4GB GPU or VRAM is still sufficient for gaming. However, there are some concerns, including what monitor resolution you’re playing on or if you’re using a laptop with 4GB VRAM, and what games you plan to run on 4GB GPU.
So, alone the Amount of GPU does not guarantee if it’s good enough or not.
Related: Intel UHD 750 for gaming.
Is 4GB Enough for gaming?
A minimum of 4GB of VRAM should suffice for most games at 1080p unless you’re running a very graphics-intensive game at its highest setting. Furthermore, if you’re running games at 4K or 2160p games, you’ll need a GPU upgrade.
In most cases, 8GB of VRAM will give you the same performance as 4GB, provided that the game needs more VRAM for better graphics and you have a monitor with 1440p resolution and a refresh rate greater than 60 Hz.
These factors have an impact on gaming, in addition to 4 GPUs.
These are the most common factors that determine how much VRAM you will need:
- Your Monitor’s Resolution: Monitors with higher resolution need more VRAM. When playing a game at 1080p, less GPU memory is consumed than when playing at 2160p or ultra HD.
- The Games You Are Playing: Games have different requirements for GPU, that depend on how detailed their graphic is and how real their texture is. Games with higher graphics quality and details tend to be less expensive, while games with lower graphics quality and details tend to eat more GPU.
- The Settings You Are Playing Your Games At: Games have different graphic settings, low, medium, high, and extreme. In many games, low graphic settings are enough for a 4GB GPU to run, but extreme settings will require more power.
Monitors and 4GB VRAM for gaming
To get a general idea of how much VRAM you’ll need at different monitor resolutions, let’s take a look at the following:
VRAM and resolution information in a nutshell.
- 720P: 2GB of VRAM
- 1080P: 2GB-6GB of VRAM
- 1440P: 4-8GB of VRAM
- 4K: 8GB+ VRAM
This relation between resolution and VRAM is true in a general sense. But you should always keep in mind that, different games require different specifications. While some are minimally graphically intensive, others are more so.
As higher the resolution the more GPU power is needed to deliver performance with a good refresh rate. A good refresh is 60hz, also known as FPS, so upgrading the resolution results in a drop in the FPS. It’s better to revert back to low resolution.
In the end, the games you play will determine the outcome.
It is possible to run less demanding games like TF2, League of Legends, Dota 2, Minecraft, etc. at 1440P without exceeding 4GB of VRAM.
Likewise, games with more demanding graphics (like Middle Earth: Shadow of War, PUBG, Quantum Break, etc.) will likely consume more than 4GB of graphics memory on a 1440P monitor.
Is 4GB VRAM (GPU) for gaming on a laptop?
Laptops with 4GB of GPU can deliver decent performance in most games. Because 1080p resolution is satisfactory for a laptop with a frame rate of 60. As gaming at 1080p and 60fps, a 4GB GPU is powerful enough to deliver good performance. In contrast, monitors with a large screen support more resolution. Thus, they need more GPU power to run games at a resolution of 1440p or 2160p.
Running Games on 4GB GPU
Warzone
The COD: Warzone game still runs smoothly on a 4GB GPU, with medium graphic settings at 1080p resolution you will easily get around 50-60 frames per second. You can increase the FPS on the same GPU by reducing the resolution to 720p which is fine if you are gaming on a laptop.
In addition to running warzone on a 4GB GPU, the other system specs do matter. As the amount of RAM should be more than 8GB, recommended is 16GB. A core i7 10th gen CPU should be more than capable of handling the game.
Watch playing Warzone on GTX 1050ti 4GB graphic card.
GTA V
You can run GTA V on 4GB GPU at 1080p and get a decent FPS, provided that your CPU can spin at 3.0 GHZ and RAM installed in your system should be 8GB to get fine performance.
However, Rockstar games recommend graphics cards with 2GB of VRAM for 720p resolution and medium graphics settings. The minimum GPU requirement for GTA V is AMD HD7870 (2GB) or NVIDIA GTX 660 (2GB).
Fortnite
4GB Vram of graphic card is more than enough for playing Fortnite. This GPU can deliver decent performance at low high settings at 1080p resolution.
However, the epic graphic setting, which is the highest in-game graphic setting delivers 40-50 FPS. Playable but it would be better to play this game on high settings on GB GPU.
Watch playing Fortnite on a 4GB 1050TI graphic card.
Valorant
According to the developer of the Valorant game, the game is optimized to run on low-end PCs and laptops at low graphic settings. And it seems true. And running valorant on a 4GPU graphic card provides good performance, you can run this game at its maximum graphic setting and get a decent FPS.
Watch playing Valonrant on a 4GB Graphic card:
Apex legends
Using a 4GPU graphic card, you can certainly achieve 100+ frames per second on Apex legend at 1080p. And if you want to play this game on higher resolution, like 2160p or 4k resolution the FPS may experience a drop. Nevertheless, for 1080p resolution, this game can run at the max graphic settings with more than 60FPS.
Watch playing Apex Legend on 1060ti 4 GPU graphic card
Arma 3
To play Arma 3 smoothly, along with 4GB GPU your system must have a good amount of RAM. Preferably 16GB RAM will give better performance, in addition to that, your CPU should be powerful to run at 3 GHz of clock speed.
Having said that, Arma 3 on a 1060ti GTX (4GB) can easily give you 40-plus frames per second if you have good other factors. It is also possible for the same GPU to produce FPS performance below 20 if the other hardware requirements aren’t met.
Watch playing Arma 3 on 4GB GPU1050
COD vanguard
To run CoD Vanguard at 1080p on a 4GB graphic card, you will need to lower the graphic settings in the game to medium. At low/medium settings, GPUs as powerful as the GeForce GTX 1650 (Ti) can handle this title.
Far Cry 6
A 4GB Graphic card can deliver 60 FPS in Far Cry 6 at 1080p resolution. This is good enough for many gamers out there as 60 FPS is reasonable for playing games. Conversely, playing at 4k resolution, you will definitely need a GPU with more VRAM than 4GB, to maintain 60 FPS.
Watch playing Far Cry 6 on 1050 4GB GPU.
Fall out 4
Fallout 4 can easily run on a 4 GB graphic card, you will easily get around 100 FPS on the lower graphic setting at 1080p resolution or even better. With that being said, a 4GB graphic card should be enough to run this game at 4k resolution, with a decent amount of FPS.
