4GB vs 2GB.

illuz · 31 Jan 2013 at 22:31

I currently have a 2GB card and I'll be spending my birthday money on getting a second card for SLI, my only concern is with next gen consoles around the corner are we going to see 2GB become obsolete for ultra settings - I'm a freak for wanting to run games at near max if not max settings.

I don't want to buy another 2GB card for them both to be rendered useless in 6 months time. I know that it's very hard to push a card over 2GB (unless skyrim, triple monitor rarely pushes it over either etc etc) but I won't be upgrading this system for some time to come (2-3 years) so I want my moneys worth.

Shall I buy a 4GB 670 and sell up the 2GB card while it holds value and put the money towards another 4GB 670?

ALXAndy · 31 Jan 2013 at 22:34

It won't be 6 months, more like a year tbh. Early releases on consoles are usually ugly and doggy. I remember playing NFS Most Wanted on a 360 and it struggled to get 20 FPS.

Just expect a year out of a 2gb card and you'll be fine.

whyscotty · 31 Jan 2013 at 22:40

4Gb for high res and Tri Sli req to benefit from the extra vram

Rusty0611 · 31 Jan 2013 at 23:01

You wouldn't want to waste money on guessing that next gen consoles MIGHT make games use over 2GB as standard. If the current trend holds true then you've wasted a lot of money on a bad hunch

...

By the way the best way to upgrade is to sell last gens card(s) at the right point and then upgrade to next gen. This is the most cost effective way to stay on the upgrade curve otherwise 2-3 years down the line your current GPUs are worth next to nothing and you need to fork out £350 again...

weehamish · 31 Jan 2013 at 23:05

Buying and selling each year doesnt exactly work out any better :|

The best thing to do to stay on the ball is buy the best card for the best price and then upgrade again when you need to.

Someone will always want a cheap card so the 7950 will still sell for something in a couple of years time.

Ive just sold a 285 for 40 quid, people will always want it, just keep the boxes and shiz.

arc@css · 31 Jan 2013 at 23:09

2gb will be fine.

illuz · 31 Jan 2013 at 23:13

Rusty0611 said:
You wouldn't want to waste money on guessing that next gen consoles MIGHT make games use over 2GB as standard. If the current trend holds true then you've wasted a lot of money on a bad hunch ...

By the way the best way to upgrade is to sell last gens card(s) at the right point and then upgrade to next gen. This is the most cost effective way to stay on the upgrade curve otherwise 2-3 years down the line your current GPUs are worth next to nothing and you need to fork out £350 again...

Yeah I feel you, I guess I'll stick with 2GB instead of wasting money then mate. I'll probably sell up just before the Nvidia 8 series is released. Cheers guys!

NZB · 31 Jan 2013 at 23:20

Rusty0611 said:
By the way the best way to upgrade is to sell last gens card(s) at the right point and then upgrade to next gen.

I need to start doing that, god knows how many i have in a cupboard or drawer going to waste. Might do that next year, if i remember

LambChop · 1 Feb 2013 at 00:01

2gb, do not buy into the 4gb marketing crap

Kaapstad · 1 Feb 2013 at 01:52

LambChop said:
2gb, do not buy into the 4gb marketing crap

Its not marketing #$^*

There are a number of people on these forums who have put it to the test.

2gb vram is fine for most things up to 1600p, if you are going to use a higher resolution like multi monitors and 3 way sli you need 4gbs.

MeMeMeMe · 1 Feb 2013 at 03:46

How many people use 3-way SLI/CF though? Lots of people consider getting 4GB that don't need it, because of marketing crap.

weehamish · 1 Feb 2013 at 03:55

Yes its half and half.

But still why go for a 4gb 680 for 500+ when u can get a 7950 for more than half the price?

Kaap the new drivers for AMD fix all the glitches nearly.

weehamish · 1 Feb 2013 at 03:58

Also Kaap i was meaning to ask you, what would u do if you had a choice, go 7970 or 680?

Kaapstad · 1 Feb 2013 at 05:44

weehamish said:
Also Kaap i was meaning to ask you, what would u do if you had a choice, go 7970 or 680?

For a single card I would go 7970

For 2 GPUs up to 1600p I would go GTX 690 (no microstutter)

For resolutions above 1600p HD 7970s

Best bang for buck HD 7950s

GTX 670/80s at the moment can not compete with the HD 7950/70s

Rusty0611 · 1 Feb 2013 at 08:31

weehamish said:
Buying and selling each year doesnt exactly work out any better :|

The best thing to do to stay on the ball is buy the best card for the best price and then upgrade again when you need to.

Someone will always want a cheap card so the 7950 will still sell for something in a couple of years time.

Ive just sold a 285 for 40 quid, people will always want it, just keep the boxes and shiz.

It does work out better - just because you don't understand how it works doesn't mean that you can just flat out deny it.

By selling when the sell on value of last generations cards are still high means you have maximum money to put towards the next generation when it arrives. An added bonus of this approach means you'll always have an up to date GPU as well as spreading the cost of upgrading over time rather than every 3 years a large sum to get back on the curve as your old cards will be next to worthless.

NZB said:
I need to start doing that, god knows how many i have in a cupboard or drawer going to waste. Might do that next year, if i remember

Indeed.

I sold my cards starting from my 4850s which mostly funded my 5850s. Then I got a single 6870 - downsize - before getting a 680. Obviously the 6870 didn't come close to funding the 680 but it did chop £100 off it which was alright.

Gregster · 1 Feb 2013 at 11:08

whyscotty said:
4Gb for high res and Tri Sli req to benefit from the extra vram

Rusty0611 said:
You wouldn't want to waste money on guessing that next gen consoles MIGHT make games use over 2GB as standard. If the current trend holds true then you've wasted a lot of money on a bad hunch ...

By the way the best way to upgrade is to sell last gens card(s) at the right point and then upgrade to next gen. This is the most cost effective way to stay on the upgrade curve otherwise 2-3 years down the line your current GPUs are worth next to nothing and you need to fork out £350 again...

Spot on posts.

weehamish · 1 Feb 2013 at 15:16

Rusty0611 said:
It does work out better - just because you don't understand how it works doesn't mean that you can just flat out deny it.

By selling when the sell on value of last generations cards are still high means you have maximum money to put towards the next generation when it arrives. An added bonus of this approach means you'll always have an up to date GPU as well as spreading the cost of upgrading over time rather than every 3 years a large sum to get back on the curve as your old cards will be next to worthless.

Its still spending another £300+ over 3 years though so it doesnt really save you money?

Say i paid £300 for my 7970, sold it for 200 got a 8970 for say 300 and so on for 3 years thats £300 ive spent over 3 year.

If i wait 3 years and get a new card for 300 ive still pent 300 but then can sell the old card for however much its worth = profit.

Upgrading every release does not save money at all and the above has put it very simple, you need find a buyer and stuff first and postage, hassle of buyer saying it doesnt work, too much hassle and no savings really.

This is why i said best thing to do is buy say a 7950 card, they will sell around 100 quid still in 2 years time if your lucky.

Rusty0611 · 1 Feb 2013 at 15:29

weehamish said:
Upgrading every release does not save money at all and the above has put it very simple, you need find a buyer and stuff first and postage, hassle of buyer saying it doesnt work, too much hassle and no savings really.

This is why i said best thing to do is buy say a 7950 card, they will sell around 100 quid still in 2 years time if your lucky.

It does work: plenty of people on this forum and in the Member's Market (which you don't have access to yet) upgrade in this way. Selecting arbitrary figures as a basis to make your point doesn't really work. Sorry

.

You've also ignored the point about having a top GPU the whole time rather than running a 3 year old GPU into the ground on low/med settings to keep up and spreading the cost of upgrading over a period of time rather than in one lump sum. Who's to say you'll definitely have "£300" to chuck at a new GPU in 3 years time anyway?

So even if it is more expensive (which it isn't really if you sell at the right time) the other benefits outweigh any alleged extra cost.

Gregster · 1 Feb 2013 at 15:41

Rusty0611 said:
It does work: plenty of people on this forum and in the Member's Market (which you don't have access to yet) upgrade in this way. Selecting arbitrary figures as a basis to make your point doesn't really work. Sorry .

You've also ignored the point about having a top GPU the whole time rather than running a 3 year old GPU into the ground on low/med settings to keep up and spreading the cost of upgrading over a period of time rather than in one lump sum. Who's to say you'll definitely have "£300" to chuck at a new GPU in 3 years time anyway?

So even if it is more expensive (which it isn't really if you sell at the right time) the other benefits outweigh any alleged extra cost.

+1

Obvious loss but not as bad as dropping settings all the time till such a time that it can't cope even on low. New DX features are being missed and then you sell it for 78p and spend out on a shiny new £400+ GPU.

Much better to sell each gen and take a small hit whilst maintaining the best GFX.

weehamish · 1 Feb 2013 at 16:23

Who has £100+ each year to chuck on a card lol?

People expect cards to last, only people who bench and stuff will waste money each year on upgrading, a small hit?

I dont class that as a small hit, people who have got 680s £400+ will barely get 300 quid off them id take that as a huge hit and then adding another £100-200 for the upgrade? In the mean time losing out on gaming when doing the transaction?

Its even worse for people like greg with Sli, he has to sell 2 cards which have water blocks on which may not fit the new card hes getting and then get 2 new cards if he wants to keep his multiscreen ;\

Just seems, not smart to me.

I had a 285 for 3 years and i still played games at decent settings, although it was dx10 it didnt bother me at all, it was still better then consoles.

And i sold that for 40 quid so i cant see how selling them after 3 years loses anything really.

Competitor rules

4GB vs 2GB.

Mobster