Back in May, I theorized about a future where Nvidia and AMD both stop offering budget GPUs, and you need around $300 to purchase a new graphics card. With Nvidia, this is already a reality as the company hasn't offered a new GPU cheaper than $200 since its GTX 16 series, which was already a gimped version of the RTX 20 series. I always figured AMD would stick to the low end of the market since its only competition was Intel and because AMD has traditionally been one of the best manufacturers of budget cards.
But general manager at Radeon, Scott Herkelman, recently confirmed that the RX 7700 XT and 7800 XT would be the last major additions to the RX 7000 series, and now everything has changed. With AMD's cheapest GPU in the RX 7000 series starting at $270, there's only one player in the industry that might keep the budget GPU segment alive: Intel. The company's upcoming Battlemage GPUs will be a critical moment for low-income gamers and whether PC building can be accessible to those with less cash to spend ever again.
The low-end GPU market used to be so good
Because it's been so long since the budget GPU market has seen actual activity, many of you might not even remember what it used to be like. I think the GPU shortage that began in 2020 made lots of us forget what a normal graphics card market looks like. While budget GPUs have existed since the first GPUs came out, one of the most famous has to be Nvidia's GTX 750 Ti from 2014. It cost just $150, used the super power-efficient Maxwell architecture, and was wildly popular. It could even fit into crummy, low-end OEM desktops that didn't have a 6- or 8-pin power plug since it consumed so little power.
The GTX 10 series and RX 400 series in 2016 brought even more options to the table. The GTX 1050 and 1050 Ti cost $110 and $140, respectively, and the RX 460 went for $110 like the 1050. These cards also used very little power, and many of them could operate without a power plug while offering pretty good performance for the price. AMD even launched an $80 RX 550 in 2017, and although its value was pretty bad compared to the 460 and 560 (which was basically a refreshed 460), it was at least an option.
Things started to shift around 2018. The GTX 16 series was priced low enough, with the 1650 at $150, but it didn't have all the features of the RTX 20 series and didn't push the budget segment forward. The RX 5000 series, meanwhile, started at $170 with the RX 5500 XT, which was more expensive than usual. But major changes started with the RTX 30 and RX 6000 series; Nvidia left the budget market altogether, and AMD only offered two low-end GPUs based off of a laptop chip in early 2022.
At the time of writing, Nvidia's cheapest RTX 40 card is the 4060 at $300, and AMD's cheapest RX 7000 GPU is the 7600 at $270. Nvidia's rumored RTX 4050 seems poised for $250, given its specs. No matter how you look at it, that's a far cry from the $110 GPUs we got seven years ago, and now the cost to build a low-end PC from new parts is much higher.
Why it's crucial that we get new budget GPUs
New budget GPUs might not be important for people who buy new hardware since they can buy used ones. I've seen lots of people pointing out that if you want a good $100 GPU, you can just buy one used, and while that's mostly true today, it's short-sighted to believe that will be true in a market where the newest cards start close to $300.
Used cards cost less than new ones, not only because they've been used but also because newer models apply pressure on the used market. Obviously, you can't sell a used GPU for the same price as a new one if the new one is just better in every way. Nobody is going to buy that. But if the cheapest GPUs start around $300, it's going to take longer than normal for those cards to finally filter down to the $100 mark. For reference, the RTX 3060 launched in early 2021 at $330, and today the cheapest 3060s on eBay cost about $230, so there's still a long way to go.
Then you also have to consider that it's taking longer for new cards to come out, and even when those cards come out, they're not much better than older ones. There's just far less pressure for the used market to discount cards than there used to be.
Intel is our last hope for the budget segment
With AMD confirming its retreat from the low-end and Nvidia likely never coming back, it's up to Intel to keep budget graphics cards alive. The company already offers a $100 GPU in the form of the Arc A380, but its upcoming Battlemage series will need to offer something below the $200 mark at minimum to keep the cost of entry low enough. If Intel follows Nvidia and AMD's lead, it's probably over for everybody on a budget.
And while I hope Intel's Battlemage cards end up being some of the best we've seen yet, Intel doesn't even need to make something particularly amazing. Offering anything decent for less than $200 would be good, and the closer to the $100 mark, the better. This would ensure gamers on a budget will at least have some options rather than basically none, which will be enough to keep this hobby accessible.
I've seen lots of people say that the death of low-end GPUs isn't a big deal, but $100 GPUs are possible to make. They used to be normal years ago, and they helped make PC gaming cheaper and more accessible for everybody. I would hate to see PC gaming become exclusive for the financially comfortable, and I am rooting hard for Intel to stop that from happening.