It's ideal to have more memory than you need, and this is especially important for GPUs since you can't upgrade the VRAM. Based on recommendations from companies like Nvidia and Adobe, you'll want at least 4GB for light work, and finding a current-generation or older GPU with 4GB shouldn't be too hard.
8GB of RAM is the minimum amount of RAM for any gaming PC. With 8GB RAM, you will be able to play most released games without many problems, but some games might not play at the highest quality, and you might have to shut down other applications.
In conclusion, while 8GBs of VRAM GPUs can get simple gaming and productivity workloads done in a pinch, they aren't good enough in terms of longevity. As games become more graphically intensive, the demand for more VRAM increases.
Our personally recommendation is that 12GB VRAM is more than enough for gaming at 1080p and 1440p, but you could honestly struggle to maintain consistent frame-rates at 4K. We've had a look at if 8GB VRAM is good enough for gaming and came to a similar conclusion.
Is 16 GB VRAM good? 16GB is the recommended amount of RAM for playing most games and will provide a noticeable increase in performance from 8GB. You will also be able to run applications in the background without affecting gameplay.
16GB of RAM is considered the 'sweet spot. ' It allows for solid game playing, high-intensity work with computer programs, and gives you a fair amount of memory. If you want to be a serious gamer, 16Gb might be your ideal setup.
If you're gaming at high resolution, such as 4K, it matters. 8GB may well not be enough, and running out of VRAM is devastating to gaming. At lower resolutions, the frame buffers are smaller, and you don't need as high resolution textures, so 8GB can easily be enough.
The RTX 3060 has 12GB VRAM, which, while it doesn't outshine the 3060 Ti on performance, is quite effective for gaming.
Compared to the original 12GB model, the 8GB variant sees a significant reduction in its bus width, from 192-bit down to 128-bit. Furthermore, the newer variant packs in a much smaller 1.5MB of L2 cache while producing an effective bandwidth of just 224GB/s, a whopping 61% deficit over the 12GB model.
Originally shipping with 8GB of VRAM, the Nvidia RTX 3070 has a relatively small amount of VRAM by modern standards. Its direct replacement, the RTX 4070, has 12GB while even some variants of the lower-end RTX 3060 have 12GB.
GPU performance and GPU memory are directly related. For best performance, data needs to be in GPU memory. This occurs because system memory provides slower data transfer to a GPU while GPU memory provides fast data transfer to a GPU. Greater functionality is contingent on GPU memory availability.
Although it won't have as profound an effect as upgrading the processor or graphics card, faster RAM can improve game performance and frame rates. Performance improvements vary from game to game: some see a noticeable boost, while others are barely impacted.
What's up with the cheaper RTX 3060 having 12GB of VRAM? They went with the cheaper 192-bit memory interface, instead of 256-bit like in the RTX 3060 Ti and RTX 3070. This means they need to use 6 chips (since each memory chip provides 32 bits width). So they either had to go with 6 GB (6 x 1 GB) or 12 GB (6 x 2 GB).
So with faster RAM you will notice improvements in your max FPS (sometimes these gains can be as big as 20-30%) but most importantly since the quantity of data that can be transferred between your CPU and RAM is bigger the FPS you will be getting will be more consistent.
What is the most powerful GPU for gaming? That would be the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Ti. It has a whopping 24GB of VRAM, a base clock of 1.67GHz which can be overclocked to 1.86GHz, second-generation ray tracing tech, and third-generation tensor cores.
It wins hands down. Both are important. Without graphics card your game would not run except your processor doesn't have integrated graphics. RAM is used to open the game and provide memory to access the components of game whereas GRAPHICS CARD takes up the load of a processor and processes the graphics.
If you're OK gaming at 1080p and are trying to watch your spending, the RTX 3060 is a fantastic GPU. It delivers high frame rates, good-looking games, and is a bit easier on the wallet. But if you have a few more dollars to spend and want even faster frames (or to game in 1440p), the RTX 3070 is money well spent.
16GB of RAM is the best place to start for a gaming PC. Although 8GB was enough for many years, new AAA PC games like Cyberpunk 2077 have an 8GB of RAM requirement, though up to 16GB is recommended. Few games, even the latest ones, will actually take advantage of a full 16GB of RAM.
Essentially 8GB of VRAM is good enough for modern games on low to medium settings and some older games on higher ones. This means it's good enough for 1440p but likely not 4K.
For example, if you have an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (which has 8 GB of VRAM), we recommend 12-16 GB of RAM. Accordingly, if you have an RTX 3090 (with 24 GB of VRAM), we recommend 32-64 GB of RAM as an optimal amount. This will also depend heavily on the complexity of your scenes.
At the lower end of the series sits the humble RTX 3060. While we won't be seeing steady 4K resolution and high-performance frame rates from this GPU, it still has a place in someone's PC. It's more than capable of 1080p gaming, which is enough for some players.
Yes. The RTX 3060 is more than adequate for gaming, and also, the RTX 3080 is better. You should buy what you have the budget for.
16GB of RAM is the amount of memory we recommend for intermediate users looking for extra speed and smooth functioning. This may be especially beneficial if you tend to have several programs open and running, simultaneously. This is also a good level of RAM for casual gamers and standard business professionals.
If you're struggling with 8GB, upgrading to 16GB will boost performance. If your software places a heavy demand on 16GB RAM, an upgrade to 32GB should make your computing easy. With large amounts of RAM, you should notice improved reliability, especially if programs were freezing up when you used them.
16 GB RAM. To meet the demands of modern software, 16 GB of RAM is what most people will need. This amount will help strike a good balance between running standing and resource-hungry apps on your computer. So if you're prone to opening lots of tabs in Google Chrome, you find that your computer will barely complain.