Just sharing my experience: I went through this exact struggle last year trying to push 165Hz in Warzone. I actually ended up grabbing a used NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB because I was lowkey obsessed with getting the lowest system latency possible. It was a bit scary buying used tbh, and I was super worried about the power spikes... I basically had to upgrade to a Corsair RM850x 850W PSU just to be safe. It's been solid, but I've been looking at the specs of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 12GB lately and idk if I should've gone for the newer architecture. I'm still learning about frame times, but the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT is a rasterization beast tho, but I reallyyy feel the difference with Reflex in shooters. Quick tip: Always double-check your PSU overhead if you go used. Older high-end cards have crazy transient spikes!

yo, for that 500 dollar limit, I'm realy happy with the ASRock Challenger Radeon RX 7800 XT 16GB OC. It's usually around $480, leaving room for other parts. * High frame rates in Warzone? Check.
* Pure rasterization performance? Definitely. Reflex is nice but raw fps wins in shooters. I've built these for years and i dont have any complaints about this card's value gl!

In my experience, ur totally on the right track with the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT. I've built many high-refresh rigs over the years and honestly, for fast-paced shooters like Apex or Warzone, raw rasterization is king. You don't really wanna use DLSS for competitive play anyway cuz it can add a tiny bit of latency or visual shimmer that messes with ur aim. AMD’s Anti-Lag works fine for keeping things snappy, so dont worry too much about missing out on Reflex. Basically, if u want a brand new card for exactly $500, that 7800 XT is unbeatable. But if u are open to the used market, u could probably snag an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12GB which still shreds at 1440p. Anyway... I’d personally stick with the Sapphire Pulse AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT 16GB for the warranty and VRAM headroom. It’s a total beast for the price point!!! gl

I'm just starting to research this too so take my advice with a grain of salt lol. It seems like the big debate is always raw performance vs those cool Nvidia features. I've been trying to figure out if the extra software stuff is worth the "Nvidia tax" or if just getting the fastest card for the money is better - it's sooo hard to choose. One thing I'm curious about though - are you planning on upgrading anything else soon, or is the $500 strictly for the GPU? Also, do you care about how much power the card pulls? I'm pretty sure some of the cards in this price range are way more power-hungry than others, and I'd hate for you to get a great deal but then realize your power supply can't handle it. Tbh the market is pretty confusing right now with all the different versions of cards out there.

bump