Forza Horizon 6: Another Disaster for 8GB GPUs?

The video details an in-depth comparison of the 8GB and 16GB versions of the RTX 5060 Ti graphics card, specifically focusing on their performance in the game Forza Horizon 6. The presenter highlights that Forza Horizon 6 is a visually impressive and well-optimized game, but its demanding settings, particularly with ray tracing enabled, reveal significant limitations for GPUs with insufficient VRAM. The core of the analysis revolves around VRAM capacity and its impact on gameplay. When testing Forza Horizon 6 at 1440p with maximum settings and ray tracing enabled, the 16GB RTX 5060 Ti achieved a respectable 60-70 FPS, which the presenter deemed acceptable for this type of game. However, the 8GB model struggled immensely, dropping below 30 FPS and resulting in a laggy and unplayable experience. This stark contrast, described as “night and day,” underscores the critical role of VRAM. Using the game's built-in benchmark, the 16GB card consistently outperformed the 8GB version across various resolutions and settings. At 1080p with DLSS balanced upscaling and the Extreme Plus RT preset, the 16GB model averaged 82 FPS, a 50% improvement over the 8GB version, which managed only 55 FPS. Notably, the game consumed nearly 12GB of VRAM in this scenario, directly challenging the notion that 8GB is sufficient for 1080p gaming. The presenter also noted that even with VRAM exceeding its capacity, the 8GB card didn't suffer from poor frame times on a system with ample DDR5 RAM, though performance would likely degrade with less system memory. As the resolution increased to 1440p, the performance gap widened. The 16GB card averaged 61 FPS, while the 8GB model was limited to 33 FPS, an 85% difference. Even with DLSS set to quality, the 16GB version maintained over 70% better performance. When ray tracing settings were lowered to High Plus RT, the 8GB model became more usable, averaging 102 FPS at 1080p. However, the 16GB card still held a 22% advantage. The VRAM requirement here dropped to around 9GB, explaining the less drastic performance delta. Interestingly, at 1440p with the High Plus RT preset, the performance difference was less pronounced, with the 16GB card being only 17% faster on average. This was attributed to the bottleneck potentially shifting from VRAM to the GPU's compute power. At 4K with DLSS performance mode, the margin increased again, with the 16GB model delivering a smooth 66 FPS compared to the 8GB's choppy 50 FPS. The analysis then shifted to scenarios without ray tracing. With the Extreme preset, the 16GB model offered a significant 46% higher average frame rate and a 51% improvement in 1% lows. At 1440p without ray tracing, the performance gap narrowed slightly, suggesting the 8GB card was hitting a similar VRAM bottleneck at both 1080p and 1440p, while the 16GB card was limited by compute power. The presenter then explored the Ultra and High presets. Even when VRAM usage on the 16GB card was below 8GB, it still outperformed the 8GB model. This highlighted an unusual VRAM allocation behavior in Forza Horizon 6, where frame rates could degrade significantly while frame times remained smooth. A crucial aspect revealed was the impact of texture quality on the 8GB card. Reducing environment texture size on the 8GB model led to a substantial performance increase (34%), though it still lagged behind the 16GB version. To match the 16GB card's performance, the 8GB model had to significantly reduce texture and geometry settings, resulting in a noticeable downgrade in visual quality. The presenter emphasized that the 8GB card's limitations lead to visual compromises, such as missing foliage and distant forest details, making the game appear less immersive and visually appealing. The long-run benchmark further accentuated the VRAM limitations. Over a 12-minute test, the 16GB model was an astonishing 140% faster, maintaining playable frame rates while the 8GB model struggled to reach 30 FPS, making it difficult to control without assistance. The presenter concluded that for Forza Horizon 6, a minimum of 12GB of VRAM is recommended, with 16GB being ideal, especially for higher presets like Ultra and Extreme with ray tracing. The current trend of 8GB GPUs holding back PC gaming was reiterated, as developers are forced to optimize for lower VRAM capacities, limiting the potential for richer visual experiences. The artificial scarcity and increased pricing of 16GB models by manufacturers like Nvidia were also criticized. The video ends by teasing upcoming benchmarks and offering ways for viewers to support the channel.