nvidia Gtx 970 memory problem

[Jake99]

guys, let me keep it simple,

can i run triple monitor on dual gtx 970 without having the 512mb memory problem. and what about a 4k display

Also will you kindly suggest an alternative to the gtx 970 in terms of
1.similar spec at lower price
or
2. better spec at similar prices

can be both nvidia and amd

 

[Deucalion02]

When You say Triple Displays , i take it that you want to play on "Surround"

 

[VincentP]

Whether you will find any performance drop with these monitors will depend on your detail settings and the resolution of the 3 monitor setup.
Sure to be heated debate on this. Maybe you will, maybe you won't.
There are only three competing cards with 4 GB of VRAM:
R9 290
R9 290X
GTX 980

The R9 290 is generally slower than the GTX 970, but maybe a little cheaper too. Much higher power usage.
The R9 290X is sometimes faster and sometimes slower than the GTX 970. Much higher power usage. Price comparison will depend on your country.
The GTX 980 walks all over both these cards and the GTX 970, but is much more expensive.

 

[Jake99]

Deucalion02

yes i do mean surround display as in nvidia surround

 

[Deucalion02]

@Jake99 Higher Resolution Means High Memory Requirement , if you want 60FPS across the board you might need to run At a lower Setting , or At least , Run a Dual 970 , it all depends on the game and how it is Optimized but a Single 970 will be able to driver those monitors at least at 40~50FPS , saying this i take that you are running 3 1080p Panels.

 

[FoxVoxDK]

The 970 is unbeatable when it comes to performance versus price versus efficiency.

You can easily run a triple setup of monitors, as for 4K, it's doable but I'd probably go for either 2x 980 or 3x 970 for a smoother ride but it comes at a cost of inconveniences that follows triple SLi and dual SLi in general.

Just my two cents, but, meh, let's see what others say.

 

[Jake99]

Vincentp

My monitors are 1080p at 21.5 inch display. ( a hp 22f1 that looks like a mac)

the thing i am worried is the problem that users face when they start using more than the 3.5 gb vram, there is a significant performance drop

i presume that this wont affect single 1080p as they can only utilize a maximum of 2gb vram.
but will this affect triple monitor in surround ???

 

[Deucalion02]

About 4k , there isn't a single GPU around that can run 4K at 60FPS at this time. (As far as my Knowledge knows) but the 970 can run most games at 4k at Acceptable frame rates , 30~50FPS.

 

[VincentP]

Vincentp

My monitors are 1080p at 21.5 inch display. ( a hp 22f1 that looks like a mac)

the thing i am worried is the problem that users face when they start using more than the 3.5 gb vram, there is a significant performance drop

i presume that this wont affect single 1080p as they can only utilize a maximum of 2gb vram.
but will this affect triple monitor in surround ???

You can hit 2 GB of VRAM at 1920x1080. Skyrim with high res texture mods or Watch Dogs with ultra textures are two examples.
Having three screens means the frame buffer is bigger, but you don't necessarily need to load any more textures so the memory usage is not three times as high.
You can think of 4K requirements as being similar to 4 x 1920x1080 monitors.
My personal preference is a QHD (2560x1440) monitor for performance and quality.
There are plenty of 27 inch 2560x1440 monitors around, either IPS models for better colour or the Asus ROG PG 278Q for responsiveness (and no IPS glow). These have similar pixel pitch to your current monitors (size of each pixel).
I like the look of the BenQ BL3200PT, 32 inch AMVA 2560x1440. Contrast and minimum black levels are amazing. Pixel pitch is similar to a 24 inch 1920x1080 monitor.

Anti-aliasing increases memory usage in proportion with the frame buffer, so you can significantly help VRAM usage at higher resolution by dropping AA to a suitable level.
You would want to do this anyway to maintain a good frame rate at 3 x 1920x1080 or 4K.
I honestly don't think it will be an issue because you can always tweak game settings to lower VRAM usage if you encounter any problems. The people reproducing these problems are generally using settings that would result in a low frame rate even with 4 GB of full-speed memory on this GPU.

 

[Jake99]

Vincentp

My monitors are 1080p at 21.5 inch display. ( a hp 22f1 that looks like a mac)

the thing i am worried is the problem that users face when they start using more than the 3.5 gb vram, there is a significant performance drop

i presume that this wont affect single 1080p as they can only utilize a maximum of 2gb vram.
but will this affect triple monitor in surround ???

You can hit 2 GB of VRAM at 1920x1080. Skyrim with high res texture mods or Watch Dogs with ultra textures are two examples.
Having three screens means the frame buffer is bigger, but you don't necessarily need to load any more textures so the memory usage is not three times as high.
You can think of 4K requirements as being similar to 4 x 1920x1080 monitors.
My personal preference is a QHD (2560x1440) monitor for performance and quality.
There are plenty of 27 inch 2560x1440 monitors around, either IPS models for better colour or the Asus ROG PG 278Q for responsiveness (and no IPS glow). These have similar pixel pitch to your current monitors (size of each pixel).
I like the look of the BenQ BL3200PT, 32 inch AMVA 2560x1440. Contrast and minimum black levels are amazing. Pixel pitch is similar to a 24 inch 1920x1080 monitor.

Anti-aliasing increases memory usage in proportion with the frame buffer, so you can significantly help VRAM usage at higher resolution by dropping AA to a suitable level.
You would want to do this anyway to maintain a good frame rate at 3 x 1920x1080 or 4K.
I honestly don't think it will be an issue because you can always tweak game settings to lower VRAM usage if you encounter any problems. The people reproducing these problems are generally using settings that would result in a low frame rate even with 4 GB of full-speed memory on this GPU.

thank you VincentP
appreciate it

Jake