You probably weren’t going to buy a PC with a 4GB RX 9050 graphics card, but new test numbers from Hardware Unboxed and Toasty Bros should make sure of it. The GPU is over 25% slower than the 8GB version across a range of games at 1080p Medium/High; in many games, it barely breaks 60fps at 1080p Low.
We first heard that AMD was bringing back the aging 4GB GPUs in July, and initial performance tests were rough. Although we didn’t expect much, it’s always important to wait for well-produced third-party benchmarks with reproducible results. Unfortunately, now that we have them, it’s clear just how poor this new card’s performance is.
Hardware Unboxed pulled the 9050 4GB from a weak CyberPowerPC build and paired it with an AMD Ryzen 9800X3D and some GSkill Trident Z5 6000 memory. But even with that overpowered CPU/memory configuration, the card fell flat on its face.
In Forza Horizon 6, the 9050 only managed an average of 88fps at 1080p Medium. The 8GB version achieved an average of 129fps, while the Intel Arc B570 managed 116fps. In Resident Evil Requiem at 1080p Low, it just managed 64fps average, while the 8GB version achieved a much smoother 88fps.
In Lego Batman, however, the 9050 4GB achieved 123fps at Medium quality, which is very playable. But the 8GB version is up to 175fps average, showing what a huge disparity just an extra few gigabytes of VRAM can create, even at these lower settings and resolutions.
The Toasty Bros YouTube channel found much the same. Although not as comprehensive, their tests showed poor performance with the 9050 in the pre-built gaming system they purchased. In Forza Horizon 6, the game becomes very choppy outside the lowest settings, with a flashy warning for Low Video Memory and serious stutters to single-digit FPS at times.
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The one caveat they gave was that this still represents an upgrade over the AMD RX 6500 XT, but that’s a four-year-old card that was super-entry-level at the time and now sells for less than $100 second-hand. Anything released now should top that.
The 9500 4GB does, but it’s still hard to stomach that this card came as part of a near-$900 pre-built gaming PC in 2026. Spending that much should get you something that can play at 1080p high. You might be able to do that with this card in some older games, with upscaling doing some heavy lifting, but it doesn’t appear to be up to the task for anything else.
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Jon Martindale
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Jon Martindale is a tech journalist from the UK, with 20 years of experience covering all manner of PC components and associated gadgets. He’s written for a range of publications, including ExtremeTech, Digital Trends, Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, and Lifewire, among others. When not writing, he’s a big board gamer and reader, with a particular habit of speed-reading through long manga sagas.
Jon covers the latest PC components, as well as how-to guides on everything from how to take a screenshot to how to set up your cryptocurrency wallet. He particularly enjoys the battles between the top tech giants in CPUs and GPUs, and tries his best not to take sides.
Jon’s gaming PC is built around the iconic 7950X3D CPU, with a 7900XTX backing it up. That’s all the power he needs to play lightweight indie and casual games, as well as more demanding sim titles like Kerbal Space Program. He uses a pair of Jabra Active 8 earbuds and a SteelSeries Arctis Pro wireless headset, and types all day on a Logitech G915 mechanical keyboard.
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