As a price conscious gamer, let me put it this way.

First, let's talk GPU prices in general. They suck. A generation again you could get an entry level card that wasn't great but would be just enough to get the job done for $100-160 or so. 1050, 1050 ti, that sort of thing. Midrange was about $200-250, you had the RX 470/480 and the 1060 at about that price. Upper midrange had the 1070 about $400ish. The 1080 was more around $500-600. The 1080 ti was the "crazy people" card at $700 for those who seemed willing to blow tons of money on a good gaming PC.

But yeah, it was a better time, and there was something for everyone.

Then RTX happened. And suddenly the 2080 costs as much as the 1080 ti, the 2070 costs as much as a 1080, the 2060 costs as much as a 1070, and the 1060 gets replaced with this half baked 1660 series. Suddenly we see the division, if you want the GOOD cards, you gotta pay $350+, and otherwise, you get these low end cards that won't, and didn't age well.

The trend continued with the 3000 series and the 6000 series, with the 3060 ti being $400 and the 3060 being $330, following 60 series pricing. AMD competed with the 6600 and 6600 XT at the same price. That was bad enough. And then crypto and covid happened and RIP affordable market. Have fun paying $400 for a fricking 1050 ti. As a $200-300 buyer, it seemed like the market just stopped caring about us and RIP us. But I had my trusty 1060 6 GB that I used to weather the storm.

But then the bubble popped and things got more affordable again. RX 6600 dropped to $200, 6650 XTs were like $250, and 6700 XTs were $350. Nvidia wanted like $340 for the 3060 which was kinda bad, but at least it was MSRP. But yeah, people were saying we dont know how long 8 GB will last back then since 4 and 6 GB cards started to not be enough around 2023, but 8 was still fine, but not futureproof. I bought an 8 GB 6650 XT so I was like...ya know. It was what I could afford for $250ish.

7600....same price/performance as 6650 XT, 4060 brought the base 60 series down to $300, but still. Kinda eh.

Now we got the 6600 cards being mostly discontinued, and your options are now 5050 for $250, 9060 XT 8 GB for $270, 5060 for $300, with the 16 GB variants at $350-450 USD.

Again, keep in mind im talking USD here.

And...as someone who would prefer to spend $250-300 over $350-400 and who finds going above $300 to be economically painful and prohibitively expensive...I can see the reluctance to go with a higher end card.

Now, I got my 6650 XT, which is basically...a 5050. So, I'm gonna hold out for a few years. BUT, I did contemplate my options if I had to buy now. And it's not an enviable position for people who are like, ugh, do we really have to spend more on a new card?

I'll break down my mixed thoughts this way.

Honestly, I think 12-16 GB is like 6-8 GB back in like 2016. It's desirable, its enviable, it's what you want for futureproofing and longevity. As I see it, what kills cards long term is loss of drive support, lack of new API support, and VRAM. You can always scale down your card. But if you lack VRAM or your card just lacks the compatibility to play a game, you're screwed.

And...if you buy 8 GB now..you might be screwed. Imagine buying a 960 2 GB...that aged HORRIBLY. Yet a 970 could run games for like 8 years before obsolescence. It had the VRAM. Or imagine buying a 560 ti, or a 6950 1 GB in like....2011. Kind of on the chopping block with longevity there. Ya know? Because soon after, even midrange GPUs had 2 GB, and games started requiring 2 GB, and the same happened with 2 GB cards like the 1050, the 960, etc. They aged horribly, while the 1050 ti had 4 GB and was viable until around 2022, the same time my 1060 6 GB was no longer enough.

The logic is that eventually games will require more than 8 GB and if you get an 8 GB card today, you're buying something that won't last.

And as a 6650 XT owner, let me just say, when I play my new christmas games....8 GB VRAM is definitely a problem. In battlefield 6 I'll randomly drop to like 40 FPS because of VRAM constraints on larger maps, in doom the dark ages, i gotta not just run it on low, but with upscaling on, just to hit 60 FPS. I suspect a VRAM bottleneck driving that.

So...8 GB....it's kind having issues. it's enough, but it's barely enough. And it doesnt have any wiggle room.

So where does that leave you?

Well, either you gotta pay like $400 USD for a 16 GB card with longevity, or you can buy an 8 GB card for a more comfortable lower amount. Now keep in mind where we started a decade ago, a 4 GB 470 or 1050 ti was originally like $150 back in the day. Now youre paying $250-300 for an equivalent card with 8 GB and it's just barely enough.

You were paying $250 for a 8 GB 480/580 or 6 GB 1060. Now you're paying $350+ for a 16 GB card. And it's kind of hard to stomach.

I wouldnt say you should NEVER buy an 8 GB card, clearly a 5500 XT (aka, a 580 rebranded) isnt cutting the mustard any more. Because it's a budget remake of a decade old card now. But...if you buy now, you can get say, a 5050 that's 2x as good for $250, or a 9060 XT 8 GB or 5060 for $300, which is basically 3x as good. Is it worth it? Eh...yeah. I mean, I went from a 1060 to a 6650 XT and it was a big improvement. 5060 is even bigger still. But man, that VRAM. That VRAM is gonna kill these cards.

If you want something that will last for years to come, you are likely gonna have to spring for 16. However, again, let's be frank, THIS IS A LOT OF MONEY! And not everyone can afford it, and it sucks, yes, it sucks massively, but those are your choices. Pay for what you can get, get a decent performance uplift out of it, but ultimately have the card be crippled by this anemic VRAM buffer that we've been stuck on for a literal decade now. OR....you pay way too much for what should be a rather decent lower midrange card, get something that lasts, and yeah...at least it will last.

Every generation i wonder what's gonna be the last 8 GB generation. And whoever buys that generation gets screwed. Because those cards won't age well at all. BUT....at the same time, given the RAM crisis, we're regressing, and it's very well possible we could be stuck on 8 GB for quite some time longer. Simply because OMFG WHO IS GONNA BE ABLE TO AFFORD A 16 GB CARD IN THIS ECONOMY?!

Like, up to now, these companies have been screwing us. RAM has been cheap but they've been artificially gatekeeping decent amounts of RAM on higher end models. But with this RAM crisis...uh....8 GB might be all we can afford for a while. ANY of us. Because look at what it now costs for RAM. We went from $100ish for a 32 GB kit of DDR5 to around $350 in like 2 months. That's like $88 for 8 GB RAM. So let's say $100. So the choice between 8 and 16 GB is gonna be $100 at cost now. And the price tiers are gonna be insane, simply because RAM just costs that much.

So....idk. If youre buying now, I'd buy a 16 GB card while they're "cheap" and just bite the bullet. At least you'll be settled until 2030 or so and can just sit out the crapshow that is about to happen to GPU prices.

8 GB....again, i get it, they're cheaper...but if I'm having such limitations on a 6650 XT....a 9060 XT or 5060 will also have issues with 8 GB. It kind of is crippling modern cards. It's crippling even 6600 style cards. It hasnt been "enough" really since like the days of the 1070 and 1080. It's kinda just been like..."well that's what you get" and if your performance is crippled, it's crippled.

So...that's your choice. I get that a $400 card is insanely expensive and like a crazy privilege, BUT....the economy is such where if you DONT buy it, well, you're gonna get screwed long term.

Still, it is better to buy an 8 GB card over nothing at all, so keep that in mind too, but the people who CAN get more than 8 GB WILL get more than 8 GB.