Neural Texture Compression Slashes VRAM Needs by 90%

NVIDIA and Microsoft are testing a powerful new technology called Neural Texture Compression (NTC) that dramatically reduces VRAM usage. Integrated with DirectX Raytracing 1.2's Cooperative Vectors, this system embeds neural networks directly into shaders for on-the-fly decompression using Tensor cores. In early RTX 5080 tests, VRAM use dropped by up to 90%, with performance boosts nearing 80%. Surprisingly, AMD's unreleased RX 9070 XT outperformed NVIDIA’s card in Vulkan-based benchmarks. This tech could transform GPU memory demands, making 8 GB cards viable for high-end gaming and possibly eliminating VRAM bottlenecks in the future.