It is an open secret that both AMD and Nvidia are planning to introduce new GPUs with only 8 GB of VRAM this year. Of course, that would have been enough - had it been 2019. In 2025, however, with games becoming ever so demanding, 8 GB is not only not ideal, but borderline insufficient in certain scenarios, as PCGH discovered in their testing.
Spotted by VideoCardz, PC Games Hardware's testing setup included the AMD Radeon RX 7600 and the RX 7600 XT (Currently $315 on Amazon) GPUs. The reasoning behind the choice was clear - both the cards utilize the Navi 33 die, with almost the same specifications. The only notable difference between the two is in terms of VRAM, with the 7600 and the 7600 XT packing 8 and 16 GB of GDDR6 memory respectively, along with a 25-watt higher TDP for the latter.
8 GB vs 16 GB VRAM: The results are clear as day
As PCGH's testing reveals, in most modern titles, the performance delta between the two nearly identical cards is undeniably massive, almost solely due to the Radeon RX 7600 XT variant having twice the VRAM. In certain titles such as Stalker 2 (sans ray tracing) and Indiana Jones: Great Circle (ray tracing), the 8 GB Radeon RX 7600 was only able to manage a measly 22-25% of the 16 GB RX 7600 XT's performance. In other titles, such as F1 24, Forza Horizon 5, and Enshrouded, the performance gap was not as huge, but undoubtedly substantial enough to make the 8 GB RX 7600 a deal-breaker for a sizeable chunk of gamers who want to enjoy modern titles.
Of course, there were plenty of titles without ray tracing where the performance gap was perfectly acceptable, such as W40K, Assasin's Creed: Mirage, Ghost of Tsushima, Cities: Skylines 2, etc. Moreover, the performance gap between the two GPUs was far, far higher when ray tracing was brought to the scene, making the Radeon RX 7600 XT almost four times faster than the RX 7600 in some games. In simpler terms, the conclusion of PCGH's deep dive is simple enough: those who wish to enjoy modern titles, especially with ray tracing and/or at high resolutions, are strongly advised to steer clear of GPUs with 8 GB of VRAM.
Are you a techie who knows how to write? Then join our Team! Wanted:
- News Writer (Romania based)
Details here
Source(s)
PC Games Hardware, spotted by VideoCardz