First 8GB Gaming GPU Turns 12: Once Dismissed as Gimmick, Now Entry-Level

Sapphire launched the first 8GB gaming graphics card in 2014. The Radeon R9 290X Vapor-X Tri-X OC 8GB was initially blocked by AMD. Only about 250 units were produced and sold through overseas retailers.

Sapphire's 8GB card was initially blocked by AMD

The card used an AMD Hawaii core and featured 8GB of VRAM. At the time, 8GB was considered overkill for gaming. Testing by ComputerBase showed that at 4K with high anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering, 4GB models crashed while the 8GB model remained stable.

The card was available through overseas retailers in 2014.

AMD later adopted 8GB as standard on the Radeon RX 390X. Today, 8GB is considered entry-level VRAM. Modern 8GB GPUs struggle with high textures, ray tracing, and upscaling at 1080p.

Sapphire has not confirmed any further production or re-release of this card.