Future proofing or waste of money?

[z0ne]

Hi, just watched this:

 

 

And it left me with a question...

 

Say I want to build a new system, would it make any sense to buy a GPU with a higher amount of VRAM then neccesary to add a secondhand one of these later down the line(The high VRAM amount because it doesnt stack in SLI).

Or does it make more sense to just buy a card with the neccesary VRAM and buy a new one and sell the old one when the time comes. From a money/performace persective what do you think would be better?
 

z0ne

[zappian]

4 GB is enough for most cases.

Getting a titan is a waste.

 

If you want a lot of VRAM there is always the 290x 8 GB.

[z0ne]

4 GB is enough for most cases.

Getting a titan is a waste.

 

If you want a lot of VRAM there is always the 290x 8 GB.

 

Yes, right now it is. But my question is would it make sense to buy one with 8 GB to add a 2nd one of these in 2 years or just buy a 4gb one now and buy an 8gb one then?

[zappian]

Yes, right now it is. But my question is would it make sense to buy one with 8 GB to add a 2nd one of these in 2 years or just buy a 4gb one now and buy an 8gb one then?

 

It woundlt make much sense IMO.

 

But you can do it if you want to run skyrim with mods at 4k.

[Nup]

Well, you may have more vram, but the processor's power wont change ages as games become more demanding. 

 

I think that it makes more sense to buy the card that is right now tbh. Although that is a sound upgrade plan. It can work i suppose. 

[Fate]

There is no future proofing with vram unless you plan to do three maybe four way SLI/crossfire. 

Why? Because vram usage doesn't just go up, games get harder to run. When games get harder to run, your card suddenly can't even produce decent framerates anymore. It's like getting a 270x 4GB and hoping for 'futureproofness' when in reality, you're wasting your money. The 270x cannot push anywhere near 4GB vram to my knowledge because it's just too weak. You could also talk about the 290x 8GB, sure it's great for 3-4 way setups (not that I'd recommend that) but by the time you actually need more than 4GB vram at 4k (which you don't) new and better cards will be out. 

[dragoon20005]

Yes, right now it is. But my question is would it make sense to buy one with 8 GB to add a 2nd one of these in 2 years or just buy a 4gb one now and buy an 8gb one then?

using a 4GB now and adding a 8Gb card means both GPU will only use 4GB and the other 4Gb will be wasted

 

like Linus said in the video

[Badger906]

8gb is overkill now even at 4k unless your playing shadow of mordor.

and by the time 8gb will be the necessary amount for AAA titles the rest of the gpu would be the bottle neck.

get a 4gb version and save some money. if it was of real concern the likes of the 980s would all have 8gb as flagship cards are meant to last at least a couple of years.

[Zulkkis]

Yes, right now it is. But my question is would it make sense to buy one with 8 GB to add a 2nd one of these in 2 years or just buy a 4gb one now and buy an 8gb one then?

 

Not in that context. In "two years" is a pretty long period of time already, there might be new and better cards by that point. If it's any sort of future plan it is "I will seriously buy a huge 4K display in like 2 months max and then get another for SLI, just waiting for one with freesync" or something like that.

 

But higher VRAM cards do make some sense. Think of the usability of...

 

3GB vs 1.5GB GTX 580

4GB vs 2GB GTX 770

3GB vs 6GB GTX 780

 

etc. especially in multiple gpu configurations.

[z0ne]

The real question behind this was, what evolves faster the chip or the amount of VRAM on a card. But it seems the chip is the leading one it seems. So its going to be a 970 and ill just sell it off in a few years to buy a new card.

 

Thanks!

[zappian]

The real question behind this was, what evolves faster the chip or the amount of VRAM on a card. But it seems the chip is the leading one it seems. So its going to be a 970 and ill just sell it off in a few years to buy a new card.

 

Thanks!

The CHIP.

If you care about VRAM mb dont get a 970.

[Badger906]

I have a 2gb gtx 770 I can max out anything I own at 1080p and can play them all at at least medium settings at 4k!

so a point of reference!!

[z0ne]

The CHIP.

If you care about VRAM mb dont get a 970.

 

I dont need a lot of VRAM at all, I just want to make sure I'm not wasting money by not buying a high VRAM card

[zappian]

I have a 2gb gtx 770 I can max out anything I own at 1080p and can play them all at at least medium settings at 4k!

so a point of reference!!

 

try shadow of mordor ultra textures or dying light

[Badger906]

try shadow of mordor ultra textures or dying light

dying lights more a cpu munched than gpu!

but I play it at 2560x1440 as 4k is too much for my 770 lol I'm still undecided on my upgrade choice! money is burning a hole ha

[SteveGrabowski]

Yes, right now it is. But my question is would it make sense to buy one with 8 GB to add a 2nd one of these in 2 years or just buy a 4gb one now and buy an 8gb one then?

 

I don't think it's a good idea idea to plan to add a second of the same card in two years. GPUs are still improving at a fast enough rate that when you buy a high end GPU now that's going to be some kind of midrange or lower GPU in a couple of years. It's not like CPUs where a Sandy Bridge i5 from early 2011 is still a killer gaming CPU. SLI/CF seems to really only make sense to me if you're doing it from the beginning with a couple of high end cards to hit a 1440p or 4k performance target, or if you're trying to hit 120FPS+ at 1080p right now. Otherwise, just sell your old GPU in a couple of years and buy a new one if you're looking to upgrade then. You'll have better driver support since the company will still be selling the card you're running, you won't have any of the headaches with dealing with poor SLI/CF performance of games at launch, you'll likely get nicer game bundles with your video card purchase, you'll have newer/better features with your card, and so on.

[thorpj]

Hi, just watched this:

 

 

And it left me with a question...

 

Say I want to build a new system, would it make any sense to buy a GPU with a higher amount of VRAM then neccesary to add a secondhand one of these later down the line(The high VRAM amount because it doesnt stack in SLI).

Or does it make more sense to just buy a card with the neccesary VRAM and buy a new one and sell the old one when the time comes. From a money/performace persective what do you think would be better?

 

z0ne

Not the F word!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FK4ip08auGg

 

Buy the most expensive single GPU that you can buy, and then if you need more horsepower, you can get another one of that.

[SteveGrabowski]

I don't buy that future proofing is some kind of idiotic concept in computer building. It definitely was 15 years ago when everything was still progressing at an insane rate. But most of the forum future proofs by buying i5-4690k's and the like even though they pretend it's a stupid concept. Based on current trends in CPUs it seems you really can future proof a bit by buying something really nice now. With GPUs future proofing has to have much lesser goals though. E.g., hoping having that extra bit of VRAM might allow you to play games on medium or maybe high for just a little longer. But the GPU is far and away the least future proofable part of a computer. And that's a good thing since it means hardware is progressing at a good pace. I wish CPUs were still having that rate of improvement.

[Mo5]

By the time you will actually use that extra bit of VRAM the performance will be terrible and you'd be better off buying a new card anyway

[simson0606]

By the time you will actually use that extra bit of VRAM the performance will be terrible and you'd be better off buying a new card anyway

that has been my experience as well for the last while