AMD ‘Big Navi’ Rumor Hints at Two VRAM Configurations

With the launch of AMD’s ‘Big Navi’ (RDNA 2) expected around September this year, there is clearly a lot of curiosity surrounding what the new graphics card/s will represent and, more specifically, how they will stack up against Nvidia. Particularly given that Team Green’s new 30XX range is literally just around the corner.

While ‘Big Navi’ still represents more than a little mystery, however, a report via TechPowerUp suggests that sources close to their production have confirmed that the GPUs will be offered with two different VRAM configurations.

AMD ‘Big Navi’ Graphics Cards

Coming from “wjm47196”, a source who has proven reliable for AMD news in the past, it has been suggested that the ‘Big Navi’ RDNA2 graphics cards will be manufactured with both a 12GB and 16GB memory variant.

The news is somewhat coincidental as only yesterday we heard rumors suggesting that Nvidia’s 3080/Ti would come with three different memory specifications.

What Do We Think?

Compared to the Nvidia rumor (suggesting 10GB, 20GB, and 24GB versions) if this is proven to be true, then it’s hard to argue that AMD seems to be taking a more sensible approach.

Don’t get us wrong, more VRAM will always be more preferable to less. Based on current gaming needs, however, 8-10GB is (pretty much) the optimal ‘sweet spot’ and therefore 12GB-16GB seems a pretty comfortable margin for the foreseeable future. More so though, there’s no real point bundling in masses of memory if the GPU doesn’t have the performance to match or get the best out of it (such as seen when AMD launched the 480/580 graphics cards). So, call me optimistic, but if these are priced well, AMD could find themselves doing well here in the mid to upper-mid GPU stakes. Performance levels pending though of course!

What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!