How much VRAM do gamers need in 2023? (2024)

If you're a seasoned PC gamer, you might already know that VRAM alone isn't what makes the best graphics cards, well, the best. GPUs with significantly more VRAM than others can easily lag in gaming performance, whether they have an older architecture, a smaller memory bus, or simply fewer CUDA cores (Nvidia) or Stream Processors (AMD). But VRAM still has an important role to play, especially in allowing your high-end GPU to fully realize its potential.

In 2023, the debate around how much VRAM is needed for gaming is heating up. With 1440p and 4K gaming being more prevalent than ever, having inadequate VRAM can quickly cripple your gaming experience. So, how much VRAM is enough? And better yet, how much VRAM should be standard?

Why does VRAM matter?

Keeping up with powerful GPUs

VRAM is a type of RAM designed for GPUs. It's much faster than DDR4 or DDR5 RAM on your motherboard, and you can spot it on a modern GPU's spec sheet listed as GDDR5, GDDR6, or GDDR6X memory. GPUs require tons of memory bandwidth to unpack game textures and populate the framebuffer, so frames in your games show up properly. Unlike regular RAM, the amount of VRAM on your graphics card cannot be modified.

A graphics card's VRAM used to be more than enough to access and store all the graphical information required for a smooth gaming session. But, as you run your games at higher resolutions and switch from 1080p to 1440p or 4K, the amount of pixels your GPU needs to generate increases. Moreover, running more demanding titles with heavy ray tracing effects further amplifies the amount of VRAM required for a stutter-free experience.

If the VRAM requirement exceeds your graphics card's onboard memory, you'll start to notice frame drops and blurred textures since the card will run out of memory to process them. You can always try to lower graphical settings, use a more aggressive DLSS or FSR setting, or worse, run the game at a lower resolution to tackle this issue. This isn't a lasting solution, though, and as games get larger and things like 4K gaming become more common, the problem is only going to get worse.

8 GB VRAM has become obsolete

Except on budget and mid-range cards

Source: Nvidia

Now that we know how important VRAM is for modern gaming, how much VRAM do you need? A cursory glance at currently available cards, both current and previous-gen, will tell you that popular VRAM amounts range from as low as 4 GB up to 24 GB.

However, frankly, 4 GB and 6 GB VRAM are only good for 1080p gaming with low to medium settings. You might be able to get playable framerates in some games at high settings, but these memory configurations are overall a thing of the past. Even if you bought an 8 GB VRAM graphics card in the last two or three years, you would have started feeling the pinch at 1080p ultra or 1440p high settings in modern titles.

Games like The Last of Us Part 1 and Hogwarts Legacy saw performance issues on 8 GB GPUs like the RTX 3070, even at 1080p settings with ray tracing enabled. Such scenarios have made it all too clear that some GPUs haven't aged well at all, especially the ones with 8 GB VRAM slapped onto a $500 product.

Don't buy 10GB VRAM cards in 2023

Simply bad value for money

If you're one of the lucky ones not riddled with a relatively high-end GPU with abnormally low VRAM, you still need to evaluate your new graphics card purchase seriously. While 8 GB cards should be out of the question for any premium gaming build, you shouldn't go for the next tier, either: 10 GB VRAM. GPUs such as the RTX 3080 10 GB or the RX 6700 might be great products in isolation, but you shouldn't buy them in 2023.

Today's games have already started to exceed 8 GB and even 10 GB VRAM usage at 1440p resolution. And if you're planning to upgrade to 4K shortly, you'll not be able to crank up the settings to the maximum without ample VRAM. This makes 10 GB graphics cards a bad buy right now if you hope to retain them for at least three years.

12 GB VRAM should be the absolute minimum

VRAM skimping is mind-boggling

Source: Nvidia

If I have to recommend a certain amount of VRAM as the bare minimum for a high-end card, it would have to be 12 GB. While this is a bit overkill for weaker cards like the RTX 3060 or RTX 3060 Ti, it's necessary for cards suited for 1440p or 4K high refresh gaming. This would set you up nicely for the current roster of demanding titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and Alan Wake 2.

Unfortunately, even 12 GB VRAM isn't ideal if you plan to spend upwards of $700-$800 on a graphics card. You're investing a huge chunk of your budget on a card powerful enough to drive 60+ FPS at maxed-out 1440p or 4K settings, and there's no reason such a card should be held back simply due to inadequate VRAM. However, that's how things are in today's market, particularly in the Nvidia camp. In my opinion, 16 GB should have become the standard on upper mid-range cards like the RTX 4070 Ti long ago.

For you to be able to buy an $800+ graphics card starting in 2023 and not worry about VRAM limitations for at least two more years (which isn't too much to ask), companies like Nvidia should start providing at least 16 GB VRAM on all of their high-end GPUs.

AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT

AMD's Radeon RX 7900 XT is a fine example of a graphics card with enough VRAM for high-fidelity gaming. With 20 GB of GDDR6 to work with, every modern game will have no trouble populating the card with data, and you should have plenty to spare, even at 4K.

$740 at Newegg$760 at Amazon$780 at Best Buy

Which company is doing VRAM correctly?

For all its faults, AMD hasn't been skimping on VRAM, even on mid-range cards like the RX 7800 XT. This is one of the reasons to ditch Nvidia for AMD — if you can survive without fancy ray-traced lighting and reflections. For everybody else wanting to experience the ultimate graphical innovations in modern games, having 16 GB VRAM should be considered ideal. And, for any GPU costing $1,000 or more, it's high time every manufacturer started providing 20 GB or 24 GB VRAM.