VRAM needed for Gaming at 1080, 2k, 1440p or 4K

[GanstaKingofSA]

Hi,

 

I wanting to get a GPU but I wanted to know how much VRAM do you need for Gaming  at the Following Resolutions:

 

1080p

2k (I have a 2k Monitor)

1440p (Run it on a 4k TV?)

4K

 

 

[flibberdipper]

Generally speaking 4-6GB for the first two, and at least 8 for the last two (assuming of course you go full retard and turn everything to 11). And of course this also this assumes you're playing the latest AAA games.

[roylapoutre]

I'd say 4GB is the minimum for 1080p, 6GB minimum for 1440p (8GB ideally), and 8GB is usually enough for 4K.

 

But you talk about both 2k and 1440p in your post, for me those are the same ^^

[DocSwag]

What do you mean by 2k? 1080p? 1440p?

[GanstaKingofSA]

3 minutes ago, tmcclelland455 said:

Generally speaking 4-6GB for the first two, and at least 8 for the last two (assuming of course you go full retard and turn everything to 11).

Heh. Ok

 

3 minutes ago, roylapoutre said:

I'd say 4GB is the minimum for 1080p, 6GB minimum for 1440p (8GB ideally), and 8GB is usually enough for 4K.

 

But you talk about both 2k and 1440p in your post, for me those are the same ^^

Alright

 

2 minutes ago, DocSwag said:

What do you mean by 2k? 1080p? 1440p?

2k is 2048x(unspecified). My Monitor runs at 2048x1152

[Coaxialgamer]

4-6GB is enough up to 1440p/2k . you'll need 8GB for 4k though . This is assuming AAA games at max settings . By lowering the settings ( namely , AA ) or in older titles , you can get away with less.

[JoostinOnline]

5 minutes ago, roylapoutre said:

I'd say 4GB is the minimum for 1080p, 6GB minimum for 1440p (8GB ideally), and 8GB is usually enough for 4K.

 

But you talk about both 2k and 1440p in your post, for me those are the same ^^

Not really true.  You can do fine with 3GB, or even 2GB.

 

Btw, 1080p is 2K.  Anything that is around 2000 pixels wide is 2K.

[roylapoutre]

1 minute ago, GanstaKingofSA said:

2k is 2048x1152. 

Oh wow ok x) This is such an uncommon resolution amongst gamers you should refer to it with 2048x1152, 2k is generally 1440p or ultra-wide 1080p (2560x1080) ^^

[GanstaKingofSA]

1 minute ago, roylapoutre said:

Oh wow ok x) This is such an uncommon resolution amongst gamers you should refer to it with 2048x1152, 2k is generally 1440p or ultra-wide 1080p (2560x1080) ^^

Yeah. Monitor is kinda weird 

[JoostinOnline]

4 minutes ago, GanstaKingofSA said:

2k is 2048x1152. 

And 1080p is 2K as well.  It's a marketing term.

[RollinLower]

1 minute ago, roylapoutre said:

Oh wow ok x) This is such an uncommon resolution amongst gamers you should refer to it with 2048x1152, 2k is generally 1440p or ultra-wide 1080p (2560x1080) ^^

but that's wrong. 1440P is not officially 2K

 

1 minute ago, JoostinOnline said:

Not really true.  You can do fine with 3GB, or even 2GB.

agreed. on ultra 1080P only Rise of the Tomb Raider used more then 4Gb for me.

[roylapoutre]

1 minute ago, JoostinOnline said:

Not really true.  You can do fine with 3GB, or even 2GB.

 

Btw, 1080p is 2K.

You can do fine but it's far from enough if you want decent texture quality and shadow res for some games. 4GB is common in all mid-range and even entry level cards nowadays, there's no reason to get less except if you're on an extra tight budget imo

[GanstaKingofSA]

It safer 8 GB VRAM?

 

Just now, RollinLower said:

but that's wrong. 1440P is not officially 2K

 

agreed. on ultra 1080P only Rise of the Tomb Raider used more then 4Gb for me.

 

Just now, roylapoutre said:

You can do fine but it's far from enough if you want decent texture quality and shadow res for some games. 4GB is common in all mid-range and even entry level cards nowadays, there's no reason to get less except if you're on an extra tight budget imo

 

[JoostinOnline]

Just now, roylapoutre said:

You can do fine but it's far from enough if you want decent texture quality and shadow res for some games. 4GB is common in all mid-range and even entry level cards nowadays, there's no reason to get less except if you're on an extra tight budget imo

A 1060 3GB can run most stuff on Ultra at 1080p.  The texture quality doesn't have to be lowered just because you have less VRAM.  There's this handy thing called lossless compression.

[JoostinOnline]

1 minute ago, GanstaKingofSA said:

It safer 8 GB VRAM?

 

 

 

An RX 480 4GB is the best budget option.  I'd only recommend 8GB if you do heavy texture mods with games like Skyrim.

[GanstaKingofSA]

Just now, JoostinOnline said:

A 1060 3GB can run most stuff on Ultra at 1080p.  The texture quality doesn't have to be lowered just because you have less VRAM.  There's this handy thing called lossless compression.

So You Use RAM instead if you run out of VRAM?

[Orangeator]

By the time you manage to use 8GB of VRAM, the performance is going to suck anyways at 4k lol. Unless you have something stupidly powerful like the 1080ti.

[JoostinOnline]

Just now, GanstaKingofSA said:

So You Use RAM instead if you run out of VRAM?

No.  Cached files are just compressed and decompressed as needed.  It does hurt performance slightly because that adds overhead, so more VRAM is better, but if you run out it's not the end of the world.

[Mira Yurizaki]

Resolution appears to have little impact on overall VRAM consumption. You should get the most you can afford, but resolution requires raw performance more than VRAM.

[GanstaKingofSA]

1 minute ago, Orangeator said:

By the time you manage to use 8GB of VRAM, the performance is going to suck anyways at 4k lol. Unless you have something stupidly powerful like the 1080ti.

Ok

1 minute ago, JoostinOnline said:

No.  Cached files are just compressed and decompressed as needed.  It does hurt performance slightly because that adds overhead, so more VRAM is better, but if you run out it's not the end of the world.

Ok, was a little worried about if I ran out of it.

[GanstaKingofSA]

Just now, M.Yurizaki said:

Resolution appears to have little impact on overall VRAM consumption. The only thing you need to worry about is texture details.

 

You should get the most you can afford, but resolution requires raw performance more than VRAM.

So the Details in Games affect more than resolution like 4k?

[roylapoutre]

1 minute ago, JoostinOnline said:

A 1060 3GB can run most stuff on Ultra at 1080p.  The texture quality doesn't have to be lowered just because you have less VRAM.  There's this handy thing called lossless compression.

You brought up the worst bargain in the mid-range market, the 1060 3GB variant. If you want to play very high / ultra settings at 1080p, you have far better options with 4/6GB of VRAM (RX 470, RX 480 and GTX 1060 have all at least 4GB variant). And compression isn't magical, you need the VRAM sometimes. Try playing WD2, R6S, Shadow of Mordor, GTA V or Skyrim/Fallout 4 modded, you won't be happy with less than 4GB at 1080p. 

[Mira Yurizaki]

1 minute ago, GanstaKingofSA said:

So the Details in Games affect more than resolution like 4k?

It depends on the details. See:

 

[Shiv78]

16 minutes ago, GanstaKingofSA said:

2k is 2048x(unspecified). My Monitor runs at 2048x1152

One of the first people I've seen to not refer to 1440p as 2K! welcome to the squad 

[JoostinOnline]

2 minutes ago, GanstaKingofSA said:

Ok

Ok, was a little worried about if I ran out of it.

The game won't crash, but your framerate will drop.

2 minutes ago, GanstaKingofSA said:

So the Details in Games affect more than resolution like 4k?

Yes.

1 minute ago, roylapoutre said:

You brought up the worst bargain in the mid-range market, the 1060 3GB variant. If you want to play very high / ultra settings at 1080p, you have far better options with 4/6GB of VRAM (RX 470, RX 480 and GTX 1060 have all at least 4GB variant). And compression isn't magical, you need the VRAM sometimes. Try playing WD2, R6S, Shadow of Mordor, GTA V or Skyrim/Fallout 4 modded, you won't be happy with less than 4GB at 1080p. 

It's actually a very good deal.   Not as good as the 480 though (now that performance has stabilized).  And up until a few weeks ago, I was playing several of those games (including Skyrim with a bunch of high-res texture mods) with 2GB of VRAM.  I was very satisfied.