60 FPS) and consume as much energy as you need. Although, even taking into account such tricks, the power of the power supply should be at least 450 watts.

    Naturally, you have to pay for everything, so the price of the RX 570 ROG-STRIX is 10% higher than the average temperature in the room. On the one hand, this is not so much. Especially considering the cooling system and powerful overclocking. On the other hand, for the money, you can look in the direction of older models. For example, MSI RX 570 ARMOR 8G OC. for the same amount offers 8 GB of video memory instead of 4 GB, and Sapphire has a modification of the older RX 580 at the same price.

    Palit GeForce GTX 1650 StormX 

    Pros
    • High price-performance ratio,
    • dimensions,
    • power consumption,
    • quiet cooler.
    Cons
    • It practically does not accelerate.

    When NVIDIA introduced a new line of graphics cards based on the Turing architecture with real-time ray tracing (you could see them in Battlefield V and Metro Exodus), it incurred the ire of the gaming community. It turned out that many players do not really need this technology, instead, they just want to get a not expensive and productive video card for a new generation. Did you ask? Get the Palit GeForce GTX 1650 StormX, which is ideal for replacing the old graphics card.

    Firstly, this is almost the most affordable option among all modifications of the GTX 1650. The rest will be more expensive by $ 20-30. Secondly, it provides an average power increase of 34% compared to the previous generation GeForce GTX 1050 Ti. Although it costs almost the same. Thirdly, instead of a double cooler, here we have a reduced single cooling system, which includes an aluminum radiator, three copper heat pipes, and one axial fan. 

    This made it possible to reduce the length of the card from standard 226 mm to 145 mm, which will certainly attract owners of small cases with microATX motherboards. Fourth, it has reduced power consumption with a ceiling of 75 watts, which simplifies the issue of replacing the power supply.

    The amount of graphic memory of 4 GB and the overall speed of the card is enough for comfortable gameplay in most popular games of 2015 – 2019 in Full HD resolution (for 4K requirements will be much higher). For example, in Battlefield 1 at high graphics settings it produces stable 82 FPS, The Witcher 3 at ultra does not fall below 46 FPS even in locations loaded with characters. 

    We don’t know what requirements the games will have in a couple of years, but now this performance for its $ 170 is impressive. Well, StormX has only one minus – due to the not-so-powerful cooler and the idle power subsystem, the card practically does not accelerate above the regular 1665 MHz.

    Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1650 OC 4G 

    The power reserve of the system is cooling, overclocking potential, a modified set of video outputs, low power consumption.  Not detected. 

    The video card GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1650 GAMING OC 4G is an interesting modification of the GTX 1650. At a price slightly higher than the reference, it offers an enhanced power subsystem, an original printed circuit board, LED backlight, factory overclocking, a productive and quiet cooling system, a modified set of video outputs ( two HDMI instead of one ), as well as high-quality elemental base.

    Regarding the features, there is a small factory overclocking GPU, which provides an additional couple of percent of performance. You can manually squeeze another 10%. Even with such manipulations, the card remains quiet and cold – when overclocking the core to 1800 MHz, the coolers worked at only 70% of the power, and the core temperature did not exceed 66 ° C. 

    The GPU temperature margin is significant, therefore, in the Aorus Engine proprietary utility, we recommend changing the operation mode of the cooling system to a quieter one. Then the card will become almost silent. Plus, the power consumption here is a funny 75 watts, so it can be easily replaced with a video card in the current PC without the hassle of buying a more powerful power supply. Also, Look at Best Graphics Card Under $1000.

    The available performance is enough to run most modern games in Full HD resolution. In simpler projects, settings can be twisted to the maximum, and in heavy blockbusters, you will have to go down to average parameters to get a comfortable speed. In general, you can safely count on stable 50 FPS even in the most demanding toys such as Red Dead Redemption 2 (especially when it is cured of bugs) and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey.

    Sapphire Radeon RX 580 PULSE 8G G5 11265-05 

    Sapphire Radeon RX 580 PULSE 8G G5 11265-05
    Pros
    • 8 GB of video memory,
    • price,
    • factory overclocking,
    • the cooler is easily removed for cleaning,
    • an effective cooling system,
    • silent mode.
    Cons
    • Not detected.

    In similar Pulse and Nitro lines, Sapphire managed to find a formula close to the ideal video card. Instead of unnecessary RGB-backlighting or a design cooler that you still can’t see in the case, Sapphire offers maximum performance and reliability for the money. The Radeon RX 580 PULSE is an excellent graphics card without weaknesses: everything is fine with overclocking, an excellent cooling system and almost the lowest price tag among all RX 580 modifications . Importantly, the card has 8 GB of video memory instead of 4 GB. Yes, this is not a panacea, but in an era when the system requirements of games are growing by leaps and bounds, an additional 4 GB of video memory will not be superfluous.

    A significant plus of the RX 580 PULSE is its powerful cooling system, which the company’s engineers specially redesigned for the RX5xx line. It effectively dissipates excess heat, preventing the core from warming above 70 ° C, almost noises and is able to go into silent mode in idle mode. 

    In some cases, the video card may be noisy, but it looks more like software problems. However, the hum of coolers is more than compensated by a good overclocking potential: the 1400 MHz boundary in the core can be overcome without problems, then you’ll get lucky. We managed to squeeze 1440 MHz. The memory accelerates to 9000 MHz, which is beyond the power of most competitors.

    Like all cards from the new Pulse and Nitro lines, this one has some interesting features. Firstly, the dense matte casing that covers the cooling system can be removed in just five seconds, you just need to unscrew one bolt and remove the latch. Sapphire calls this Quick Connect chip and it helps a lot when cleaning and cooler or replacing thermal grease. 

    Also on the rear panel you can find the BIOS switch, which translates the card from “silent” mode to “boost”. Well, plus, the card was equipped with an additional power connector so that manual overclocking depended only on the card itself, and not on the power limit.

    MSI RX 570 ARMOR 8G OC 

    Pros
    • 8 GB of video memory,
    • factory overclocking the kernel,
    • excellent overclocking potential of the memory,
    • silent mode.
    Cons
    • The cooler is noisy under load.

    The first has slightly higher memory and core frequencies, motley lighting and game design. The second has slightly lower operating frequencies (but still high), a minimum of unnecessary jewelry, a quiet cooler, a more pleasant price tag and 8 GB of video memory. It is this factor that makes it one of the most attractive options in the segment of up to $ 200, since most competitors in this niche of video memory have “only” 4 GB. A year or two ago, such a volume would have been over the eyes, but modern toys like Red Dead Redemption 2 or Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order eat video memory like cornflakes for breakfast, and 6 GB are slowly becoming the norm.

    Other characteristics to match. Instead of the base frequencies of the 1168 MHz core, the MSI RX 570 ARMOR 8G OC is out of the box overclocked to 1268 MHz. If we talk about manual overclocking, the picture is not quite ordinary: with an increase in the power limit, the core abuts against a ceiling of 1400 MHz. This is not bad, but not the ultimate dream. But on the contrary, memory accelerates with a bang, rising from 7000 to 8000 and higher. If you tinker with the power limit and find the right settings, you can get a very good increase in power.

    To cool all this stuff, a simplified version of the MSI TORX cooler is used with a couple of rather large metal coolers. Interestingly, the cooler supports ZeroFrozr technology, which completely stops the coolers in the absence of load. The system turned out to be ambiguous, since at a core temperature of less than 60 degrees it is almost inaudible, but if you pass this threshold, coolers begin to make noise, be healthy.

    Is a 200 dollar graphics card good?

    If you are looking for a graphics card that will give you the best gaming experience, then you should probably spend more money and buy one that is more expensive. However, if you are just looking for something that will allow you to play basic games, then a 200 dollar graphics card will be fine. Keep in mind that there are many different factors that can affect how good a graphics card is, so it is important to do your research before making a purchase.

    Conclusion

    In conclusion, there are many best graphics cards under $200 that can suit your needs. Be sure to do your research to find the best card for you, and don’t forget to factor in your other hardware requirements. With the right card, you’ll be able to enjoy the latest games and graphics at high settings and resolutions. Thanks for reading!

    Hi, fellow tech enthusiasts! I’m Syed Kashif Shah, and I’m proud to be your go-to expert for all things like problems, suggestions, recommendations related to graphics cards. As a seasoned Technology Consultant and Hardware Enthusiast, I’ve spent years in the graphics card troubleshooting and repair field.

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