How long till 1GB of vram is not enough?

[1nf3rn0x]

With games being more advanced and graphics getting better, when do you guys think that 1GB of vram won't be enough? Now it seems that 8GB of ram is normal, yet only a couple years ago 4GB of ram was overkill.

 

[Yo_Wattup]

With games being more advanced and graphics getting better, when do you guys think that 1GB of vram won't be enough?

About a year or two ago. It all depends on resolution... bigger resolution means more memory... and with modern games 1080p is enough to go well over 1gb.

 

[Bo$$]

ill give it 9 months. some of them are already over 1gb but in a year most of them will be over 1

 

[GSquadron]

There will be 1GB of vram again even after a year.
I expect 7750 and 7770 in the new series 8xxx will have again 1GB of vram.
I think now 4GB is normal. When i added a 4Gig to my system it was a little faster.
Now i have 6gigs.

 

[qubit]

As the others have said, you can max it out today without too much effort. Even the 1.5GB in my GTX 580 isn't much harder to max out. No consumer gaiming card has more than 4GB of discretely addressable vram to my knowledge.

 

[Jetster]

We're there

 

[Black Panther]

It already isn't enough to play Skyrim at 2560x1440 on ultra.
After I fast travel it takes 2 to 3 seconds for my fps to get back to a normal 40-60 from 14.

 

[Protagonist]

Its not enough already, with games like Max Payne 3 1GB is not enough even at 1366x768 with all settings enabled plus MSAA 1GB is not enough at all

 

[1nf3rn0x]

Its not enough already, with games like Max Payne 3 1GB is not enough even at 1366x768 with all settings enabled plus MSAA 1GB is not enough at all

Even at that res?

 

[AlienIsGOD]

I think now 4GB is normal. When i added a 4Gig to my system it was a little faster.
Now i have 6gigs.

His question was about Vram not system ram.

 

[Widjaja]

I find this thread a bit confusing as it does sound like the OP is talking about physical RAM rather than VRAM based on 4GB two years ago indeed being overkill and 8GB being the norm.

 

[Mussels]

With games being more advanced and graphics getting better, when do you guys think that 1GB of vram won't be enough? Now it seems that 8GB of ram is normal, yet only a couple years ago 4GB of ram was overkill.

when you get a monitor with res higher than 1080p.



AA kicks up the FPS massively, so you can always run with 0x or 2xFSAA and get away with 1GB for a bit longer. those people going over 1GB these days are either running multi monitor, higher than 1080p, or massive amounts of AA.

or all of the above, i guess.

 

[INSTG8R]

Well the jump in system RAM has really just happened because it has been relatively cheap to buy, the majority of people are now on 64 bit OS's so easy/possible to use more than 4GB of RAM.

As for VRAM I think 2GB has become the new "standard" tho I have been monitoring my new 7970 and Max Payne and BF3 for example will easily use over 1GB in most cases even something full on DX11 like DiRT Showdown for example, even maxed out isn't using 1GB.

Depends on the game/engine/mods/settings to push it over the 1GB mark. So you "can" use over 1GB but it is really user dependant.

 

[Aquinus]

Modern day video drivers will address system memory as video memory if physical vram gets all used up. I would imagine that using faster system memory may mitigate the slowdown due to using more than what you have. I haven't run into many slow downs with my 6870s in crossfire or even one by itself. The real solution would just be to get a better video card, but honestly for a powerful system 1gb should be enough for 1080p.

 

[Mussels]

Modern day video drivers will address system memory as video memory if physical vram gets all used up. I would imagine that using faster system memory may mitigate the slowdown due to using more than what you have. I haven't run into many slow downs with my 6870s in crossfire or even one by itself. The real solution would just be to get a better video card, but honestly for a powerful system 1gb should be enough for 1080p.

with my crossfire i've ran into the odd game (skyrim with HD texture pack, for one) where say, 2xaa got me 60+ FPS, where 8x would be all over the place and 10-15FPS.

the difference IMO, is because i went over VGA ram and into system ram.

 

[Dent1]

Modern day video drivers will address system memory as video memory if physical vram gets all used up.

the difference IMO, is because i went over VGA ram and into system ram.

Yes, indeed what the OP forgets is Vram isn't that important. Your PC never runs out of memory typically it will borrow from the main memory which should* have enough in plentiful supply. In many cases where Vram is an issue is when there isnt enough system ram available, thus forcing a very slow HDD to compensate. The thread should really be "How long till 4GBs of main memory is not enough".

 

[GSquadron]

@alien
Never seen a vram of 8gigs

 

[radrok]

It depends on the resolution, for example 2GB isn't enough anymore for me, 8x AA and I go over 2GB on Skyrim.

 

[Wrigleyvillain]

About a year or two ago. It all depends on resolution... bigger resolution means more memory... and with modern games 1080p is enough to go well over 1gb.

This is pretty much the best answer yet. Resolution is very key but so is using certain rendering features like true anti-aliasing. For the record, I use like 1450MB in BF3 all Ultra except shadows and 4x MSAA, at 1200P.

I find this thread a bit confusing as it does sound like the OP is talking about physical RAM rather than VRAM based on 4GB two years ago indeed being overkill and 8GB being the norm.

You have a point.

 

[Aquinus]

I think he is using memory as a comparison, let me try and re-word what the OP is trying to say.

With games becoming more advanced and graphics software becoming more demanding, when do you guys think that 1GB of vram won't be enough?

Just forget the physical memory part. I think he is trying to use physical memory as an example of normal and overkill. Maybe some like.

Old is to new as 4gb of ram is to 8gb of ram as 1gb of vram is to 2gb of vram. I think he is trying to say that having 8gb of ram used to be overkill and now it is the norm, where 1gb used to be all the rage and now 2gb is the thing to have.

I hope that made sense.

 

[Jstn7477]

I've easily exceeded 1GB in SS3:BF3, Skyrim and really any newer game at 1080p and high detail on my 6950 2GB. I think Metro 2033 used 1.3GB and Serious Sam 3 used 1.5GB.

 

[DarkVision]

i have a 580 gtx. however much it came with seems more than adequate at 1080p.

 

[Aquinus]

i have a 580 gtx. however much it came with seems more than adequate at 1080p.

Do you have 3gb or 1.5gb on your GTX 580?

 

[DarkVision]

Do you have 3gb or 1.5gb on your GTX 580?

i dunno. its an MSI brand

 

[eidairaman1]

download GPU-Z from here and that should tell you if you have 1536 MB (1.5 GB) or 3072 MB (3 GB) Model