PCI-E 3.0 VRAM

[Swagger187]

Well now that I have had my new MSI Z77 MPower board with 3570K in for a week I have been keeping a running check on temperatures etc. However, I have come to notice that VRAM usage whilst gaming seems a lot higher in BF3 than on my previous setup (Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3 + Phenom II 1090T). Now thinking about this i can only seem to pin it down to either PCI-E 3.0 on the MSI board compared to PCI-E 2.0 on the Gigabyte board or that maybe the CPU was bottlenecking.

I guess the main question really is does PCI-E 3.0 which is obviously quicker than PCI-E 2.0 access more VRAM?

 

[Rusty0611]

I guess the main question really is does PCI-E 3.0 which is obviously quicker than PCI-E 2.0 access more VRAM?

No.

Have you upped settings as a result of your upgrade?

 

[Swagger187]

Nope still sat on high but the card is using 1300+MB instead of just over 1000 on Metro TDM for example.

EDIT: I think I am going to go back down a version on MSI afterbuner and see if there are any differences.

 

[mmj_uk]

It's hard to say what it could be really.

Have you installed any patches since your last computer? it could also just be BF3 upping details of its own accord due to detecting a faster processor. Don't really see why you're getting worked up about it empty memory is wasted memory.

 

[Rusty0611]

Nope still sat on high but the card is using 1300+MB instead of just over 1000 on Metro TDM for example.

EDIT: I think I am going to go back down a version on MSI afterbuner and see if there are any differences.

Won't make a difference. To be honest as long as you're not near the VRAM limit I wouldn't bother worrying about it.

 

[Something Else]

dont see an issue tbh perhaps your cpu is more capable now and as a result can use more vram to provide extra frames. aslong as your vram limit isnt being reached then there is no issue.

 

[Suarez7]

Similar thing happened to me when I moved from AMD to Intel CPU. As above I think it just allows the card to push harder.

 

[Swagger187]

It's hard to say what it could be really.

Have you installed any patches since your last computer? it could also just be BF3 upping details of its own accord due to detecting a faster processor. Don't really see why you're getting worked up about it empty memory is wasted memory.

No just everything that is required to play the game and monitor the usage.

Sorry but I am trying to figure out where I from my OP I was coming across as getting worked up?

I was just asking the question to understand what the difference might be and as other people have said could be something to do with the quicker CPU.

Thank you all for your input.

 

[illuz]

Possibly BF3 utilising the empty space to pre-load textures and other things from the game to enable smoother gameplay.