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is the extra VRAM really that beneficial?
- Thread starter Zeebedy
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Soldato
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Yes. Textures, RT... etc.
At 1440p you need at least 16Gb to max out games with textures and RT etc...
An example before someone asks is Diablo 4 at 1440p requires a 16Gb card for textures.
Games like Alan Wake 2 also require 14Gb for RT and PT etc....
More vram needed at higher resolutions.
It doesn't make your games run faster, just allows you to turn on more of the IQ settings.
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To add, smoother gameplay, much smoother gameplay and the 90 won't reduce texture output/texture pop in when the 3080 chokes.
8gb Vs 16gb same GPU example highlighting above examples but 10Gb today is not much better than 8Gb.
The 3080 is getting much more reliant on upscaling to remove the vram overhead if not a necessity at this point.
Slower GPUs hold on to memory for longer. Same reason higher memory bandwidth reduces memory load.
A faster 8 GB card would probably still outperform a 16 GB 4060 Ti in the relatively niche cases from that video.
I can’t vouch for the following video, but it adds up.
A faster 8 GB card would probably still outperform a 16 GB 4060 Ti in the relatively niche cases from that video.
I can’t vouch for the following video, but it adds up.
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If you've got more VRAM then a game will use more when it needs it, some will just use more due to bad optimisation (Hogwarts using up to 20GB VRAM for example). Having more s=is better than having less obviously, means less time assets need to pass by system memory which means higher % lows which means a smoother frame experience overall. That 16GB 3070 mod someone did highlighted this perfectly.
10GB VRAM was never enough on the 3080's launch, let alone now 
I know that's almost become a meme, but that's because it's basically true.
3090 is a great card. I see my custom modded Skyrim VR using 18GB VRAM by the way.
If you game at high res, RT, and get involved in modding, I wouldn't look at anything less than 16GB now, minimum.
I know that's almost become a meme, but that's because it's basically true.3090 is a great card. I see my custom modded Skyrim VR using 18GB VRAM by the way.
If you game at high res, RT, and get involved in modding, I wouldn't look at anything less than 16GB now, minimum.
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Soldato
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Can confirm, had no choking, been great!
10GB VRAM was never enough on the 3080's launch, let alone now
Correct. Many that were on them have since gone to models with more vram, says it all really.
If you take note on some of the influencers videos they repeat this quite a lot now. Pay attention to some of the points Daniel Owen mentions here for example.
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Associate
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*raises hand*
My 10Gb is doing fine at 1440p thanks. DLSS quality usually bring usage nicely below the limit whilst giving playable frame rates. It's not going to last for ever and at some point is going to be seen as a 1080 card, but I wasn't going to spend another £700 for more vram at the time so I'll make do. Enjoy your cards with more VRAM. Their time will come too, but will they run out of grunt first?? It's always either one or the other...
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I've countered the problem by not playing any games released after 2022. Modern problems, modern solutions and all that.
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Yup no problems at all on my end, was one game where when I forced rebar and didn't use FSR I ran into fps drops, simply disabling rebar and using fsr quality fixed this or could just drop one setting which as shown in comparisons, made very little difference anyway.
I game at both 3440x1440 and 4k, depending on the game and my fps, I'll mostly use dlss quality or balanced at 3440x1440 and balanced or performance at 4k, as evidenced by many tech press sites and end users with comparisons, dlss more often than not can be better than native so zero reason not to use especially if you have a high refresh rate screen, I much rather this than drop graphical settings but each to their own and all.
People saying that loads have updated from gpus purely because of having a lower vram amount are kidding themselves if they think this is the "only" reason, more 3090 owners have upgraded to likes of a 4090 and that's because people who buy such gpus will generally want the best there is or/and they can upgrade with little to no outlay or don't care about value for money. That and the fact, some who ended up with a 3090 even stated they originally wanted a 3080 but settled with a 3090 as they couldn't get a 3080 says a lot.
Grunt as shown has become more of an issue than vram ever did, generally where 3080 suffers so are the higher vram gpus, not sure I would say getting an extra 5-10 fps to bring fps up to 25 is anything to shout home about.
This question never does get answered but we'll try again...... those who did spend the extra £750 for the extra vram, question is, was it really worth it? In my case, even though the 3080 is doing pretty well now since games have been releasing in a better state lately and ue 5 has gotten more optimised (also much better on the vram optimisation front than most of 2023 games), the way I see it, the £750 saved can go towards 50xx, which will be a far better use of money.
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Just change a few graphics settings to reduce the demands on the card
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I do. It's not doing that badly though.
This topic makes me laugh. Yeah, makes loads of sense spending £750 extra for more vram... Lol.
How is that working out for 3090 users?
Would make a whole lot more sense saving the £750 and selling the 3080 and getting a 4080. Same money, yet end result you have 4080 with fresh warranty.
For those who held out they can just get a 5070 with the money and keep the 3080 as a spare. Could even smash it with a hammer for fun!
How is that working out for 3090 users?
Would make a whole lot more sense saving the £750 and selling the 3080 and getting a 4080. Same money, yet end result you have 4080 with fresh warranty.
For those who held out they can just get a 5070 with the money and keep the 3080 as a spare. Could even smash it with a hammer for fun!
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