2560x1440 triple monitor vram

[JoshuaRodgers]

I was thinking of going up from one 2560x1440 monitor to a dual or triple set up. My questions are what kind of vram would that require? I currently have gtx 780s (3 vram) in a sli configuration connected by dvi-d. If those couldn't run it would adding a third card even help? I know vram doesn't stack but that's all I really know on the subject. Help is appreciated and thanks in advance.

 

[LOA5000]

how much vram are you hitting with just one monitor? I have been thinking about the 780 real hard but the 3gb is making me real upset. It seems like its just barely cutting it

 

[cookybiscuit]

780 is more than enough, VRAM really isn't important at all.

Titan has twice the VRAM of 780 and 9% extra performance at 1600p. If the cards were VRAM limited the Titan would be an awful lot faster. Even the 2GB 680 is comparable.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

VRAM is going to be very very important at 7680 x 1440....

4 GB seems to work well enough at 5760 x 1080 .... but you're now talking 78 % more real estate.....scaling would put ya at 7GB so the ^GB models might suffice.... but I have not seen this resolution addressed in the trade press

 

[LOA5000]

i under stand what your chart shows. but i could get shutter from lack of vram. i have the gtx 680 2gb and it uses all 2gb the entire time i play battlefield 3 and that is with msa disabled.

 

[fudoka711]

Well, I did a quick google search about gaming on 7680x1440 resolution and found that some people did actually use more than 3gb of vram. Honestly, I don't know how much of an issue it would be, but I would recommend waiting to see what AMD has to offer. If they offer something with 4gb of vram then get that. Otherwise nvidia is supposedly releasing new cards in Q1 2014. My gut feeling tells me you'll need around 4gb min.

I don't really think its worth it to buy a couple titans unless money isn't a problem. I would also sell off your two gtx 780's then to help supplement the cost.

 

[Deus Gladiorum]

I was thinking of going up from one 2560x1440 monitor to a dual or triple set up. My questions are what kind of vram would that require? I currently have gtx 780s (3 vram) in a sli configuration connected by dvi-d. If those couldn't run it would adding a third card even help? I know vram doesn't stack but that's all I really know on the subject. Help is appreciated and thanks in advance.

You're asking to do the impossible for gaming, I'd say. A resolution of 7680x1440 is close to twice the number of pixels as 5760x1080. The issue is that while memory bandwidth would increase in SLI, total VRAM wouldn't. You'd be terribly slow unless you had a GPU with 6 GB of VRAM on it, i.e. Radeon HD 7990. And even then, since 7990s can't crossfire well, you'd have insufficient memory bandwidth with just the 1 7990.

 

[cookybiscuit]

Riiiiiiiight I missed the OP wanted triple monitor, I just saw 1440p.

 

[bystander]

VRAM is going to be very very important at 7680 x 1440....

4 GB seems to work well enough at 5760 x 1080 .... but you're now talking 78 % more real estate.....scaling would put ya at 7GB so the ^GB models might suffice.... but I have not seen this resolution addressed in the trade press

Nah, vram usage does not scale like that. Your frame buffers are very small to begin with. Like 20-30 mb's at 5760x1080, so you are only talking about a little more VRAM usage for frame buffers. Most the vram usage go into textures, which does not change from increased resolutions. AA has a tendency to also kill vram, but at that resolution, you probably won't be using it much, not just due to the extra PPI, but also the horsepower needed to get good results.

2GB tend to work just great at 5760x1080, I doubt 3GB would give you an issue at 1440p x3, unless you try to use a lot of AA or mod the heck out of Skyrim.

And when people show their vram usage from their Titan's, realize that just because XXX amount of vram is used, does not mean that that is required. You see a lot of 3GB cards showing 2.5gb usage, but 2GB cards have no slow downs at all with the same settings. If a card has extra Vram, the program just doesn't have to swap out textures as often, allowing more vram usage to pile up.

 

[JoshuaRodgers]

Ok, so most of you think this wouldn't be enough to run those monitors if i were to get three that equal 5760x1080 would that be more along the lines of reason. I would like to stick with just adding two more 2560x1440 monitors. I want this setup for desktop work and gaming (skyrim, new Vegas) and those kind of games on pretty high settings if that helps advice giving out.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

I wouldn't consider 5760 x 1080 w/ less than 4GB .... I wouldn't mind seeing the 6GB Titans tested at this res tho

 

[bystander]

I wouldn't consider 5760 x 1080 w/ less than 4GB .... I wouldn't mind seeing the 6GB Titans tested at this res tho

I know this is the general rule on the boards, but you won't find benchmarks that support the need, unless they use 8x MSAA, or SSAA. Neither of which people use at those resolutions. The 4Gb choice is more of a safety choice, not a necessity.

Here is a review with the 4K resolution, and even the 690 has no issues, which is 33% larger than 5670x1080.
http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/Frame-Rating-High-End-GPUs-Benchmarked-4K-Resolutions/Crysis-3-999-Level

I probably would also get the 4Gb card, but that is only for the security of knowing its there if things change in the future. 3Gb is plenty.

 

[JoshuaRodgers]

Thanks for all your answers. Ill add another 780 and if that doesn't run the way I want with triple monitirs I'll just switch it back to single monitor display if performance issues are intolerable within a game. Ill post results for anyone who may have a similar question in the future.