The prevailing market conditions have prevented a large portion of PC gamers from updating their versions. Even if you don’t need more memory or storage right now, buying a current-gen GPU that doesn’t suck will cost you a pretty penny, due in large part to Price increases affect graphics cards. also. That said, if you’ve always wanted to build a second PC as a dedicated budget gaming rig with an older GPU or a retro gaming box with a budget GPU, you can still do it. If you have around $150 to spend on a used graphics card, eBay is still a great place to look for deals. I’ve deliberately kept GPUs belonging to the RTX 30, RX 6000, and newer series out of this list, as I don’t consider them “old” at this time. From the RTX 2080 Super and GTX 1080 Ti for great budget gaming in 2026 titles to the RX 580 for retro gaming, this list has something for every budget.
RTX 2080 Super
High-end 1080p games for $150
Nvidia’s first generation of ray tracing GPUs were controversial to say the least. Real-time ray tracing finally made its way to gaming GPUs, but there were very few titles that actually used the new technology. And the prices Nvidia was asking for the RTX 20 series GPUs were anything but palatable. However, eight years later, the RTX 2080 Super represents one of the best value cards on the second-hand market. Priced at around $150 on eBay, it still has enough power for 1080p and even 1440p gaming (with upscaling, of course).
Performance at 1080p is honestly impeccable, considering you can easily hit 70-80 FPS on Cyberpunk 2077 at high 1080p settings, even before Activate DLSS. With the quality improvement, the frame rate is well over 100. Even in newer titles like Alan Wake 2You can get 60+ FPS with DLSS quality at medium 1080p settings. Of course, you can’t turn on ray tracing on these titles and expect playable frame rates. The Turing architecture is too old to handle the modern implementation of RT. However, the RTX 2080 Super is the only ray tracing GPU on the list and justifies its place in titles like Resident Evil Requiema title from 2026, where it supports more than 60 FPS in normal and high RT settings of 1080p (with DLSS quality). Even in 007 First light software ray tracing, Over 60 FPS is possible with optimized graphics settings at 1080p. You can find many more older ray-traced titles where the RTX 2080 Super performs better than expected.
1440p games It’s a mixed bag, as this card’s 8GB of VRAM can become overwhelmed when you up the ante. That said, with the upgrade, you can still get between 60 and 70 FPS in some titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and Arch Raiders. The RTX 2080 Super in 2026 is a fantastic 1080p GPU, capable of delivering above playable frame rates for just $150. If that’s not one of the best budget deals on the used market, I don’t know what is.
GTX 1080Ti
refuses to die
If you can’t find the RTX 2080 Super in your region or need more than 8GB of VRAM, the legendary GTX 1080Ti It’s still a viable budget GPU in 2026. The Pascal card can be found for about the same price of $150 on eBay and is only about 10% slower than the RTX 2080 Super in raw performance. In recent titles such as Forza Horizon 6the GTX 1080 Ti is more than capable at 1080p and even 1440p. There’s no ray tracing or DLSS support here, but that doesn’t mean you’ll have a terrible experience in modern games. Even with RT disabled, almost all new titles look perfectly fine visually. Titles like Red Dead Redemption 2, Hogwarts Legacy, Ghost of Tsushima, Dying Light 2 Stay Human and Dead Space (2023) works commendably on 9 year old GPU.
The Pascal generation lacks support for mesh shaders, so titles like Alan Wake 2 will suffer more. And since driver support ended a while ago, don’t expect performance improvements. Still, you can use the FSR enhancement and frame-raising on the GTX 1080 Ti in almost all modern titles to push your frame rates beyond the magic 60 FPS number, even at 1440p. And those 11 GB of VRAM come in handy in several scenarios. At just $150, it’s hard to argue against the iconic GTX 1080 Ti, even nine years after its release.
RX 5700 XT
Don’t rule it out yet
If you’re on a tight budget for a used GPU and can only spend around $125, the 6-year-old RX 5700 XT is still a fair choice for a budget 1080p gaming rig. For context, you can expect over 60 FPS at native 1080p resolution at High settings. With the help of the FSR boost, you can easily take it to 90 FPS, but expect more brightness. Other titles like Red Dead Redemption 2, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2and Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 All can be played at 60+ FPS, as long as the 1080p Medium/High settings are maintained.
1440p games get tougher on the RX 5700 XT, but you can still get 50 frame rates in many modern titles with the help of the upgrade. Of course, due to the lack of mesh shaders, titles like Alan Wake 2 and Black Myth: Wukong It doesn’t work well on this card. Even in 2026, the RX 5700 XT is not as old as its age suggests. If you are looking for a used GPU for gaming Forza Horizon 6 either Resident Evil Requiem at 60+ FPS, then the once high-end Navi GPU isn’t a bad deal at around $125.
GTX 1070
A hybrid of economic and retro gaming
With less than $100 to spend on a used GPU, the GTX 1070 is a good option, but now you’re walking a fine line between a decent 1080p card and a retro gaming GPU. At only around $80, the GTX 1070 is pretty affordable, but you’re starting to see it being more than a decade old by 2026. At 1080p, the GTX 1070 still performs better than expected from such an old card, delivering 60+ FPS at Medium settings on most newer titles, of course with FSR enhancement enabled.
When it comes to 1440p gaming or very recently released titles, the GTX 1070 fails to have a decent budget. However, if you’re looking for a version of retro gaming to plug into your TV, it’s hard to complain about the GTX 1070. Its raw performance combined with the 8GB VRAM is more than capable of running games from the 2010s and 2000s at maximum 4K settings. If you’ve always wanted to go back to your old favorites or play titles you never got around to playing, the GTX 1070 at just $80 is still overkill.
RX580
How about that good wine?
If you love the idea of budget GPUs having enough power for older, classic titles, then the $50 RX 580 is the card to buy. The 9-year-old Polaris card has aged like a fine wine, thanks to AMD’s driver optimizations and 8GB VRAM. However, it no longer provides a great 1080p experience, despite delivering over 60 FPS in modern titles. The 1% minimums are simply too poor to guarantee smooth gameplay, making even this cheap GPU look like a compromise at medium 1080p settings.
Things change when you consider it for a retro game version. It can handle maximum 4K settings in almost any older title, making it an ideal card for a secondary build. It is also more than powerful for emulate a variety of old consoles using RetroArch or another tool of your choice. If you can find the RX 590 for the same price or $60 at most, I recommend purchasing it. For just $50 to $60, these Polaris cards still make sense for playing 10-year-old AAA titles or 20-year-old classic games on a budget PC connected to your 4K TV.
Used GPUs keep budget gaming alive
GPU manufacturers stopped releasing quality, affordable GPUs a long time ago. Today, the cheapest current generation cards you can buy, i.e. the RTX 5050 or Arc B580, cost at least $300. For just half that amount, you can buy a used RTX 2080 Super that beats any of them in raster performance. Sure, you’ll lose something in the software department, but there’s no denying the cost savings. And a $50 used GPU on eBay can still be used to create a version of retro gaming for your media room.
