Do I need more than 1GB of memory on my GPU?

[Willmo]

Building my first gaming PC
looking to play games such as mine craft, terraria, gta, saints row, garrys mod, portal, half life, skyrim etc. Etc
I have found a couple of cards I like the look of but I have no clue into whether I will need 1GB of memory or 2GB of memory on my gpu
please help!

 

[DonQuixoteMC]

Building my first gaming PC
looking to play games such as mine craft, terraria, gta, saints row, garrys mod, portal, half life, skyrim etc. Etc
I have found a couple of cards I like the look of but I have no clue into whether I will need 1GB of memory or 2GB of memory on my gpu
please help!

The minimum is 512MB.

So, 1 GB is generally sufficient for resolutions below 1920 x 1200. It will vary in some instances, but the important thing is the power of your GPU, not the amount of Video Memory.

It sounds like you'll be fine!

 

[Scremin34Egl]

You wont see a noticeable difference in performance in games between 1gb and 2gb memory, but the 2gb may help out on higher resolutions. The type of memory does and you should go no lower than ddr5

 

[Willmo]

Thanks for the help! Would a AMF DDR5 7750 Sapphire 1GB be enough then. I am hoping to run at full HD if possible

 

[lp231]

If your getting a card now, then grab one with 2GB or more vram. Games are starting to pack lots of textures with games and the more vram your card has the better it is to handle all those game textures.
The amount of vram does not represent how fast card is.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7750 2GB Video Card ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $94.99
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-11 12:48 EST-0500)

 

[Scremin34Egl]

Thanks for the help! Would a AMF DDR5 7750 Sapphire 1GB be enough then. I am hoping to run at full HD if possible

For full hd gaming, I would recommend no lower than a 7790. The 7750 is not powerful enough to run games at that resolution

 

[Willmo]

Ok... So a 1GB AMD Sapphire 7790 1/2GB will be enough. Could that run battlefield too?

 

[Willmo]

Ok so to run games such as Portal, Skyrim and GTA on Full HD... I would need a card like this http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00C981M5I/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1386784283&sr=8-2&pi=SL75

 

[lp231]

What is your budet and what psu do you have?
Post your system specs

 

[Scremin34Egl]

Ok so to run games such as Portal, Skyrim and GTA on Full HD... I would need a card like this http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00C981M5I/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1386784283&sr=8-2&pi=SL75

Yes, you should be fine with that card. Make sure your psu can power it, though

 

[Willmo]

My budget is £400 excluding monitor and peripherals
CPU: AMD FX-4130 @3.8GHz
Mobo: Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 Motherboard
RAM: Kingston HyperX 8GB
PSU: CIT 650w Gold 12CM Silent Atx Power Supply
OS: Windows 7
Case: CiT Vantage Purple LED

 

[lp231]

Is £400 just for the card or you need a whole build?

Just the card, I'll config a build and update this post
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X 3GB Video Card (£227.05 @ Dabs)
Total: £227.05
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-11 18:12 GMT+0000)

 

[Willmo]

Whole build is £400

 

[lp231]

Best I can do with that budget

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 740 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£55.19 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: Asus A55BM-A/USB3 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard (£49.94 @ Dabs)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£59.99 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£36.00 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon HD 7750 2GB Video Card (£68.86 @ CCL Computers)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case (£29.99 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£47.52 @ Scan.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHDS118-04 DVD/CD Drive (£10.78 @ Scan.co.uk)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (32-bit) (£69.70 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £427.97
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-11 18:57 GMT+0000)

If OS is not needed, then
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 740 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£55.19 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: Asus A55BM-A/USB3 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard (£49.94 @ Dabs)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£59.99 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£36.00 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card (£106.56 @ CCL Computers)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case (£29.99 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£47.52 @ Scan.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHDS118-04 DVD/CD Drive (£10.78 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £395.97
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-11 19:00 GMT+0000)

 

[Willmo]

What about the AMD Radeon R7 260X, is that a good card?

 

[Willmo]

Best I can do with that budget

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 740 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£55.19 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: Asus A55BM-A/USB3 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard (£49.94 @ Dabs)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£59.99 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£36.00 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon HD 7750 2GB Video Card (£68.86 @ CCL Computers)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case (£29.99 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£47.52 @ Scan.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHDS118-04 DVD/CD Drive (£10.78 @ Scan.co.uk)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (32-bit) (£69.70 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £427.97
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-11 18:57 GMT+0000)

If OS is not needed, then
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 740 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£55.19 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: Asus A55BM-A/USB3 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard (£49.94 @ Dabs)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£59.99 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£36.00 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card (£106.56 @ CCL Computers)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case (£29.99 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£47.52 @ Scan.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHDS118-04 DVD/CD Drive (£10.78 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £395.97
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-11 19:00 GMT+0000)

Also, what is better? FM" or AM3+?

 

[lp231]

The R7-260x is basically a rebadge HD7790
AM3+ is better but for very tight budget, FM2 are not that bad either. The newer CPU will be FM2+ but the processors are not out yet. The board I've selected is FM2+ which is ready for the newer CPUs when it comes out.

HD7850 will still be the better card out of the two.
http://techreport.com/review/25473/amd-radeon-r7-260x-graphics-card-reviewed
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106.html