ITT: People doing their best to justify their recent 2/3GB video card purchase.
I don't recall any area where people complain that we have "too much memory", except for this. Coincidentally, all the people complaining about 4+ GB vram usage all have <4GB cards. Who'd've thunk it.
Scenario 1: GPU VRAM is used as effectively as possible but eventually 3GB isn't enough and newer games require 4-6GB+. We have to upgrade.
Scenario 2: GPU VRAM is not used effectively and because of poor coding 3GB isn't enough and newer games require 4-6GB+. We have to upgrade.
There is no point of fighting the inevitable. I had my 7970s for nearly 3 years and they have 3GB of VRAM. To me 4GB is mid-range at best and flagship cards imo should have 6-8GB for $500+. It's not our fault NV once again gimped their $550 980 with only 4GB of VRAM. They did this with 1.5GB 480/580, 2GB 680 and now 4GB 980 which will be borderline in 2 years but "flagship" $500+ GPU should last more than 2 years.
I sure hope AMD brings out 6-8GB on their 390X so that NV has to bring 6-8GB cards to the market (980 8GB, GM200 6GB, etc.). In the past, I do not recall PC gamers complaining that their 9800Pro 128GB would run out of VRAM. Instead, they embraced upgrading to X800XT 256MB/6800U 256MB because it was required to run new games. Today, all you hear are constant complaints from the very same people that tend to throw $300-500 on a new GPU for 30-50% performance improvements when in the past it was 70-100%. No one is forcing anyone to buy a 4GB card or side-grade from a 780. I am actually pretty disappointed that my 7970s 3GB slice through 99% of games with ease at 1080P and that hardly more than a handful of games take advantage of 3GB of VRAM.
I want developers to start taking advantage of next gen graphics/game engines/features because I am sick and tired of gimped PS4/XB1 graphics on the PC. If it means using 6-12GB of VRAM and my 7970s run at 10fps, I am going to be
finally thrilled to upgrade for real, not just for internet e-peen/because I am bored of using the same GPUs for 3 years. Sure, there are 'artificial' ways to induce upgrading such as moving from 1080P to 1440/4K but bumping resolution beyond 1080p does not significantly improve graphics (Polygons, lighting effects, particle effects, shadows, AI, number of objects on the screen, physics complexity/motion animations, etc.); you just get more crispness and less aliasing but the game still looks 99% the same.
Therefore, as far as I am concerned, bring on games with 6GB VRAM requirements. 3-4GB is mid-range at this point when 7970 had it for 3 years and R9 290 for 1 year. Now a mid-range 970 has 4GB for $330, which suggests
flagship cards should have 6-8GB moving forward, especially with the popularity of 4K gaming on the rise.