Without a graphics card, you can’t really play. But there has long been a debate over one aspect: How much video memory do you need if you want to play reasonably well? MeinMMO has tested several games for you.
If you want to buy a graphics card, you can choose either AMD, Intel, or Nvidia. But especially one aspect regularly occupies many players, and that is the video memory of the graphics card. Can you still play with 8 GB of video memory without issues today, or will I have no chance in 2025 or at the latest 2026?
- What is video memory and why is it important?
- Video memory in practice: How much is needed?
- How much video memory do you need in 2025?
- When is 8 GB of video memory sufficient?
What is video memory and why is it important?
What is video memory? Video memory is a component on your graphics card. Video memory, or VRAM, is soldered onto the GPU and cannot be removed.
Why is video memory important for gaming? Video memory is responsible for various tasks. The VRAM stores textures, shaders, and other graphic data that you need for gaming. The rest of the graphics card can then access the data stored in VRAM.
What happens if the VRAM is too small? If the video memory is too small, it eventually becomes full. Then you may experience crashes or graphical artifacts and severe stuttering when the graphics card deletes old data to load new, necessary data.
What can be done about it? Lower the graphics settings. If you reduce the settings, your graphics card has to load fewer data into memory. This also prevents “overflow.” Alternatively, you can reduce the screen resolution.
Video memory in practice: How much is needed?
The German magazine ComputerBase conducted a test with the shooter “Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora” and found that 8 GB of video memory is no longer sufficient. Many additional features such as ray tracing and DLSS also require graphics card memory. Only with 12 GB does the game run quite well, but not without issues.
We tested 10 PC games ourselves using a Ryzen 7 7800X3D, 32 GB RAM, and a Radeon RX 6700 XT, which has 12 GB of video memory. A second test was conducted with a Radeon RX 6600 (8 GB GDDR6). The corresponding data can be found in the following table:
| Game | VRAM Usage | Game Settings |
|---|---|---|
| Anno 1800 | 5.4 GB | Full HD, high details |
| Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart | 8.1 GB | Full HD, medium details |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 7.3 GB (7.9 GB) | Full HD at medium quality, (Ultra) |
| Forza Motorsport | 5.6 GB | Full HD, medium quality |
| Civilization 6 | 7.8 GB | Full HD, maximum quality |
| Enshrouded | 8.8 GB – 9.3 GB | Full HD, maximum details, 100% rendering, FSR 3.0 (Balanced) |
| My Time at Sandrock | 7 GB | Full HD, high details |
| The Division 2 | 7.1 GB | Full HD, high details |
| Forza Horizon 5 | 10.6 GB | Full HD, high details |
| Dragons Dogma 2 | 10.1 GB | Full HD, high details, ray tracing |
It can be seen that many games already require a lot of video memory. The general problem, however, is that not every game requires the same amount of VRAM: A game like Anno 1800 needs rather little memory, while Diablo 4 caused a “memory leak” which filled the graphics card’s memory to the maximum without compromise and then caused crashes.
However, it can generally be stated that 8 GB of video memory is now considered tight in 2025. Even in Full HD, where 8 GB long stood as a recommendation. This is primarily because features like DLSS, FSR, and ray tracing often require a lot of video memory.
How much video memory do you need in 2025?
How much video memory should there be in 2025? Basically, this depends on two factors: First, which games you want to play with your computer, and second, what resolution you are using. In general, the rule is: The higher the resolution, the larger the video memory should be. The most common gaming resolutions are Full HD, WQHD, and 4K. Besides that, there are also UWQHD and 8K, but these are less commonly encountered.
If you want to play modern or demanding PC titles and not limit yourself to older titles, we recommend the following values to ensure you are future-proof:
- Full HD: At least 12 GB of video memory
- WQHD: 16 GB of video memory or more
- 4K: 20 GB of video memory or more
But keep in mind: If you plan to switch from Full HD to a WQHD monitor in the future, you should already anticipate needing a faster graphics card now. Otherwise, you will have to buy not only a new monitor later but also a new GPU. More and more users are now playing in WQHD or higher resolutions.
Which graphics cards could be tight? Both the RTX 4060 and the Ti variant from Nvidia as well as the Radeon RX 7600 from AMD rely on “only” 8 GB of video memory. For some games, that is still sufficient today, but in the future, it may become tight.
Which graphics cards are recommended? With the RTX 4070 and the RX 7700 XT, you are better positioned. Both graphics cards are equipped with 12 GB of video memory, making you better prepared for the future.
8 GB of video memory is sufficient for older titles and partially for Full HD
For which games is 8 GB sufficient? 8 GB is particularly sufficient for many games in Full HD, especially if you prefer to play older titles. Games like the MMORPG “Star Wars: The Old Republic” do not require a high-end graphics card with a lot of video memory.
Even new titles can be played with 8 GB. This means that 8 GB is still sufficient in 2025, but it is not future-proof. You should be prepared to reduce graphics settings. Specifically, you will need to reduce textures and shadows, or in some cases lower the resolution.
AMD or Nvidia: You are considering buying a graphics card but don’t know whether you should buy a graphics card from AMD or Nvidia? On MeinMMO, we explain the similarities and differences and tell you what to consider when buying a GPU: How important is it to me whether I buy an AMD or Nvidia graphics card?
