Can a GPU use DDR4 as VRAM if needed?

[GamerBlake]

Hey guys, if a GPU doesn’t have enough VRAM for a game to perform optimally but there is plenty of available DDR4 system RAM is it possible for the GPU to use the system RAM as VRAM as needed to play the game optimally?

[For Science!]

4 minutes ago, GamerBlake said:

Hey guys, if a GPU doesn’t have enough VRAM for a game to perform optimally but there is plenty of available DDR4 system RAM is it possible for the GPU to use the system RAM as VRAM as needed to play the game optimally?

If you run out of VRAM, the game will not play optimally. So no, RAM is not a replacement of VRAM or is able to act as an equivalent emergency reserve.

[mahyar]

yes

[GamerBlake]

3 minutes ago, For Science! said:

If you run out of VRAM, the game will not play optimally. So no, RAM is not a replacement of VRAM or is able to act as an equivalent emergency reserve.

Well that sucks . My GPU only has 11GB of VRAM so I need 1-2GB more to play my game at 1440p with max settings.

[For Science!]

Just now, GamerBlake said:

Well that sucks . My GPU only has 11GB of VRAM so I need 1-2GB more to play my game at 1440p with max settings.

Too bad I guess, lucky for you, the 3090 does exist.

[DemonAtBudget]

2080 ti?

I wonder how it is playing at 1440p

 

[For Science!]

1 minute ago, DemonAtBudget said:

2080 ti?

I wonder how it is playing at 1440p

 

Yes, its a 2080 Ti. It plays fine.

[Moonzy]

18 minutes ago, GamerBlake said:

Hey guys, if a GPU doesn’t have enough VRAM for a game to perform optimally but there is plenty of available DDR4 system RAM is it possible for the GPU to use the system RAM as VRAM as needed to play the game optimally?

can it use system RAM? absolutely yes

should it use system RAM for GAMES? no, turn down settings

[Moonzy]

30 minutes ago, GamerBlake said:

Well that sucks . My GPU only has 11GB of VRAM so I need 1-2GB more to play my game at 1440p with max settings.

you could try playing it at those settings, it may or may not use the VRAM, depending on scene

if it does stutter or have any issues, then turn down settings

[WereCat]

31 minutes ago, GamerBlake said:

Well that sucks . My GPU only has 11GB of VRAM so I need 1-2GB more to play my game at 1440p with max settings.

?? which game even uses 11GB at 1440p?

[Skiiwee29]

39 minutes ago, GamerBlake said:

Well that sucks . My GPU only has 11GB of VRAM so I need 1-2GB more to play my game at 1440p with max settings.

I have zero problems with VRAM with my 2080ti at 1440p/144hz.. what games you using that are maxing out your VRAM and making you use system memory?

[FRSHPRNCFBLR]

Some games or tasks reserve vram which is then reported as in use, but not actually used. If you run out of vram, you will notice. 
 

I run 1440p ultrawide on 6gb and it’s fine so I guess you should be good. 

[Vishera]

57 minutes ago, GamerBlake said:

Well that sucks . My GPU only has 11GB of VRAM so I need 1-2GB more to play my game at 1440p with max settings.

Lower the texture quality,high and medium still look good in modern games and free up a lot of VRAM.

[GamerBlake]

1 hour ago, WereCat said:

?? which game even uses 11GB at 1440p?

See what I mean? Not just 11GB but almost 13GB!  

 

[GamerBlake]

1 hour ago, Skiiwee29 said:

I have zero problems with VRAM with my 2080ti at 1440p/144hz.. what games you using that are maxing out your VRAM and making you use system memory?

See what I mean though? I need 2GB more VRAM!

 

[Skiiwee29]

1 minute ago, GamerBlake said:

See what I mean though? I need 2GB more VRAM!

 

Spoiler

 

What game is that? Also, thats just the recommended, not necessarily what its going to use. 

[GamerBlake]

Just now, Skiiwee29 said:

What game is that? Also, thats just the recommended, not necessarily what its going to use. 

It’s Resident Evil 2 (remake 2019).

[WereCat]

6 minutes ago, GamerBlake said:

See what I mean though? I need 2GB more VRAM!

 

just use it and see if you get any issues... I still don't believe the game will actually use that much VRAM

[Skiiwee29]

5 minutes ago, GamerBlake said:

It’s Resident Evil 2 (remake 2019).

I just bought it and its downloading now. I have a 2080ti as well and I have a 1440p/144hz monitor. Ill let you know what I see when I get done and load it up briefly. But as @WereCat said, just because its saying that, it most likely wont actually use that. You can watch it in MSI Afterburner or GPUZ or HWinfo64 and see how much VRAM its actually using, I doubt it will use over 8gb actual VRAM. 

[whm1974]

8 minutes ago, GamerBlake said:

It’s Resident Evil 2 (remake 2019).

I doubt that game actually needs 13GB of VRAM to run at 1440 w/ Max Settings.

[WereCat]

1 minute ago, Skiiwee29 said:

I just bought it and its downloading now. I have a 2080ti as well and I have a 1440p/144hz monitor. Ill let you know what I see when I get done and load it up briefly. But as @WereCat said, just because its saying that, it most likely wont actually use that. You can watch it in MSI Afterburner or GPUZ or HWinfo64 and see how much VRAM its actually using, I doubt it will use over 8gb actual VRAM. 

unfortunately I'm not aware of any SW that can display actual VRAM usage instead of allocation. MSI Afterburner, GPUZ, etc... all only show allocation. 

 

For example CoD Warzone will allocate all the VRAM even if it can't use it all. 

 

[GamerBlake]

8 minutes ago, Skiiwee29 said:

I just bought it and its downloading now. I have a 2080ti as well and I have a 1440p/144hz monitor. Ill let you know what I see when I get done and load it up briefly. But as @WereCat said, just because its saying that, it most likely wont actually use that. You can watch it in MSI Afterburner or GPUZ or HWinfo64 and see how much VRAM its actually using, I doubt it will use over 8gb actual VRAM. 

I’ll try that and see. I didn’t know I could monitor VRAM usage. I thought I could only view RAM usage like in task manager.

 

Also if you increase the image scaling the VRAM shoots through the roof up to a whopping 14GB!

[Chiyawa]

This is quite strange.

 

To what I know, when your GPU used up all its memory, it begin to used shared memory (which is system RAM). This will be done automatically and you don't really have control over it as Windows will allocate the shared RAM.

[Skiiwee29]

10 minutes ago, GamerBlake said:

I’ll try that and see. I didn’t know I could monitor VRAM usage. I thought I could only view RAM usage like in task manager.

 

Also if you increase the image scaling the VRAM shoots through the roof up to a whopping 14GB!

I just played the first few minutes with everything maxed and HDR enabled since I have an HDR monitor, the graphic setting said 12.69gb needed, but I only ever saw 6-9gb used according to GPUz. 

[GamerBlake]

11 minutes ago, Skiiwee29 said:

I just played the first few minutes with everything maxed and HDR enabled since I have an HDR monitor, the graphic setting said 12.69gb needed, but I only ever saw 6-9gb used according to GPUz. 

Hmm I wonder why they would say it requires almost double what it actually does.  

 

You would think the devs would’ve wanted players to enjoy the best experience possible graphically and people probably have settings turned down below necessary due to what the game says is required.