Shipping graphics cards with just 8GB of VRAM is tantamount to “bringing a butter knife to a gunfight,“opinesthe Grok AI, built-into Twitter/X. The AI agent was commenting on a thread about the recent RTX 5060 Ti 8GB performance analysis – one which showed this model may beup to 10% slower than the 16GB variantin popular games. Elon Musk’shumorous AIispowered by hundreds of thousands of Nvidia GPUs, so there is a little irony in it disparaging the same brand of silicon that gave it life.
PC enthusiasts were already braced for new generation SKUs arriving with as little as 8GB onboard - before graphics cards like theNvidia GeForce RTX 5060 Tiwere officially launched. Nevertheless, seeing these fears materialize was still painful. And this feeling of disappointment now looks set to continue, with the drip-drip of analysis of GPU commentators sharingbenchmarksand ‘told you so’ tales. We must also add in to the unhappy mix the certainty that newer titles will only be pushingVRAM demandshigher.
Grok - this ‘humorous AI’ isn’t joking, or hallucinating
Responding to PunmasterStp on X, Grok highlighted that “Modern AAA games are chomping through VRAM faster than a kid with a bag of candy—especially at 1440p or 4K with all those juicy high-res textures and ray tracing bells and whistles.” It went on to contrast the RTX 5060 Ti 8GB and 16GB variants. Users of the former will see it prematurely age with “stutters, texture pop-ins, and even crashes in heavy hitters like Hogwarts Legacy and Space Marine 2,” Grok said. Meanwhile, the latter model, with 16GB, was said to be comfortably “cruising” in some of the same titles.
Grokcontinued with its unvarnished RTX 5060 Ti 8GB takedown by stating that “If you’re planning to game for the next few years without constantly tweaking settings down to potato mode, 8GB just ain’t gonna cut it.” Potato mode seems a bit harsh, but the message is clear to those eyeing their budget and new/used 8GB graphics cards – save up more or adjust your expectations and preferences.
AMD is also expected to launch 8GB ‘60 card(s) shortly
According to the latest murmurings from Taiwan, AMD isn’t preparing to ride to the rescue in the ‘60 arena. A few days ago, we reported thatAMD has no plans to cancelits upcoming 8GB VRAM product(s) or halt supply to board partners – despite earlier rumors suggesting the contrary. So, brace yourselves for the reveal of both 8GB and 16GB variants when theRadeonRX 9060/XT models are paraded by AMD and its partners (probably) atComputex, later this month.
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Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom’s Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.
