How much VRAM you actually need in 2026
Eight gigabytes stopped being enough faster than manufacturers assumed. We take apart where the demand comes from, and why the figure in task manager lies.
Explainers
How to read benchmarks without being misled
The average frame rate is the least useful number in a review. Here is what to look at instead, and the traps hiding in the charts.
2 min readPublished June 30, 2026Dawid Olko
Hardware reviews trade in numbers that look objective, but reading them requires context. A few things change how you read a chart permanently.
Look at the minimums, not the average
An average of 100 frames can mean a steady 100 throughout, or swings between 140 and 45. The first is smooth; the second visibly stutters. The 1 per cent low figure — the worst one measurement in a hundred — is what distinguishes them.
Check the test resolution
Processor tests are often run at 1080p with the fastest card available — deliberately, to remove the graphics limit and expose differences between processors. That is correct methodology, but the results do not transfer directly to your build: at 4K those same processors land within measurement error of each other.
Look at the chart axes
A bar chart starting at 90 rather than zero turns a three per cent difference into a visually twofold one. It is the most common manipulation in manufacturer material and appears in reviews too — not always maliciously, sometimes just through a tool default.
One review is not enough
Samples of the same model differ, drivers change, and every reviewer tests a different scene. Three independent sources give a picture no single review can — and disagreement between them is itself information.