GFX Card dying, ..... 2, 3 or 4G VRAM for SC?

[Twyst]

So my 460GTX is dying - red pixels are appearing!
My budget is constrained with by any more modern card will need a new PSU as my current one doesn't have any PCIe 8 (or 6+2) connectors so even the power is there, the per connector draw just isn't.

As I plan on playing a lot of SC and was hoping my card would last until then, my 460 plays my current games nicely, aside from AC where it's frankly **** poor.
I game @ 1080p single monitor and have no plans to up the res at this time.

So should I get a 770 2G or a 760 4G card? Should I consider a 770 4G card? Or buy a budget 770 2G model now to play AC with some respectability and upgrade again next year?
And how do I make this a poll?

For reference, the CPU is an i4670 with 16G RAM and a reasonable SSD.

[TeaLeaf]

You'll not really see the benefit of more than 2-3GB at 1080.  4GB you'd only see the benefit of at higher resolutions.  There's a couple of reports on the net about vram & resolution on the interweb somewhere.

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[TeaLeaf]

Was on my phone when I replied so did not add a lot of detail, but:

Most games at 1080 you'll see at most just over 2GB vram used so arguably a 2GB card should be fine in most scenarios and a 3GB card should *definitely* be fine.

The higher resolutions (either big single panel or more likely multi-panel), particularly with SLI, then 3-4GB is preferred as games can use just over 3GB with all the eye candy turned on.

I run a 30" @ 2560x1600 with 2 x GTX770 SLI  (both cards are 2GB) and have not noticed any problems with vram on my system.   I suspect if I added more monitors or moved to e.g. 5760x1800 then I would need more vram.  That having been said, the current raw code of pre-alpha AC is pushing my GTX770 to 100% gpu usage at times.  Hopefully as code & driver optimization is delivered as we approach release then it will ease the load, but I am aware I might need to 'upgrade' to get more grunt if the optimization does not deliver the improvements I need.

Hope this helps.


E.g. vram usage under BF4:
http://www.bf4blog.com/battlefield-4-retail-gpu-cpu-benchmarks/

Older (but still relevant) data on 2GB v 4GB:
http://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Video-Card-Performance-2GB-vs-4GB-Memory-154/

Crysis3 @ 2560x1600 SLI used just over 3GB
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_770_sli_review,22.html

And finally, for no particular reason, is Ninja's doppelgänger doing a video review:

Seriously, Ninja, is that your cousin or long lost brother?

[Twyst]

Thanks for that TL.
I plumbed for a 2G version for £228 and will buy another next year if I need to!
I've catered for this in my PSU purchase as well.

And I think Ninja has more hair than his twin brother

[Twyst]

HOLY MOTHER OF WHATEVER!

So my stock of MMO's I play ATM where like new gfx? meeh.
SWTOR was already maxed
ESO now has better textures (apparently, couldn't see the difference) and better water reflections (ok, this is nice) and best draw distance (awesome for pewpew).

But here... LOL.... it's like night and day.
I've gone from low settings > very high and 10fps > 60fps (freelight, 50 swarm ~ wave 12?)
And OMG, exterior views of the 300i are simply stunning. Which is how i describe the assets here so far.
So pumped I upgraded my 300i LTI to a 325a LTI. TAKE MY MONEY!!!

I feel that TL was spot on, for my desired res the 700GTX 2GB is a sweet spot. And I can now play a few more titles - Watch Dogs promo with the card is like GTA clone so far but looks very sweet.

[TeaLeaf]

HOLY MOTHER OF WHATEVER!

So pumped I upgraded my 300i LTI to a 325a LTI. TAKE MY MONEY!!!

Hehe, it does look sweet doesn't it!  

Glad to be of help! :thumbsup:

(keep in mind SC is likely to be CPU bound, so keep an eye on CPU use once we're nearer launch to see if you need to overclock your current CPU to give more headroom or to just upgrade it!)

[Gone_Away]

Christ that guy is fat and ugly.


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