TheNvidia GeForce GTX 970was a promising graphics card at launch offering performance similar to AMD’sRadeon R9 290Xat a more affordable price range. Ten years later, the GPU has been given a new life thanks to Brazilian modderPaulo Gomesand his team who managed to add more VRAM, doubling the original from 4GB to 8GB.
To increase the memory, the mod involved replacing the original 512MB, 7 Gbps GDDR5 memory modules with 1GB, 8 Gbps chips along with a resistor so that the GPU can recognize the higher density VRAM. By having access to 8GB of upgraded VRAM, the modder noted an improvement in Unigine Superposition benchmark showing nearly double the score.
This one-of-a-kind Asus Strix-branded RX 970 was then handed toYoutuber Peperaio Hardwareto evaluate whether increasing VRAM on an older GPU translates to any improvement in gaming. Testing was done using a mix of old and new games where titles likeRed Dead Redemption 2, GTA V Enhanced, andPlague Tale Requiemdidn’t show any signs of improvement. The results were compared to a Gigabyte Windforce GTX 970 with 4GB of memory.
InCyberpunk 2077, the results varied depending on the graphics settings with an uplift of 5-15% in performance on the 8GB modded GPU. The two games that gained noticeable benefit from the increased VRAM wereThe Last of Us Part II Remasteredwith a 24% increase in frame rate andHorizon Forbidden Westoffering as much as 40% improvement.
Back in February last year, the same team of modders managed torepair and upgrade a defective RTX 3070by replacing its original 8GB of GDDR6 memory with 12GB. The team soldered in new 2GB memory chips and modified the GPU’s BIOS to correctly detect and utilize the additional VRAM. After the upgrade, the graphics card operated stably and passed all stress tests, showing that the mod was technically viable and functionally solid.
The upgrade had led to a performance gain in games includingResident Evil 4 Remake, where the modified RTX 3070 delivered up to a 66% performance increase compared to the standard 8GB version. InThe Last of Us Part I,performance saw a boost of around 25%, while Hogwarts Legacy ran 20% better with the extra VRAM.
Both Nvidia and AMD have continued to claim that 8GB of VRAM is sufficient for most gamers. However, real-world mods like the ones mentioned above, suggest otherwise. Even as modern titles become increasingly demanding, Nvidia went on to launch the RTX 5060 and5060 Tiin 8GB variants, while AMD has announced that its newRadeon RX 9060 XTwill also be coming with 8GB of VRAM.
Get Tom’s Hardware’s best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
FollowTom’s Hardware on Google Newsto get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.
Kunal Khullar is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. He is a long time technology journalist and reviewer specializing in PC components and peripherals, and welcomes any and every question around building a PC.
