VRAM for 1080p

[T0minator]

A RTX 3060 can come with 12GB of VRAM.

But is that amount really needed to play at 1080p?

If one does not plan to play at 1440p or higher, is 12 GB a waste? Is money better spent elsewhere?

What about in 5-7 years? Will textures be bigger for 1080p, or will they stay the same?

[Hinjima]

9 minutes ago, T0minator said:

A RTX 3060 can come with 12GB of VRAM.

But is that amount really needed to play at 1080p?

If one does not plan to play at 1440p or higher, is 12 GB a waste? Is money better spent elsewhere?

What about in 5-7 years? Will textures be bigger for 1080p, or will they stay the same?

The RTX 3060 8GB is more than just a memory change. Due to smaller memory capacity, NVIDIA had to modify the memory bus width as well (from 192-bit to 128-bit). A shorter memory bus has an impact on memory bandwidth, and as a result can affect performance at high-fidelity gaming. Here is a 12 game average at 1080p with 8gb card vs the 12.

Here is the entire article, it includes 1440p gaming as well.  I think this will explain all you need to know. Hope it helps

https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidia-geforce-rtx-3060-with-8gb-memory-has-been-tested-17-performance-difference-vs-12gb-model
 

[RONOTHAN##]

The reason the 3060 comes with 12GB of VRM is simple, Nvidia wanted a 192 bit memory bus, and they figured 6GB was not enough. Realistically anything over 8GB of VRAM should be just fine for 1080p high for the foreseeable future, and any card worth buying comes with 8GB+ of VRAM. I wouldn't really pay much attention to that figure unless it's one of the few cards that has multiple amounts (like the 3060) that can change not only the memory amounts but the actual GPU performance. 

 

10 minutes ago, T0minator said:

Is money better spent elsewhere?

Yes, but that's more because the 3060 is a bad value. The RX 6650 XT is generally the same price/a little cheaper and performs much better in anything that isn't ray traced. I genuinely would ignore the VRAM figure. 

 

9 minutes ago, T0minator said:

What about in 5-7 years? Will textures be bigger for 1080p, or will they stay the same?

By the time textures get big enough to saturate 8GB of VRAM the cards that have that amount will be struggling anyway and need setting to be turned down. 

[T0minator]

17 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

The reason the 3060 comes with 12GB of VRM is simple, Nvidia wanted a 192 bit memory bus, and they figured 6GB was not enough. Realistically anything over 8GB of VRAM should be just fine for 1080p high for the foreseeable future, and any card worth buying comes with 8GB+ of VRAM. I wouldn't really pay much attention to that figure unless it's one of the few cards that has multiple amounts (like the 3060) that can change not only the memory amounts but the actual GPU performance. 

 

Yes, but that's more because the 3060 is a bad value. The RX 6650 XT is generally the same price/a little cheaper and performs much better in anything that isn't ray traced. I genuinely would ignore the VRAM figure. 

 

By the time textures get big enough to saturate 8GB of VRAM the cards that have that amount will be struggling anyway and need setting to be turned down. 

I see.

Well, i am conflicted between getting a 3060 with 12 GB  VRAM and a RX 6600XT with 8 GB VRAM.

I figured that the added VRAM of the 3060 would make it more future proof than the RX 6600XT. But i guess that was the wrong assumption

[Bayron]

43 minutes ago, T0minator said:

I see.

Well, i am conflicted between getting a 3060 with 12 GB  VRAM and a RX 6600XT with 8 GB VRAM.

I figured that the added VRAM of the 3060 would make it more future proof than the RX 6600XT. But i guess that was the wrong assumption

Of u are able, get the rx 6700 non-xt, it has 10gb of VRAM, preforms better than 3060, except of course Ray tracing(which in my eyes is trash anyway), it cost allmost the same as 6650 xt and 6600 xt, but if u can't find it, than go for 6650 xt instead of 6600XT, a bit better performance 

[T0minator]

7 minutes ago, Bayron said:

Of u are able, get the rx 6700 non-xt, it has 10gb of VRAM, preforms better than 3060, except of course Ray tracing(which in my eyes is trash anyway), it cost allmost the same as 6650 xt and 6600 xt, but if u can't find it, than go for 6650 xt instead of 6600XT, a bit better performance 

Thanks for the tip, i will keep a look out