The launch of the PC version of The Last of Us Part 2 has reignited debate about minimum specifications and the amount of VRAM that is going to be in Nvidia's upcoming RTX 5060 and 5060 Ti cards.

As games get bigger and more detailed, the demand on graphics cards increases. Leaked specifications for the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 and 5060 Ti have listed only 8GB of VRAM, prompting concern that these cards will not be able to keep up with the demands placed on them by future titles.

The Last of Us 2 struggles with 8GB VRAM at max texture settings

The Last of Us 2 is a visually rich game, with many complex textures and sophisticated, realistic lighting. German outlet ComputerBase.de used the game as a test bed to conduct a wide range of benchmark tests on several GPUs. Though obviously they could not test the RTX 5060 as it is not yet on sale, they were able to measure the impact that VRAM has on the game.

The results were stark. “8 GB is insufficient for maximum texture detail in The Last of Us Part II,” the article said bluntly [translated]. The Radeon RX 7600 showed noticeable framerate drops even at 1080p. The GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB and RTX 4060 were just about able to run smoothly at 1080p, but if any settings were bumped up, the VRAM buffer would overflow, indicating the VRAM was already at maximum capacity.

This isn’t the first time 8GB isn’t enough

Popular tech YouTuber JayzTwoCents noticed a similar issue when benchmarking using STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl. At the 4K Epic preset with no upscaling or frame generation, several 8GB VRAM cards, like the RTX 3070, RTX 3070 TI, and ASUS 4060, were simply unable to run the game at all.

“I know, no card like this should run a game at these settings,” JayZTwoCents said in his video, “But every other card we tested will run. It would run like garbage, but it would run. STALKER II is so VRAM dependent that it simply would not run on an 8GB card.”

A similar problem was present on the RTX 4060 FE, which could only manage 1.7 FPS, with a massive three seconds of input lag. Our own coverage of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle noted similar VRAM issues, ironically making a budget 12GB Intel Battlemage GPU a better choice for that game than an Nvidia card like the 10GB RTX 3080.

It remains to be seen how the RTX 5060 and RTX 5060 Ti will perform in real-world benchmarks, but VRAM looks set to be a continuing issue if you want to play at higher settings, even at 1080p.

About the Author

Rebecca Hills-Duty

Writing and journalism experience at VRFocus, UploadVR, The Escapist, HTC, PC Gamer, Tech Radar+ and Dexerto. Can sometimes be found playing with retro tech.