Memory prices continue to rise, games continue to become more demanding on the hardware – against this backdrop, it's time to think about how much memory GPUs actually need today. Practice shows that at least 8 GB – otherwise problems will begin. Howtogeek.com portal speakWhy.
First, it is necessary to clarify what VRAM is. This is essentially the memory where the GPU stores the data needed to display frames on the screen. Textures, object geometry, frame data, and more information are all placed there. If the system does not have enough VRAM to store all the necessary data, it will leak into system memory, which will slow down the process and reduce frame rates a lot.
But VRAM capacity is not the only aspect that plays an important role. Memory speed and bandwidth also affect performance. GPUs with wider buses and faster memory have more bandwidth, which improves performance in games that require heavy texture loading or in high-resolution games.
The VRAM needs of modern games and the actual impact of VRAM on performance and image quality is a complex topic to discuss. Take the Phantom Liberty add-on for Cyberpunk 2077 as an example. TechPowerUp tested the game on a PC with an Nvidia RTX 4090 (24 GB VRAM) to see how the game uses video memory at different settings and resolutions.
So, at the lowest graphics settings and 900p resolution, the game used 5,723 MB of VRAM. At 2160p and “very low” settings – 7,160 MB. Extreme 1440p consumes up to an 8GB limit, which is where many budget video cards stop; Ultra 4K – over 9 GB. Finally, enabling ray tracing significantly increases VRAM requirements due to the need to load additional structures. Even at 900p, hyperdetection used 9,484MB of VRAM.
But it's important to understand that “very low” and “ultra” are just labels given by the developers themselves, and in many games the highest quality textures aren't much different from other textures at sub-4K resolutions. Even so, VRAM consumption can be significantly higher than other options. That is, “high” or “very high” texture settings can reduce the gluttony of the video card to a comfortable limit.
The real problem is that there are games that exceed the 8GB limit even at 1080p resolution. For example, Horizon: Forbidden West easily goes beyond this scope. The original version of the game, developed for PlayStation 5, has 16 GB of combined memory – if needed, it can automatically adjust the amount of VRAM according to the needs of the application.
Although different games and different engines have different ways of managing VRAM, the current 8 GB memory may not be enough. However, it's also important to remember that high VRAM consumption when gaming doesn't mean you necessarily need more – just like computer RAM. The PC uses the resources the system has to smooth performance. There is no difference between 50% and 99% VRAM consumption – it will only start at around 101%.
If the problem is just a few frames per second lost then nothing terrible will happen – as long as the game remains playable. But no, excessive VRAM consumption will cause many other things. Because the GPU has to wait for data to be copied to and from system memory, this causes latency in the rendering process. Micro-freezing occurs and images become less fluid. Although fps may be relatively normal, 1% and 0.1% will be greatly affected. Not to mention other issues like graphic artifacts.
Since it's impossible to increase VRAM without buying a new graphics card (or computer, in the case of laptops), the only way to compensate for the lack of memory is to lower the graphics settings. Many games today display the amount of video memory consumed by certain parameters, which allows you to fine-tune the settings accordingly.
The most obvious setting is texture quality, which can be reduced to high or medium. Upscaling technologies like DLSS can also reduce VRAM consumption by reducing rendering resolution. But remember that not every game has a big impact on VRAM.
