Price: £237.99 | Rating: ★★★★½ (4.5)
The RTX 3060 is the card that refuses to die, and for good reason. The Gigabyte GAMING OC V2 is a triple-fan version of a GPU that has become a bit of a workhorse for 1080p and entry-level 1440p gaming. What makes this one stand out is the memory: a full 12GB of GDDR6, which is more than plenty of newer, pricier cards offer. If you play modern titles that chew through VRAM, that headroom is worth having.
Under the shroud is NVIDIA's Ampere architecture, running on a 192-bit bus with a boosted core clock of 1837MHz on this OC variant. It is not the fastest card in this bracket on raw rasterisation, but the 12GB buffer means you will not hit texture memory limits at 1440p the way an 8GB card might in a few years. In games like Cyberpunk 2077, Hogwarts Legacy, and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, it holds a playable frame rate at high settings, especially with a little help from upscaling.
And here is where the RTX 3060 earns its keep for some people: DLSS. Because it is an NVIDIA card, you get access to DLSS in a huge range of titles, plus actual ray tracing hardware that, while not blazing fast, is genuinely usable at 1440p when paired with DLSS. That is something the AMD cards in this list simply cannot match at this price.
The GAMING OC V2 cooler is a bit of a beast for a card in this tier. Three fans on an Ampere GPU that draws around 170W means temperatures stay low and the fans rarely spin up loud. There is RGB on the shroud too, if that is your sort of thing, and dual HDMI 2.1 plus dual DisplayPort 1.4 covers just about any monitor setup you could want.
The catch? It is a physically large card. Three fans on a chip that does not strictly need them makes for a chunky bit of kit, so check your case clearance before you buy. It is also, let's be honest, an older architecture now, and the raw performance is bettered by newer cards if you can stretch further.
Pros
- Generous 12GB GDDR6 buffer, more than most rivals at this price
- Full DLSS support across a large game library
- Usable ray tracing hardware when paired with upscaling
- Excellent triple-fan cooling keeps it quiet and cool
- Dual HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4 for modern displays
Cons
- Ampere is now a couple of generations behind
- Physically large, check your case clearance first
- Raw rasterisation trails newer cards in this bracket
- 170W TDP is higher than the AMD alternatives here
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Buying Guide: What to Look For in the Best Graphics Cards for 1440p Gaming Under £250
Shopping for a 1440p GPU on a budget involves a few trade-offs that are worth understanding before you commit. Here is what actually matters.
Memory bandwidth, not just VRAM amount
All four cards here have 8GB of VRAM, but they are not equal. GDDR7 (RTX 5060) offers far more bandwidth than GDDR5 (RX 580), with GDDR6 sitting in the middle. At 1440p, higher bandwidth means the GPU can feed its shader cores more efficiently, which translates to smoother frame rates in texture-heavy scenes. Do not just look at the GB number. Look at the memory type and bus width too.
Upscaling support
At this budget, upscaling technology is not a luxury. It is often the difference between a playable and an unplayable experience at 1440p. DLSS 4 (NVIDIA, RTX 5060) is currently the best option available. DLSS 2 (RTX 3050) is still useful. AMD FSR 2 and 3 (RX 6600) work across a broader range of games at the driver level. The RX 580 has basic FSR 1.0 support, which is spatial upscaling only and noticeably lower quality.
Power supply requirements
A 450W PSU is enough for the RX 6600 and RTX 3050. The RTX 5060 LP BRK is also efficient enough for a 450W supply. The RX 580 needs a bit more headroom and draws more power for less performance. If you are upgrading an older system with a smaller PSU, the RX 6600 or RTX 5060 are the sensible choices.
Form factor
Most GPUs at this price are standard dual-slot, full-height cards. The RTX 5060 LP BRK is the exception, fitting in low-profile and compact cases. If you are building in a mini-ITX or slim case, this matters enormously. Check your case clearance before buying any card.
Ray tracing expectations
Be realistic. At 1440p under £250, ray tracing is possible but not at ultra settings. The RTX 5060 handles medium ray tracing at 1440p reasonably well with DLSS assist. The RX 6600 has ray tracing support but it is not a strength. The RTX 3050 and RX 580 are not cards you buy for ray tracing at 1440p. If ray tracing is important to you, the RTX 5060 is the only card in this roundup worth considering for it.
Display connectivity
For a high refresh rate 1440p monitor (144Hz or above), you want HDMI 2.1 or DisplayPort 1.4 as a minimum. The RTX 5060 has DP 2.1, which is overkill in a good way. The RTX 3050 has HDMI 2.1. The RX 6600 and RX 580 vary by model, so check the specific card's outputs before buying.
For a deeper look at how these GPUs stack up in independent benchmarks, TechPowerUp's GPU specs database is an excellent reference. And for NVIDIA's official specs on the RTX 5060, NVIDIA's UK product page has the full technical breakdown.
