Same game, 2 pc's, 2 differente VRAM usages, same fps !?

[Sahir Dizdarevic]

PC 1:
- i5-2300 2.8-3.1GHz
- r9 270x 2GB dcu2oc
- 8gb ram

PC 2:
- i5-3340 3.1-3.3GHz
- gtx 750Ti 1GB
- 8gb ram

Game: Battlefield 1

I ran msi afterburner on both pc's and played the game.
Both pc's are doing well in this game and both are giving very playable experience with 40-60fps.
I locked fps to 60 since I am using an 60hz monitor.
Now, I know that pc2 has better cpu, and pc1 has better gpu,
But I didn't know that game VRAM usage actually depends also on what gpu you have, because developers says that no card with less then 2GB of VRAM will actually be able to play this game
(based on their min requirements I guess).

The thing I don't understand is how is it possible that while playing bf1 on pc1 my VRAM usage is almost always between 1.5gb - 2gb, while playing it on pc2 it's always around 900mb - 1gb.
Both pc's were running the game on medium settings (updated drivers) without any in-game stutters.

I have noticed that pc1 is only around 5% more at stable 60fps (difference noticable only in heavy areas)

Official minimum game requirements:

- OS: 64-bit Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10
- Processor (AMD): AMD FX-6350
- Processor (Intel): Core i5 6600K
- Memory: 8GB RAM
- Graphics card (AMD): AMD Radeon™ HD 7850 2GB
- Graphics card (NVIDIA): nVidia GeForce® GTX 660 2GB
- DirectX: 11.0 Compatible video card or equivalent
- Online Connection Requirements: 512 KBPS or faster Internet connection
- Hard-drive space: 50GB

 

[volkgren]

Well one GPU is AMD and the other is Nvidia; I would assume they handle memory usage differently.

 

[k1114]

They do have different memory algorithms so will have different vram usage. Even comparing nvidia to nvidia on different generations will result in differences. More vram could also be used when there is extra vram but the extra usage is not necessary. We've seen this in vram comparisons of the same gpu and performance was the same when vram wasn't the issue.

 

[Sahir Dizdarevic]

So does that mean that there is no specific minimum amount of VRAM that game (in this case bf1) requires from gpu, to run it without in-game stutters.

 

[k1114]

Requirements are always just a guide. They can never be exact. 1gb is probably as low as you want to go but it has more to do with the gpu than just vram amount.

 

[Sahir Dizdarevic]

Hm okay.. but then, what's difference between, for example gtx 750ti gigabyte's version with 1GB or asus's version with 1GB and gtx 750ti asus's or whoever's version with 2GB of vram?

Gpu's are the same, but price is not. Can you try to explain me this, please?!

Where is difference with these 2 cards: https://imgur.com/a/VFWbNvW

For example when I play call of duty advance warfare or call of duty ww2 I got that bar in corner where it tells me if I am out of vram due to too high graphich settings so I have to reduce it. On 4GB version I wouldn't have to. !? !?

 

[k1114]

Those gpus have different versions with different amounts of vram. I don't know what you want to know. It's just that simple. If the game needs more vram then the one with more will perform better. But like I said, having more vram doesn't mean it needs more even though usage could be higher. If it shows the message and you aren't stuttering or getting worse performance then who cares. This is a complex issue but in the end, it's just performance that matters.

 

[Sahir Dizdarevic]

Yeah okay, I understand that. But then what's the point of vram at all lol.

EDIT: I think I've found my full answer here: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2092531/vram.html

But thank you of course

 

[k1114]

Gpu accesses files from vram. Cpu accesses files from ram. Both are processing units and both need access to files to process. Vram is just video ram. The gpu processes anything needed to show on screen so any files that are needed to show anything on your screen will be stored in vram. If the files can't be accessed fast enough, it stutters, typically when you run out of vram and it pages to ram. Then why doesn't it stutter when your vram is full? It's a complex issue going into game optimizations, gpu and monitor video signal, your ability to see the difference and plenty of other factors.