Would having faster system ram affect low vram?

[fastcar123]

I just had a curious thought. I'd figure I would ask here.

 

Say there is a computer that has a graphics card with 2GB of vram.

We will say that this computer has 16GB DDR4 2133 MHz system ram.

So then this same hypothetical computer plays a game that requires 4GB off vram.

 

We know there is going to be a severe drop in performance with this situation. We also know that the graphics card will start streaming textures from the system ram once the vram fills up.

 

Would clocking the system ram to say 3200mhz from 2133mhz  help in this drop in fps?

Alternatively would clocking the ram slower to tighten timings also have any affect?

 

Again this isn't a problem just a discussion.

[ARikozuM]

An SSD will help your GPU more as the textures or files can flow back and forth with lower latency and speed.

 

Lowering your speed to tighten timings will help the CPU, but only if you're still able to maintain a higher bandwidth. 

[Phentos]

No matter how much your system RAM is OCed, it's exponentially slower than dedicated VRAM on your GPU. This is because of the physical separation between the main system RAM and the GPU over a bus as well.

 

You will be able to use it, but expect stuttering, especially in games that use engines which rely on streaming textures such as Unreal Engine.

[jj9987]

RAM feeds data to CPU, VRAM feeds data to GPU. They do not share the data unless we are talking about integrated graphics here.

[Shiv78]

OCed RAM only has a big effect when the iGPU is used

[fastcar123]

2 minutes ago, ARikozuM said:

An SSD and faster RAM will help your GPU more as the textures or files can flow back and forth with lower latency and speed.

 

Lowering your speed to tighten timings will help the CPU, but only if you're still able to maintain a higher bandwidth. 

ah ok. So faster ram would work? also how does an ssd help?

So perhaps the drop is better than it used to be with ddr3?

Got is so latency is for cpu and speed is for everything else.

 

3 minutes ago, Phentos said:

No matter how much your system RAM is OCed, it's exponentially slower than dedicated VRAM on your GPU. This is because of the physical separation between the main system RAM and the GPU over a bus as well.

Yes i know. But i was specifically trying to just see if older gpu would actually work better with newer hardware than older. I know as games get better that 2,4,and even 8GB of vram just simply wont be enough.

 

4 minutes ago, jj9987 said:

RAM feeds data to CPU, VRAM feeds data to GPU. They do not share the data unless we are talking about integrated graphics here.

you are right here. In 99% of use cases this is true. However in this case the textures for game will overflow into the system ram, then back to the graphics card.

[ARikozuM]

6 minutes ago, fastcar123 said:

ah ok. So faster ram would work? also how does an ssd help?

Textures that aren't placeable into the VRAM/frame buffer will be called upon when needed. Lowering the latency between the seek time and receipt will minimize the stutters, pop-ins, and drops that would be noticed. 

6 minutes ago, fastcar123 said:

So perhaps the drop is better than it used to be with ddr3?

No. DDR3 had tighter timings with lower speed, so they amount to about the same. The only difference is that DDR4 can achieve higher clocks at relatively similar timings. For example, you can find 3000MHz DDR4 RAM at 16-18 CAS, but you couldn't find 2133MHz except at the 14 CAS for DDR3.

6 minutes ago, fastcar123 said:

Got is so latency is for cpu and speed is for everything else.

Latency and speed go hand in hand. They both benefit everything. The best scenario would be higher bandwidth at the same timings or lower timings at the same bandwidth, but it's better to have better values for both rather than focusing on one or the other. 

[fastcar123]

ok. So am I wrong in thinking that the system ram is the overflow for vram? In which case the ssd page file would be? Or would be whatever drive the game is stored on?

[ARikozuM]

5 hours ago, fastcar123 said:

ok. So am I wrong in thinking that the system ram is the overflow for vram? In which case the ssd page file would be? Or would be whatever drive the game is stored on?

RAM is mostly used for the CPU's needs. The GPU's resources (such as textures) are generally called for directly from the drive it resides in. Pagefile is only an overflow for the RAM. 

 

If you want to minimize those stutters due to low VRAM, install the game on an SSD.

[Tellos]

While SUre faster VRAM CAN help it's such a small ammount your not gianign much for the cost of faster memory. I suggest a SSD as well as trying to use System RAm to make up for lack of VRAm is never goign to equal out.

[fastcar123]

42 minutes ago, ARikozuM said:

RAM is mostly used for the CPU's needs. The GPU's resources (such as textures) are generally called for directly from the drive it resides in. Pagefile is only an overflow for the RAM. 

 

If you want to minimize those stutters due to low VRAM, install the game on an SSD.

 

40 minutes ago, Tellos said:

While SUre faster VRAM CAN help it's such a small ammount your not gianign much for the cost of faster memory. I suggest a SSD as well as trying to use System RAm to make up for lack of VRAm is never goign to equal out.

makes sense. 

 

So in a situation where the GPU hasn't got enough vram for a game, they should install the game onto a ssd. System Ram will have little to no effect on on the FPS drop. 

 

 

[ARikozuM]

9 minutes ago, fastcar123 said:

So in a situation where the GPU hasn't got enough vram for a game, they should install the game onto a ssd.

Correct!

9 minutes ago, fastcar123 said:

System Ram will have little to no effect on on the FPS drop. 

Depends.

If the CPU isn't able to perform its Fn in whatever time it should have been done, a drop can occur. Giving the CPU faster RAM will help with these instances if the CPU is responsible for those drops. 

If the GPU lacks VRAM and is the cause of frame-drops, installing the game to an SSD will help with those issues.

[fastcar123]

1 minute ago, ARikozuM said:

Correct!

Depends.

If the CPU isn't able to perform its Fn in whatever time it should have been done, a drop can occur. Giving the CPU faster RAM will help with these instances if the CPU is responsible for those drops. 

If the GPU lacks VRAM and is the cause of frame-drops, installing the game to an SSD will help with those issues.

Well if I ever decide to build a lightweight gaming rig with minimal specs, I will keep this in mind. 

Thank you for satisfying my curiosity

[RyuujinKaito]

On 7/6/2017 at 7:14 PM, Phentos said:

No matter how much your system RAM is OCed, it's exponentially slower than dedicated VRAM on your GPU. This is because of the physical separation between the main system RAM and the GPU over a bus as well.

 

You will be able to use it, but expect stuttering, especially in games that use engines which rely on streaming textures such as Unreal Engine.

I have 32GB of RAM and 6GB VRAM, Far cry 6 says I am a fraction closer to exceed my VRAM capacity on ultra settings but the game runs over 100+fps without stuttering or texture glitches, and it's installed on an HDD, so what is the determining factor in my case? (CPU: Ryzen 5 3500, GPU: Radeon RX 5600 XT 6GB VRAM, RAM: 32GB 3600Hz)