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Rule of thumb for PC gaming.

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2GB is for 1080p

4GB is for 1440p

8GB is for 4K

exeption: GTA 5 LOL

And surround gaming

 

 

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depends on the number of monitors, textures being used, quality settings, and number of GPUs

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surround sound? you mean surround i hope

yup.... Or eyefinity

 

 

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Posted

No, this is not a rule of thumb.

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3gb: 1080p

4-6gb: 1440p

4-12gb 4k

It depends widely on the GPU however.

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Yeah this card just tears through 1440p.

 

VRAM really isn't a good measurement of GPU performance.

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It totally depends on what you're doing.

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Hardly a rule of thumb if anything it is a guideline. But even then with the new releases coming out or that have already come out I think we are going to see quite quickly how 3GB is going to be "just enough" for even 1080p I fully expect 4GB to become the norm. Look at GTA 5, textures eat vram and even a 960 can run textures full. It impacts FPS very little. Witcher is pwning and I believe chews through ram, big releases of the last 2 years are huge coming in at 40+ gigs, as that has become the normal expect to see things like textures climb in resolution as devs are less worried about the size of the game. That is not including effects that do impact performance like msaa, ssoa etc.

 

Bottom line if I was buying a card for the next 2 or 3 years I would go 4gb. And that is for 1080p

 

Edit: the example of a 960 being able to run textures at very high in GTA is a poor example because if asked I would almost never recommend the 4gb version however it does illustrate the very low performance impact of textures with vram being the main thing to consider. Using GTA 5 as a example even on lower end cards your able to increase the graphical fidelity substantially with only increasing texture resolution.

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Yeah this card just tears through 1440p.

 

VRAM really isn't a good measurement of GPU performance.

 

This one is the best: GT 630 4GB

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You should make an exception for (Modded) Skyrim as well  :lol:

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2GB is for 1080p

4GB is for 1440p

8GB is for 4K

 

exeption: GTA 5 LOL

 

Dying Light eats 3GB at 1080p, so does Shadow of Mordor with high textures.

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this is sad...

 

using RAM to measure capability is never accurate/good idea.

 

I've heard to many excuse with common people because this misconception

 

" I have 2GB Video card. why I can't run my games? "

well, you are using integrated graphics with shared memory.

 

" I have 2GB Video card. why my games lagging? "

....... check the hardware, it is indeed 2GB, but he didn't mention it was GT220

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2GB is for 1080p

4GB is for 1440p

8GB is for 4K

 

exeption: GTA 5 LOL

worst rule of thumb ever?

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Posted

this is sad...

 

using RAM to measure capability is never accurate/good idea.

 

I've heard to many excuse with common people because this misconception

 

" I have 2GB Video card. why I can't run my games? "

well, you are using integrated graphics with shared memory.

 

" I have 2GB Video card. why my games lagging? "

....... check the hardware, it is indeed 2GB, but he didn't mention it was GT220

 

I think the posters point was less about all you need is a 2GB video card, but rather once you have selected your card make sure you meet this vram "rule of thumb". In any case however he is off, and its a moot point, buying any proper gaming card even entry level will get you 2GB of vram, in some cases more. The only real time I think vram might become a issue these days is gaming at 4k and even then If you need a rule of thumb for buying a 4k GPU solution your doing it wrong.

 

99% percent of cases Vram is not a issue and for the times that it is a rule of thumb won't do you much good. (btw a agree with your post and this is directed at the op not you... I only quoted because I believe he did not mean to use vram as a measurement for performance rather then just a "rule" in general).

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Rule Number 1: When working with CRTs (do you even?) and PSU ALWAYS wear your static wrist band, this provides extra fun for all the family.

Regular human bartender...Jackie Daytona.

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Add Ubisoft to that exceptions list.

Not all, but a fair number of their high profile games eat up vram for no good reason.

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Sorry but that "rule of thumb" is inadequate to say the least.

I refuse to read threads whose author does not know how to remove the caps lock! 

— Grumpy old man

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