It's said that there are no bad GPUs; only bad prices. While that might be true, bad prices can make or break a GPU's utility for gaming. Additionally, some graphics cards are woefully underpowered to provide decent gaming performance, making them bad products at any price. When looking at the Steam Hardware Survey, I noticed many of these on the list of most used GPUs.

These graphics cards aren't the fastest or costliest on the market, but they are what most people end up buying. They're often perceived as "good value", which can sometimes be far from the truth. Hence, if you're about to buy a new graphics card for gaming, try to avoid any of these popular yet unappealing options.

10 Intel Arc A770

Intel's best is far from enough

Intel's flagship Arc Alchemist GPU, the Arc A770, launched for $329, bringing 16GB of VRAM and decent 1080p performance at a semi-budget price. The problem was that it was still too expensive to compete with Nvidia and AMD, both of which had better offerings at around the same price. Nvidia's RTX 4060, although not highly recommended, was faster and cheaper.

The AMD RX 6650 XT, while initially more expensive, now costs almost $100 less than the A770 for the same level of performance. Intel's first-gen Arc GPUs also suffered from high power draw and some driver setbacks, further pushing customers away who were willing to consider the new entrant. The company's upcoming Battlemage GPUs, if all goes to plan, might finally bring real competition against AMD in the mid-range segment.

9 AMD Radeon RX 580

How the mighty have fallen

It was frankly shocking how long the AMD Radeon RX 580 stayed relevant. Strictly speaking, it's still punching above its weight, providing respectable 1080p performance for just $100. If you've been rocking one on your gaming rig since 2017 or 2018, you can still get some more life out of it, as long as you use the lowest in-game settings and keep playing at 1080p. However, buying a new RX 580 doesn't make much sense in 2024.

Performance-wise, it's equivalent to an RX 6500 XT, a poor product from AMD, featuring just 4GB VRAM and a meager 64-bit memory bus. The RX 580 might be cheaper than the 6500 XT, but it's equally ill-equipped for modern titles. Besides, due to its aging architecture, it can't really play games like Alan Wake 2 that use mesh shaders instead of conventional shaders. The RX 580 was a landmark GPU, but by all accounts, it should be left in the past.

8 AMD Radeon RX 6600

Too little and way too late

AMD's Radeon RX 6600 launched a full year after the unveiling of the RDNA 2 flagship GPUs. Launched in the middle of the GPU pricing crisis, no one was hoping for anything outstanding from AMD. However, what came out was an uninteresting product that failed to justify its price. Three years later, if you're considering one now, it'll cost you around $200, over $100 cheaper than the launch price.

Is it a better GPU now? You only need to look at AMD's own RX 6650 XT to answer that. Costing virtually the same, the 6650 XT is around 20% faster and has the same 8GB of VRAM. The VRAM might start to become limiting in some time, even at 1080p, but there's still no reason to pick the 6600 over the 6650 XT.

7 Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650

How budget is too budget?

Nvidia's GTX 1650 might be an extremely affordable graphics card at $149, but should you really consider it? For reference, it's slower than even the RX 570, and barely faster than Intel's entry-level Arc A380. If all you need is a low-profile card for display, go for it, by all means, but it's not really a gaming GPU.

There are hardly any redeeming features here — ancient 4GB VRAM, older GDDR5 memory, and a smaller 128-bit memory bus. You might be able to manage playable FPS at the lowest settings in newer titles, but for just around $50 more, you can get the radically faster RX 6650 XT. It should be a no-brainer, then, to avoid the now-discontinued 16-series graphics card.

6 Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Super

Fading from relevance

The GTX 1660 Super (or the 1660 Ti) was a fantastic GPU when it launched, and is what I consider the last real budget GPU from Nvidia worth the investment. I used one for around 2–3 years, enjoying any non-ray-traced title at 1080p high settings, but I had to switch to a more powerful card back in 2022, when I moved to 1440p.

If you're gaming at 1080p, it's still a great card for older titles and even some newer ones (with optimized settings), but it's simply too weak for the latest games, especially at 1440p. The 6GB VRAM is a big issue, even at 1080p, and might stop you from using high textures and other taxing settings. It's discontinued by Nvidia, but you can still find it online for around $200.

At that price, however, you should go for the RX 6650 XT, which can sometimes provide double the FPS of the 1660 Super, while costing essentially the same.

5 Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050

Nvidia grasping at straws

Launched amidst the crypto mining boom in 2022, Nvidia's cheapest RTX offering, the RTX 3050, was selling way above its $249 MSRP. Now, over two years later, the lowest-tier desktop RTX card you can buy is hardly impressive. You can get either the 6GB or 8GB variants, but neither is going to last long in the latest titles.

In terms of performance, the RTX 3050 is equivalent to a GTX 1660 Super or 1660 Ti, so you already know its limitations at both 1080p and 1440p. The 8GB variant can be found for around $200, and once again, the RX 6650 XT should be the clear alternative, despite the slightly worse ray tracing performance on the AMD card. Even the RX 6600 or Arc A580, which are terrible options in 2024, fare better than the RTX 3050 in terms of price to performance.

4 Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060

The most popular of them all

Yes, the RTX 3060 happens to be the most-used GPU in the world, at least according to the Steam Hardware Survey. While it was mostly scooped up by miners and scalpers when it launched during the crypto mining boom, gamers finally started getting their hands on it after things settled down. Today, you can get a 12GB variant for around $280.

The RTX 3060 is no doubt a good performer for its price, but there are multiple better alternatives it's competing with. For instance, even the RTX 4060 (which I don't recommend either) is better, performing faster at almost the same price. Besides, the RX 6650 XT, for a more affordable $200, is also around 15% faster than the 3060. If you already have one, that's great, but don't consider it when building a new gaming PC.

3 Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070

Let down by a lack of VRAM

The RTX 3070 was one of the best 30-series cards from Nvidia, and had the potential for a long life. Sadly, its low 8GB VRAM proved to be its downfall, with many users facing crippled performance at 1440p (which is what you use with a card like the 3070). Having powerful specs otherwise, the lack of VRAM on the RTX 3070 was a missed opportunity from Nvidia.

The more practical challenge in recommending it in 2024 is that it's hard to find a new model at a reasonable price. You can find RTX 3070 listings for around $530-$540, at which price you can easily get the newer and faster RTX 4070, along with an upgrade in VRAM from 8GB to 12GB.

2 Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060

The people's GPU no more

The 60-class GPUs from Nvidia have been the sweet spot for the majority of gamers, providing a decent level of performance without breaking the bank. Whether it was the GTX 1060, RTX 2060, or RTX 3060, gamers have always waited for the 60-class card in every new generation. However, with the RTX 4060, Nvidia seemed to be determined to break the record.

While the RTX 3060 shipped with 12GB of VRAM, the RTX 4060 only has 8GB, while still costing as much as $300. It might be around 15% faster than the RTX 3060, but when you consider options such as the RX 6700 XT and 6750 XT for the same price, the 4060 doesn't seem as appealing. Fans of ray tracing might prefer the Nvidia option, but at this performance level, what kind of performance will you get with ray tracing turned on?

1 Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Ti

Dead on arrival

Even before the RTX 4060, Nvidia came out with the RTX 4060 Ti 8GB, a GPU that was doomed to fail the moment it was announced. Featuring an insufficient 8GB of VRAM (yet again), and a weaker 128-bit memory bus, compared to the 256-bit on the 3060 Ti, the 4060 Ti ended up performing worse than its predecessor in many games. Even the 4060 Ti 16GB that came later didn't bring any performance improvements with it.

At $400, 8GB of VRAM was becoming ridiculously bad, and paying another $100 for more VRAM, yet essentially the same performance, was just the cherry on top of the cake. Naturally, the RTX 4060 Ti received a lot of flak, and the RX 6750 XT with 16GB of VRAM, costing around $300, became the better alternative by providing the same level of performance. You can even opt for the much faster RX 7700 XT with 12GB of VRAM for around $380.

Look beyond the hype and marketing when buying a GPU

Nvidia might control the lion's share of top-of-the-mind recall when it comes to gaming GPUs (or any GPU), but it doesn't have the better product at every price point. Even if you value ray tracing performance, the number of games where the technology delivers a night-and-day difference is just 4 to 5. Plus, many great games look phenomenal even without ray tracing, calling into question the premium associated with Nvidia's RTX graphics cards.

You should consider AMD's offerings that often provide a lot more bang for your buck, even in the premium segment (at least with the RX 7000 series). Even Intel has some good options in the budget segment if you have a strict budget.