4GB Graphics Cards Make a Comeback

The first modern GPU featuring 4GB of VRAM has surfaced, as rising RAM prices and component shortages continue to inflate tech costs. A user on X discovered a listing for an AMD Radeon RX 9050 with 4GB of RAM on ASRock’s website, coinciding with the launch of an 8GB variant of the same model.

Is it wise to invest in a graphics card with only 4GB of VRAM? The specifications on ASRock’s site indicate that the 4GB RX 9050 utilizes AMD’s RDNA 4 architecture, boasting a 64-bit memory interface, 16 compute units, and a boost clock speed reaching up to 2,600MHz / 18GBps. This setup should support new features like FSR 4, but it falls short of the recommended requirements for many current AAA games, such as Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced and Halo: Campaign Evolved, even if you’re gaming at 1080p and not overly concerned about future-proofing.

While ASRock has yet to reveal the pricing for the 4GB RX 9050, it was spotted in a listing for an $889 prebuilt gaming PC at a retailer, which also includes 8GB of DDR4 RAM, 500GB of SSD storage, and an AMD Ryzen 5 5500 CPU.

ASRock and AMD have not provided any comments on this development.