When is more than 2GB of video memory necessary?

[toyota]

I agree with Lopri on this, and this subject is constantly debated. I have 2Gb 760's and with the games I play (Ultra and 8xMSAA @ 1080p) I don't exceed 1.2GB use and normally hover around 1GB.

you dont play demanding games then. I have never used 8x MSAA and pretty much any modern game still uses over 1.2 gb.

 

[blastingcap]

I agree with Lopri on this, and this subject is constantly debated. I have 2Gb 760's and with the games I play (Ultra and 8xMSAA @ 1080p) I don't exceed 1.2GB use and normally hover around 1GB.

If you're buying a video card for pushing 1080p you will definitely be fine for a while, at LEAST through 2014, as cross-console-gen games start to give way to 100%-next-gen-console games. (Well, outside of corner cases like Watch Dogs and Skyrim with lots of mods.)

But some people buy cards for a lot longer. 2GB is enough for 2014 at 1080p, but I'm not so sure about 2015 or 2016. So if you were buying a new card today, why take the risk? A 7950 3GB overclocks to 7970 GHZ speeds and costs less than GTX 770 4GB.

We'll have a better idea of what is necessary by early 2015.

I've been advising people to simply gut it out and not upgrade at all until 20nm cards in 2015, but some people can't wait that long, unfortunately.

 

[skipsneeky2]

To me the 2gb on my 770 is plenty for the power a single 2gb 770 provides in games, BF4 all maxed including 4x msaa minus motion blur dips into the 40s at 1336x768.I have to kill msaa to keep performance at 60+. Vram usage sits at around 1680-1740mb used fully maxed with MSAA.

My above post shows even with a low resolution and some aa, my 770 tanks below my comfort zone, those same exact maxed out settings on my 770 at 1080p causes stutter and i have to forget ultra completely and run high.

 

[spat55]

I game at 1440p so the R9 290 with 4GB is perfect for me for the next 2-3 years. Atm I seem to average about 2GB of usage, which will increase over the next 6 months to a year a lot I imagine. So I think 2GB of VRAM is getting insufficient now unless you game at 720p.

 

[spat55]

If you're buying a video card for pushing 1080p you will definitely be fine for a while, at LEAST through 2014, as cross-console-gen games start to give way to 100%-next-gen-console games. (Well, outside of corner cases like Watch Dogs and Skyrim with lots of mods.)

But some people buy cards for a lot longer. 2GB is enough for 2014 at 1080p, but I'm not so sure about 2015 or 2016. So if you were buying a new card today, why take the risk? A 7950 3GB overclocks to 7970 GHZ speeds and costs less than GTX 770 4GB.

We'll have a better idea of what is necessary by early 2015.

I've been advising people to simply gut it out and not upgrade at all until 20nm cards in 2015, but some people can't wait that long, unfortunately.

Depending on what the performance increase is quite alot of people might stick with this gen cards, I know I might do unless something drastic happens (i.e failure).

 

[Tweakin]

you dont play demanding games then. I have never used 8x MSAA and pretty much any modern game still uses over 1.2 gb.

I mainly play FarCry and similar FPS games but I've only been pushing a non-HD resolution at 1680x1050. I now have a 1080p display, but haven't had a chance to benchmark it...maybe that will make the difference in my memory usage.

 

[Madpacket]

You need to measure the fill rate of the new console GPU's and compare that instead of asking if X amount of RAM for Y card is enough.

The lowest common denominator for a point of comparison will be the GPU in the XBOX One. If the fill rate on your card is equal to or greater than the fill rate of the XBOX One you are at the mercy of the RAM limitations of this console.

So given the Geforce 770 has more fill rate than the XBOX One (or PS4) and developers such as Ubi switch focus on these consoles as primary development platforms the 2GB of RAM on the 770 will become inadequate in many upcoming console ports.

2GB is enough today for most console ports but will definitely not be as the primary focus on development switches to XBOX One / PS4 and the previous primary development platforms are left behind (XBOX 360 / PS3).

 

[Pinstripe]

2GB is enough today for most console ports but will definitely not be as the primary focus on development switches to XBOX One / PS4 and the previous primary development platforms are left behind (XBOX 360 / PS3).

2GB is gonna be enough for as long as the majority of users will stick with it.

This is a business, which means developers have to accommodate to the largest userbase possible to extort max. profits. Have a look: http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey

Combined 3+4GB VRAM users barely reach 4% marketshare, whereas combined 1+2GB VRAM users have 53%. 2GB VRAM is also the fastest growing segment right now.

You think developers are that stupid to cancel out such a large money pool for themselves? One can argue that for everything set to Ultra, you'll need a High-End card, but most gamers including myself don't. For Med-High settings in 1080p, 2GB as bare minimum is gonna stay for a very long time. And that is what matters to the masses, therefor to the developers.

 

[blastingcap]

2GB is gonna be enough for as long as the majority of users will stick with it.

This is a business, which means developers have to accommodate to the largest userbase possible to extort max. profits. Have a look: http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey

Combined 3+4GB VRAM users barely reach 4% marketshare, whereas combined 1+2GB VRAM users have 53%. 2GB VRAM is also the fastest growing segment right now.

You think developers are that stupid to cancel out such a large money pool for themselves? One can argue that for everything set to Ultra, you'll need a High-End card, but most gamers including myself don't. For Med-High settings in 1080p, 2GB as bare minimum is gonna stay for a very long time. And that is what matters to the masses, therefor to the developers.

Nobody is saying you absolutely need 2GB no matter what. If you want to play at 640x480 with minimum settings, you might even be able to get away with 512MB and just let the framebuffer suffer due to using system RAM part-time. Assuming that the program allows you to start the game with 512MB VRAM, of course.

 

[3DVagabond]

2GB is gonna be enough for as long as the majority of users will stick with it.

This is a business, which means developers have to accommodate to the largest userbase possible to extort max. profits. Have a look: http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey

Combined 3+4GB VRAM users barely reach 4% marketshare, whereas combined 1+2GB VRAM users have 53%. 2GB VRAM is also the fastest growing segment right now.

You think developers are that stupid to cancel out such a large money pool for themselves? One can argue that for everything set to Ultra, you'll need a High-End card, but most gamers including myself don't. For Med-High settings in 1080p, 2GB as bare minimum is gonna stay for a very long time. And that is what matters to the masses, therefor to the developers.

As long as the video card companies are subsidizing the games they'll make them to push the limits of the high end cards. AMD and nVidia need you to upgrade.

 

[TidusZ]

I run 2560x1600 and a lot of games use 1.5-2 gigs when I look at evga precisionx. I'd want to get 3gb or more when I upgrade.