Cards like Radeon 8GB RX 480 and Nvidia 6GB GTX 1060 were around $250 and were excellent lower midrange cards 8 years ago.
A lower midrange card like the Radeon 16GB RX 9060 is around $380. (Based on price today in Denmark)
So an increase of 50% in 8 years. Not nearly as bad as it has been in several periods in between, when for instance the modest RX 580 was above $500 due to mining, and midrange cards were essentially dead.But the main problem is that a card like the 16GB RX 9060 is basically the entry point today, there are no good value options below that AFAIK.
Edit:
I was informed about the 12GB Intel Arc B580, which is both cheaper and better than the 8GB Radeon RX 9600 XT.
With the RX 9600 XT be SURE you get the 16 GB version.I picked up an RX6600 like 4 months ago for my partner to play Monster Hunter Wilds. It was $300 CAD (So, $220) and plays everything on the market at medium settings, 60fps.
It’s a lower mid range card that does what we expect in the price range. It was also a sale price, but we got it.
I’m not denying that prices are, in general, higher, particularly if you’re looking for traditional mid range options or even high end cards, but budget options exist.
Well yes and no, The RX 6600 is a 4-5 year old card, and absolutely low end by today’s standards.
I’m not saying that to be arrogant, because I use a 6600 XT myself. And it works OK for me. Because I mostly play retro games.
But if you look at reviews of the 9600 XT, the 6650 XT which is slightly better than 6600, is the bottom of the charts if it’s even included, at typical framerates more than 50% below the 16 GB 9600 XT.
So yes you can get cheaper cards, but the price is higher per FPS. Maybe except for the Intel Arc B580.
You can also get the 9600 XT in a cheaper 8 GB version, but that is STRONGLY warned against, because for some new games, performance fall off a cliff with only 8GB!
So the 8 GB Radeon RX 9600 XT is not even recommended as an entry level card!But to be honest, I was positively surprised when I saw the 16 GB version is only $380 (USD) here in Denmark. Because that’s actually cheaper than what I paid for the 6600 XT when it came out. Back then that was $450 USD, and by far the best option on cost per fps.
Prices have been crazy, but they are actually somewhat normalizing now.
Yep, grabbed a 6900xt for my wifes PC build a few months ago here in the states for $400 and got an AIO and some free ddr5 ram with it. New isn’t always worth it. Older cards still have a ton of life left in them.
Buy high end, but not top end, stick with it for many many years and you’ll actually have good experience the entire time.
Opposed to low end cards that are terrible when you buy them and just gets worse in just a year or two.
Tell that to my 1050ti that still works fine
