What $500 GPU for 1440p gaming: future-proofing, ray tracing, NVIDIA vs AMD?

[Layla.G]

I'm building a new PC primarily for 1440p gaming and some light video editing, and I'm completely overwhelmed by the current GPU market. I've been reading every GPU buyer's guide I can find, but the recommendations seem to change monthly with new driver updates and game releases. My budget is around five hundred dollars, and I'm trying to decide between the latest mid-range offerings from NVIDIA and AMD, but I'm concerned about future-proofing and power consumption. Is ray tracing performance at this price point even a worthwhile consideration, or should I just focus on raw rasterization performance for the next few years?