I wouldn't buy a GPU with 8GB of VRAM — turns out, neither would you

Tom's Guide

03-07-2025

The summer has been dominated by mid-range and entry level GPU launches, from Nvidia's RTX 5060 and 5050 to AMD's Radeon RX 9060 XT. And many of these are rocking 8GB of video memory — the critical element of a card that allows for rendered graphics to be stored and used on-demand.
This is a capacity that has been around since 2016, and if you listen to people in high places, this is enough for all-round 1080p gaming. But games like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (12GB of VRAM recommended) and Cyberpunk 2077 would beg to differ. Especially more so if you're considering making the jump to 1440p gaming.
As I said in my RTX 5060 Ti review, go for 16GB as a safe bet to protect yourself from the ever-increasing demands of AAA games. And as sales data shows, you've all understood the assignment.
This insight comes from German retailer Mindfactory, which shows how many of each listing it sells. As spotted by WCCF Tech, the sales differential between Nvidia's RTX 5060 Ti in 16 and 8GB variations, and the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT in these flavors is stark.
One thing is evident, regardless of what you hear from companies telling you 8GB is enough, PC players aren't buying it (literally and figuratively), and neither am I.
If you cast your mind back, we got some hands-on testing time with the RTX 5060 with 8GB of VRAM. Of course, this was a test within certain conditions Nvidia set out to us — to show what was possible at 1080p with well-optimized titles packing DLSS 4.
And like I said, the end result is pretty good. But of course, as I said, you have to play within a very specific playground here. Because if you branch out and look at the raw rendering performance of this card, that 8GB is an albatross around the neck of this GPU.
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Looking at the portable side of things, in testing RTX 5060 laptops out at Computex 2025, if your game library already comes packed with DLSS 4 tech, there's weight to a reason why first-time gaming laptop owners would find value in an RTX 5060 system.
But for desktop, it's a different story.
Game
Frames per second at 1080p (Rasterized)
Frames per second at 1080p (DLSS with frame gen)
Cyberpunk 2077
45.42
n/a
Black Myth Wukong (Cinematic)
35
55
Some of this will come down to the number of CUDA cores in here for rendering, but a big chunk will be the barrier of that video memory. And that leads to one inevitable problem.
At best, these 8GB cards are made by committee — looking at Steam user data and pinpointing a particularly large area of 1080p gamers without noticing the growing trend in 1440p.
At worst, they're here purely to say a lower price like 'from $299.' And if you're a desktop PC gamer looking for a new GPU or a pre-built tower, if you see the number 8 next to that graphics card name, avoid it.
There are some strengths to these cards right now, but the weaknesses felt in that stuttering on particularly intensive titles right now is only going to get worse into the future. Give yourself some breathing space with 16GB of VRAM.
I know it's a difficult answer, but the only one for real on paper is to buy a more expensive GPU. That additional video memory will be more than worthwhile in terms of long-term value.
This falls into that $50 area of acceptable price increases, and you're getting a rather impressive GPU here with 16GB of video memory and all of AMD's upcoming FSR 4 tech that is really taking the fight to Nvidia's DLSS.
Well, well well! A 16GB version of the 5060 Ti at MSRP. This is going to get snapped up quick, so be speedy about grabbing this — definitely an encouraging sign of normalizing prices.
And for UK PC gamers, one option stands out right now.
This is for the model with 16GB of video memory (the right one to buy), and scalpers be damned you can get it for £20 below RRP!