Right amount of memory for 1920x1200

[execut1ve]

Hello all,

I'm in the midst of putting together a new (gaming) computer build. I've settled on just about everything except the graphics card (which I thought I had decided already). The list:

ASUS P6X58D-E LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Motherboard

Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor

Western Digital Caviar Black WD5002AALX 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

Antec Twelve Hundred V3 Black Steel ATX Full Tower Case

Antec EarthWatts EA-650 GREEN 650W Power Supply

Crucial Ballistix Tracer 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory

EVGA 01G-P3-1371-AR GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) FPB EE 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Everything but the video card is pretty much set in stone at this point. My computer budget just got a little boost though so now I'm looking at the 560. I worry that the 460 will suffer at 1920x1200 with only 1G memory and that a 2G 560 (maybe ti) might do better. I'd like to spend not much more than $250 on the card. Any thoughts/opinions appreciated

 

[jyjjy]

I realize the 560 and 560ti are separate, I was for short just saying "560" but meaning to include all the variations.

I seem to remember seeing that cards were just starting to saturate the 8x interface a couple years back, though I could be in error. I thought the 16x would be even more important with beefier graphics cards

If it was a few years ago then the article may have been about PCI-E 1.0 or 1.1. PCI-E 2.0 doubled the bandwidth so a current x8 is equivalent to an old x16.

 

[execut1ve]

all good points. now I guess I need to just choose the mb and the specific 560ti and I'll be all set

 

[execut1ve]

any recommendations for the northbridge chipset?

 

[rolli59]

Z68 or P67!

 

[execut1ve]

those seem to be the options, is either one better?

 

[rolli59]

The Z68 has more features the question is do you need them http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/z68-express-lucidlogix-virtu-ssd-caching,2888.html

 

[k1114]

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Palit/GeForce_GTX_560_2_GB/17.html
Here's 560 1gb vs 2gb, same conclusion.

I only consider one worthwhile feature for z68, and that is the igpu capabilty/quicksync. My usual suggestion is the asrock z68 extreme3 gen3 just because it's one of the cheapest sli capable boards and is 12 phase like the higher end extreme4. The money saved goes into more gpu power. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271

 

[execut1ve]

that set of tests does seem to state it conclusively. I'd like to get an asus board if I can, I'm a bit of a fan

 

[rolli59]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131729

 

[k1114]

Asrock is part of asustek, but ^+1. That would be my next choice up, asus usually OC a little higher too.

 

[rolli59]

Asrock is part of asustek, but ^+1. That would be my next choice up, asus usually OC a little higher too.

They are currently in competition with their parent company instead of being a test platform for years. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASRock

 

[execut1ve]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131729

any reason you would go with that over something like: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131781

 

[rolli59]

Only if you plan Crossfire or SLI in the future since the second PCIe X16 slot on the LX board runs at X4

 

[execut1ve]

mm that's a tough call. any recommendations?

 

[rolli59]

mm that's a tough call. any recommendations?

I personally prefer more powerful single card solution from dual card setups and therefore would save the money.

 

[k1114]

What about the p67 pro? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131771 But I would get another company, buying just one company is silly, other companies must be at least just as good or they would go out of business. I wouldn't settle on such a low end board with a higher price than higher end boards. With the lx you lose sli, half as many phases, no mosfet heatsinks, possible ivy bridge support and pay more. I just don't understand fanboyism, every company has it's ups and downs, getting whoever is the current best bang/buck is the best way to go.

I know asrock is a rival to asus but it's still part of the same company(it's an independent subsidiary). Asrock is a competent rival vs asus, being able to match it's quality and at a lower price with similar features.

I never sli/cf, a single powerful card is all I ever need for one monitor. But you fall into the same issue, there are less expensive/good boards with just one x16 pcie slot.

 

[swifty_morgan]

1920x1200 -- been there done that. Get a card with 2gigs. ! 1gig is NOT enough for many game applications and they're getting more demanding.

 

[mayankleoboy1]

^ +1

games of today routinely use more than 1 gig on 1080p. but that may not affect performance much.

 

[Faelix]

http://www.overclock.net/graphics-cards-general/780310-how-much-vram-do-you-need.html

This benchmark was done a year ago, and many games tested used over 1gb VRAM at 1920x1200.

The games don't become a memoryhog before he pushes Anti Aliasing up to 16. Who would do that? AA finepolishes edged while demanding a lot of ressources.

So the thing is, if you play at a high resolution, edges will already be very sharp, and you can hardly tell AA is on, and 2-4 AA is all you need. If you play at very low resolution, it is easier to see the effects. But who will be playing with a GPU that can handle 16 AA, on a screen with a 1024x768 resolution? Noone.

People vastly exaggerate what RAM will do to their systems, I have no idea why.

This very site has a review of 1gb 6950s today, comparing them to a 2 gb version at 1900x1200, and they are all performing better than the 2 gb version.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-6950-1gb-benchmark,3041.html

 

[squareenixx]

I would get a 2gb card if you want to future proof a bit. At 1920x1200 there are already games out that almost push the 1gb VRAM barrier.

Maybe at 2650x1600 a gigabyte would fall short and yes 1 gig should be falling short with next years games. But thats what Crossfire and SLI are for.

 

[mactronix]

I would get the 560Ti any way.
Technically you dont need more than 1GB but as the card you need to get has 2GB its all good isnt it.

Mactronix

 

[vitornob]

Maybe at 2650x1600 a gigabyte would fall short and yes 1 gig should be falling short with next years games. But thats what Crossfire and SLI are for.

I disagree.
Since when you get cards in SLI/Crossfire the SAME DAA is put in EACH CARD.
So, if one of them would fall short in memory department, it doesn't matter if you have, 2, 3 or infinite cards in SLI/Crossfire, if you put the same settings all of them will fall short in memory.

 

[execut1ve]

that is pretty compelling.

I wouldn't say I'm an Asus fanboy, I've just had excellent experience with their boards in the past and like to reward them by giving them my business when I can.

That P67 board looks good, but it seems to my untrained eye that all I'd be gaining is the possibility of SLI in the future with the higher bandwidth second graphics card slot. I just don't want to shell out for features I won't really utilize.

 

[execut1ve]

I'm really uncertain about the 2G card vs the 1G, I see good points both ways but all the charts posted so far seem to indicate there is no real performance advantage to the 2G

 

[jyjjy]

I'll just repeat what I said earlier;
"As for the video memory question 1gb is ok for the moment however if you may move to a higher resolution/3 monitor setup or want to Crossfire/SLI in the future than a 2gb card would be the way to go. "