Arc Raiders is a shining beacon of hope in the darkest times of the RAMpocalypse, proving 8 GB budget graphics cards don't have to miss out on glorious graphics

Arc Raiders is a shining beacon of hope in the darkest times of the RAMpocalypse, proving 8 GB budget graphics cards don’t have to miss out on glorious graphics | PC Gamer Skip to main content Open menu Close main menu PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES US Edition UK US Canada Australia Subscribe Sign in View Profile Sign out Search Search PC Gamer Games Hardware News Reviews Guides Video Forum More PC Gaming Show PC Gamer Clips Software Codes Coupons Movies & TV Magazine Newsletter Affiliate links Meet the team Community guidelines About PC Gamer PC Gamer Magazine SubscriptionWhy subscribe?Subscribe to the world’s #1 PC gaming magTry a single issue or save on a subscriptionIssues delivered straight to your door or device From$1Subscribe now PopularSpring SaleClipsCrimson DesertMarathonBest PC gearQuizzes Hardware Graphics Cards Arc Raiders is a shining beacon of hope in the darkest times of the RAMpocalypse, proving 8 GB budget graphics cards don’t have to miss out on glorious graphics Features By Andy Edser published 25 March 2026 It can be done. 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And it turns out they are—with some caveats.While the 8 GB variants of the RTX 5060 Ti and RX 9060 XT performed fairly well overall, it was surprising to see just how big the frame rate gap was compared to their 16 GB equivalents. Traditionally, 8 GB and 16 GB budget GPUs have often performed roughly the same, but in this generation of games, that’s not so much the case.In this VRAM-constrained, memory crisis-stricken world, that might be bad news for budget gamers. Should this supply shambles cause graphics card manufacturers to cut all our “low-priced” cards down to 8 GB, though, there is one major beacon of hope—and it comes in the form of Arc Raiders.I was genuinely astonished to see how well this particular game ran on all of our tested GPUs. It’s a great counterpoint to the popular idea that all Unreal Engine 5 games perform like trash, and a testament to the ability of the developers to keep VRAM usage low and frame rates high, even on affordable graphics hardware at maximum settings.Take a look at the chart below to see what I mean. While the 16 GB cards are still faster overall, even the RX 9060 XT 8 GB (which struggled a little in some of my tests) manages to post a 127 fps average with the sliders cranked at 1440p, albeit with a small dose of Quality upscaling. Arc Raiders – VRAM usage and performance In-game testing, Epic settings 1080p Epic + Quality upscaling1440p Epic + Quality upscaling1440p Epic + Quality upscaling + 2x FG Avg FPS 1% Low FPS Avg VRAM RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB 162 110 5.23 RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB 155 89 5.63 RX 9060XT 16 GB 142 67 7.64 RX 9060 XT 8 GB 148 90 5.72 050100150200 1080p Epic + Quality upscaling Data ProductValue RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB 162 Avg FPS, 110 1% Low FPS, 5.23 Avg. VRAM RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB 155 Avg FPS, 89 1% Low FPS, 5.63 Avg. VRAM RX 9060XT 16 GB 142 Avg FPS, 67 1% Low FPS, 7.64 Avg. VRAM RX 9060 XT 8 GB 148 Avg FPS, 90 1% Low FPS, 5.72 Avg. VRAM Avg FPS 1% Low FPS Avg VRAM RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB 145 93 5.98 RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB 121 76 6.12 RX 9060XT 16 GB 127 91 7.38 RX 9060 XT 8 GB 112 68 6.19 037.575112.5150 1440p Epic + Quality upscaling Data ProductValue RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB 145 Avg FPS, 93 1% Low FPS, 5.98 Avg. VRAM RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB 121 Avg FPS, 76 1% Low FPS, 6.12 Avg. VRAM RX 9060XT 16 GB 127 Avg FPS, 91 1% Low FPS, 7.38 Avg. VRAM RX 9060 XT 8 GB 112 Avg FPS, 68 1% Low FPS, 6.19 Avg. VRAM Avg FPS<br> 1% Low FPS Avg VRAM RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB 171 114 6.76 RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB 164 77 6.74 RX 9060XT 16 GB 144 101 7.7 RX 9060 XT 8 GB 158 107 6.57 050100150200 1440p Epic + Quality upscaling + 2x FG Data ProductValue RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB 171 Avg FPS, 114 1% Low FPS, 6.76 Avg. VRAM RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB 164 Avg FPS, 77 1% Low FPS, 6.74 Avg. VRAM RX 9060XT 16 GB 144 Avg FPS, 101 1% Low FPS, 7.7 Avg. VRAM RX 9060 XT 8 GB 158 Avg FPS, 107 1% Low FPS, 6.57 Avg. VRAM I spent many hours running around in Arc Raiders trying to force it into all sorts of frame rate-destroying scenarios. I experienced hurricanes, bot invasions, and more than one bullet to the back of the head. This is the life of a Raider.But while the frame rate is variable (my recorded averages are based on much combined testing), I couldn’t get it to range anywhere near its VRAM limit on any of my tested cards. Nor could I get it to deliver anything other than excellent performance—on properly affordable GPUs, no less. It’s also worth noting just how bite-the-back-of-your-hand beautiful this game looks. Jumping into Arc Raiders after testing Cyberpunk 2077, Resid