Vram used on current games

[straxusii]

I have seen and been involved in so many VRAM arguments lately and being honest, this now seems to be an issue with multi monitor setups. I know this is not your everyday setup but it is good we have had these discussions because now anybody thinking of going multi monitor would hopefully realise that 3-4GB would be recommended.

So in short, single monitor gaming 2GB or less.

Multi monitor gaming 3GB or more.

This will help with future proofing of happy gaming

I think 3-4GB from the point of view of future proofing, I think recent HardOCP articles show that 2GB isn't an issue right now on multi monitor setups.

Having said that I think people buying multi monitor setups and multiple cards probably aren't that bothered by future proofing as they'll be upgrading again in year anyway

 

[Calin Banc]

So in short, single monitor gaming 2GB or less.

I would say, in my experience, that 2GB is the minimum for that situation too, if you plan to keep that card for more than a year and you're into modding. Also, that should be the minimum if you want to add a second or third card down the road.

 

[Gregster]

I think 3-4GB from the point of view of future proofing, I think recent HardOCP articles show that 2GB isn't an issue right now on multi monitor setups.

Having said that I think people buying multi monitor setups and multiple cards probably aren't that bothered by future proofing as they'll be upgrading again in year anyway

Probably bud. I watched that vid with multi monitors playing BF3 and when he add MSAA, it went over 2GB. You could compromise but reality wise, I wouldn't want to.

 

[andybird123]

Having said that I think people buying multi monitor setups and multiple cards probably aren't that bothered by future proofing as they'll be upgrading again in year anyway

+1

as I recently discovered if you jump ship early you get a decent enough re-sale value on your old cards so the actual cost of upgrading is minimal, compared with waiting till your old cards can't play with decent settings anymore and effectively having to chuck them in the bin and start fresh with expensive cards

now I just need a bit more space to fit either 3 monitors or 3 projectors and a curved screen and for GK110 to come out

 

[Mysterae_]

So in short, single monitor gaming 2GB or less.

Does this still apply if you have 2 cards at 1.2gb ie 2x 570's?

 

[Rusty0611]

Does this still apply if you have 2 cards at 1.2gb ie 2x 570's?

Yes it still applies as VRAM isn't cumulative. So if you have 2* 1.25GB cards you have 1.25GB of VRAM available.

 

[Mysterae_]

Thanks for that Rusty. I knew that the vram wasn't cumulative (after reading a few posts here ) but wondered if it was still a problem performance wise. Is this another potential cause of microstutter? I had that on a previous AMD dual card set up and it was horrid.

 

[Rusty0611]

No there's nothing micro about the stuttering you'll get if you run out of VRAM. The game will freeze for half a second while it catches up and streams the textures from elsewhere.

 

[PapaLazaru]

http://techreport.com/articles.x/22573/6

Man them 7850's ain't to shabby at all for BF3!

 

[Mysterae_]

No there's nothing micro about the stuttering you'll get if you run out of VRAM. The game will freeze for half a second while it catches up and streams the textures from elsewhere.

I get that already from having my OS installed on a Revodrive PCIE SSD; graphics stall when loading or saving in game. Breaks the immersion when in game. Afterburner tells me I'm nowhere near max vram (around 600mb indicated) so I know it's not that.

 

[chaparral]

Disable desktop composition on your games and the Windows 7 theme should change to basic when it's running.

Thanks