The capacity of the built-in graphics memory is a well-known issue that has recently been heatedly discussed again with the next-gen graphics cards based on Nvidia Ada Lovelace. How much “VRAM” do the community graphics cards have? And how much do you think the new models should offer?
Table of contents
- No graphics without graphics memory
- An old and new argument
- Ada Lovelace and the memory discrimination
- AMD offered 8 GB of VRAM 9 years ago
- How does the community feel about the graphics memory?
- Is the graphics memory available to you sufficient?
- Participation is expressly desired
- Motivation and data usage
No graphics without Graphics memory
Anyone who has ever assembled a PC. who knows: nothing works without RAM. But not only CPUs need dedicated and quickly connected memory to work, but also GPUs. However, do-it-yourself builders cannot choose this themselves and install it as required, but are to a certain extent at the mercy of the graphics memory soldered ex works on a graphics card in the immediate vicinity of the graphics processor. This VRAM is required, among other things, to load textures, store vertex and pixel shaders, as a Z buffer and as a frame buffer. Recently, the memory requirement increased again due to ray tracing.
The graphics memory is therefore indispensable for the smooth display of current games. Modern graphics cards now offer GDDR6X memory chips that can achieve a throughput of up to 24 Gbps. Meanwhile, the title of gaming graphics card with the largest memory bandwidth is held by the GeForce RTX 4090 (test), which achieves around 1 TB/s with 21 Gbps fast GDDR6X components and a 384-bit wide memory interface. In theory, HBM storage offers even higher bandwidths; However, after a few attempts by AMD, the technology was not able to establish itself in gaming graphics cards due to the higher costs.
An old and new topic
The memory expansion of new gaming graphics cards has repeatedly caused controversy. The GeForce GTX 970 (test) that was released towards the end of 2014 is probably symbolic of the bold term “memory cripple”. Nvidia advertised the graphics accelerator based on the Maxwell architecture as well as its bigger sister with 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 265-bit interface. In fact, the GeForce GTX 970 only offered around 3.5 GB with a fast connection, as the manufacturer later had to admit.
A curiosity is also the GeForce RTX 3060 (test), which Nvidia has equipped with 12 GB of graphics memory, although the more powerful Ampere graphics cards GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (test), GeForce RTX 3070 (test) and GeForce RTX 3080 (test) with 8 GB or 10 GB less VRAM. The cause can be found on the technical side of the memory interface: the 192-bit interface of the GeForce RTX 3060 gave Nvidia the choice between 6 GB or 12 GB and the manufacturer opted for the larger expansion to prepare the graphics card for new games. The GeForce RTX 3070 and RTX 3080 in particular were criticized for not having enough memory compared to the GPU performance.
Ada Lovelace and the Memory Discrimination
Recently, this debate came up again in the course of the next-gen graphics cards based on Nvidia Ada Lovelace. In the case of the desktop models, it is the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti (test), which also offends the community on ComputerBase with its 12 GB GDDR6X. The situation is even more precarious in the notebook: almost seven years after the GeForce GTX 1070 (test) or its mobile version, the GeForce RTX 4070 laptop GPU (test) has to be content with just 8 GB GDDR6. The fact that the graphics memory is the limit has now become a running gag for Nvidia's mid-range – the VRAM simply doesn't want to grow. The two editors Jan and Fabian recently discussed the topic in the current episode of the ComputerBase podcast CB-Funk with a view to the smaller notebook graphics cards “>AMD offered 8 GB of VRAM 9 years ago
AMD, on the other hand, traditionally equips its own graphics cards with more graphics memory; There was already 8 GB of VRAM in a first feasibility study in 2014 for the Sapphire Vapor-X R9 290X (test). A year later, 8 GB GDDR5 found their way into the series with the Radeon R9 390 and R9 390 X (test). In the current generation, AMD has now arrived at 20 GB and 24 GB GDDR6 respectively for the Radeon RX 7900 XT and RX 7900 XTX (test). The manufacturer has not yet presented smaller next-gen graphics cards – but experience has shown that they will again surpass the memory expansion of the corresponding counterparts from Nvidia.
However, it should not be left unconsidered that Nvidia can use the available memory better: A GeForce can handle 8 GB better than a Radeon, as the test of the new laptop GPUs compared to AMD's mobile Radeons showed again last week. However, Nvidia cannot compensate for a leap in capacity: A Radeon with 12 GB does not have the problems that exist on a GeForce with 8 GB.
How does the community feel about graphics memory?
Now the ComputerBase readers are asked: What is your opinion on the subject of graphics memory? The editors are looking forward to the answers. Before we talk about next-gen graphics cards, however, the first question deals with the basics: What amount of VRAM does your primary graphics card have? If you don't know the answer off the top of your head, the Windows task manager can help. In the “Performance” tab, the “GPU” sub-item provides information about the available amount of dedicated GPU memory.
How much graphics memory does your primary graphics card have?
- less than 256 MB
- 256 MB
- 512MB
- 1GB
- 2GB
- 3GB
- 4GB
- 6GB
- 8GB
- 10GB
- 11GB
- 12GB
- 16GB
- 20GB
- 24GB
- more than 24GB
- Abstention (show result)
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If you have a vintage car or a particularly exotic model whose memory capacity is not taken into account in the possible answers, you are welcome to tell us about your graphics card in the comments.
Is the available graphics memory sufficient?
The VRAM capacity is one thing, but the answer to the question of whether the amount of memory available is a limitation in everyday life or not is even more relevant for gamers. Not everyone needs 16 GB, but those who play Full HD or older games can get by with significantly less. It's no wonder that many gamers still do well today with a 4 GB GeForce GTX 1050 Ti or 6 GB GeForce GTX 1060. But if you want to enjoy Hogwarts Legacy in UHD with high details, you will also curse 12 GB VRAM like on the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti and even in Full HD 8 GB is not enough.
Has the storage capacity of your primary graphics card ever been limited?
- Yes, there is one or more games that I would like to play but basically I can't play with my graphics card because it's over not enough graphics memory.
- Yes, I've had too little graphics memory in one or more games to play at a certain higher resolution, with high detail or texture levels and/or with ray tracing.
- No, that hasn't happened to me yet – but probably because I don't crank the graphics settings that high.
- No – and I haven't played a game that ran out of memory with the settings maximized.
- Abstain (Show result)
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Do you always manage, or do you ever get stuck – and if so, where exactly and what do you do about it? Details down, resolution down, ray tracing off? Details on your answer to this question are welcome in the comments!
Finally, the question: Assuming you buy a new graphics card this year, how much memory should it have?
How much memory should your new graphics card have at least in 2023?
- I would not buy a gaming graphics card with less than 6GB of memory.
- I would not buy a gaming graphics card with less than 8GB of memory.
- I wouldn't buy a gaming graphics card with less than 10GB of memory.
- I would not buy a gaming graphics card with less than 12GB of memory.
- I would not buy a gaming graphics card with less than 16 GB of memory.
- I would not buy a gaming graphics card with less than 20GB of memory.
- I wouldn't buy a gaming graphics card with less than 24GB of memory.
- Abstain (show result)
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Participation is expressly desired
As always, the editors are happy to receive well-founded and detailed reasons for your decisions in the comments on the current Sunday question. If you have completely different views that are not covered by the polls in the article, please post them in the comments. Ideas and suggestions for additions to the content of the current or future surveys are also welcome.
Readers who have not yet participated in the past Sunday questions are welcome to do so – the Surveys always run for a period of 30 days and the only requirement for participation is a free ComputerBase account. Exciting discussions are still going on in the ComputerBase forum, especially on the last Sunday questions.
Motivation and data use
The data collected as part of the Sunday Questions is used solely to make the mood within the community and the hardware and software preferences of the readers and their development more visible. There is no financial or advertising background and there is no evaluation for market research purposes or the data is not transmitted to third parties.