Recommended GPU for 1440p Gaming - Budget $300

Vash1984 on 24/01/2025 - 08:12
Last edited 24/01/2025 - 09:31 by 1 other user

Hi all, I enjoy action games on my PC and thinking of an upgrade.

I cap my FPS to 60 at medium settings but sometimes it does drop (especially newer games), It's fine in 1080p but I really like 1440p gaming.

I've tried various settings in Adrenline software but to be honest there are so many options that I don't want to customise settings per game. And I'm not comfortable with overclocking.

I don't keep up with the latest GPU news so looking for advice to stabilise FPS around $300 new or secondhand. Is it a good time to buy, or should I wait? Or is there something else I can try, better CPU?

My current PC setup is

radeon rx 6650 xt
Ryzen 5 5500
32g ram
Windows 11
Games are install on nvme

Thanks Community.

Computing Computer Component Video Card

Comments

  • ForkSnorter on 24/01/2025 - 09:04
    +5

    $300 is a little optimistic I think. In fact, even your RX 6650 XT costs more than that. I also want to try 1440p gaming, so I managed to score a 4070 during the Black Friday sales.

    • Vash1984 on 24/01/2025 - 09:10
      +1

      Oh really haha, how much did you score $4070 for?

      • JownehFixIT on 24/01/2025 - 09:14
        +3

        Hopefully for a bit less than $4070 :-D

        • Vash1984 on 24/01/2025 - 09:16
          +1

          Haha

      • ForkSnorter on 24/01/2025 - 09:15

        $679

        • Vash1984 on 24/01/2025 - 09:17

          Thanks for sharing, heading towards PS5 territory now

          • ForkSnorter on 24/01/2025 - 09:18

            @Vash1984: Yeah, PS5 is a good way to go. Plenty good enough for 1440p. Plus with PS Plus you have access to hundreds of decent games for free.

            • jk82 on 24/01/2025 - 09:25
              +2

              @ForkSnorter: Haha they really get you with the subscriptions services don't they!… Yes, hundreds of games for free*

              *starting at $18.95 per month

              :D

              • Vash1984 on 24/01/2025 - 09:36

                @jk82: I was a PS4 owner, always added free games to my list but barely played, felt like a horder

                • JownehFixIT on 24/01/2025 - 10:00
                  +1

                  @Vash1984: I have gathered well over 1000 titles for PC across at least 6 or more games platforms… I'm sure there are people with more than me too! I'm not a hoarder! I'm a collector!

              • ForkSnorter on 24/01/2025 - 10:03

                @jk82: I got 1 year of PS Plus Deluxe for $170 during Black Friday. Works out to $11 per month.

  • aussieprepper on 24/01/2025 - 09:26
    +2

    You can probably get a few hundred for your card maybe? Add that to the budget and get a 7700XT they can be had about $550 new when on sale. You can wait for new cards to be released it might drop prices. I watched the review of the 5090 and that is retailing for 2000 USD, so this generation will probably be the same bullshit all over again.

    • Vash1984 on 24/01/2025 - 09:35

      Thanks for sharing, I'll add 7700xt to my list to look out for

    • barge-in hunter on 24/01/2025 - 09:37
      +1

      This is good advice - the 7700XT is a quality 1440p pick, and would be in your budget assuming you're selling your old one too.

      I would however, wait til the new AMD cards drop (in the next month or so I think) - we might see some sales on the previous gen cards.

      Also - the 5500 is an OK cpu for 1080p gaming… but will start holding back more powerful cards like the 7700XT and above (7700XT by maybe 10% - more on better cards) Not a terrible loss, but something to bare in mind for the next next upgrade.

      • Vash1984 on 24/01/2025 - 09:47

        Great advice, yes I was thinking of researching now and hopefully see some decent sales in the coming months, hopefully some reasonable second hand gpu.

  • freefall101 on 24/01/2025 - 10:51
    +2

    Secondhand 3070 and using DLSS to maintain frame rate is probably your best bet. It’ll handle most games natively at 1440p.

    Worth considering a 5700x3d if the cpu causes issues too

    • Vash1984 on 24/01/2025 - 10:54

      Amd FSR setting confuses me, is DLSS more straightforward? I'm assuming some games are not compatible with DLSS?

      • freefall101 on 24/01/2025 - 12:58
        +3

        With the new version of DLSS you can use the nvidia app to force scaling on games that don’t otherwise have it. But some version of DLSS support is pretty much the norm in games anyway these days.

        DLSS is straight forward to use usually, although games like cyberpunk I found reading online guides for settings was quite helpful. Most you can just pick between performance, balanced and quality til you get the fps you want.

    • Jsmooth57 on 24/01/2025 - 13:16

      Yeah this or used 3060Ti

      • Vash1984 on 24/01/2025 - 16:23

        Cheers, I'll add it to my list.

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