AMD defends its 8GB VRAM GPUs… by admitting that they are primarily used for esports.

A hot-button: While Nvidia has received the most criticism for continuing to sell midrange $400+ graphics card with only 8GB of VRAM AMD has also continued with this approach in budget-performance segment. Team Red continues to defend their lower-tier products despite independent benchmark data that reveals the ongoing performance and quality sacrifices associated with smaller VRAM pool. These statements, while technically correct, obscure the true value propositions for modern GPUs.

AMD’s Frank Azor recently defended his company’s decision of selling an 8GB variant for the Radeon RX9060 XT in the face of growing criticism about mid-range graphics cards with limited VRAM. Nvidia cards are more often guilty of this trend, while AMD cards offer more memory. However, the most popular and affordable products from both companies share the same problem.

After a Computex unveiling the RX 9060XT, which comes in 8GB and 16GB configurations. Azor responded to a query regarding the cheaper version, claiming that 8GB of VRAM was sufficient for 1080p – the most popular PC gaming format.

Most gamers still play at 1080p, and they don’t need more than 8GB memory. The majority of games played on WW are esports. We wouldn’t have built it if the market wasn’t there. If 8GB doesn’t suit you, there’s also 16GB. Same GPU, no compromise, just memory…

– Frank Azor (@AzorFrank) May 22, 2025

While this is true, our reviews of similar GPUs such as Nvidia’s RTX RTX5060 Ti 8GB or 5060 reveal that low VRAM severely handicaps cards compared with similar hardware with more RAM.

Although any game in 2025 can be played with 8GB of video RAM at the right graphics settings the size of the pool of VRAM can still have a significant impact on the user experience. The 8GB and 16GB RTX5060 Ti models are compared. While the average frame rate is often similar, running low on memory can drastically worsen 1% lows. This leads to noticeable stuttering. Some games run worse on the 8GB version, while others – such as Indiana Jones and the Great Circle — crash at settings that the 16GB GPU can handle.

Warhammer 40000: Space Marine 2 highlights another issue. Both cards achieve nearly identical frame rates with the 4K texture enabled, but the 8GB card struggles to render high resolution textures.

Another benchmark shows that the 8GB RTX-5060 Ti falls behind Intel’s Arc B580 – a 12GB, cheaper card that targets a lower performance tier. These issues can occur even at 1080p resolution, which is still used by 55% surveyed Steam users.

Azor noted that the mainstream GPU industry is geared primarily towards esports players who are likely to represent the largest segment. Steam’s most popular esports games, such as Counter-Strike 2, Marvel Rivals Dota 2 and Apex Legends, can still be played at high frame rates with 8GB cards.

Related Reading: 4GB vs.8GB: How have VRAM requirements evolved?

However, as GPUs become more expensive, many users are turning to budget hardware for playing demanding AAA titles, which benchmarks show they can handle surprisingly well. With sufficient VRAM and upscaling technology, mainstream GPUs are perfectly capable of 4K gaming.

Nvidia’s approach to reviews of 8GB GPUs also suggests manufacturers are aware of the shortcomings. The company withheld 8GB RTX 5060 Ti review units from independent outlets and restricted access to RTX 5060 drivers for reviewers unwilling to benchmark the card under favorable conditions.

One such condition was enabling quadruple frame generation, a feature that distorts raw performance metrics and consumes additional VRAM. Meanwhile, ray tracing – a feature Nvidia frequently markets as a core benefit – is notably memory-intensive.

AMD’s first 8GB card, the Radeon RX 480, launched nearly nine years ago at $229. It’s remarkable that manufacturers still sell GPUs with the same VRAM capacity for over $300. Outside of esports, these products are likely to age poorly, especially if next-generation consoles, which are expected to feature more than 20GB of memory, launch within these cards’ life spans.