is 2gb not enough?

[robertchalmers1]

Im trying to do some research for my next purchase and it looks like 2gb vram is no longer really enough. The cards I were looking at was the gtx 770 which mainly comes with 2gb vram and the occasional, highly priced 4gb ram. On closer reading it appears that the 770s dont have enough grunt to make use of the 4gb anyways.

Basically if the general consensus is 2gb is no longer enough why did nvidia release mid-high end cards with onky 2gb ram?

im trying to wisely choose my card that will hopefully last as long as possible but stuck now as what to do

any help or advice in the right direction really appreciatec

 

[robertchalmers1]

So best to stsy away from the nvidia 770 2gb cards and look at the 3gb amd cards?

 

[robertchalmers1]

Nope, SLI reports the actual VRAM used and unlike AMD, doesn't need halving.

Clocks were stock SLI Titans (837Mhz) and CPU 3930K at 4.625Ghz.

does this mean that if you have 2 x 2gb cards in sli you then have 4gb vram while if you use 2 cards in crossfire then you only get the vram from one card in use

 

[robertchalmers1]

This thread got more replies in 1 hour even though its the same old asked 100x Q and some peeps asking for help are lucky to get a reply in some threads lol.

OP could have used Search.

if you read my original post I said that on closer reading, as in I used search and came to the conclusion that 2gb may well not be enough today, or the very near future and that is why I asked in the forums.

 

[robertchalmers1]

Thnx I thought that was the way it worked but clearly didnt understand the way it was written. The bit I dont get is why nvidia have the higher end cards with only 2gb vram. I quite fancied going with nvidia sas ive not owned a proper nvidia gaming card before and the 770 does seem to do very well in a lot of reviews even outdoing the 280x.

 

[robertchalmers1]

The way im looking at it is, im building this pc as opposed to getting the xbox one. So choosing my card carefully. Im hoping to get something that say 6 months down the line I wont need to replace.

perfect example my son got a gaming pc for his xmas couple years back and I put in a 7970 and even now that plays most games fine and more than likely will for next 12-18 months. I was looking to do the same for me.

I cant afford to shell out 400+ in one go however I could easily buy a 770/280x this week then another in a fortnights time if its the right devision. I also plan on adding 2 cards possibly close together as its a water cooled pc and want everything built from the off so I dont needa mess about draining it etc in couple of months time

 

[robertchalmers1]

So choices ive narr8wed it down to are a 2gb gtx 770 or a 3gb 280x, although ive noticed ocuk 280x are vastly overpriced compared to there competitors is there any reason for that or are ocuk just cashing in due to the mining craze that seems to be going on at the moment

 

[robertchalmers1]

Im looking to spend about 250 on a card however the nvidia 3gb cards are 300 upwards and the 280s are vastly overpriced by the look of things. The only other cards I can find is a new msi 7950 for 170 bucks or 7970 at 206 bucks but unsure whethrr the xfx 7970 would be a good choice tho

 

[robertchalmers1]

Would the gainward 760 phantom with 4gb vram be a wise choice if I were to use 2 in sli???

 

[robertchalmers1]

Slightly slower than a 670 but not a bad card. Personally, I wouldn't go for a 4GB card unless you deffo intend on going SLI at some stage.

There is a lot of scaremongering in this thread and nothing to back it up and people are showing how 2GB is enough for 1080P. The problem is, this is a debate that will go on and on for a long time and eventually, 2GB will require settings to be turned down (drop MSAA from x4 to x2 for instance).
I
I agree with you on the 280X prices. They are massively inflated due to mining and not sure of any drops coming. the 770 was always to expensive for my liking but compared to the 280X, it now looks a better price.

Having used 2GB cards for 5760x1080 resolutions, I would have no problem buying a 2GB card now for 1080P gaming but I wouldn't expect it to last a couple of years at max settings, not just because of VRAM but because of the actual grunt needed in games.

Your call Rob and there is plenty of good advice in the thread and plenty of crap but that is for you to decide now

I guess reading thru the thread kinda makes it harder. I would defo buy 1 card this week then in 4-6 weeks buy a 2nd one. 330 plus or so in one go is too much for me to shell out at once hence why im looking at as many alternatives as I can. The gainward 760 4gb looks like quite a good card however there are not too many reviews out there running it on sli. Would 2 of them make good use of the 4gb vram?

 

[robertchalmers1]

Dual 760s aren't going to be great at rendering anything that requires the extra VRAM.

Thats the thing being new to pc gaming I dont know that much about things so totally unsure as what to get. Plus dif people obv have dif views on cards as well. Even if I were to say what would be the best choice of gfx card for max 250 there would be so many dif opinions

 

[robertchalmers1]

Yer pretty much spot on Rossi IMO.

Rob, why not wait a couple of weeks and then when funds allow, go for the 780/290? This seems the sensible route in honesty.

The only problem is im the worlds worst for saving cash up. All end up down the pub or friends round for a wee bevvy sesh and end up getting nothing lol

 

[robertchalmers1]

Haha, I am no better but thankfully the Wife is, so she gives me pocket money so I can get 'stuff' (as she calls it)

Least you have someone to take care of your cash n keep you in check lol im in sole charge hence the crazy 4 or 5 weeks trying to make a gaming pc that may last a wee while.

part of me thinks I should have just got an xbox1 instead lol

 

[robertchalmers1]

Spent last hour or so on google and from what I can gather the 4gb gtx 760 is approx 1.2 -1.3 times faster than a single 780ti/titan and faster than an r9 290x. Would this be a correct assumption? If so it kinda makes the idea of getting 2 of them a month apart quite appealing.

 

[robertchalmers1]

I5 4670k
gigabyte z87x-oc
8gb teamgroup ram 2400 I think its called, its the orange one in ocuk for 55
750w evga psu, bargain for 40 bucks brand new, only used 2 days and was 5 days old
plus pile of wc stuff hence the major problem regarding gfx cards

 

[robertchalmers1]

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-189-OK&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1750

that card was initially suggested as it has a ref design pcb and would be easy enough to get a waterblock for it

 

[robertchalmers1]

Does that msi card allow a waterblock to be fittef?

 

[robertchalmers1]

Scrub that, EK don't make a block for it.

thats what I was meaning, I know the gainward card takes the fc 770 waterblock by ek so gonny have a read up on that card

 

[robertchalmers1]

I think after reading thru this thread that a 2gb will be fine in the meantime. I shall go with 2 x 770s spaced a month or so apart and see how I get on then when prices come down or new cards are released consider selling the pair with full waterblocks to upgrade to the next release of cards.

 

[robertchalmers1]

Only thing i could suggest if u have a problem saving for say a month is to speak to OCuk sales staff and ask about putting a deposit on a better card and paying the rest and picking it up/getting it delivered when you pay the 2nd installment not sure if they do this but worth a shot

I have actually thought about that. Im not too fussy about playing every game at ultra settings, high would do me on my tv. But im getting 3 monitors for racing sims as I love my racing games. I known certain racing games aint that demanding, ive seen f1 2013 ran off a 7970 on 3 monitors on youtube and still sitting above 70fps. Games like bf3 I dont normally play mp just the campaigns dont know if that makes a dif either way regarding which gpu to get but racing sims will be my main gaming