AMD says 8GB GPUs are here to stay because many gamers still play at 1080p

Some gamers prefer to play at high resolutions such as 2K and 4K. But the most popular option for the large majority of gamers is the good old 1080p, and the reason is quite simple, it's cheaper.

Both NVIDIA and AMD released new GPUs this year, to mixed results. Frank Azor, AMD's Chief Architect, responded to some questions about the company's strategy in the competitive GPU market. One question directed at him was regarding the continued offering of graphics cards with 8GB of VRAM. Azor emphasized that a significant majority of gamers, approximately 55.27% as indicated by a recent Steam Hardware Survey, are still playing at 1080p resolution.

He noted that most gamers don't require more than 8GB of memory, because some of the most played games globally fall into the esports category, which typically demand less graphical power. Azor said “We wouldn't build it if there wasn't a market for it. If 8GB isn't right for you, then there's 16GB. Same GPU, no compromise, just memory options.”

The RX 9060 XT, priced at $299, has emerged as a compelling option for budget gamers. NVIDIA's budget offering is the RTX 5060 Ti which costs $379 MSRP. These cards may be economical, but they wouldn't be suitable for running games on high-resolution monitors at 4K as it would offer poor performance, a 1080p monitor would offer an optimal experience. Furthermore, scaling options such as a 16GB variant of the RX 9060 XT would provide flexibility for users who require more memory without sacrificing performance.

Many modern games require a lot of VRAM, and on top of that also require a Ray-Tracing compatible GPU, to simply run the game. For example, DOOM: The Dark Ages requires a GPU with 8GB of VRAM as the minimum, while the game's recommended specs suggest using a GPU with 10GB of video graphics memory or better.

Such high requirements have left budget gamers with no option to play newer titles. Many of these gamers play slightly older games, or those that don't have high system requirements. As a matter of fact, the NVIDIA GTX 1650 is still among the top 5 GPUs on Steam in 2025, despite the fact that it has that 4GB of RAM, while the top GPU was the RTX 4060 which has 8GB of VRAM. This explains AMD's commitment to catering to a diverse range of gaming needs while remaining price-conscious. It makes sense, because there is a demand for such affordable graphics cards.

GPUs, consoles are becoming more expensive, as are games, and while tariffs could influence the prices, companies pass on the burden to the consumer to bear.

Source: PC Gamer

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