Reviving the GTX 970 Enabling Full 8GB VRAM for Enhanced Performance
When it launched, the Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 was a strong mid-range option, delivering performance close to AMD’s Radeon R9 290X at a more budget-friendly price. A decade later, the aging GPU is making a small comeback thanks to Brazilian hardware modder Paulo Gomes and his team, who successfully upgraded its VRAM from 4GB to 8GB , giving it a new performance lease on life.
The mod involved replacing the original 512MB, 7 Gbps GDDR5 chips with 1GB, 8 Gbps memory modules , along with adding a resistor to help the GPU recognize the higher-capacity RAM. After the upgrade, benchmark tests using Unigine Superposition showed nearly double the score , highlighting the impact of increased VRAM.
This one-of-a-kind Asus Strix GTX 970 was then tested by YouTuber Peperaio Hardware to see if the extra memory translates to real-world gaming improvements. The results were compared against a stock Gigabyte Windforce GTX 970 with 4GB VRAM , across both modern and older titles like Red Dead Redemption 2 , GTA V Enhanced Edition , and Plague Tale: Requiem — though in those games, no significant performance gains were observed.
This modification led to significant performance gains in several games. In Resident Evil 4 Remake , the upgraded RTX 3070 delivered up to a 66% performance boost compared to the original 8GB version. Meanwhile, The Last of Us Part I saw around a 25% improvement , and Hogwarts Legacy ran approximately 20% faster with the extra VRAM.
Despite claims from both Nvidia and AMD that 8GB of VRAM is sufficient for most modern gaming scenarios, real-world modifications like these suggest otherwise. As game assets become larger and resolutions continue to rise, even mid-range GPUs can struggle with memory limitations.
Interestingly, Nvidia has continued launching new graphics cards with 8GB VRAM configurations, including the upcoming RTX 5060 and RTX 5060 Ti . Similarly, AMD has announced that its next-generation Radeon RX 9060 XT will also come equipped with just 8GB of VRAM — a decision that may prompt more users to consider hardware mods as a way to future-proof their systems.