4GB VRAM isn't cutting it anymore says AMD
Well, if AMD says it. In my reviews I've been telling for a year or two now that 4 GB VRAM on graphics cards is barely enough in this day and age, and only up-to a gaming resolution of 1920x1080. AMD just posted a blog where they feel the age of a 4GB graphics card has passed.
AMD on its blog calls it in a writeup 'Game Beyond 4 GB', where they conclude testing their 4 GB RX 5500XT & 8 GB RX 5500XT to see how much of a difference VRAM can make on gaming performance. Tested on multiple games and 1080p high/ultra settings an 8 GB card performs almost 20% better than its 4 GB counterpart, which is not unheard of if you tick all the game setting boxes, textures eat memory.
-- AMD -- A few of the newer AAA games benefit greatly from having more VRAM available to store assets needed, play at higher resolutions, and to enable the latest visual effects. For those looking at making sure they have enough Graphics memory for games that are pushing the limits of 4GB, AMD RadeonTM RX graphics cards provide a wide set of solutions in 6GB or 8GB capabilities that include: RadeonTM RX 570, RX 580, RX 590, and RX 5000 Series GPUs.
Recent releases have shown marked performance increases when switching from a RadeonTM 5500 XT 4GB to a RadeonTM 5500 XT 8GB. In DOOM Eternal, the 8GB card runs the game at Ultra Nightmare settings at 75FPS (1080p), while the 4GB card can’t apply the graphics settings with that level of VRAM1. Looking at titles such as Borderlands 3, Call of Duty Modern Warfare, Forza Horizon 4, Ghost Recon Breakpoint, and Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus, there is a performance improvement on average of up to 19% across these games when using the same card and increasing the amount of VRAM from 4GB to 8GB2. AMD is leading the industry at providing gamers with high VRAM graphics solutions across the entire product offering. Competitive products at a similar entry level price-point are offering up to a maximum of 4GB of VRAM, which is evidently not enough for todays games. Go Beyond 4GB of Video Memory to Crank Up your settings. Play on RadeonTM RX Series GPUs with 6GB or 8GB of VRAM and enjoy gaming at Max settings.
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Senior Member
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Are there any games without mods that come close to needing more than 8GB of VRAM? I know there are plenty that will use up whatever you have, but I don't think I've heard of any that suffer from 8GB as a limitation.
Senior Member
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Clearly, you do not know meaning of word "clearly".
TPU database says that aggregate performance across many games of 5500 XT is 2% slower than 1650 Super at 1080p. Considering additional 4GB of GDDR6, difference in power draw is rather negligible.
Senior Member
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Well, for those buying a new card, it´s better to skip the ones with 4gb, for those who already have such cards, they should continue with them because they are still good enough.
Senior Member
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4GB at 1080p is doable in most modern games, if you turn down texture detail a notch or two. It's even more doable if your GPU supports VRAM compression, where ironically, many older 4GB models don't (mine doesn't). Textures in modern games are meant to look good in 4K so unless you press your face up against the wall, you won't notice a difference when you scale the textures down at 1080p anyway. It isn't much of a difference, anyway.
Today, I wouldn't recommend 4GB for gaming purposes, and yet, it's overkill for the average home or office PC. 6GB I'd say is a safe minimum to play modern games.
Senior Member
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Looks like AMD is desperate when it comes to low-end. Clearly, 1650S is better choice then either version of 5500XT, but it only has 4gb of VRAM...