Summary
- The majority of gamers play at 1080p and don't need more than 8GB of VRAM, says AMD chief.
- Lower-end GPUs like the RX 9060 XT offer budget-friendly options for most users.
- 1080p monitors with high refresh rates are still ideal for competitive gaming.
Higher resolutions and more RAM may typically catch PC gamers' eyes, but AMD's Frank Azor claims that most people are still playing in 1080p. The endless debate around games' visual performance and headlines about high-end hardware show plenty of demand for expensive, next-generation GPUs, but AMD's Chief of Gaming Solutions and Marketing reports that the lower end is where most of the market is. The latest budget components from AMD may make more sense in light of that reveal.
Earlier this month, AMD revealed the RX 9060 XT, a more budget-friendly alternative to beasts like the RX 9070 or Nvidia's RTX 5090. The line of GPUs comes at an MSRP as low as $299 but, notably, offers just 8 GB of VRAM at that price point. That may not seem like much by today's standards, but according to Azor, that's actually all most PC gamers need.
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Azor dropped the insight when responding to a user calling out the 9060's 8 GB of VRAM on Twitter. He explained that the most played games worldwide are e-sports titles, which are typically less graphically demanding. With the "majority of gamers" playing in 1080p, Azor says most of the market doesn't need more than 8 GB of memory, even if that number seems small compared to what other components are capable of. That doesn't mean AMD is pivoting solely to the single GB range, though, as AMD has also released the RX 9070 lineup, which all boast 16 GB of VRAM.
'Majority of Gamers' Don't Need More than 8GB of VRAM, According to AMD's Frank Azor
AMD's Marketing and Gaming Chief isn't the first person to point out how 1080p is still just as relevant as ever, especially for e-sports fans. Many 1080p monitors offer high refresh rates and low response times while remaining accessible, making them ideal for competitive gaming. While a high-end 4K or 8K monitor may offer prettier displays, a 1080p resolution is still worthwhile today, even advantageous in some situations.
Azor also mentioned how the company wouldn't make any 8 GB devices if there weren't any demand for them. While AMD has recently laid off workers after seeing declining sales in its gaming segment, it's still a major player in the gaming PC hardware space. It's safe to say that AMD's continuation to produce more accessible, lower-spec GPUs is likely in response to real market insight, then. It may also be a way to keep prices low to differentiate the company from Nvidia's high-end alternatives, though Azor didn't mention that side of the equation.
AMD Radeon RX 9070
- Memory Clock Speed
- 2518 MHz
- Graphics RAM Size
- 16 GB
- Brand
- AMD
- Slot size
- Dual-slot
- Architecture
- RDNA 4.0
- Process
- N4C FinFET