AMD has caught its head above the parapet within the more and more fraught GPU VRAM dialogue, with the corporate’s chief architect of gaming options, and former Alienware co-founder, Frank Azor, claiming that almost all avid gamers have “no use for greater than 8GB” of reminiscence on their graphics playing cards. The assertion follows the launch of the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT, which is available in each 8GB and 16GB variations, and Nvidia coming underneath heavy criticism for less than together with 8GB of reminiscence on the GeForce RTX 5060.
As I’ve simply present in my Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 evaluation, 8GB continues to be nearly sufficient reminiscence to run lots of the newest video games at first rate settings, so long as you do not go above a decision of 1,920 x 1,080. Nonetheless, demanding titles resembling Indiana Jones and the Nice Circle are already pushing VRAM necessities onerous, with the RTX 5060 unable to deal with this recreation above the Medium graphics preset, even at 1080p, just because it would not have sufficient reminiscence. With the Radeon RX 9060 XT launch date coming quickly, it appears to be like as if AMD is eager to stay up for the cheaper model of its new GPU.
Frank Azor made the assertion in a put up on X (previously Twitter), the place he replied to PC {hardware} YouTuber Michael Quesada, who requested how placing 8GB of VRAM on a brand new graphics card could be justified in 2025. In response, Azor stated that the “majority of avid gamers are nonetheless enjoying at 1080p and don’t have any use for greater than 8GB of reminiscence, including that the “most performed video games WW [worldwide] are principally esports video games. We would not construct it if there wasn’t a marketplace for it. If 8GB is not best for you then there’s 16GB. Identical GPU, no compromise, simply reminiscence choices.”
There’s undoubtedly some reality on this assertion. In spite of everything, the fourth hottest GPU on the Steam {Hardware} Survey is the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 proper now, which solely has 4GB of VRAM, not to mention 8GB. It is also true that lots of the hottest video games, notably within the esports world, do not go onerous on VRAM utilization. In case you’re at the moment enjoying Fortnite on a GTX 1650, then upgrading to an RTX 5060 provides you with an enormous body charge enhance, and allow you to extend the graphics settings considerably, all with out maxing out its 8GB of VRAM.
Shopping for a brand new graphics card is not nearly esports and enjoying your favourite previous video games, although. Statistically, most avid gamers might certainly not want greater than 8GB, but when I am spending $299 on a graphics card funding, I additionally count on it to have the ability to run the most recent video games with out falling over, and final for a couple of years earlier than I have to improve. From my testing to date, it appears to be like as if 8GB playing cards are going to essentially wrestle right here – if they do not already fall over in these titles, the VRAM utilization is commonly proper on the sting.
The issue is that each the 8GB and 16GB variations of this card, and the RTX 5060 Ti for that matter, have the identical mannequin title. Meaning system builders might promote their PCs as having an RTX 5060 Ti or Radeon RX 9060 XT, for instance, with out essentially revealing how a lot VRAM is fitted to it, and avoid wasting cash, whereas the PC purchaser will get a GPU that does not have sufficient reminiscence to deal with a few of the newest video games.
In case you’re trying to purchase a brand new finances gaming GPU, and also you’re hoping to push up the settings within the newest single-player titles for couple of years, then my recommendation is to keep away from 8GB graphics playing cards, even when they’re cheaper. For the most recent shopping for recommendation, try our information to one of the best graphics card, in addition to our tutorial on find out how to set up a GPU.
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