Do we need 6GB vram in the next two years?

[ShintaiDK]

No game gonna require more than 1GB VRAM for a few years ahead in 1920*1080/1200 for high settings for along time. On Steam only around 4% got 2GB or more.

 

[SirPauly]

It may depend on how long the gamer intends to own the product and what settings and resolution does the gamer like?

If a gamer really likes multi-monitor gaming can see them going for three, four and even 6 gigs, specifically the 5X1 platforms now.

Curious though -- what will be the ram for default enthusiast sku's for next generation? Maybe 4?

 

[ShintaiDK]

I think it will still be 2GB or 3GB. And only 3GB if the bus is 384bit to avoid any possible performance penalty on mismatched memory. The 4-6GB cards will still be niche.

 

[Final8ty]

Resolution does matter, however as you increase the resolution you increase the load on the GPU as well, you could argue that 7680x1600 needs a lot of vRAM with certain conditions such as with 8xAA or SSAA, but the GPU will struggle to power that resolution anyway so it's kind of pointless.

Generally speaking video cards come with an appropriate amount of vRAM on them for what the GPU is capable of, there's no such thing as future proofing the amount of vRAM because the GPU would just become a bottleneck.

Maybe on a single GPU but that's not always the case with multi GPU where many times the Vram can become the bottleneck so yes you can future proof vram under the right conditions but 6GB is pushing it a bit far.

 

[rsutoratosu]

Maybe like 4k panels for your desktop comes out.. you might need it

 

[PrincessFrosty]

Multi GPU is generally a very bad way to future proof anyway, it's almost always better to sell off old GPUs for high end replacements on newer tech than install 1 and buy a 2nd one later on, especially when you factor in non linear scaling of performance in many games even with just 2 GPUs and all the other pitfalls of multi-GPU.

 

[lehtv]

In a couple of years, I'd say there will be some games that need over 2GB VRAM at 1080p but most users will be fine with a 2GB card. 6GB will be the standard for high end cards aimed for multimonitor users.