How much VRAM do I need for future-proofing?

[Consul]

I play with a 1080p 144hz monitor and I am thinking of buying the 3070. The question is, how much VRAM do I need for future-proofing (using the card for 6-7 years without it performing poorly)? Is the 8GB VRAM in 3070 enough for me? Or should I buy the 3080?

 

Let me know what you people think. Also, here's my current rig:

 

i7 8700k (stock)

16GB DDR4 RAM

GTX 1060 6GB

[xg32]

3070 should be good enough for 1080p 144hz even with RT on,

[Consul]

1 minute ago, xg32 said:

3070 should be good enough for 1080p 144hz even with RT on,

Allright. How many years do you think it would last me? (approximately)

[bellabichon]

8GB of VRAM is plenty for 1080p and 1440p at 144hz. If you were playing at 4K, I might recommend the 3080, but the 3070 should be fine for your needs.

[Fasauceome]

you can't future proof normally, but even if you could somehow decide on an amount of ram that is "immune" to the effects of time, cards only come in one variant. If you want a 3070, you're getting 10GB, that's that.

 

if you got your crystal ball working though, i'd love to know the winning lotto numbers if you don't mind

[Consul]

1 minute ago, bellabichon said:

8GB of VRAM is plenty for 1080p and 1440p at 144hz. If you were playing at 4K, I might recommend the 3080, but the 3070 should be fine for your needs.

Thanks! I was getting very skeptical of 3070 when I've read what people have been talking about (like how 8GB VRAM is bad etc.)

[Consul]

4 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

you can't future proof normally, but even if you could somehow decide on an amount of ram that is "immune" to the effects of time, cards only come in one variant. If you want a 3070, you're getting 10GB, that's that.

 

if you got your crystal ball working though, i'd love to know the winning lotto numbers if you don't mind

I assume you wanted to say 3080 not 3070 

In case of future-proofing, I'm talking 6-7 years of usage without the card performing poorly (in games) and I know this is a weird question because we don't know how games are going to be in 6-7 years but I'd like to know what is on others' minds.

[Fasauceome]

2 minutes ago, Consul said:

I'm talking 6-7 years of usage without the card performing poorly (in games)

poorly is such a subjective term.

 

What is guaranteed is that a high end card of today is not a high end card in 7 years time, you can definitely not pull off 4K high at 60FPS in newer and newer AAA titles.

 

There seems to be a perception that the more money you spend now, the better a chance your GPU will still be "powerful" after a long time, but the trend is generally that it slowly becomes weaker in comparison. therefore, don't plan for the future, plan for what you currently want and see how your gaming expectations evolve over time.

[Consul]

1 minute ago, Fasauceome said:

poorly is such a subjective term.

 

What is guaranteed is that a high end card of today is not a high end card in 7 years time, you can definitely not pull off 4K high at 60FPS in newer and newer AAA titles.

 

There seems to be a perception that the more money you spend now, the better a chance your GPU will still be "powerful" after a long time, but the trend is generally that it slowly becomes weaker in comparison. therefore, don't plan for the future, plan for what you currently want and see how your gaming expectations evolve over time.

Great answer, thanks!

[-rascal-]

5 minutes ago, Consul said:

I assume you wanted to say 3080 not 3070 

In case of future-proofing, I'm talking 6-7 years of usage without the card performing poorly (in games) and I know this is a weird question because we don't know how games are going to be in 6-7 years but I'd like to know what is on others' minds on this topic.

 

Well you would probably swap your RTX 3070 before you reach 6 ~ 7 years.

Going back 6 ~ 7 years from 2020 .... would be GTX 700 series.

Compare a GTX 780 to RTX 2080 Super?

No comparison.

 

By 2026 ~ 2027 we would be on RTX 10,000 series (or whatever numbering nVidia decides to use).

Assuming new GPU release every year or so.

 

[Consul]

13 minutes ago, -rascal- said:

 

Well you would probably swap your RTX 3070 before you reach 6 ~ 7 years.

Going back 6 ~ 7 years from 2020 .... would be GTX 700 series.

Compare a GTX 780 to RTX 2080 Super?

No comparison.

 

By 2026 ~ 2027 we would be on RTX 10,000 series (or whatever numbering nVidia decides to use).

Assuming new GPU release every year or so.

 

That is very accurate of a response.
I know that swapping is inevitable, but I really would like to go as far as I can with a brand new card.