With gaming requirements constantly evolving, I'm curious if an 8GB VRAM graphics card will still cut it for high FPS and high-quality gaming at 1080p in 2025. I keep hearing recommendations for cards like the 9060XT with 16GB, but is the extra VRAM really necessary? What are your thoughts and experiences?
3 Answers
Honestly, in my experience, I've never hit 8GB of usage at 1080p with a 3060 Ti, maxing out around 7.2GB. But that being said, games are getting more demanding all the time. Just make sure you're prepared for what’s next!
It's not about needing to use all that VRAM; in fact, reaching capacity can cause major slowdowns. Modern games use VRAM for many things like anti-aliasing and upscaling. If you max out your VRAM, your system will resort to using regular RAM, which is much slower and can lead to a big drop in performance, sometimes by 20-30%. So while 8GB might work now, it could be a different story a year or two down the line.
If you're currently playing at 1080p with an 8GB card, there's no immediate need to upgrade specifically because of VRAM. However, if you're buying a new card today, it's wise to consider getting one with more than 8GB due to how demanding future games will be. Who knows how long you'd want to keep it before you upgrade again?
Can you elaborate on which games you've played that push it close?