How much vram do you actually need?

[RatedBlam]

I'd like 2gb because I have run into some games that max out 1gb of my vram

[EpiTeK]

I cap my 4gb VRAM in Skyrim with not that many mods at 1440p and most games run between 2-3gb at that resolution on ultra graphics.

[FluffyNuggets]

Don't use more then 2GB at 1440p? Wrong! Hell, I've seen BF3 goes past 2GB. Tomb Raider also uses more then 2GB.

You can get by on 2GB but it won't last long.

I remember when I built my first PC for BF3 and everyone said to get a 1.2 GB GPU because anything more is a waste at 1080p. Needless to say, the VRAM was maxed in every game I played causes massive stutter and frame drops.

Moral of that story, its better to have too much then not enough.

[Stephie_Girl]

Introduction

I've seen a lot of people arguing about if you need more than 2GB of VRAM at 1080p and arguing about how much you really need. I can't do the benchmarks personally but I figured I'd leave the sources used at the end ^_^ .

 

2GB isn't enough right?

This is kinda right but wrong in the majority of cases, games don't use more than 2GB VRAM at 1440p let alone 1080p. The main exception to this rule, I'm sure you can guess what it is :P it's Crysis 3 using 2.2GB VRAM at very high settings + 8x msaa, which can be fixed by simply using 4x msaa.

 

Sources?

Each letter will have a different link:

C F H M B

 

Conclusion

As you can see from the sources above 2GB is plenty of VRAM for 1080p in the majority of cases but with the new consoles we're also going to most likely see a new tier of games with a large amount of VRAM usage; if you look at some of the games that have been showcased at E3 they seem to be using the amount of VRAM from the unified system quite nicely. A good example of this is Tom Clancy's The Division. So I think we can expect >3GB for 1440p and >2GB for 1080p but that's purely my own speculation ^_^ .

Remember memory speed and memory bus has a favor in how much Vram is needed to render

[ltguy]

I would really care about this vram argument if we werent quibbling over $40 dollars on a $400 card. Its 10% more and you might not need it or you might really need it. I'm personally not willing to take a risk of not having enough vram just to save $40 bucks (the cost of 1 game). Furthermore the additional vram is very useful should you choose to go SLI or Crossfire so you'll have some additional vram buffer for the additional power of the 2nd or 3rd card. Its 10% more money folks.. like $40. We all could have earned $40 in the time we've spent discussing it.

[ltguy]

Basically this.

 

Even the Titan doesn't benefit from having 6GB of VRAM. (Example:  Dirt Showdown uses 1839mb at 3840 x 2160, and is completely unplayable.)

 

All of this crazy amounts of RAM is just marketing.  Anything over 2-3GB for a single GPU right now = wasted.  Now AND in the future.

Really, we've already been over this lock, you cant expect a card with more vram to perform better in a game that doesnt require the additional vram over the reference model (ie 6gb vs 3gb). Find a game that needs more than 3gb of vram then compare the 780 to the titan. Only then will you see the benefit.

 

Furthmore like i've said in numerous posts, the titan is meant for SLI use. Two gk110's can push enough frames to exceed 3gb of frame buffer. Two 780's in SLI will be vram capped very soon. If you need anymore evidence just look at my profile pic, 7.5 Terraflops of power with 1gb of vram... vram capped... definetly.

[TechFan@ic]

You can always download more RAM...
Just joking by the way.

[JujuShinobi]

I would agree 1gb is fine for 1080p in most cases but 2gb is a bit more future proof.

Not to mention that 2GB is more resistant against those random spikes in VRAM use. I swear that can be so annoying.

It's also quite weird that they have things like GT630s with 4GB DDR3 VRAM. My brother has an Acer running a GT730M and 4GB DDR3 VRAM. It's quite painful to see companies trying to fool the people who don't know better into thinking "more VRAM means more goodness" even if the card is rubbish

[Korindo]

I would personally recommend 3gb to makes who want a PC that can do almost everything. but if the budget cant allow it then 2gb will do

[SteepGnomeKing]

I would like to see a real test done on this. I don't know how these numbers were achieved and they don't see to say.

If you have extra vram it will take up more just to store more textures.

 

I have a 4gb card. I can reach 2.8gb in BF3 and 3.3gb in Metro:2033. Does not mean I need even close to that amount.

 

How much do we need than? I am not sure but I don't believe any benchmarks I see that are just recording vram usage off evga precision or any programs like that.

[slasher0161]

The beauty of extra vram comes when you like to downsample hi-res images. Skyrim looks god darn beautiful with 4k textures downsampled, the problem is it smashes the scrotum out of most gpu's to do so. I would never advise anything under 2gb now days and if you looking at a high end gpu then really the more the merrier (within reason) I guess the fact is if you need the extra you will probably know it yourself if your unsure, get whatever comes on the appropriate gpu for your budget.

[FluffyNuggets]

I use more then 2GB of VRAM at 1440p so I don't know why you don't.

[Askew]

I'm one of the guys who doesn't use AA, so I don't use as much as most people, I don't think I've seen anything go much over 1.5GB.

[Mr. Expert]

with the new consoles we're also going to most likely see a new tier of games with a large amount of VRAM usage;

This is completely wrong as the consoles do not have the GPU power to even use more than 1GB Vram let alone 2 or more at resolution above 1080P which they once again cannot even run because they are not powerful enough.

[Kuzma]

This is completely wrong as the consoles do not have the GPU power to even use more than 1GB Vram let alone 2 or more at resolution above 1080P which they once again cannot even run because they are not powerful enough.

dude a 7850 is not that weak.... plus PC games always increase to scale with console games, so when Console games got 512MB VRAM we got a lot more, look at the Xbox 360's release date an the difference between that and a PC.

[Lil Chillbil]

by the 800 series 4 gigs will be the norm

[cravinmild]

Gpuz shows my titan using more than 3gb in many games @1080projectors but when looking at average use vram usage is under 1gb ... On average. How spikes upwards of 3gb effects performance idk but there is clear usage of that amount.

[Jumper118]

 

next gen games will be needing 3gb+ to run on highest settings. you should get away with 2gb at medium with 2x msaa though.

[totjup5]

I would say 2gb is perfect for 1080p, but for higher resolutions like 2k or 4k 3gb or more is necessary. 

[Mr. Expert]

dude a 7850 is not that weak....

Look at the facts !

Ya the 7850 is not weak

It still cannot use more than a gig effectively.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2012/11/05/msi-radeon-hd-7850-1gb-review/1

http://www.legitreviews.com/xfx-radeon-hd-7850-1gb-core-edition-video-card-review_2048

http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/pc-components/graphics-cards/msi-hd-7850-1gb-1129390/review

[TechSage]

I always recommend 3GB VRAM for future proofing. It's better to have and not need than to need and not have.

[Recon-UK]

1536MB is what i call the bare minimum for 1080p if you want AA in your games, and Downsampling/AO.

 

2GB is overkill, at 1440p, 1536MB is fine without AA in most cases, but games out there still run fine with a crap tonne of AA at 1440p on that memory buffer.

 

3GB is a massive OVERKILL at anything below 4K.

[Stonep11]

Not to mention that 2GB is more resistant against those random spikes in VRAM use. I swear that can be so annoying.

It's also quite weird that they have things like GT630s with 4GB DDR3 VRAM. My brother has an Acer running a GT730M and 4GB DDR3 VRAM. It's quite painful to see companies trying to fool the people who don't know better into thinking "more VRAM means more goodness" even if the card is rubbish

Those low end cards are typically for media consumption. With 4gb I bet the card is made to run surround very well maybe even 6 displays

[TheKurtster]

So would a 780 be a better choice over a 4GB 770? I'm just wondering because I'm having problems deciding between the two.

[Mr. Expert]

So would a 780 be a better choice over a 4GB 770? I'm just wondering because I'm having problems deciding between the two.

Don't listen to people about Vram because most do not know about what they are talking. A 780 will always be faster than a 770 regarless of Vram counts. Modern games will use less Vram not more and the reason being is that the new consoles cannot use more than 1GB Vram effectively in fact they will use far less than 1GB Vram because the GPU is just to weak to drive the AA and graphical effects and textures to use much Vram.