1080p

Frank Azor, AMD’s Chief Architect of Gaming Solutions and Gaming Marketing, shared a post on X (formerly Twitter) last week in response to a gaming account questioning why AMD is still offering GPUs with 8GB of VRAM in 2025.

“Majority of gamers are still playing at 1080p and have no use for more than 8GB of memory,” Azor wrote. “Most played games [worldwide] are mostly esports games. We wouldn’t build it if there wasn’t a market for it. If 8GB isn’t right for you then there’s 16GB. Same GPU, no compromise, just memory options.”

Majority of gamers are still playing at 1080p and have no use for more than 8GB of memory. Most played games WW are mostly esports games. We wouldn’t build it if there wasn’t a market for it. If 8GB isn’t right for you then there’s 16GB. Same GPU, no compromise, just memory…May 22, 2025

There’s data to support Azor’s claims—according to the Steam Hardware Survey, over half of gamers (55.27%) are playing on 1080p monitors. The survey data also suggests plenty of people are holding out for more budget GPUs: One of the top five GPUs among Steam users in 2025 is still somehow the GTX 1650, which only has 4GB of VRAM. The number one GPU as of April is the RTX 4060 laptop version with 8GB of VRAM.

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Limited VRAM has become a bit of a sore spot during the current, Nvidia-led GPU doldrums, with 8GB already proving an issue in the biggest, most graphically advanced games.

It’s even an open question whether the 5070’s 12GB of VRAM is sufficiently “future proof,” and the $379 MSRP of the 8GB 5060 Ti is a hard sell before you even get to the endemic price bloat from AIB partners.

But with a $299 MSRP, the 8GB RX 9060 XT is a different beast⁠—that is approaching a truly budget price. With so many gamers sticking to 1080p, and some of the biggest games in the world being less demanding “esports” picks like Marvel Rivals, or otherwise dark horse indie phenoms like Schedule One, REPO, and Palworld, the 9060 XT is shaping up to be an 8GB card that makes a good deal of sense, one on the more expensive side of “budget.”

Azor’s stance is in line with my personal gaming experience, too. I’ve been gaming on an 8GB Radeon RX 6600 for a couple of years now and have yet to run into performance issues, even running most of my games through a compatibility layer on Fedora Linux.

Most gamers don’t need a top-of-the-line GPU, and for some time now, it’s felt like all the buzz has been around Nvidia’s prohibitively expensive 30, 40, and 5090 cards, while the sub-$350, 1080p set has had to settle for hand-me-downs and mediocrities.

Those budget cards are not meant to be hooked up to high-end monitors, and the people who can afford a 1440p or 4K gaming monitor need to be realistic about the GPU they’ll need to power it.

There’s no harm in offering budget-oriented GPUs for those who need that option. It serves to keep PC gaming more accessible for those who want to play less demanding games like Fortnite or Minecraft, or the treasure trove of fantastic indie and retro games on PC.

If you’re not in that crowd, there’s always the 16GB version of the RX 9060 XT, along with plenty of other 12GB and 16GB cards. Now the only issue is making sure those juicy MSRPs are actually reflected in reality.

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AMD’s latest RX 9060 XT GPUs continue the saga of bifurcating mainstream options into different memory configurations for market segmentation. According to AMD’s Frank Azor, the 8GB flavor of the RX 9060 XT is designed to cater to the needs of the majority of gamers, who play at 1080p.

Gamers and developers have long bemoaned constrained memory capacities with modern GPUs. Even at 1080p, many demanding AAA titles can overwhelm 8GB GPUs, as confirmed by professional testing with cards like the RTX 5060 Ti 8GB. Despite sufficient raw horsepower, the constrained framebuffer often forces you to compromise on graphical fidelity or even resolution for a playable framerate. Nvidia’s RTX 5060 GPUs have been at the epicenter of this criticism, to the point where an older RTX 3060 12GB can outperform them in certain scenarios.

There were rumors that AMD might scrap the 8GB model, following the backlash faced by Nvidia. This proved to be inaccurate, as the product was likely too far in the pipeline to be axed. While the GPUs are still almost two weeks away from launch, enthusiasts have already begun raising concerns about the viability of the 8GB model. AMD’s Chief Architect of Gaming Solutions and Gaming Marketing, Frank Azor, stepped in to justify their rationale, stating these GPUs target the “majority of gamers,” who play at 1080p.

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Based on the Steam Hardware Survey, this statement is largely accurate, as 1080p dominates with 55.27% of the market, followed by 1440p at 19.90%. Some would question: Does AMD’s product segmentation actively restrict more users to 1080p? Do you buy an 8GB GPU to play at 1080p, or do you play at 1080p because you have an 8GB GPU? The RTX 3070 Ti perfectly illustrates how a small framebuffer can handicap an otherwise capable GPU. The GB206 core powering the RTX 5060 Ti is, in fact, faster than the 3070 Ti, but how much of that potential power will never be realized due to insufficient memory allocation?

It wouldn’t surprise me if most of these models are earmarked for gaming cafes, where esports dominate and VRAM demands are low. However, the RX 9060 XT 8GB is quite awkwardly positioned as its raw power likely outstrips its VRAM capacity. An RX 9060 non-XT / RX 9050 8GB positioned in the $200-$250 range would’ve been a more suitable offering as an esports-only card. After all, the RX 9060 8GB is believed to be the successor to the RX 7600 8GB, which cost $269 at launch.

It will be interesting to see if AMD and board partners can manage to keep these GPUs at MSRP. The RX 9070 family hasn’t been the best indicator in this regard. We’ll have to wait until June 5th next month to find out.

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‘Majority of gamers are still playing at 1080p’: AMD chief claims there’s still a place for 8GB GPUs, and he’s got a point

AMD justifies the RX 9060 XT 8GB: “Majority of gamers are still playing at 1080p”