Yes, it is somewhat about a debate on the small avatar limit to the image size. I had this problem on another board, namely from an RSPS I won't mention. Whatever the final decision of how large our avatars will show as, so be it. I know of issues surrounding linking an obnoxiously large avatar for usage while it still gets shrunk down to size, though, but in order for the browser to show it there is CPU lag spike everytime you look at the large shrunk avatar. Not eveyone has a 2GB video card with a decent GPU clock. Most preorder computers new just have onboard graphics that tax the CPU. The fanbase alone probably has computers with build creations stretching back to 2002 when Windows XP could be used on those computers made to run it at the time of release.
So, this leaves us with a few options to avoid lag on the forums. One way is to build in to the forum for it to create a thumbnail resized to the avatar limit. This will require some programming and to a database for singular personal avatars as they are changed and used. Another way, more blunt to enforcing the avatar limits rather than enabling a feature for the fanbase, is for the forum to check the file for pixel dimension, and if the image on hand is too large, it is denied. With this method, I can also see a measure of coding, but at least it isn't as much as writing or adding a module to the code, more so just with something to detect dimensions. Maybe this could blossom part of the graphics forum for requests to resize images, but that is a pretty easy thing to do already. As for pixel size limits, I could see 720 by 720 an allowable size, but the forum developer could answer that better than I. Size on disc is also notable, for those with gifs.
Already, the direct link to anyone's avatar is accessible, and with that anyone can check how big some people's avatars don't need to be. Every image we see is added to our cache bins no matter how small we see it as on the forums.
At least I haven't seen a humongous pixel dimension on a long and big gif, I'm talking 3 MB. Kudos on the fanbase for that.