vRAM - What will be enough in a few years?

[Razyre]

Hey there guys.

I started a thread up a while ago about what high end card to buy next and thought I'd come to a conclusion; I was going to buy an AMD Radeon 7970.

However, a month or so down the line my ideas have changed again.

Essentially, I'm not happy with the instability of AMD as a company and indeed the quality of their driver control panel and driver release schedules. It's all over the place.

I love Nvidia's driver releases and the choice I have for optimization for different games and there are lots of great options on their minimalist control panel. As they are ********* in the market, most new games are optimised for Nvidia hardware as well, giving them a slight edge over AMD (Cry3, BF3) and these are the games I predominantly play.

Here is my last, horrible niggle that I can't shake off:

vRAM. My current card (560Ti) constantly runs out of vRAM @ 1080p with new games. 1GB just isn't enough anymore. I'll soon be upgrading to a 2K monitor and I'm wondering, for how long will 2GB vRAM be enough?

New consoles are being released with 8GB GDDR5 vRAM and it's likely that this can be attributed to anything the devs want. If games that are on consoles are fitting within the 512MB GDDR3 barrier in regards to everything and PC versions of the same games are using around 1-1.5GB vRAM @ 1080p just for textures and such, then what's going to happen when devs are unleashed on 8GB GDDR5? SURELY they're going to push the 2GB boundary in a year or two, especially at the increased resolution 2K.

This is what makes me think I should go for a 4GB 670. 680 gives little increase in performance for a lot of price, while the 4GB 670 while being pretty expensive at least gives me peace of mind I'll /never/ have to worry about vRAM running out like it does on my current system.

A 2GB 670 would save me a lot of money, but am I going to regret it dearly in a year or two when a new game comes out that requires just more memory than I have to give?

Please help me out here guys, I'm dying over this :/

Thanks.

 

[arc@css]

It's much more likely to be a case of the 2gb 670 not having enough processing power rather than vram.

 

[Bacon?]

Your knowledge is quite a bit behind. The VRAM arguement has been chucking around this forum for a long time and even on 670 SLI you will run out of GPU grunt before VRAM on almost every case.

Havent ever had a problems with AMD drivers so I dont know what the fuss is there. And new games arent Nvidia optimised.

A 670 2GB would be my choice for Nvidia but price / performance wise 7950 for me.

 

[Dave2150]

The next generation cards released by AMD/Nvidia will surely have 6-8GB of VRAM to match the consoles, in my opinion anyway.

Titan already has 6GB.

My trusty 5870 1GB will have to hold on until then, I don't see the logic in upgrading to say a 670 or a 7950 with 8GB consoles looming on the horizon (unless you have money to burn ofc )

 

[Tonester0011]

Cry3 is an AMD game, and BF3 Nvidia no longer has an advantage over AMD.
If you're worrying about VRAM (2GB isn't a problem, and the cards probably wont have the grunt to push playable framerates in 2 years to go over said limit anyway) then get yourself a cheaper 7950 that offers about the same performance as a 670, is cheaper and comes with 50% more of the stuff you're after.

 

[Razyre]

Okay I can see where you're coming from with the vRAM argument.

I... really don't want to go to AMD. I hear a lot of people complain about their experience with them and while I had a relatively good one, I'm in no way rushing to get back to CCC.

EDIT: Also, next series of cards are going to be same architecture right? 700 series from Nvidia will be Kepler.

 

[tommybhoy]

the quality of their driver control panel and driver release schedules. It's all over the place.

Using a 560, are you basing this opinion purely on hear say/what you read?

most new games are optimised for Nvidia hardware as well, giving them a slight edge over AMD (Cry3, BF3) and these are the games I predominantly play.

No they aren't, a boosting 67/80 is running higher than 925/1050Mhz more often than not, clock the 795/70's there is nothing in it.

for how long will 2GB vRAM be enough?

SURELY they're going to push the 2GB boundary in a year or two, especially at the increased resolution 2K.

It's being pushed right now.

This is what makes me think I should go for a 4GB 670. 680 gives little increase in performance for a lot of price, while the 4GB 670 while being pretty expensive at least gives me peace of mind I'll /never/ have to worry about vRAM running out like it does on my current system.

You would need 2/3 6 series to not worry about vram as such, but they are still limited in memory bus IMO.

A 2GB 670 would save me a lot of money, but am I going to regret it dearly in a year or two when a new game comes out that requires just more memory than I have to give?

You already know the answer as it has happened with your 560, it's just the way it works, new series gpu's come out and have a habit of leaving the last gen sometimes lacking through driver support/specs(vram)- as AMD/Nvidia want you to upgrade and push the current gen gpus capabilities.

When/if Nvidia release their next high end with a bigger mem bus/3Gb, the 6 series will go the same way as the 5 series-requiring an upgrade for playable higher settings due to vram requirements/needed power.

 

[whyscotty]

Please - not another Vram thread

 

[cainer]

My trusty 5870 1GB will have to hold on until then, I don't see the logic in upgrading to say a 670 or a 7950 with 8GB consoles looming on the horizon (unless you have money to burn ofc )

thats what i thought till i saw 5870's selling for £150+ and the 7950 costing £240 with 5 free games

 

[Razyre]

Man people love AMD on this forum.

What do you recommend I do then? I'd really like some second opinions from some Nvidia users but it doesn't seem that I'm going to get it.

I am very, very nervous about AMD. I don't like their control center solution, it's half arsed and from memory of my 5770 doesn't have half of the controls the Nvidia one does.

What sort of vRAM pool do I want to upgrade to? From what I've heard the AMD cards have more vRAM but utilise it a lot worse than Nvidia do. On the other hand, they have 384-bit memory buses and therefore gives them an advantage over the 256-bit bus Nvidia cards with smaller pools.

Please - not another Vram thread

Sorry man, I just need an answer for myself. This is a lot of money for me to spend and I want to spend it right.

 

[edscdk]

future proof? don't buy a top end card, get an almost top end and replace it every 12 months (selling the old one on)

 

[Uncle Petey]

Maybe because they're happy owners and not the sad ones you keep hearing about?

If you really don't want AMD, don't get one. Nothing wrong with a 670/80.

 

[Razyre]

future proof? don't buy a top end card, get an almost top end and replace it every 12 months (selling the old one on)

So the 670/7950 strategy? It doesn't sound like a bad idea to me. At least then if I got an AMD card and didn't like it, I only have to wait 12 months to sell it on. It will work at the very least.

 

[tommybhoy]

At least then if I got an AMD card and didn't like it, I only have to wait 12 months to sell it on.

You have 7 working days to send it back through DSR(it will cost ~£10 to post it back if you don't like it), 14 days if you purchase one from OcUK.

 

[Razyre]

You have 7 working days to send it back through DSR(it will cost ~£10 to post it back if you don't like it), 14 days if you purchase one from OcUK.

I suppose so.

Damn you guys changing my mind all the time >.<

What is your opinion on software like RadeonPRO? I've been interested in it for improvement of the AMD experience.

I've always wondered why AMD doesn't brand their cards like Nvidia, it would get them a lot more interest from skids... Of course Nvidia spend a lot more on advertising and promotion than AMD and also getting companies to sell their soul to them, but I always feel that AMD makes a bit of a lacking effort to make their cards look like the next thing. Perhaps it's just maturity as a company and being respectful for the consumer...

 

[Mal X]

it all depends on what games come out, because right now there isn't anything that pushes the 7970 very far, mine handles Crysis 2 easily even with no OC..

But, we've got 4K OLED tv sometime in the next 2 years ( before it's cheap enough to buy) plus there might be another Crytek engine, not sure

as for PC gaming graphics moving on, i doubt it, the quality looks the same as 2 years ago, in fact; it looks like its slowed down.....FC3 looks the same as the 1st Crysis !!!

6GB Ram is thus a total waste of time especially if you game via 1080p tv.

a bigger card yes, but deffo not more Ram, i've got my eye on this 7990 but only just in case.

 

[V4NT0M]

Not sure there is any difference between AMD/NVIDIA really, just choose the card which has the performance and price you want.

The 560TI in my old rig was great and the 7970 in my new rig is great too. NV is slightly better at some things, AMD is slightly better at others.

as for PC gaming graphics moving on, i doubt it, the quality looks the same as 2 years ago, in fact; it looks like its slowed down.....FC3 looks the same as the 1st Crysis !!!

Take a look at Tomb Raider, Crysis 3, Metro 2033.

 

[Razyre]

Yeah FC3 is a really bad example. It looks pretty mediocre considering the hit it has on your rig.

Cry 3, BF3 (Looking more aged now, BF4 adds in what it missed out on graphically), Metro Last Light all look far, far better than games from 2 years ago.

I hate my 560Ti because it doesn't do what it was promised to do. It was originally meant to be able to handle BF3 on Ultra > Didn't have the vRAM to handle it without stuttering. It also had masses and masses of driver problems for the first few months after release. Took ages for a driver for BF3 that actually worked properly.

But my 650M is absolutely brilliant. Stupidly good OC performance and performance in general for my tiny laptop (11 inch) and I haven't had a single driver problem at any point.

I mainly like NV for their control panel as I already stated and the choice you get in terms of driver releases.

 

[shankly1985]

I just also point out who needs Ccc when can use radeonpro. Let's you do everything nvidia can do on a AMD card for example adaptive vsync.

 

[Razyre]

I did ask before, what can RadeonPRO do? XD I had a brief look, but what are the main benefits? Is it just an executable like Afterburner per se?