Gamers don’t want 8GB graphics cards, according to sales data

GPUs are getting insanely expensive. With the latest increases in prices and gaming demand, some gamers were already scoffing at 8GB of VRAM on allegedly mid-range cards. But if sales data is any indication, there’s a shocking lack of interest in that part of the market, with a 16GB card outselling the 8GB variant by more than 10-to-1.

The RTX 5060 Ti is the subject of this particular chunk of data. When it launched in April, Nvidia offered it at two different memory capacities: 8GB for $379 and 16GB for $429. (Those are the base retail prices. Real prices are significantly higher for most models.) Nvidia declined to offer advance reviews for the 8GB model, and based on sales data, it looks like gamers themselves are similarly disinterested.

According to TechPowerUp, German retailer Mindfactory.de has sold 16 times as many RTX 5060 Ti 16GB versions as 8GB versions. In the small slice of available data, 16GB cards from various OEM partners sold 1,675 units while 8GB versions moved only 105. TechPowerUp indicates that this isn’t a supply issue. It’s no surprise that the more powerful version of the card is more popular, given that it’s a relatively small price increase for a pretty huge bump in VRAM. But the sheer scale of the demand for one card over the other seems very telling.

I should highlight that even tech media rarely gets this kind of glance behind the retail curtain, usually having to rely on much broader market reports to try and get a finger on the pulse of industry trends. And this is, indeed, just one retailer in one country with a relatively narrow view of the market. Obviously, you can’t apply the same thinking for a $400+ graphics card to a “budget” one… though I’ll point out that the $220 Intel Arc B570 uses 10GB of somewhat-dated GDDR6 memory, still more than Nvidia’s $250 RTX 5050. Drop the price down into that $200 range and 8GB is probably a lot more acceptable to buyers.

A single model of a graphics card being a sales dud wouldn’t exactly be unprecedented, even for the near-monopoly giant that is Nvidia. Just last generation, the company canceled a 12GB variant of the RTX 4080 after getting negative feedback on its pricing, and even then the 16GB version of the card has sold far less than the RTX 4070 and 4090.

We’ll have to wait for a more complete look at how the RTX 5060 Ti breaks down when it comes to actual gamers. It’s possible that sales of the 8GB model are far greater for system integrators, and it’ll be crucial to see how things stack up versus AMD’s competition. The Radeon RX 9060 XT is also offered in both 8GB and 16GB variants, though it’s considerably less expensive at $300 and $350, respectively, competing more directly with the $300 8GB RTX 5060 (non-Ti). Again, those are MSRP numbers—actual prices may be considerably higher.