Improving PC - graphics cards -need a wipe?

[garjobo123]

Can someone please explain.
Graphics cards, aka the one I have GeForce 970 4gb - that 4gbmemory does that actually do anything when I edit videos?

Im looking at buying a better card...GeForce 1070 perhaps? more in line with my budget...1080ti? I think theres one called that but it's expensive ( anyone shed ideas? ) but it's got 8gb on it...

so..worth wiping the 4gb memory before selling it on? ( I assume I can sell it on? aware its an old card )

But will 8gb make editing smoother process...occasionally pc comes up with 'out of memory' whilst editing, rendering...annoying!! I have 16RAM,

Just not clued up with how graphics cards work and retain info..even 8gb isn't a lot..and your talking £300 or more for one of those!

 

[martin363]

I am not an expert but I believe for editing, rendering etc. system RAM is significantly more critical that GFX RAM, I don't believe GFX RAM is a major factor for the use case you describe, the difference between 4gb and 8gb GFX RAM will be limited at best..

Some software utilises the Nvidia CUDA cores for extra processing and hence speed of the render project, but any mid range graphics card, eg, GTX 1650 or GTX 970 will make a huge difference to this process (as can on board CPU graphics). Whilst a faster Nvidia graphics card will make a difference, it is not generally significant enough to justify the extra cost, unless you are doing this commercially. It is a law of diminishing returns.

I suggest you would be much better off upgrading from 16GB to 32GB of RAM, or even 64GB and keeping your 970. this would likely improve performance if you are running out of memory.

You don't 'wipe' RAM, or Graphics card RAM, it is volatile memory, meaning that when you turn the pc off, it loses any data held within it.

I am certain others can respond better than I have.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

You have two "pools" of RAM: your system RAM (which I think you stated you have 16MB of), and graphics RAM (4GB for you). The system RAM is what the system uses for all of its working. Open programs, documents, etc, live in system RAM. The graphics RAM is just used for drawing objects on the screen. In general, the more complex games that you're playing, the larger a monitor you're using, and the faster your refresh rate, all drive up the amount of graphics RAM that you need.

It may seem counterintuitive, but graphics RAM is not really important when you're editing videos.

RAM (either your system RAM or your graphics card) does not need to be wiped as it isn't permanent. Switching off or restarting your computer clears anything in each of these RAM pools.

If you decide to replace your graphics card, you may well be able to get something for it through the usual channels for selling used equipment. You won't need to prep the card for sale, beyond removing it from your machine and packing it carefully in a shipping box.

But will 8gb make editing smoother process...occasionally pc comes up with 'out of memory' whilst editing, rendering...annoying!! I have 16RAM

Your "out of memory" error is caused by the system running out of RAM (your 16GB pool). So, in the short term, you could close any programs that you have open which are not the video editing software. Also, use the Task Manager to determine which of your running programs is consuming all the memory. This should help you to become certain that it is indeed your system RAM that is running out, at which point you could potentially look at sourcing more.

 

[Jason1973]

Hi full system specs will help us to help you better. The system is only as good as the slowest part.

More RAM would be my first upgrade if you get the out of memory error.

If you dont have one already a SSD to read and write from will help as otherwise it will store the info in RAM until it can write to disk.

 

[Seearbe]

Some idea of the specific pieces of software you are using would be helpful too. Different software will interact with your hardware in different ways.

 

[garjobo123]

THANK you for all your replies - very useful and help to know ( and kind of relieved a little that upgrading my 970 graphics card may not be needed at this stage. Instead to invest in RAM and an extra SSD. This does bring up two further questions however,
I have ( and will check again ) ran one of those 'rate my PC' sites - they tell the the type of RAM needed. I have 16bit of RAM...would two 4bits of RAM be of any good? so a total of 24bits ( thinking Kingston ) price (sadly ) always an issue..but thinking £30 for the 8bits of RAM. OR really..will this have little effect when editing...MUCH BETTER? to go for 32bit? And..Kingston...ok...any other recommend?
2nd question - SSD. My pc has 200mb of SSD ( windows loads on it and videostudio edting software/videos/ it naturally fills up quickly..so have to move footage across to harddrive. Can I just get a basic SSD (they seem to be for Laptops? ) and simply plug it in ( SATA I guess..need to open my PC ). if I Got 5oomb SSD - ive be tempted to trash the 200ssd - but would need to 'risk' reuploading windows 10 onto the new one?

THANKS once again for explaining my initial question.

 

[Thekwango]

but graphics RAM is not really important when you're editing videos.

not sure that's quite true. i think it depends what software the op is using for video editing and what type of video editing he's actually doing. if it's just splicing together a couple of game play videos he's recorded you're probably correct and vram isn't that important. if he's using pro/semi pro video editing software it should make quite a bit of difference. for example adobe pro (i think it's called) uses gpu acceleration and, unless i'm mistaken, in that scenario more vram is better.