Former US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden has expressed his disappointment with Nvidia’s recently released GeForce RTX 50-series graphics cards, citing insufficient VRAM capacity. The RTX 5080, in particular, has been criticized for its “crippling” 16GB VRAM, which Snowden believes is a “monopolistic crime against the consumer.”
Snowden’s criticism is echoed by Tom’s Hardware GPU editor, who noted that some modern games like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle are already constrained by 16GB of VRAM. The RTX 5070 Ti, with 12GB of VRAM, has also been panned for its limited capacity.
Nvidia’s decision to limit VRAM specifications in their new Blackwell series has raised concerns among consumers, who expect more from a $1,000+ graphics card. AMD’s upcoming Radeon RX 9700 XT is expected to offer better performance with 16GB of VRAM, leaving Nvidia’s offerings looking less competitive.
The lack of sufficient VRAM capacity is not unique to the RTX 50-series; other Nvidia GPUs like the RTX 5080 are also criticized for their limited memory. The situation has become increasingly desperate, with some speculating that a lower-end model, such as the RTX 5060 Ti, may feature only 12GB of VRAM.
As the gaming industry continues to push for more VRAM capacity, it remains to be seen how Nvidia will respond to these criticisms and what changes they will make to their next-generation GPUs.
Source: https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/gpus/edward-snowden-slams-nvidias-rtx-50-series-f-tier-value-whistleblows-on-lackluster-vram-capacity