how much VRAM do you need? (1080p)

[NorthboundOcclusive]

i have a 660 TI (specifically this flavor) that i bought the day they were released (impulse buy, no regrets) to replace a refurbished HD 5750
given the age of the card, that only 1 fan runs (below 86c anyway), and increased workload demanded by my usual games, i figure im due to upgrade. (i might hold out until the next cycle of rx600/gtx11 series drop)
i have a firm (but not solid) budget of $300 earmarked for a GPU, which puts me right in gtx 1060/rx580 territory (1070ti are so tempting, but thanks to miners, well outside of my price bracket)
from reviews, i know the rx580 might be a few percents faster than the 1060, but 1060s get there with much less power draw and are a better value for it.

but one thing ive noticed lacking mention of, from the usual suite of benchmark games is their vram usage. i vaguely recall a year or so back it was more of an issue with (then-)newer titles being released

1060s come in 3 and 6gb vram flavors (and i know the 3gb is slightly less powerful), rx570s have 4gb and 580s have 8gb
presently im only gaming at 1080p, single monitor, (1440 might be nice, but would take a new monitor) and the vram use i typically see hovers around 1gb at the low end and 1.6/1.7 on the high end, but i do have a few games (doom 2016/quake champions, deus ex:MD, ashes of the singularity for example) that'll gladly eat up every bit the 2gb vram i have.

so, as for the title, what's the typical vram load these days? is 8gb basically future-proofing if you're not running at 4k resolutions or VR titles (and im not)

thanks for advice!

 

[Toothless]

I ran 2gb on my 660 for a few years and was fine cept for a few games. Never really went close to 3gb on my 780s until I ran 5760x1080.

I'd say at least 4gb should be enough. Even a 970 would be an okay upgrade for you.

 

[P4-630]

Depends on the game and the settings.
The best choice would be a GTX1060 6GB or an RX580 8GB IMO.

 

[Liviu Cojocaru]

Best choice would be the 1060 6GB imo, 4gb of VRAM is more than enough for 1080p gaming

 

[Divide Overflow]

Depends on the game and the settings.
The best choice would be a GTX1060 6GB or an RX580 8GB IMO.

What game takes 6GB or greater at 1080 resolution?

 

[EarthDog]

When buying a card today for 1080p, there is no way I would go less than 4GB and plan on playing with Ultra settings and AA. This also assumes I will be keeping the card for a couple years. VRAM use is only going up.

 

[hat]

Apparently the new cod hits near 8gb maxed out at 1080...

 

[Athlonite]

What game takes 6GB or greater at 1080 resolution?

Skyrim SE can with a butt load of mods I regularly see 6.5~7 GB of VRam usage on my RX580 8GB @ 1080p

 

[HD64G]

For now apart from heavily modded games (Skyrim for instance) 3-4GB of VRAM is enough if not for ultra settings, at least for very high. In the next 1-2 years I guess 6-8 might become the new standard. And as for the games using 7-8 gigs @1080P that's just pre-caching that doesn't affect any GPU having lower VRAM amount.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Apparently the new cod hits near 8gb maxed out at 1080...

This is one thing that confuses me... All it is, is just brown and grey textures with the odd sand yellow thrown in somewhere.

 

[natr0n]

Apparently the new cod hits near 8gb maxed out at 1080...

COD engine now is designed to fill up all available vram with textures. It gives a false sense of oh man I need more vram on my card.

 

[newtekie1]

COD engine now is designed to fill up all available vram with textures. It gives a false sense of oh man I need more vram on my card.

Agreed, the actual performance numbers show it doesn't need nearly that much RAM. The 6GB GTX1060 outperforms the 8GB RX580 in COD:WWII. If 8GB of RAM was actually being used, and not just loaded with un-used textures, then the RX580 would easily be winning.

And I find that to be the case with most games that use more than 4GB of RAM at 1080p(and even the higher resolutions really). Most of them are just filling the RAM with unused textures due to lazy programming.

 

[FireFox]

Choices are choices but i wouldn't go less than 8GB if you intend to keep the Card for a few years.

COD engine now is designed to fill up all available vram with textures. It gives a false sense of oh man I need more vram on my card.

Talking about that, Titanfall 2 uses 8GB+ VRM that's 12GB VRM it's recommend.

 

[jallenlabs]

I run an RX580 with 4GB of vram. Only paid $199 for it when it first came out. Plays all my games (BF1, COD WWII, Doom, Pubg and Titanfall 2) at ultra at 1080p no problem. No real need for 8GB for this gpu.

 

[FireFox]

Titanfall 2

Resolution?

 

[jallenlabs]

1080p. Haven't watched ram usage in anything, but I haven't had any performance issues either. That has me curious though.

 

[FireFox]

1080p. Haven't watched ram usage in anything, but I haven't had any performance issues either. That has me curious though.

Never said i had issues but believe me it uses more than 8GB VRM, plus i play at 1440.

Maybe @EarthDog remember the thread i created about Titanfall 2 and the 8GB+ VRM usage?

 

[Gmr_Chick]

Choices are choices but i wouldn't go less than 8GB if you intend to keep the Card for a few years.

Talking about that, Titanfall 2 uses 8GB+ VRM that's 12GB VRM it's recommend.

Never said i had issues but believe me it uses more than 8GB VRM, plus i play at 1440.

Maybe @EarthDog remember the thread i created about Titanfall 2 and the 8GB+ VRM usage?

OK, now I'm curious myself because I really want to play Titanfall 2 when I get my new rig up and running and I'm torn between a GTX 1060, RX 570 (@ OP, RX 570's also come in 8GB versions as well ) and RX 580. I use a 1080p 60hz BenQ monitor so I'm wondering if I actually need 8GB of VRAM or if it's "safe" to just get the 4 gig version of either RX cards.

 

[eidairaman1]

4GB, anything less you're wasting time

 

[EarthDog]

OK, now I'm curious myself because I really want to play Titanfall 2 when I get my new rig up and running and I'm torn between a GTX 1060, RX 570 (@ OP, RX 570's also come in 8GB versions as well ) and RX 580. I use a 1080p 60hz BenQ monitor so I'm wondering if I actually need 8GB of VRAM or if it's "safe" to just get the 4 gig version of either RX cards.

6-8gb wont hurt anything. At the end of those cards lives in a couple years, it could be helpful. Id get 6-8gb now, hands down.

 

[hapkiman]

Best choice would be the 1060 6GB imo, 4gb of VRAM is more than enough for 1080p gaming

He's right.

GTX 1060 6GB. Shop around eBay, etc, and you can pick up a used one on the cheap.

 

[Gmr_Chick]

6-8gb wont hurt anything. At the end of those cards lives in a couple years, it could be helpful. Id get 6-8gb now, hands down.

Much appreciated EarthDog

 

[PLAfiller]

I bought my RX560 2GB few months ago. But I play StarCraft mainly. To be honest, RAM is not what's bothering me with this card I still say depends on what you are looking for in a card. I say get a balanced card : noise, temps, looks.

 

[FireFox]

I say get a balanced card : noise, temps, looks.

And the most important thing: Ram

 

[NorthboundOcclusive]

thanks for the replies, all