Majority of 4K Gamers Have 16GB or Higher Video Memory: TechPowerUp Poll

[btarunr]

A majority of TechPowerUp readers that play at the 4K Ultra HD resolution (3840 x 2160) say that they have graphics cards with 16 GB or higher video memory. In March, we ran a front-page poll asking our readers who play at the top 16:9 resolution how much video memory the graphics hardware in their machines had. Options included 6 GB or less, 8 GB, 12 GB, 16 GB, or more than 16 GB. There was also a control option just to gauge what percentage of the respondents do not play at 4K, which got 39.4% of the vote, and a technical majority, although not a part of our analysis. 32,296 responded to the poll.

What's interesting here, is that "More than 16 GB" and 16 GB take the #2 and #3 spots, respectively. So, 35.1% of our survey respondents say they have hardware with 16 GB or greater than 16 GB of video memory. 11% responded that their graphics card has 12 GB of memory; closely followed by 8 GB at 10.1%, and just 4.4% say their graphics cards have 6 GB or less amount of video memory. The biggest takeaway from this poll is the confirmation that 16 GB or more indeed is the video memory size today's gamers think they need to play the latest games at 4K.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[_Under2World_]

5% 6GB or lower, can’t stop imagining a 1060 user playing latest game at 3 fps

 

[Kohl Baas]

5% 6GB or lower, can’t stop imagining a 1060 user playing latest game at 3 fps

DLSS Performance mode, medium settings?

 

[roberto888]

DLSS Performance mode, medium settings?

DLSS on 1060?

 

[Ruru]

Just downgraded from 6700 XT 12GB to 3080 10GB.

DLSS on 1060?

Well, FSR works with that at least.

 

[dgianstefani]

Just downgraded from 6700 XT 12GB to 3080 10GB.


Well, FSR works with that at least.

"downgraded"?

In terms of one spec on paper I guess.

4070Ti 12 GB/Ti S looks like the sweet spot to me this gen, even without taking RT into account.

You start to notice the 12 GB of the non S when you try to play 4K plus RT though. Too much. At 1440p and 1080p it's faster than the XTX/XT in RT, but slower at 4K.

 

[Philaphlous]

I have the 2020 Asus G14 laptop. It came with a RTX 2060 Max-Q with 6GB of VRAM. Unfortunately there's a significant performance drop after you reach over 5.5GB of VRAM. Seems like the last little 500MB or so of VRAM is more like VCRAP and bottlenecks the GPU hardddddd...

It'll be nice to upgrade in a year or two to at least 8GB vRAM....

 

[Beginner Macro Device]

can’t stop imagining a 1060 user playing latest game at 3 fps

I got a similar GPU, namely an RX 480 8 GB (clocked slightly beyond RX 580). This thing gets me ~30 FPS at 4K Low with FSR Performance in Cyberpunk 2077. Far from ideal but playable. Most games are less demanding. Majority of gamers play older titles like GTA V so they don't need an RTX 4080 level GPU to have their framerates in check.

 

[Vayra86]

DLSS FSR Performance mode, medium settings?

FTFY

"downgraded"?

In terms of one spec on paper I guess.

4070Ti 12 GB/Ti S looks like the sweet spot to me this gen, even without taking RT into account.

View attachment 347485
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You start to notice the 12 GB of the non S when you try to play 4K plus RT though. Too much. At 1440p and 1080p it's faster than the XTX/XT in RT, but slower at 4K.

Yeah I think the 4070ti S with its 16GB is therefore the clear winner this gen. Lean, not as overpriced as x80, same VRAM, basically a 'no compromises' pretty well balanced card overall. Long term bang/buck winner too, it will make good money on resale 2-3 years down the line, and even 5 years away its still worth selling.

 

[Dragam1337]

That poll is utter BS... only 39% of tpu users doesn't use 4k?

More like the majority of people didn't read the text before voting...

 

[neatfeatguy]

I don't hop on the front page very often and when I do I forget about the poll because it's just a small box off to the side.

Interesting gathering of data. I don't play at 4k and my GPU has 12GB. 1440p is an awesome spot for gaming for me. Less issues getting games to hit 120fps and I don't need to rely on fancy-schmancy gimmicky software to bolster my fps that can lead to graphically anomalies (such as ghosting, flickering, stuttering).

I'm in a good spot for my gaming needs.

 

[Kohl Baas]

FTFY

Same upscaming shit, different name. But yeah, definitely FSR, thanks.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

I thought the big takeaway from this poll is that TPU readers spend a lot of money on their GPUs.

It doesn't say anything about what the general public does.

Got a buddy doing 4K gaming on his 1650S...

 

[Beginner Macro Device]

Same upscaming shit, different name.

It's not even nearly the same. FSR and DLSS work differently, feel differently, and most importantly, DLSS is leagues better in most games. With FSR, you sometimes need to be at least legally blind to see no IQ worsening; with DLSS, it's sometimes even better than without thereof. DLAA is far better than 100-percent scaled FSR, too.

 

[colossusrageblack]

5% 6GB or lower, can’t stop imagining a 1060 user playing latest game at 3 fps

For a while I played at 4K on a RTX 2060, that was back in 2018, so games like GTA 5 weren't as burdensome. I couldn't imagine running that setup today with any major title made after 2021.

 

[Vayra86]

It's not even nearly the same. FSR and DLSS work differently, feel differently, and most importantly, DLSS is leagues better in most games. With FSR, you sometimes need to be at least legally blind to see no IQ worsening; with DLSS, it's sometimes even better than without thereof. DLAA is far better than 100-percent scaled FSR, too.

Sure but DLSS needs a non pascal card. So they are indeed different and clearly more money spent on it makes it better

Same upscaming shit, different name. But yeah, definitely FSR, thanks.

I still firmly believe upscale is potentially a definitive move forward in graphics, but it must not be used to A. make unoptimized games and B. sell hardware updates with artificial barriers.

The unfortunate sell that is DLSS contains both. Im staying far away

 

[Beginner Macro Device]

DLSS needs a non pascal card.

Technically, RX 6700 XT isn't Pascal. However...

A. make unoptimized games

This won't happen once people stop pre-ordering and start actually voting with their wallets instead of defending multi billion corporations. Todd Howard, for example, needs a couple reality checks, his recent games are horrid and this whole mess has to be remade from scratch.

B. sell hardware updates with artificial barriers.

That's how crapitalism works I'm afraid. DLSS is just a tool. Like some countires nuke your budget by fining for your car being >3 years old. This only contributes to overproduction, ripping people off, and to further climate&nature punishment more than anything else.

 

[swaaye]

FSR is kind of interesting for my old notebook with 980M and my desktop with a 1080 Ti. But the old approach of just reducing resolution works too.

I suppose the TPU results represent a demographic with recent GPUs. I am running a 3080 12GB in the main PC (used mostly for VR).

 

[Starks]

The truth of the matter is that most people don't game in 4k and don't care much about it. PS: this question has been changed.

 

[cellar door]

The polls always show up for me multiple times even though I am logged in. I might have voted 5 times, not even sure anymore.

 

[HOkay]

"The biggest takeaway from this poll is the confirmation that 16 GB or more indeed is the video memory size today's gamers think they need to play the latest games at 4K."

We can't draw that conclusion since GPUs come with a fixed amount of VRAM which we don't get to choose. I didn't choose my GPU based on the VRAM, I chose it based on the performance it gave in gaming benchmarks, & I'm sure that's what most people do. It's a fun poll but I'm not sure we can draw any conclusions tbh.

 

[Random_User]

Seems like a lot of people just hang on to the stuff they have. The sad news, they will have to do it for all forseeable future. Also the people using 8GB with 4K, seems to fall into the same category very soon.

5% 6GB or lower, can’t stop imagining a 1060 user playing latest game at 3 fps

Imagine, there are people, that do no have even 1060.

DLSS Performance mode, medium settings?

It seems it's just easier to turn down a resolution, to have a better performance instead. I doubt such old card will benefit any DLSS settings, even if it would have been supported.

That poll is utter BS... only 39% of tpu users doesn't use 4k?

More like the majority of people didn't read the text before voting...

Might be. Might not. Some people manage to play 4K on weak HW. There surely are people, who skipped the voting altogether.

Sure but DLSS needs a non pascal card. So they are indeed different and clearly more money spent on it makes it better


I still firmly believe upscale is potentially a definitive move forward in graphics, but it must not be used to A. make unoptimized games and B. sell hardware updates with artificial barriers.

The unfortunate sell that is DLSS contains both. Im staying far away

Spoiler

This is completely undertandable, that the old HW support should be dropped at some point. However the older, and weaker GPUs, are exactly the target audience for the upscaling technologies. But the truth is, nVidia hates their "customers" so much, that they try to stay away from user base that uses products that one generation older. So the newest more refined DLSS technology is deliberately locked to the newest HW. Just like PhysX. They just made it to use the tensor cores. And it's fine, a premium feature for newest premium HW. But entirely dropping the older cards, without any custom solution at all, is not a very consumer friendly. Where's the chance that 4090 DLSS won't be dropped with the future iterations?

Technically, RX 6700 XT isn't Pascal. However...

This won't happen once people stop pre-ordering and start actually voting with their wallets instead of defending multi billion corporations. Todd Howard, for example, needs a couple reality checks, his recent games are horrid and this whole mess has to be remade from scratch.

That's how crapitalism works I'm afraid. DLSS is just a tool. Like some countires nuke your budget by fining for your car being >3 years old. This only contributes to overproduction, ripping people off, and to further climate&nature punishment more than anything else.

Spoiler: Offtop

Unfortunately the sh*t, Todd and Emil farting out every now and then, isn't even supposed to undergo any rectification, because it's place in the dumpster fire. But it's another topic. What I mean, Bethesda should stop being any benchmark/reference point for HW makers, unless they make serious investment into overhauling their entire game design and approach. The same goes to ActBliz, Ubisoft and others.

As about the last sentence... Agree. The entire upscaling thing is just has a sour tast of all this forced "energy efficacy" and other laws, imposed on all fair, and law-abiding citizens. And no one can avoid, as much as AI, because the ones who run these companies enforce it up everyone, convinging how much people really need it, just don't know it yet.

 

[Dragam1337]

Seems like a lot of people just hang on to the stuff they have. The sad news, they will have to do it for all forseeable future. Also the people using 8GB with 4K, seems to fall into the same category very soon.


Imagine, there are people, that do no have even 1060.


It seems it's just easier to turn down a resolution, to have a better performance instead. I doubt such old card will benefit any DLSS settings, even if it would have been supported.


Might be. Might not. Some people manage to play 4K on weak HW. There surely are people, who skipped the voting altogether.

Spoiler

This is completely undertandable, that the old HW support should be dropped at some point. However the older, and weaker GPUs, are exactly the target audience for the upscaling technologies. But the truth is, nVidia hates their "customers" so much, that they try to stay away from user base that uses products that one generation older. So the newest more refined DLSS technology is deliberately locked to the newest HW. Just like PhysX. They just made it to use the tensor cores. And it's fine, a premium feature for newest premium HW. But entirely dropping the older cards, without any custom solution at all, is not a very consumer friendly. Where's the chance that 4090 DLSS won't be dropped with the future iterations?

Spoiler: Offtop

Unfortunately the sh*t, Todd and Emil farting out every now and then, isn't even supposed to undergo any rectification, because it's place in the dumpster fire. But it's another topic. What I mean, Bethesda should stop being any benchmark/reference point for HW makers, unless they make serious investment into overhauling their entire game design and approach. The same goes to ActBliz, Ubisoft and others.

As about the last sentence... Agree. The entire upscaling thing is just has a sour tast of all this forced "energy efficacy" and other laws, imposed on all fair, and law-abiding citizens. And no one can avoid, as much as AI, because the ones who run these companies enforce it up everyone, convinging how much people really need it, just don't know it yet.

I'm not questioning that some people use 4k with potato hardware... im questioning that 61% of TPU users are using 4k, which is obviously BS.

My guess is that at least 30% of those people didn't read before voting, and probably more like 50%...

 

[Lycanwolfen]

Yep I got 16 GB 8x8 SLi for 4k

 

[Dragam1337]

Yep I got 16 GB 8x8 SLi for 4k

Lol what...