I'm considering upgrading from my older 1660 Super while primarily playing at 1080p. I keep hearing that 8GB of VRAM is becoming a limiting factor, especially for future games. With mid-range cards mostly maxing out at 8GB in my budget of under £300, I'm wondering if I should wait for something above that, like the upcoming 5060 RTX or RX 9060 XT, or if there's any merit to cards like the Arc B580 with 12GB RAM despite some concerns about driver support on Linux. Is 8GB really going to hold me back, or can I make it work for a while?
4 Answers
If you’re still gaming at 1080p only, 8GB should serve you well for a bit—but it's best not to rely on it for long. Modern titles are getting demanding, and it’s likely you might miss out on some optimization in the future. But if you're fine playing older games, it should be alright for now!
I snagged a 9060 XT with 16GB for around £320! You can even do finance options at some retailers to spread out the cost. It’s worth considering if you want to future-proof yourself. Plus, I’ve seen those new 8GB cards struggle at times, especially with high settings.
It really depends on what games you’re playing and your plans for the future. For most titles at 1080p, 8GB is usually enough right now. However, if you're thinking of moving to 1440p anytime soon, 8GB might start to limit your gaming experience significantly, with some games even refusing to run. In a few years, it’s likely that that won’t be enough.
That's a good point! I've been out of the loop for a while, and it's frustrating to see such limitations with mid-range cards. Do you know if the Arc cards have any downsides?
Honestly, you might want to think about cards with 12GB or more for future-proofing. 16GB would be even better. The landscape is changing quickly, and 8GB just seems like it's going to fall behind given the direction of newer games.
Got it! It sounds like I should at least keep my options open for something more powerful soon.