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6850CF vs GTX480

Aquinus

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Just like in windows if you have 8GB of memory you'll likely see windows use most of it when doing something intesnive, its how modern applications work. This doesn't mean you need that much, if someone with 4GB wants to do the same things they can do so with little performance loss except for those super rare situations.
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Depends on what you're doing. You don't have to be doing something intensive to be using a lot of memory. VRAM doesn't quite work that way, but how much it bottlenecks depends on the game itself. Higher resolution textures need the extra memory if you're going to be doing a lot of AA. :confused:
 

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http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=48327&stc=1&d=1346954908

Depends on what you're doing. You don't have to be doing something intensive to be using a lot of memory. VRAM doesn't quite work that way, but how much it bottlenecks depends on the game itself. Higher resolution textures need the extra memory if you're going to be doing a lot of AA. :confused:

If Windows is using 8gb of ram on the desktop under light to normal usage there is something very wrong. Good Versions of Linux Ubuntu use about 700mb of ram on the desktop.
 

Wrigleyvillain

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I would be very interested to hear what W1z thinks...
 
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I would be very interested to hear what W1z thinks...

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Club_3D/HD_7850_RoyalQueen/33.html

The Club3D HD 7850 RoyalQueen comes with only 1 GB memory, whereas most other HD 7850 cards on the market have 2 GB. When I first got the card, I was extremely sceptical whether such capacity could provide enough performance for the latest and greatest titles. Now, after finishing the review, I am impressed. At resolutions up to, and including, 1920x1200, the card is just as fast as the HD 7850 with 2 GB, if not a little bit faster. Only at resolutions of 5760x1080 (Eyefinity), and at 2560x1600 in some games, did we see a performance penalty from the smaller frame buffer. Personally, I don't consider this an issue, because a single HD 7850 is just too slow for these resolutions anyway.

for those who are unaware, the 7850 is in striking range of a gtx480 for overall performance it's listed as 8% slower overall so the comparison is VERY relevant to this thread.


@ aquinus, again windows is going to use what it has, showing 8GB used doesn't = 8GB needed. My work pc has 8GB of memory and is currently using 3.3GB of it just browsing the web. You don't need 3.3GB of memory to browse the web on windows 7, however since its there, its used. This is why the argument of "I saw x used so you need more than x" doesn't hold water anymore.
 

Wrigleyvillain

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Yeah I am aware of what the review said but I would ideally like something more. That is, does he agree with your statement and why or why not.

All signs on my setup show 1GB was holding me back in BF3, at least in terms of being able to run 4X MSAA, but your comment sounds like you disagree with that assessment. FWIW, Afterburner shows it using around 1400MB on average.
 
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Yeah I am aware of what the review said but I would ideally like something more. That is, does he agree with your statement and why or why not.

All signs on my setup show 1GB was holding me back in BF3, at least in terms of being able to run 4X MSAA, but your comment sounds like you disagree with that assessment. FWIW, Afterburner shows it using around 1400MB on average.

the numbers disagree with your assessment. The problem with gpu's is that unlike a desktop you can't just pull out vram and run the test again. So when looking at a 1gb gpu and a 2gb gpu with the exact same clocks on the exact same benchmarks using the exact same system and showing no degradation from lowend resolutions all the way up to and including 1920x1200 with 4xaa, you'd think the answer would be clear.

again I own 3 480's and use 2 in sli every day in my primary rig. Fanboyism, random afterburner numbers that don't indicate the amount NEEDED, only the amount used, and any other theories wont change the fact that dual 6850's in crossfire will be faster, cooler, quieter, and use less power (ie cheaper to run). 1gb of vram is enough for up to and including 1920x1200 with 4xaa. The numbers show it.

I can show 1.5gb used in msi afterburner out of 1.5gb on my 480's too (shogun 2, or skyrim with mods) that doesn't mean I need that much vram in those situations.

the issues with using that for recomendations are:

1. you're assuming MSI afterburner is accurate
2. you're assuming games only utilize the amount of vram needed rather than the vram available
3. you're assuming that any and all detail settings directly affect vram usage (an example of you being wrong on this is that you assume msaa a smoothing agent increases texture size, when that's decided by the game/level and the resolution.)
4. tests have shown that there is no difference in performance between 1gb and 2gb cards up to and including 1920x1200 with 4xaa
 

Aquinus

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If Windows is using 8gb of ram on the desktop under light to normal usage there is something very wrong. Good Versions of Linux Ubuntu use about 700mb of ram on the desktop.

That is my typical load. I have Chrome with about 25 tabs open, along with a couple SSH clients and two VMs.
 
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Ok it used to be that when you ran out of Vram the gameplay would come pretty much to a halt. Game engines are very different now then they were 5 years ago. Alot of games adjust textture quality and so on to fit within the buffer you have. So yes 1.5 is enough for 2560x1600p the game will perform almost the same as the engine will not over draw the buffer, but quality will suffer mainly in textures and so on in my experiences.

1GB is NOT enough for a perfect experience in say BF3 at 1080p and up and I have seen it in action. My friend just had his rig here for a lan party a week ago he runs a 560Ti 1GB@1080p. BF3 used 1019MB of his Vram pretty much the whole time, he was using my TV. Then I switched the HDMI input to my GTX480 rig the game was using 1433MB, Same map, same game, same settings just for fun. But in the distance you could totally see the textures drop of on his.
 

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That is my typical load. I have Chrome with about 25 tabs open, along with a couple SSH clients and two VMs.

Well that's defiantly not normal usage is it LOL.
 

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That is my typical load. I have Chrome with about 25 tabs open, along with a couple SSH clients and two VMs.

Normal usage is probably closer to me. Steam running, hwmonitor, 3 monitors and a few tabs open in FF.

 
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Ok it used to be that when you ran out of Vram the gameplay would come pretty much to a halt. Game engines are very different now then they were 5 years ago. Alot of games adjust textture quality and so on to fit within the buffer you have. So yes 1.5 is enough for 2560x1600p the game will perform almost the same as the engine will not over draw the buffer, but quality will suffer mainly in textures and so on in my experiences.

1GB is NOT enough for a perfect experience in say BF3 at 1080p and up and I have seen it in action. My friend just had his rig here for a lan party a week ago he runs a 560Ti 1GB@1080p. BF3 used 1019MB of his Vram pretty much the whole time, he was using my TV. Then I switched the HDMI input to my GTX480 rig the game was using 1433MB, Same map, same game, same settings just for fun. But in the distance you could totally see the textures drop of on his.

Yeah shogun 2 has been know to do this by default when it detects less than needed vram for the resolution/settings.

Still those aren't typical when compared with the vast majority of games (typical console ports for example aren't using anywhere near that) It's typically only background which sure for a shooter matters (since those background textures can include someone on the other side of the map with a sniper rifle and it might be nice to see them in full detail). But outside of bf3 it's not noticeable.
 
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My CF and heavily overclocked HD 6850s (1000core/1200mem) get VRAM bottlenecked in certain games with heavy use of anti-aliasing.

It's very obvious too. When I pass the threshold, FPS just plummets.

A good example is Dragon Age 2. At maximum detail settings and 1080p things will be smooth 60FPS at 4xMSAA. Push the slider to 8x and FPS plummets into the low 30s. I could really care less though since 4xMSAA is plenty adequate to eliminate the jaggies.
 

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Well that's defiantly not normal usage is it LOL.

It's normal for me, and it's normal for the people I work with. :confused:
Hence why I got 16Gb.
 
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@Aquinus, I know this is off topic, but I just love the way you respond to other's arguments. :toast:
 

Aquinus

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@Aquinus, I know this is off topic, but I just love the way you respond to other's arguments. :toast:

I always have a point to prove and a remark to make.
Sometimes I have to hold myself back, others I don't enough. :D
 

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It's normal for me, and it's normal for the people I work with. :confused:
Hence why I got 16Gb.

Um POINT being is the overwhelming majority of users and gamers never need more than 4gb of ram and if they are using more than that they are doing something wrong. Yes some professionals need more than 8gb of ram on a daily basis but they are also spending thousands on workstation class GPUs.
 
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