My AMD RX 590 performs well enough, but it has started crashing regularly, especially in demanding games. Since this is my daily-driver PC, the instability has become difficult to tolerate, so I'm looking for a replacement rather than trying to live with it.
New graphics cards are outside my budget, and I'd like to spend roughly €100 on the used market. Ideally, the replacement should perform at least as well as the RX 590, with a modest upgrade being even better. I've seen GTX 1080 cards listed for around €130, but I'm unsure whether an older NVIDIA card, an RTX model, or another AMD card would make the most sense.
I recently switched to Linux and have heard that AMD generally offers a smoother gaming experience there. However, I don't want to replace one unstable card with another. What used GPUs should I look for, and are there particular models or problems I should avoid?
5 Answers
A used RX 6600 would be one of the best choices for Linux and 1080p gaming. It’s noticeably more efficient than the RX 590 and has good driver support. The problem is price: it may be difficult to find one close to €100, with €130–€160 being more realistic in many areas.
With a hard €100 limit, a GTX 1070 or RX 5600-class card may be the most realistic upgrade. The performance will be better than the RX 590, but don’t buy blindly: ask for a benchmark or stress-test result, inspect the card for damage, and confirm your power supply has the required connectors and enough wattage.
I’d avoid paying much for a GTX 1080 or other 10-series card. They can still perform well, but their driver support is aging and that can matter on a newer Linux setup. If you can negotiate into the €120–€150 range, an RTX 2060 Super, RTX 2070, or RTX 2070 Super would be stronger options, though availability and condition matter a lot.
Also look at an RX 5600 XT, RX 5700, or RX 5700 XT if the seller has a good return policy. They can offer a sizeable performance increase over the RX 590, but older high-power cards may have been heavily used for mining and can run hot. Check temperatures, fan noise, crash history, and power requirements before buying.
The RTX 2060 12GB can be worth checking if you find one around €100–€120. The extra VRAM is useful in newer games, and you get features such as DLSS. Just make sure the listing is genuine and that the card has been tested, since the 12GB model is not automatically faster than every 8GB alternative.
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