To my surprise,PC gaminghas actually become more popular than ever in recent years. Handheld PCs like theSteam Deckhave probably contributed to that, but the more important factors are likely access to a huge, frequently discounted gaming library, as well as the fact that many of us need a PC one way or another. Spending extra on a gaming laptop doesn’t seem as frivolous if the games are cheaper than on a console, and your purchase can replace two or three separate devices.
Paying for high-end specs remains a burden though, particularly when it comes to VRAM. If you’re looking to leap into PC gaming, here’s what you need to know about VRAM before you start shopping. The situation may be both more and less complicated than you might think.
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What is VRAM, and why does it matter?
Or, the memory for the PC inside your PC
The V in VRAM is short for video, which should make the explanation patently obvious to some of you – it’s RAM used exclusively by your graphics card/processor (GPU). Dedicated graphics memory is unavoidable these days, as 3D games shift such huge amounts of rendering data that using general system RAM would bring everything to a standstill. For perspective, consider that some games now easily display more polygons than early Pixar movies.
Even 2D games and many productivity apps take advantage of VRAM. Indeed, one of the things that’s making life tough for gamers at the moment is the demand for GPUs in AI processing and cryptocurrency mining. If you can’t find one of Nvidia’s RTX 50-series processors at its original list price, that’s why.
A GPU with extra VRAM can enable buttery-smooth performance and enhanced detail, assuming of course that the processor is fast enough to keep up.
While you’re playing a game, your GPU is constantly shuttling textures, shaders, and other elements in and out of VRAM as needed. If a card temporarily runs out of VRAM, performance is going to become sluggish, since further data has to be offloaded to system memory or put on hold. You may run into other problems too, like delayed texture pop-ins or even app crashes. Conversely, a GPU with extra VRAM can enable buttery-smooth performance and enhanced detail, assuming of course that its processor is fast enough to keep up. More on that later.
Note that VRAM comes in a variety of speed flavors. In the case of consumer-grade GPUs, those options are GDDR6, GDDR6X, or GDDR7. Each one is a substantial leap over its predecessor, though you won’t necessarily be crippled by choosing something with GDDR6 – it’s going to depend on the games you play, as well as your attached display(s).
I should also mention that unlike system RAM, VRAM can’t be upgraded. It’s deeply integrated into a GPU’s design, so the only way of expanding it is by swapping in a completely new graphics card. That makes it vital to do your homework before buying anything.
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How much VRAM do you actually need in a gaming PC?
Never get the bare minimum
I wouldn’t buy a new gaming PC with anything less than 8GB of GDDR6, as you’ll find in Nvidia’s RTX 4060 chipset. That should be adequate (or sometimes more than adequate) for games like Fortnite, PUBG, and Minecraft, assuming you stick to 1080p or 1440p resolution. It still won’t be enough to max out textures and lighting in titles like Cyberpunk 2077, though, even at 1080p. Some newer releases – like Doom: The Dark Ages – require 8GB as an absolute minimum.
If you want to be wowed by the latest and greatest gaming has to offer, you’ll need at least 12GB of VRAM. You may still need to make sacrifices in some cases, for instance disabling ray-traced lighting if you want to run Cyberpunk at the Ultra detail level on a 4K monitor. If you can afford it, 16GB should be enough to comfortably max out most games.
If you want to be wowed by the latest and greatest gaming has to offer, you’ll need at least 12GB of VRAM.
Resolution is a very important factor in choosing VRAM specs, as you’ve probably gathered. By definition, a GPU has to push four times the number of pixels to fill out a 4K image than one at 1080p – so if you’ve got a 4K monitor, you may want to hunt down a card with 18GB of VRAM or more to give yourself some headroom. That’s not strictly necessary.
Note that the two main chip brands for consumer GPUs, AMD and Nvidia, both offer AI upscaling technologies (DLSS and FSR, respectively) that can reduce the burden of higher resolutions and lower your VRAM requirements. They aren’t a magic bullet however – an 8GB card won’t suddenly become capable of decent 4K gameplay.
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The question of futureproofing
Some final thoughts
To squeeze the most out of your PC, you might be tempted to buy a graphics card with the most VRAM possible, but that’s a mistake unless you’ve got an unlimited budget. Few games are going to take advantage of the 32GB of VRAM on an RTX 5090 card, much less its underlying horsepower, so it’s just not worth the $2,000 asking price in my opinion. You can get a complete gaming PC for that money. Many gamers will also balk at the $1,000 price of an RTX 5080, which defaults to half the memory.
Remember that VRAM is ultimately just the foundation for a GPU’s performance.
There are more affordable 16GB options out there, thankfully, like an RTX 5070 Ti or AMD’s Radeon 9070 XT. Remember that VRAM is ultimately just the foundation for a GPU’s performance – it’s still the actual processor cores that matter most. You’ll be sacrificing some speed with cheaper options.
If your demands are modest, a 12GB card may last you a while. But don’t expect any sort of futureproofing out of 8GB, which is already on its way out.
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