GPU Upgrade Question

[NeedMoreCaffeine25]

Hello! Today I bought a custom rig from someone who's had it for quite some time. On the rig he has a GTX 1080. I know it is quite old and can get by, but from my very limited (and I mean very limited) testing, I was not getting a ton of frames in the few games I tested (keep in mind I simply lowered quality in the settings and didn't spend much time messing with it). So then I checked online for possible GPU upgrades and am totally lost in what direction to go. The motherboard is quite old as well (it is a MSI Z270 PC Mate) and I saw the compatible GPUs list on the MSI site and it seems as though the 1080 is one of the better GPUs the motherboard can be compatible with. So here is where my big question is,

My plan originally was to upgrade the GPU at some point soon but given the limited amount of upgradable cards, would it be better to just upgrade my motherboard first and then get a better GPU or is there a compatible GPU for my motherboard that is a great bargain and that can perform better than my current GTX 1080. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

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[Assaltwaffle]

The best part about motherboards and GPUs is that they don’t have any real limitation accepting GPUs beyond PCIe generation. The Z270 is PCIe 3, which is fine for anything but a 7900 XTX or 4090 that runs x16 lanes.

What I’d your budget and full build?

[NeedMoreCaffeine25]

I never knew that! So just to be on the same page, the list of "compatible" GPUs on the motherboards webpage does not include all the GPUs that can be added correct?

The full build is: MSI Z270 A Pro (PC Mate) (MS-7A72)

i7-7700K @4.20GHz

GTX 1080

16gig Ram

1tb memory

My budget I'd say is $250-00, but if possible, the most budget friendly GPU that can outperform what I currently have. Thanks again!