ghosts

This is the worst year I remember for build a PC. It is no longer that the prices of components such as HDDs and, above all, SSDs and RAM are completely out of control, but that there are no new graphics cards. AMD’s are a renovated from the previous ones and Nvidia, directly, goes from the RTX 60. But of course, something has to be removed, and the clue of a new GPU has just appeared that awakens the ghosts of 2022. If with the beginning of the RAM crisis We already pointed out that we could once again see mobile phones with absurdly low amounts of memory, a leak points to the same thing, but on the graphics cards side. The ASRock assembler would have missed two new models of AMD’s RX 9000 seriesspecifically the RX 9050 and the peculiarity is that they would arrive in versions with 4 GB and 8 GB of memory. As pointed out Digital Foundrythe last time we had new cards with 4 GB of memory was four years ago with the Intel Arc A310, Nvidia GTX 1630 and AMD Radeon RX 6400 and 6500 XT, so the RX 9050 ‘Challenge’ would be the first modern GPU with only 4 GB of VRAM to try to offer itself at a reasonable price, but with more current capabilities. The problem is that 4 GB of VRAM is currently worth little. So little that even playing at 1,080p is difficult in the most recent titles. And it tells us about an even more worrying future for gaming on PC. A 4GB VRAM GPU makes sense. sadly First of all, it must be clarified that AMD has not made an official presentation and everything comes from an ASRock leak that can now only be accessed through of a system like Archive. The features are… discreet. The architecture of the AMD Radeon RX 9050 Challenger 4 GB is RDNA 4, yes, but the specifications tell us about a memory speed of 1,920 MHz with a boost of up to 2,600 MHz with 18 Gbps with 16 CUs and a power recommendation of 450 W. It is below the 9060 and the leak points to a bandwidth of 288 GB/s with a 128-bit bus for the 8 GB GDDR6 model and just 144 GB/s with a 64-bit bus for the 4 GB model. Criticism, evidently, has focused on this 4 GB version. Because It is necessary that there be graphics cards that have modest capacities because not everyone may want to play in ultra with frame rates per second greater than 60 and ray tracingbut even at 1,080p that excessively low amount of memory can cause problems in not so current titles. As we say, being a filtration There is no price, but the range will be between 100 and 200 euros if we take into account the launches of the aforementioned models in 2022. Although, of course, they did not have the supply problems that they do now, so we will have to be attentive, even if out of mere curiosity, to the price of these 4 GB RX 9050 Challenger. Wanting to read beyond the criticism and astonishment at this abnormally low amount of VRAM for 2026, there are two issues. The first is that yes, a card with 4 GB is still useful for games from a decade ago that do not require many resources or for many indie titles. There is a lot to play with that amount of VRAM and, in addition, there is the fact that they are cards with a modern architecture, so it is not taking an RX 580 that no longer has scaling or those types of techniques. But of course, depending on the price, perhaps it is more sensible to opt for the second-hand market to have access to an 8 GB GPU that, at least, is more comfortable in 1,080p and 1,440p resolutions. And the second reading is related to what I said at the beginning of the text: the wheel must continue turning and companies have to launch products to continue existing. The size of the market for such a product is something they will have studied, but the other alternative is to not launch anything and run the risk of disappearing. The CEO of SMIC, China’s large foundry, already said it: we are in a tsunami because of AI and many companies they will stay by the way. But although this product has a certain logic, it is certainly shocking to see a GPU with 4 GB of VRAM in the middle of 2026, being a reflection of how bad things are. In Xataka | Buying a pack of Pokémon cards in Japan now requires more than just money: now you also need your face