Is the GTX 970 3.5 vram a big issue?

[FineVisionz]

Hello,  I am looking into getting a GTX 970.  I play on a 1080p monitor.  Is only having 3.5 gigs a big deal?  Will I be able to play games at max or close to max settings and not have a problem?

 

Games I play,

 

GTA V

Arma 3

Bf4

 

Thanks

[DarkBlade2117]

at 1080p no

[OfficialJsP]

No its not a big deal and you don't have 3.5GB you have 4GB but the last 0.5GB is just lower than the rest of the VRAM.

[xHadrian]

Absolutely no problems.

[Thermal]

at 1080p no

 

Haven't had issues at 1440p either!

[Hieb]

For 1080P it won't be an issue for a long time. The difference between 3.5GB and 4GB is quite small, so it's not like that 512MB difference was the difference between 'future proof' and not. For 1080P and 1440P I think the GTX 970 should be perfectly fine for quite some time. For 4K I wouldn't be too comfortable using a 3.5GB or a 4GB card.

[OAcesync]

You shouldn't be a problem although I heard GTA V on ultra can reach the Fast Vram boundary on a 970 and stutter

[Godlygamer23]

I've stated this many times to people in all of these threads - the 970 has 4GB of VRAM. The last .5GB is crippled, but it is there.

[RuLeZ]

I've stated this many times to people in all of these threads - the 970 has 4GB of VRAM. The last .5GB is crippled, but it is there.

Yeap, is there, but if you use it, the performance will be really compromised, so, for practical use is 3.5GB

[Godlygamer23]

Yeap, is there, but if you use it, the performance will be really compromised, so, for practical use is 3.5GB

People have apparently used 3.8GB with no ill effects.

[FineVisionz]

I've stated this many times to people in all of these threads - the 970 has 4GB of VRAM. The last .5GB is crippled, but it is there.

Yes,  I know.  But you can only use 3.5 in games.  A video from JayzTwoCents shows that the card can't go over 3.5gb without running into any problems in games.

[Aytex]

I've stated this many times to people in all of these threads - the 970 has 4GB of VRAM. The last .5GB is crippled, but it is there.

my pet pevee

[RollinLower]

yep you should be fine. 4 gigs is plenty for 1080p gaming. you might find it coming a little short when upgrading to a 4k monitor tough!

[Aytex]

Yes,  I know.  But you can only use 3.5 in games.  A video from JayzTwoCents shows that the card can't go over 3.5gb without running into any problems in games.

it is true. but overall let me sup it up for you

if you go above 1080p wanting ultra graphics your fucked

if you dont go over 1080p but u want utlra ur fine

[RuLeZ]

I would recommend R9 390 if you want something better for the price. I have it, although is bottenecked by my CPU, still plays almost everything on max, only Witcher 3 and GTA V have some problems to max out on 1440p.

[FineVisionz]

yep you should be fine. 4 gigs is plenty for 1080p gaming. you might find it coming a little short when upgrading to a 4k monitor tough!

Ok,  Thanks.  I don't see myself upgrading to a 4k monitor for a while.  Thanks!

[mata-pombos]

At 1080p shouldnt be a problem for any game now and future except for GTA 5 i think to fully max out you need 4 gb of vram but all you need to do is low msaa a bit and it wont exceed so 970 is beast for 1080p

[JustChilliing]

I have yet to run into a scenario where I say out loud "Jeeze I wish I had more VRAM", on my 970s. At 1080p, at least for now, on Ultra, you do not need any more at all.

[FunkyFeatures]

Hello,  I am looking into getting a GTX 970.  I play on a 1080p monitor.  Is only having 3.5 gigs a big deal?  Will I be able to play games at max or close to max settings and not have a problem?

 

Games I play,

 

GTA V

Arma 3

Bf4

 

Thanks

Having GTA V, BF4 and heavily modded Skyrim, and being a GTX 970 user. NO!

3.5GB is plenty, the max I ever saw was 2700ish in skyrim, heavy modded.

[DarkBlade2117]

Haven't had issues at 1440p either!

yeah at 1440p you also can't push to card to ultra settings because it'll just be to hard for a 970.

[The Pizza Thief]

I didn't have any issues when I upgraded from 1080 to 1440 with a single card, know I have 2 970s and 1440 is nothing to them. 

[mapegl]

Hello,  I am looking into getting a GTX 970.  I play on a 1080p monitor.  Is only having 3.5 gigs a big deal?  Will I be able to play games at max or close to max settings and not have a problem?

 

Games I play,

 

GTA V

Arma 3

Bf4

 

Thanks

Is there a reason you want to have the 970 or do you just want the performance?

 

For that I would get the 390 Nitro from Sapphire and enjoy the quiet 8GB card. ;-) And seeing you have the Air 540, you might want to go for a second card later on and that's when 8GB VRAM make sense. Not because you need 8, but maybe a little more than just 4.

Also the heat should not be a problem at all in your case. Good airflow on those triple-fan coolers keeps the cool and very quiet.

 

This is however not saying at all that the 970 is a bad card. And the people above are right: For 1080, i wouldn't worry about it much. On the other hand, you might step up to a higher res display later, might want to add some virtual super resolution or fun stuff like that....well that's where you might run into "issues", because the more VRAM you have the better. For a single 970 though, it will probably never matter since you will run into performance issues due to the GPU before you run into issues due to lack of VRAM.

[EposVox]

No, it's not a big deal. I run BF4 at 1440p and do just fine hovering around 60fps with a 970.

[ExcitezR]

no i use a 970 for 3 screen gaming and there is no issue with that 

[SkilledRebuilds]

Haven't had issues at 1440p either!

Yep me neither...

Usually play at 1080p anyway, but when performance is still available (overhead) I use 1440p.

Not hit my Vram limit as bad as to get stuttering and performance issues, that just never happens (to me)

I've seen 3.6+GB used on the new Call of Duty (but it fills ALL cards Vram for cache) and still, no issues.

I've seen 3.6+GB used for Titanfall, smooth as silk, zero stuttering at all

 

All of my games,...play the exact same as my 290 does in regards to performance vs memory usage.

 

Only modded games would push the cards with Vram, even then you HAVE to be realistic, like all cards, not push more than its capable of.