Nobody likes spending any more money for a new product than they have to but when it comes to graphics cards, that's been somewhat of a struggle this past year. Fortunately, most prices have come down to a point that the latest GPUs are either on or a little over their MSRPs—they're still very expensive, of course, but for the most part, you're not paying over the odds anymore.
And in the case of four specific graphics cards, one from AMD and three from Nvidia, it's even better news, as I've found deals for each of them where the asking price is under their suggested retail price. Let's take a look, shall we?
The quick list
- Gigabyte RX 9060 XT | 8 GB - $280 @ Best Buy (save $50)
- Gigabyte RTX 5060 | 8 GB - $296 at BHPhoto (save $10)
- Gigabyte RTX 5060 Ti | 8 GB - $345 @ Newegg (save $35)
- MSI RTX 5070 | 12 GB - $546 @ BHPhoto
RX 9060 XT 8 GB | $20 under MSRP
Starting with AMD's excellent Radeon RX 9060 XT, this deal is $30 under $299 suggested retail price for the 8 GB version. Yes, I know what you're thinking, and it's along the lines of nobody should be buying an 8 GB graphics card these days. That's because there are some games when set to certain resolutions and detail settings, they'll run slower than they should, as there's not enough VRAM.
While this is very true, the number of games that fall into this category is very small when compared to the vast array of things one can play on a gaming PC. Eventually, the minimum VRAM requirements for almost every big PC release will be 16 GB, but those days are still far off in the future, and by the time it becomes a problem, the RX 9060 XT will be too slow anyway.
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So if you're happy to ignore certain games or just lower settings until you're within the 8 GB VRAM budget, then the RX 9060 XT is well worth considering. It's better than the RTX 5060 and can give the RTX 5060 Ti a run for its money, even when you throw ray tracing into the mix.
Nvidia's GPUs are the better choice if upscaling, frame generation, and content creation support are important to you, but for pure native gaming, the little Radeon is very hard to beat.
RTX 5060 | $3 under MSRP
Okay, so a handful of bucks under MSRP is hardly worth crowing about. Neither is the fact that this deal is for an RTX 5060, a graphics card that's notable for being decidedly underwhelming.
I'm including it in this list simply because (a) some people will only ever buy GeForce graphics cards and (b) it is technically under MSRP. Hardly a glowing endorsement, yes? At least it's reasonably cheap, coming in at under $300, but if you're happy to spend a few dollars more, then there's a much better option.
RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB | $34 under MSRP
As it shares the same VRAM concerns as the above Radeon RX 9060 XT, the 8 GB version of the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti tends to fly under most PC gamers' radar. It really shouldn't, because not only is it $85 cheaper than the 16 GB variant, it's a very good GPU for the money. It's also the card with the biggest discount under MSRP in this list.
I recently built a gaming rig for someone using an RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB and was genuinely surprised by how capable it is. Stick to 1080p, and you can really crank up the graphics settings and still enjoy a healthy frame rate. Add in a spot of upscaling, and 1440p gaming is just the same.
Just be mindful that ray tracing with frame generation, in certain games, can eat up more than 8 GB of VRAM. If that's a major problem for you, then either the 16 GB versions of the RX 9060 XT or RTX 5060 Ti should be your focus. However, you won't get either of them for $345.
RTX 5070 | $3 under MSRP
I know this is another miserable serving of an MSRP discount, but out of all these graphics cards, I'd buy the GeForce RTX 5070. Even though it's not much better than an RTX 4070 Super and it still only has 12 GB of VRAM. Despite all that, it's the one for me because of how capable it really is, especially when you add a dose of overclocking.
Perfectly content with 1080p and 1440p gaming, you can actually push the 5070 into the realm of 4K when you enable DLSS 4 upscaling and frame generation. Not in every game, but certainly far more than you'd expect. Nvidia's performance-boosting AI tech is very good these days, and if you're currently using a first-generation RTX card, you'll be shocked by what DLSS can do.
My only caveat with the RTX 5070 is the price. At $546, it just feels a bit too much for such a graphics card—if it were $50 cheaper, it would be a truly amazing GPU, but alas, that's the hand that Nvidia's dealt. If it's too much for you but you still want a latest-spec graphics card, then I strongly recommend the RX 9060 XT 16 GB.
You won't get one under MSRP yet, but give it time, and I'll bet one model will sneak under $350.
👉Browse through all the best graphics cards deals here👈
1. Best overall: AMD Radeon RX 9070
2. Best value: AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16 GB
3. Best budget: Intel Arc B570
4. Best mid-range: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti
5. Best high-end: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090
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