2GB or 4GB gtx 670?

[bemused_fred]

I'm about to buy an Asus gtx 670 and I'm wondering how much RAM to get for it. I was recently set on buying only 2GB: very few games use more than even 1GB, and even a recent review of games at 2550x1600 on this website showed that 2GB was no bottleneck. However, this has just come out....

Now, while I've no intentions whatsoever to buy this game, its 3GB memory requirement has staggered me slightly; as Battlefield 4 is a next-gen game, could this be an indication that 2GB simply isn't enough for the new consoles? (Or is it just the case that this AMD-sponsored game is cynically attempting to hook people into buying AMD's 7900 series with the announcement that you "need 3GB"? I've heard a lot of arguments from both sides.) I'm planning on using this rig for the next 3 years, at least, so it does need a certain degree of redundancy.

For reference, I'm buying the cards from here, so it's £215 for the 2GB version and £230 for the 4GB version.

 

[stedaley]

I have the 2GB Version and it really doesnt struggle on 1080p with anything thats out atm, but with these new games coming out the pc gamers will want to be pushing for that 1440p or 1600p gamin experience, witht he amount of data being processed onto the screen increasing with each increment, the amount of Gram available will become the limiting factor. I would Go for the 4GB model if i had to. you arent really improving the GPU as such as both will be 670GTX cores just the data that the gpu can output.

1080p gaming is being introduced on the new consoles at 60fps whilst the last consoles were around 720p at 30fps (Rough estimates). with new GPUs for pc gaming you want to get as much bang for buck so the extre £15 dollars would be worth it to keep you abit more future proof in games which come out in the next few years.

Whilst im going to go Sli hopefully

 

[DFENDR]

Hey mate,

Maybe check out an AMD card then, like the HD 7970 GHz Edition. BF4 is supposed to be optimized for AMD cards, at least out of the box. And these models have 3GB of VRAM, and as a 384bit card, it allows for more bandwidth than a 240bit card. Supposedly the 240bit cards start slowing down after 2GB, and your don't get much better performance out of the 4GB models.

I'm not claiming to be an expert, I don't own any of these cards. I'm just telling you what I've read and researched lately. I'm leaning towards this Sapphire model for BF4 as of right now though:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202001

 

[Phaydze]

Buy the GTX 670. 4GB. Do it. Now...

 

[bemused_fred]

Hey mate,

Maybe check out an AMD card then, like the HD 7970 GHz Edition. BF4 is supposed to be optimized for AMD cards, at least out of the box. And these models have 3GB of VRAM, and as a 384bit card, it allows for more bandwidth than a 240bit card. Supposedly the 240bit cards start slowing down after 2GB, and your don't get much better performance out of the 4GB models.

I'm not claiming to be an expert, I don't own any of these cards. I'm just telling you what I've read and researched lately. I'm leaning towards this Sapphire model for BF4 as of right now though:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202001

Yep, knew this was going to happen. Someone fell into the heffalump trap. Everyone, look at this for reference:

A. I'm in the UK, so it's UK sites and UK prices only.
B. There aren't any graphics cards that offer more bang for the buck than a GTX 670 at £215. I've checked. The next card up is a sapphire HD 7970, and those are £260. EDIT: plus that thing is about 40cm long, and it won't fit into an antec 300. I'd need to pay about £300 to find one that fits.