I'm thinking about buying a new graphics card and I'm torn between one with 8GB or 12GB. I mainly play Cyberpunk 2077 and some newer games, but I also don't want to spend too much. Can anyone tell me what's the minimum I need to avoid memory issues?
8GB is tight for 4K with today's games, especially something like Cyberpunk which is pretty demanding. Honestly, 12GB is the safest bet if you want to play without worrying about stuttering or performance drops from running out of memory. Some people manage to run 4K on 8GB, but then you'll have to lower your graphics settings or accept some issues every now and then.
Cyberpunk in particular eats up a lot of VRAM, like 10GB+ in 4K with everything maxed out. If you have 8GB, it'll work, but you'll be using almost all of it all the time, which doesn't leave much headroom. With 12GB you've got more breathing room, you can keep good settings without being on the edge. Depending on the rest of your card (model, architecture) the difference between 8GB and 12GB isn't just quantity - sometimes the card with more memory is a bit more powerful overall.
If your budget allows, go for 12GB no problem. But if money's tight, 8GB can get the job done in 4K, you'll just have to pick your settings carefully and maybe won't be able to run everything at max quality. It comes down to how much you're willing to spend and how much you're willing to tinker with the graphics.
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