Hardware Unboxed tests graphics VRAM and how it impacts the amount of system RAM you need

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Interesting video from Hardware Unboxed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t4uLh2ZK04

https://www.techspot.com/article/1535-how-much-ram-do-you-need-for-gaming/

They test multiple cards - the GTX1080TI,GTX1060 6GB and GTX1060 3GB.

The 3GB version of the GTX1060 seems to consistently use more system RAM than the 6GB version.

It seems if you have less system RAM,the GTX1060 6GB works better than the 3GB version!!

We found it somewhat ironic that owners of the 3GB GTX 1060, a graphics card we've recommended for budget shoppers, will require 16GB of system memory to get the most out of today's games. So by saving around $50 on the GPU, you need to spend $90 more on system memory. That changes my perspective on things a little.

 

[TheRealDeal]

Interesting stuff. I always recommend to people they should stretch to the 6gb card. Most mid range buyers are usually going to keep there card for at least 2-3 years so things will only get worse for the 3gb card. I never really thought about system ram to much in this way but it makes recommending the 6gb even easier.

 

[orbitalwalsh]

i know when your settings go over the available the cards Vram it pulls it from the system ram .

only skimmed through but do they show what settings they are using for the game??? testing gtx 1060 @ 1440p on high is naturally going to push the 3gb to the limit - would be interesting to see if they turned them to medium or lowest as well

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

i know when your settings go over the available the cards Vram it pulls it from the system ram .

only skimmed through but do they show what settings they are using for the game??? testing gtx 1060 @ 1440p on high is naturally going to push the 3gb to the limit - would be interesting to see if they turned them to medium or lowest as well

There are 1080p tests showing the same,especially if you watch the video where the lows on the GTX1060 3GB were not as good if you had less system RAM. Most review systems use 16GB of RAM,but many budget systems or older systems have 8GB,so in the end as many of us thought it was simply better buying the 6GB version when the 3GB version was launched. It was only £40 to £50 more at the time IIRC,and with 10% extra shaders and the general performance increase of over 10% in many games,it was the better buy IMHO.