I understand that AMD drivers are open source and less of a hassle to work compared to Nvidia. But what else? What model should I look for? I don’t care for raytracing or other dumb gimmicks. Just want to run my map games and cowboy games without lag and crashes. Upscaling compatible is preferred in case I want to play newer slop without buying a new card.
What’s your budget and how much grunt do your games demand? You might do OK with something in the RX 5000 or 6000 series. These might only be available as used/refurb, but if you shop carefully you can find good deals, and some refurb cards even come with warranties on ebay.
I just picked up a refurb 6750 XT which was a huge upgrade over my 1650S. It’s running great in Bazzite, and since it’s an older card but still meets my needs I feel like I got a great deal. Even better that it was a refurb. I’m very happy so far.