2gb or 4gb GPU

Gregster · 4 Oct 2013 at 08:58

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-031-KF&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=2294

Slightly faster than the 760 and around £30 cheaper. 4GB is there if you ever get the urge to change your screen for a 1440P or 1600P or even a 4K screen. The biggest problem being is stock. As the 670 is now 'end of line', when your budget allows you to get another, it could be hard to source a new one.

Rusty0611 · 4 Oct 2013 at 11:08

DJ_Bucho said:
I'd like to point out that I'm in no way an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but personally if you are defo going to go for an SLI setup, I'd be looking at getting the 4gb version of the 760, simply because when you do add another card, it will be your amount of memory that'll hold you back. Two 760 will provide a huge amount of grunt, but with only 2gb of memory available it them, it's this that will be the bottleneck. For the small amount extra your better off getting the 4gb card and giving the card twice as much memory to play with

That isn't for certain. Far from it.

Panos · 4 Oct 2013 at 11:30

@OP

if you see from the BF4 benchmark thread, 2GB will be sufficient at Very-High settings. If you want more (Ultra), you need more VRAM.

760 & 770 are very good gpus, and it is shame not being able to push them to their limits.

So I would advice you to get one with 3GB+ VRAM no matter the cost if you look for Nvidia, that's your call.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-120-GI&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1830

or
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-208-MS&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1750

Of course, they are really bad value for money compared to AMD solutions at the same price bracket, but is your money after all.

Gregster · 4 Oct 2013 at 12:00

DJ_Bucho said:
I'd like to point out that I'm in no way an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but personally if you are defo going to go for an SLI setup, I'd be looking at getting the 4gb version of the 760, simply because when you do add another card, it will be your amount of memory that'll hold you back. Two 760 will provide a huge amount of grunt, but with only 2gb of memory available it them, it's this that will be the bottleneck. For the small amount extra your better off getting the 4gb card and giving the card twice as much memory to play with

It is actually the memory bandwidth at resolutions over 1080P that is the main factor. When you compare a 7950 to a 670 at 1080P, there is very little in it and either either will do well. For sure the extra 1GB will help in titles like Skyrim and adding lots of mods but not much else. When you up the res to say 1600P, the 256 bit memory of the 6 series Nvidia cards is the limiting factor and this is where the 384 bit memory starts to shine and pushes the 7950 ahead of the 670 by a fair chunk.

Lots of variables need to be taken into account but for the man who likes to game on a single 1080P screen, a single GPU (or maybe even 2 GPU's) will do well but for those who enjoy bigger resolutions, the higher memory bus of the 7 series AMD cards starts to shine.

As an example, I stomped on 2x7970's in BF3 at 1080P res but as soon as we both tested at 5760x1080, the 7970's stomped on my 680's.

I hope that makes sense.

GoogalyMoogaly · 4 Oct 2013 at 12:07

Panos said:
@OP

if you see from the BF4 benchmark thread, 2GB will be sufficient at Very-High settings. If you want more (Ultra), you need more VRAM.

760 & 770 are very good gpus, and it is shame not being able to push them to their limits.

So I would advice you to get one with 3GB+ VRAM no matter the cost if you look for Nvidia, that's your call.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-120-GI&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1830

or
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-208-MS&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1750

Of course, they are really bad value for money compared to AMD solutions at the same price bracket, but is your money after all.

Quite interested how you came to that conclusion as I don't see any benchmarks in the BF4 thread that suggest that 2GB isn't enough for Ultra.

Gregster · 4 Oct 2013 at 12:09

GoogalyMoogaly said:
Quite interested how you came to that conclusion as I don't see any benchmarks in the BF4 thread that suggest that 2GB isn't enough for Ultra.

Same for me. I would love to know how 2GB isn't enough also.

t103Ninja · 4 Oct 2013 at 12:22

ok im just getting more and more confused now haha
its 100% i wont be going with any resolution higher than 1080p for a single monitor and i wont be going with a multi monitor setup either unless of course they make a 1440p monitor with a 144hz refresh rate wich i dont see happening for quite some time

the GTX 760 2gb or 4gb i can afford no problems but i want to stretch my budget to a 770 i can just about manage a 770 but i cant afford the 4gb version of it so would i get any benefit from that 4gb? even in SLI because i will be going SLI a little later on when i have more cash to throw around

Gregster · 4 Oct 2013 at 12:26

t103Ninja said:
ok im just getting more and more confused now haha
its 100% i wont be going with any resolution higher than 1080p for a single monitor and i wont be going with a multi monitor setup either unless of course they make a 1440p monitor with a 144hz refresh rate wich i dont see happening for quite some time

the GTX 760 2gb or 4gb i can afford no problems but i want to stretch my budget to a 770 i can just about manage a 770 but i cant afford the 4gb version of it so would i get any benefit from that 4gb? even in SLI because i will be going SLI a little later on when i have more cash to throw around

No

/end

The 770 is a rebranded 680 but for more money and comes with slightly faster memory and a higher overclock.

You can save money by buying a 680 however, if you just want new, the 770 2GB is fine for 1080P. Adding a second for SLI will make no difference if you stay on 1080P with 2GB or 4GB.

t103Ninja · 4 Oct 2013 at 12:33

Gregster said:
No

/end

The 770 is a rebranded 680 but for more money and comes with slightly faster memory and a higher overclock.

You can save money by buying a 680 however, if you just want new, the 770 2GB is fine for 1080P. Adding a second for SLI will make no difference if you stay on 1080P with 2GB or 4GB.

i am thinking about the 680 because obviously it gives me better performance than a 760 and about the same as a 770 for less money im just abit worried if i buy a 680 now ill have trouble getting a 2nd one later

GoogalyMoogaly · 4 Oct 2013 at 12:35

LtMatt said:

The above is one of LtMatts posts (with the text edited out) showing performance graphs from the sweclockers site (which according to LtMatt have got this bang on and are the only site to be trusted (unless another site agrees with their finding obviously).

I think it shows that the 2GB 770s are performing about as well as the 3GB AMD cards and not that far off the 6GB Titan.

I'm sure Panos can explain how this shows that 2GB isn't enough for Ultra...

Gregster · 4 Oct 2013 at 12:41

t103Ninja said:
i am thinking about the 680 because obviously it gives me better performance than a 760 and about the same as a 770 for less money im just abit worried if i buy a 680 now ill have trouble getting a 2nd one later

I hear that but look for EVGA when you have the funds available for a second card and the warranty that remains is with the card and not the original purchaser, so you will have a warranty. That would always make me feel better about buying 2nd hand

t103Ninja · 4 Oct 2013 at 12:43

Gregster said:
I hear that but look for EVGA when you have the funds available for a second card and the warranty that remains is with the card and not the original purchaser, so you will have a warranty. That would always make me feel better about buying 2nd hand

EVGA? aww

i was looking at asus directCU II because its black and red... matches my system colour scheme lol

GoogalyMoogaly · 4 Oct 2013 at 12:48

t103Ninja said:
EVGA? aww i was looking at asus directCU II because its black and red... matches my system colour scheme lol

Well ASUS do have warranty too. I just wouldn't want to have to use it! (from the stories I've heard)

se_vietboi · 4 Oct 2013 at 12:49

I think 2GB for 1080p will be enough for most titles for another year or so before 3GB+ becomes a standard requirement for maximum settings.

Gregster · 4 Oct 2013 at 12:51

t103Ninja said:
EVGA? aww i was looking at asus directCU II because its black and red... matches my system colour scheme lol

GoogalyMoogaly said:
Well ASUS do have warranty too. I just wouldn't want to have to use it! (from the stories I've heard)

This.

I have Asus and begging I don't need to use it, as reports from all over the world are poor customer support and refusing RMA's when clearly the card is faulty.

I love the look of a good card but once I shut that side up, let the dust settle and game all the way

t103Ninja · 4 Oct 2013 at 12:54

GoogalyMoogaly said:
Well ASUS do have warranty too. I just wouldn't want to have to use it! (from the stories I've heard)

but the black and red matches my MSI GD65 mobo

anyways looking at some SLI benchmarks for the 680 very impressive performing within a couple of FPS of the 770's... i was lead to believe that the 770's where a lot better :/ lol

my final concern is as far as i can tell the 680's consume more power than 770's i have an 860 corsair AX PSU do you think that would get the job done for SLI 680's?

Gregster · 4 Oct 2013 at 13:00

I ran 2x680's on a 750w Corsair with no issues, so your 860w is plenty.

t103Ninja · 4 Oct 2013 at 13:28

alright good stuff, thanks

LtMatt · 5 Oct 2013 at 13:00

jrodga2k5 said:
To be fair it's faster than a 780...at less money!

If you want an idea of SLi OP then check out the thread I posted when I had 2x760's

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18527366&highlight=jrodga2k5

Nice benchmarks jrodga. :cool:

Why did you switch from 760 SLI to a 7990?

LtMatt · 5 Oct 2013 at 13:02

GoogalyMoogaly said:
The above is one of LtMatts posts (with the text edited out) showing performance graphs from the sweclockers site (which according to LtMatt have got this bang on and are the only site to be trusted (unless another site agrees with their finding obviously).

You keep bringing this up don't you. As stated 1000 times already. Swe clockers= actual game performance. Gamegpu = sitting in an empty server in a tank in base. At the time of posting those were the only benchmarks done by Tech sites. If you can't see the difference in that then theres no hope for you.