For many gamers, streaming isn't necessarily a second job or a full-time hobby. Many people stream or capture their gameplay footage just for fun and don't need the highest of high-end capture cards to accomplish this task. And luckily there are plenty of options in the market for capture cards in the budget space. Although you shouldn't expect very high end capture capabilities and support that you see in high end cards range, you'll still be able to use a lot and value of these cards without spending nearly as much.
Note: Budget capture cards work great, but sometimes their passthrough capabilities introduce some lag even when their specs list them as low latency. They can also sometimes degrade your signal if they don't support a high enough HDMI specification on their output port. To make sure you don't add extra lag or degrade your signal, you can get an inexpensive HDMI splitter to use instead of your capture card's built-in HDMI output. This will avoid many of the pitfalls that using budget capture cards can introduce.
AVERYN capture card
This generic design, offered here by AVERYN, is offered by many different companies, but works the same no matter where you pick it up. It's a dongle-style design, so taking a short USB extender to prevent your HDMI from straining your USB port would be a smart additional purchase. But beyond that minor issue, this is a solid no-frills 1080p 60Hz capture card that will do exactly what it's supposed to do: capture video. And at less than $20, it's hard to argue with the results.
Related: The 7 best capture cards of 2021 for streaming
SKYLIGE capture card
You've probably seen this generic design floating around on sites like Amazon, and like so many generic items on Amazon, the marketing is a little tricky. This card is capable of capturing 1080p at 60Hz, but will support passthrough up to 4K 60Hz. Meaning you can use a 4K signal, but it will still only capture 4K. It also has a mic input and separate headphone outputs for easy recording as long as you plug it in with a 3,5mm input. Slightly misleading marketing aside, it's a great price considering the feature set.
MiraBox 4K HSV320 capture card
Mirabox has a lot of capture cards circulating in the market, and it's a bit difficult to tell the difference between their different models. The 4K passthrough label on the top of the HSV320 means that while you can input a 4K 60Hz signal and it will output the same signal to your monitor, it will only capture 1080p video. It's a basic board, but it also comes with a base price and a solid all-metal chassis.
AVerMedia GC311 Mini Live Player Capture Card
AVerMedia's GC311 is a 1080p 60Hz capture card with an integrated H.264 encoder that reduces some of the load that video capture puts on your CPU. It comes with their RECentral software suite to help you take full advantage of its various capabilities, and uses a single-sided port design which means it can sit comfortably on your desk without dangling wires getting in your way. bother.
Related: The 6 best ring lights of 2021 for streaming
EVGA XR1 Lite capture card
This 1080p 60Hz capture card from EVGA is fully OBS certified, which means you shouldn't encounter any software quirks. It has 4K 60Hz passthrough and uses USB Type-C for its power cord, which is useful if you're looking to simplify the kinds of cables you have scattered around your desk. As of this writing, it's available for around $60 according to the retailer, which is a very attractive price if you're looking for a solid card from a reputable manufacturer.
Budget capture card marketing can sometimes seem a little misleading. Companies love to stick 4K logos on their hardware, even when that 4K support only applies to pass-through capabilities, not capture. So when shopping in the budget capture card space, be sure to read carefully and know what you are looking for.
For more hardware guides, check out the 5 Best Budget Webcams of 2021 for Streaming and the 5 Best DSLR Cameras of 2021 for Streaming on Pro Gaming Guides.
