We test how much graphics memory is required for today’s heaviest game

The debate over how much graphics memory is sufficient has been going on since the first 3D accelerators reached the market. As the amount of memory is a questionable part of the cost of a graphics card, it is required that the graphics card manufacturers make a balance that works both in terms of cost and performance.

We want to put our fears to the test and have therefore picked out four different high-performance graphics cards with a varied amount of memory. Everything from 8 GB to 24 GB is at our disposal when we test four heavy-duty titles, which have a reputation for being very graphics-demanding.

So how is it really? Do graphics card makers skimp on memory? Do you get big performance boosts from large amounts of graphics memory? Or is it, as some say, that when the memory is needed, it is often the graphics circuit that stops the performance?