16GB vs 8GB VRAM - How much does VRAM REALLY matter?

[@ionamygdalon2263]

For future proofing purposes, VRAM is of great importance. Plus let us not forget about unoptimized games. Some games WILL need more than 8GB of VRAM just because they were not properly optimized.

[@HybridHumaan]

VRAM does not make the rest of your gpu faster. So it will get outdated pretty fast even with 64gb vram on it.

[@ionamygdalon2263]

@@HybridHumaan Watch the video "Why VRAM is so important for gaming 4GB vs 8GB" by Hardware Unboxed

[@ionamygdalon2263]

@@heyabro-p2b Let's talk about 1080p gaming. Once, 4GB of VRAM where sufficient for 1080p gaming. One interesting comparison at 1080p is the performance of the standard RX6500XT versus the 8GB variant (ASROCK made such a variant). Sadly even 8GB of VRAM became obsolete at 1080p. The RTX 4060 Ti is not a card that is known or praised for it's Rasterizing Performance. This card, just like the RX6500XT, can come in two different variants. The 16GB version of the RTX 4060 Ti can easily play The Last of Us Pt1 (TLoU Pt1) at 1080p whereas the 8GB version cannot. Give it enough time and GPUs like the RTX 4070 and RTX 4070 Super which have 12GB of VRAM will also become obsolete at 1080p gaming.

[@stangamer1151]

Many modern games are made with 12GB VRAM buffer in mind these days. So if you want to play at console settings/resolution (which usually means Ultra quality textures) or even a bit higher (like with enabled/enhanced RT), you definitely need 12GB to be on a safe side. I believe 12GB will remain a reasonable capacity until next gen consoles release (sometime in 2027). By that time we will see another increase in VRAM requirement and in 2028 you will need at least 16GB to play modern games.

[@markdove5930]

Stop blaming hardware when the problem is software. No amount of vram will solve anything. I can make one single sculpture in blender that will eat any GPU. Gpus already have more then enough VRAM the problem is developers and unreal. And guess what lots of VRAM maks GPUs more expensive and prices will never go down.

[@WSS_the_OG]

As you said in another video of yours, by the time the 16 GB of a card in this tier becomes essential, the weak core will let it down anyway (for gaming, specifically). I do think the extra VRAM makes sense for productivity on a budget, though. Great video, thanks!

[@Manganization]

Unless you're overshooting by using Very High or Ultra settings, for the type of card it is, if RAM utility is optimised for the game, 8gb should be enough even if it's 1440p. The problem is that games coming out usually aren't optimising RAM usage, so 12gb becomes a necessity than a luxury.

[@AgentBirdnest]

I was considering a 4070 Super a couple of months ago. Someone wanted to prove to me that 12GB is not enough, so they showed me an Alan Wake 2 benchmark chart, where it only had 3 FPS. To be clear: that's Alan Wake 2 with max settings, RTX on, at 4K resolution, with no upscaling. The 3090 is usually the closest equivalent to the 4070 Super - but with twice the VRAM, it ran at 24 FPS in that chart. In other words - even if the 4070 Super had 16GB or 24GB, it'd still be unplayable with those settings in Alan Wake 2. But turn on DLSS Balanced, and the 4070 Super suddenly soars to 60 FPS. "But in 5 years, there will be more and more games like this, and not even DLSS will help," the person argued. Maybe. But in 5 years, I'll likely have a new video card anyway. Or, worst case, I can lower the texture settings like I was already doing on my 2060 for 5 years. Sooo... yeah, I went with the 4070 Super, and I plucking love it. The VRAM panic over the last year is overblown. Not completely wrong, but definitely overblown.

[@HybridHumaan]

100% but tech yt have to do videos on something.

[@HybridHumaan]

​​@@MrSeb-Si tried RT. But it honestly is nothing for me. Always way to much smearing and loss of detail in darker settings. But i understand that when you buy a crad that expensive that you expect that it will run with everything on max plus raytracing.

[@Ouroboross-]

​@@MrSeb-SMan exactly. I didn't realize I was running out of VRAM on my 3060ti until I got a 3090. Division 2 maxed out on 1440p uses 14gb of VRAM and 17 of System Ram. It's insane. Anything less than 16gb isn't enough whatsoever.

[@panjak323]

You should always put disclaimer about paid promotion in these sort of comments. Honestly you have to be a massive shill to defend huge corporation's greed

[@heyabro-p2b]

@@panjak323 oh shut up bro

[@rushnerd]

My 3080 is gimped out of the gate with only 10gb of VRAM. I absolutely knew that would be an issue in the future at 4K and it didn't take long for it to be one. I"m not even talking about RT or anything crazy. We're talking about several games bouncing off the 10gb ceiling and it's only going to get much worse in the future. Waiting on 5080 just so I finally with have the VRAM I need.

[@djam7484]

yep same..holding out for a 5090 at this point since 16gb is not going to be enough in the long run and isent really enough for some games as it is.

[@roosterbooster6238]

@@djam7484what games? The only game I had issues with is far cry with the hd setting.

[@djam7484]

@@roosterbooster6238 cyber punk, deadspace.resident evil 4.. the list goes on. 10gb is not enough for 4k

[@kevincampbell989]

Basically 8GB is fine for 1080p. For 1440p and above you might want a bit more at least 12Gb.

[@sopcannon]

So vram on amd cards without ray tracing doesn't matter? I do fine with a 4070 and 12gb at 1440.

[@tonep3168]

12GB is the recommended minimum today.

[@WSS_the_OG]

It would depend on use case. A primarily gaming focused build would benefit from the extra VRAM, but overall, for gaming this particular class of GPU is let down by its relatively weak core.

[@HybridHumaan]

On a 4070 the vram and the gpu cores will probably be outdated at the same time, so by the time you will realize that VRAM will not be enough for modern game, your gpu would have struggled anyways even with more VRAM. People think that VRAM is the only thing that will be outdated at some point.

[@zazaza4116]

⁠@@tonep3168”Minimum” as in the minimum you need to run every game at max settings. 12gb is very good

[@PinkxPnther]

I am currently in the process of building a PC. I was thinking of going for a RX 7600 XT 16gb as it was the cheapest I could get 16gb of vram. Still, I am conflicted weather or not to spend and extra 350NZD on a RTX 4060 Ti 16gb but that would push my build to be much more expensive and over my budget, should I just save more and buy later or buy RX 7600 XT based build, or should I go for a 8gb vram graphics card instead as the 12gb ones the cheapest I can find in New Zealand is the same as the RTX 4060 Ti 16gb.

[@djam7484]

i would honestly save more and wait for 50 series..there practicly around the corner. and there going to thrash the shit out of 40 series cards just like how 30 series did with 20 series. every second gen is when i upgrade. unless you really really want to get a pc done now..wait a little longer.

[@sergiopery]

This type of analysis needs to focus on actual game footage with games that push close to 8GB of VRAM consumption, VRAM starvation might have an effect on fps but it will primarily be noticeable on screen with objects and textures at a distance.

[@BenjyHanz]

The VRAM bandwidth is much more important. I remember that years ago Nvidia launched the GT240 in two versions: 512MB GDDR5 and 1GB GDDR3. In all games and benchmarks, the GDDR5 version always performed better because it had twice the bandwidth.

[@twobrothersgameplay6283]

The problem is not the 8-12-16gb vram the problem is the bad optimized games and bad console ports. If i can buy a 4070 ti 12gb for 700$ and avoid to buy a 4070 ti super 16gb for 800$ i will keep the 100$ for the next upgrade.

[@zzavatski]

The fact that console ports run on a PC equiped with GPU with 8GB of VRAM means someone cared.

[@alex1643able]

Has no one here noticed the ram usage? 16 gig is definitely a nono nowadays

[@Aanonymous88]

DDR4 maybe but DRR5 32G is too expensive. Like gpus are 100 dollars more expensive in other countries. It also shows how you set your graphics in game.

[@megurinemiku8201]

Agree, I just can't open more than 5 tabs of KZbin music videos without the pc starts to page out with 16gigs of ram

[@ronalynpua8176]

What do you mean? Vram? No you dont need that much maybe RAM yes 16gb is quite low

[@joemoe1560]

​@@megurinemiku8201 Ram ≠ vram

[@djam7484]

@@ronalynpua8176 you do if you want raytracing and 4k. VRAM on the graphics card is the most important thing.

[@rangersmith4652]

As long as you're not out of VRAM in a particular game or application, you won't notice how much VRAM you have or don't have. But when you're out, you're out. Nothing can fix it short of turning off things (upscaling, frame generation, textures, ray tracing) that use VRAM.

[@MirelRC]

I wonder how things would go with SAM turned ON.

[@beeljaved86]

Im fine with 8gb vram 1080p ultra settings. For me good graphics and atleast 1080p hd matters.

[@zazaza4116]

Even 6gb would still be alright for 1080p gaming. Some games demand a lot of vram, like RDR2 using around 12gb at max settings, but 8gb will do just fine for most games, even in 2024.

[@djam7484]

without raytracing..

[@djam7484]

Vram is needed for 4k cyberpunk uses a little over 16gb with everything maxed out.

[@angeldelacruz1384]

depends on wht resolution u want to play period

[@packersfan036]

the 7600 cards are mainly for fhd not qhd.......

[@zzavatski]

Most of a modern game always belong to the GPU. The fact that games use GBs of system RAM is for legacy reasons.

[@panjak323]

It matters ALOT, but the card itself must not be a complete shite.

[@warnacokelat]

FPS does not tell the whole story.

[@davehenderson6896]

For requirements to play games you need a certain amount of VRAM, so VRAM IS important.

[@AgentBirdnest]

Is there a game that requires more than 8GB to play?

[@Dragoonoar]

@@AgentBirdnest at the moment, no. but by the time games start requiring 8+ gb as a minimum your rx 7600 will have become obsolete anyway

[@davehenderson6896]

No today but future games.@@AgentBirdnest

[@BenjyHanz]

To play any Game at 1080p in low settings 8gb Will be enought for they next 5 years.

[@davehenderson6896]

@@BenjyHanz Yes and then after 5 years, what do you do?

[@MorseDempsey-s4k]

Martin Edward Lopez Sharon Hall Nancy

[@-mrws-]

4K

[@ikeelu259]

Really bad video tbh. He shows three games that are known to be very forgiving on vram. He didnt show games like Ratchet and Clank, The Last of Us, Hogwarts Legacy, and Jedi Survivor which are known to be vram hogs. 8 gb is the bare minimum for 1080p med/low settings these days.

[@jacobely6826]

i mean to be fair, i'd rather a benchmark test testing out the average game and average experience steered clear from horrifyingly unoptimized messy ports tbh... like yeah you can find a game thats abhorrently poorly optimized but thats not really the average game (though it is becoming a little more common ill grant) but no i dont think its fair to say "8gb is the bare minimum for 1080p medium low" considering i have an 8gb 3060ti and i game on nothing below 1440p and am pretty much always max or close to max settings with little issue people have so outlandlishly overblown the vram debate that its actually comical. yes there are some bad ports that muddy the waters but if all you do is focus on those games? well thats just inaccurate testing

[@heyabro-p2b]

@@ikeelu259 lol there's a video that I just watched explaining this exact thing and calling people like you out directly. He tested all these games and they ran fine.

[@heyabro-p2b]

@@ikeelu259 and with medium settings, there really isn't a huge difference unless you pixel peep. I've noticed it in Fortnite medium settings, warzone medium settings, and all those games you mentioned. I have them all and have come to the same conclusion. It's the optimization, NOT the card and its specs. 70 - 100 fps is more than playable.

[@simonb.8868]

8 more than enough

[@heyabro-p2b]

@@simonb.8868 my dog. That's what I like to hear

[@beeljaved86]

Same here. Im happy with ultra performance. I have 8gb 4070 and 1080 p 144hz asus tuf laptop. Works flawless. Who ever needs 4k can spend more lol ​@@heyabro-p2b

[@kenzie_howell8306]

@@beeljaved86there is no 8gb 4070