6GB graphics cards.

[LeChef]

Hi guys,

 

I am saving up for some new graphics cards (i have dual 670 right now) to future proof my pc for 4k gaming.

Is it worth buying something like dual 780 6gb or similar 800 series nvidia cards to be able to hande 4k resolution for a while? (2 years max)

 

The problem I have at the moment with my 2gb framebuffer is that i lack videomemory but still have sufficient horsepower to make the games work properly.

 

cheers,

Rik

 

[Nickolas47]

you cant futureproof any build if you are planning to go to 4K right now go for r9 295x2

[JAKEBAB]

No such thing as "future proof" tho if u do want to play 4k for the next 2 years i would say get the 6gb 780s or wait for 800 series ive seen alot of people say 6gbs is going to be the minimum for 4k with a game that has true 4k textures.

[Erik4boss]

Dual R9 290 4 GB

[ltguy]

I always recommend buying double memory versions of video cards if the price difference is reasonable (10-20% more) for anyone who runs/may run SLI. But as far as 4k goes... I think we're all going to have to do major upgrades again when 4k become mainstream because the hardware currently available and soon to be available just isnt up to the task. So regardless of the specs in my sig (dont do as i do) I wouldnt break the bank to prep a machine for 4k because the hardware is too expensive and not really good enough anyways. But once again regardless of 4k... if you're going to run SLI, go for the double memory versions (more power, more pixels, more buffer).

[LeChef]

I always recommend buying double memory versions of video cards if the price difference is reasonable (10-20% more) for anyone who runs/may run SLI. But as far as 4k goes... I think we're all going to have to do major upgrades again when 4k become mainstream because the hardware currently available and soon to be available just isnt up to the task. So regardless of the specs in my sig (dont do as i do) I wouldnt break the bank to prep a machine for 4k because the hardware is too expensive and not really good enough anyways. But once again regardless of 4k... if you're going to run SLI, go for the double memory versions (more power, more pixels, more buffer).

That is exactly the reccomendation i could have used when i bought these two 670's. 4gb versions were only 20 euros a piece extra and now i have to replace the entire card because of that haha

[Rorgash]

No such thing as "future proof" tho if u do want to play 4k for the next 2 years i would say get the 6gb 780s or wait for 800 series ive seen alot of people say 6gbs is going to be the minimum for 4k with a game that has true 4k textures.

 

people have found that its the bandwidth not the amount of Vram the card has thats important, while Vram VERY much helps and is important, its the bandwidth that truly matters because without it you could have 40GB vram and it would still lag as if you had 2

 

 

Also, AMD wins against Nvidia once the resolution goes above 1080p so go with AMD if you really want 4k gaming

[JAKEBAB]

people have found that its the bandwidth not the amount of Vram the card has thats important, while Vram VERY much helps and is important, its the bandwidth that truly matters because without it you could have 40GB vram and it would still lag as if you had 2

 

 

Also, AMD wins against Nvidia once the resolution goes above 1080p so go with AMD if you really want 4k gaming

majority of cards have the amount of bandwidth for the vram also look at watch dogs u need 4gbvram just to play at ultra.

[Rorgash]

majority of cards have the amount of bandwidth for the vram also look at watch dogs u need 4gbvram just to play at ultra.

 

Watch dogs was intentionally badly optimized for pc to bring it down to crap by Ubisoft, so a REALLY bad example.

 

and no, only the Nvidia TITAN cards can actually use 6gb of Vram, the rest just cant fully use it, tho they can use more than 4gb, but as i said Vram is VERY important for 4k, but the difference between a 256 card from nvidia and a 516mb bandwith card from AMD, its a huge difference

[LeChef]

people have found that its the bandwidth not the amount of Vram the card has thats important, while Vram VERY much helps and is important, its the bandwidth that truly matters because without it you could have 40GB vram and it would still lag as if you had 2

 

 

Also, AMD wins against Nvidia once the resolution goes above 1080p so go with AMD if you really want 4k gaming

would't overclocking vram speeds increase the throughput? having a 256 bus at double the speed of the 512 bus would equalize this right?

[JAKEBAB]

Watch dogs was intentionally badly optimized for pc to bring it down to crap by Ubisoft, so a REALLY bad example.

 

and no, only the Nvidia TITAN cards can actually use 6gb of Vram, the rest just cant fully use it, tho they can use more than 4gb, but as i said Vram is VERY important for 4k, but the difference between a 256 card from nvidia and a 516mb bandwith card from AMD, its a huge difference

Titan and 780ti have the exact same memory bus....

[LeChef]

if I calculate it correctly, a 384 bit memory bus at 7Ghz has way more troughput (2.688 Gbit/s) than a 5Ghz 512 bit bus (2.56 Gbit/s)?
Still the AMD cards seem to be on top in 4k benchmarks. Why is that memory bus so important for the results?

[GloriousPain]

I'ma have to say get an R9 295 X2 D: as Linus has said "The first TRULY enthusiast grade graphics card" which itis it's made for 4k... and well look at the game market currently Ubisoft is nerfing games in general to match consoles(which run AMD graphics) and one of the first things they did was make SLI scaling horrible, and EA and it's underlings swing AMD side... 

 

if I calculate it correctly, a 384 bit memory bus at 7Ghz has way more troughput (2.688 Gbit/s) than a 5Ghz 512 bit bus (2.56 Gbit/s)?
Still the AMD cards seem to be on top in 4k benchmarks. Why is that memory bus so important for the results?

well that's max theoretical and OC scaling doesn't work perfectly and probably some other bottleneck somewhere in nvidia cards 

[Lays]

Watch dogs was intentionally badly optimized for pc to bring it down to crap by Ubisoft, so a REALLY bad example.

 

and no, only the Nvidia TITAN cards can actually use 6gb of Vram, the rest just cant fully use it, tho they can use more than 4gb, but as i said Vram is VERY important for 4k, but the difference between a 256 card from nvidia and a 516mb bandwith card from AMD, its a huge difference

 

 

Absolute BS.  It takes FOUR titans to use above 4GB of vram with playable framerates, goodluck trying to get anywhere near 4gb with 780's.

 

http://www.overclock.net/t/1415441/7680x1440-benchmarks-plus-2-3-4-way-sli-gk110-scaling

 

After owning 2 780's for over a year, I can most definitely say if you were to have 2 780's in SLI using over 3gb of vram, you'd have under 40 FPS.  (Which for $1,000 worth of graphics cards, should never ever be a thing)

[LeChef]

 

I'ma have to say get an R9 295 X2 D: as Linus has said "The first TRULY enthusiast grade graphics card" which itis it's made for 4k... and well look at the game market currently Ubisoft is nerfing games in general to match consoles(which run AMD graphics) and one of the first things they did was make SLI scaling horrible, and EA and it's underlings swing AMD side... 

Edit: Also remember MANTLE currently is AMD only and game devs say there gonna start using it more.

 

well that's max theoretical and OC scaling doesn't work perfectly and probably some other bottleneck somewhere in nvidia cards and what's with the hate almost noone so far has recommended going nvidia you seem like you're just trying to avoid the elephant in the room

What hate? I have never said anything bad about AMD cards so far.

Please don't turn this into a fanboy war..

The fact that i do not prefer AMD might be stupid but please do respect the choice.

The question was about getting higher vram cards to not limit my video card setup in the future ( which my 2gb cards do now) and has nothing to do with AMD being the better solution at the moment.

[GloriousPain]

The fact that i do not prefer AMD might be stupid but please do respect the choice.

The question was about getting higher vram cards to not limit my video card setup in the future ( which my 2gb cards do now) and has nothing to do with AMD being the better solution at the moment.

if AMD ain't your cup o tea I'd suggest holding off on 4k  till Nvidia announces the 800 series or pulls a rabbit out of there hat