AMD defends 8GB VRAM on 1080p GPUs, explains how it's actually more than enough

At Computex this year, AMD debuted its Radeon RX 9060 XT graphics card for 1080p gaming. The SKU landed in two variations, the $349 16GB model and the $299 8GB model. Thus, AMD is looking to charge a 16.7% premium for the 16 Gig model for its double buffer.

Many users online however are not happy about the 8GB variant and the backlash is similar to what Nvidia has been facing for its GPUs for the lack of VRAM on them, though rumor has it that the alleged upcoming SUPER series from GeForce would raise the memory capacities.

Unlike Nvidia, though, which only offers its RTX 5060 in a single 8GB variant, AMD is offering two forms of it so that users can choose what they want.

AMD's Frank Azor who is the Chief Architect of Gaming Solutions and Gaming Marketing at the company defended Radeon's decision to build two separate variants of the 9060 XT. He explained how 8 Gig GPUs still have a big market appeal, pointing out that many users worldwide are into 1080p eSports competitive gaming that does not require a lot of VRAM.

This is probably true considering plenty of gamers play such esports titles on reduced graphics settings to achieve higher framerates and lower latencies.

Others also pointed out the price point of the 8GB card suggesting that $299 was too expensive for an 8GB GPU. We have to say we are on the fence on this one since at face value, such a comment indeed makes sense. However, we don't have review numbers for the 9060 XT yet.

According to AMD's own slides, the company expects the 9060 XT 16 GB to be a bit faster than the 8GB 5060 Ti variant. The latter has an MSRP of $379.

The 9070 and 9070 XT, as examples, each with 16 GB VRAM, did very well in our 1440p tests at their respective official SEPs (suggested etail price). We did however feel like the non-XT was too closely priced to the XT model.