Upgrading my GPU for extra Vram

[eli150]

hi,

i own a gtx 770 2gb and a 1080p monitor.

the problem is that i think my vram wont be enough for future games like AC Unity and Batman Arkham Knight since more and more games require more than 2gb vram such as: wolfenstein: the new order,titanfall. i fear i wont be able to use my 770's maximum power without some extra vram and i'm used to play games at 1080p high-ultra with some aa: smaa,txaa,msaa.

i made a few calls and i think i can sell my 770 and buy the new gtx 970 (which has 4gb vram and cuda 6's unified memory support). this will cost me 272$, dont be shocked about the price, i live in Israel so even a ps4 costs 680$ here.

so my question is should i upgrade my gpu? is it really worth all the trouble?

p.s.

i must say im sorry to open a new thread on the subject over and over again but this problem really bothers me since i only bought my first real PC for gaming a year ago.

 

[jackstrr]

Yes it is a valuable upgrade if you are wanting to make sure you have future compatibility, the 970 is a excellent choice of a card over the 770 due to it's 30% increase in power and increase in power efficiency

 

[eli150]

well according to tomshardware's review the 970 is only about 23% faster than the 770 so i'm mainly thinking about upgrading because of the vram issue..

the question is, will upcoming games strat using more vram at 1080p since its already happening in some games

 

[jackstrr]

well according to tomshardware's review the 970 is only about 23% faster than the 770 so i'm mainly thinking about upgrading because of the vram issue..

the question is, will upcoming games strat using more vram at 1080p since its already happening in some games

Y es newer games will start to take advantage of VRAM

 

[sammy sung]

Yeah, that's the funny thing with this situation. Really at 1080p with a 770, you'll never need 4GB. However, 2GB falls short. I mean, to justify your means it'd be cheaper to sell your 2GB 770 to fund a 4GB 770. Though to feel like it was really worth the effort, I'd go with the obvious and drop a little on a GTX 970.

There's no such thing as future proof. But you'd be proven for the future, here. With a progressive 4GB vram you'd be in nice standing for a relatively cheap, ultimately strong SLI combo later on.

 

[eli150]

i'v read about a rumor that 970 and 980 are going to get custom 8gb vram versions - if i choose to upgrade should i wait for these versions or i can be sure i would not need more than 4gb vram at 1080p?

 

[sammy sung]

For 1080 you'll never need more than 4GB(less) for a singular monitor set-up. In fact, most cards run out of steam before they use a full 3GB or 4GB video ram. A GTX 770 comes close, so it's not an utter waste when running only one for a single monitor.

 

[eli150]

ok just checked and even dead rising 3 is using more than 3gb vram at 1080p. people told me a year ago that i should buy my 770 with 2gb vram because its more than enough for 1080p and now i regret not buying the 4gb version. i want to be sure this time it will be good enough for the next 2-3 years(not max settings but enough vram for 1080p).

 

[eli150]

Even if the rumor about the 8gb versions of 970 and 980 is true, is there a chance we will need more than 4GB ram to run games at 1080p max settings?

 

[eli150]

Shadow of mordor requires 6gb vram for ultra textures at 1080p aacorsing to this article:http://www.gamefront.com/shadow-of-mordors-pc-ultra-settings-require-6gb-vram/
So i guess i got my answer and ill wait for a 970 with larger amount of vram.

Thanks for everyone

 

[caj]

I find shadow of mordor complete crap that 6 gb ram is req. Unless supersampling or high msa or aa is allowed which basically transforms a 2k title and outputs it baq at 4k at 1080p such ram usage is highly impossible or unless its a lazy port or the draw distance is immensly low

 

[eli150]

Those crappy ports are the biggest problem of n pc gaming buddy. And more and more of them pop up: dead rising, watch dogs and now shadow of mordor.. I guess its best to wait for gpus with 6+ vram

 

[Fitzitz]

Those crappy ports are the biggest problem of n pc gaming buddy. And more and more of them pop up:dead rising, watch dogs and now shadow of mordor.. I guess its best to wait for gpus with 6+ vram

If you want to wait that's fine, especially considering that it seems most companies are trying to utilise the high Vram out of consoles. However, bear in mind that when the 4gb version of the gtx 770 came out, it was nearly double the price (some areas it was cheaper, some it was way over double). Considering the strength of the gtx 970, I highly doubt that there will be any difference between the 4gb and 8gb versions of the card, and the 4gb gtx 970 is leagues above the console gpu, but it is up to you, although I really don't think it is worth spending potentially hundreds extra on something that you may not even need.

Also, I'm pretty sure that by the time that 6-8gb becomes standard for PC, the GPUs will reflect this.

 

[eli150]

Do you think the 970 wont be able to use atleast 5-6 vram?

 

[Fitzitz]

It's not that, it's that I don't think it will NEED that extra Vram. I mean look at Crysis 3, it could use Vram above 2gb, but it didn't really help FPS, it was the quality of the GPU itself that affected performance.

 

[eli150]

Crysis 3 is not a good example because you cant expect other companies to take care of pc gamers like crytek and ea. Bf4 works great on my 770 with 2gb vram everything is on ultra 1080p 2x msaa. The problem is most companies dont optimize games for pc. Its becoming clear that the most anticipated games are going to ask for more vram like ac unity, batman ak, gta v

 

[Fitzitz]

I doubt GTA 5 will need any large amount of Vram lol, probably an amazing cpu and extra ram though (regular, not Vram). If a game is unoptimised for PC, you could have a 1000gb of Vram and it wouldn't make a difference beyond a few FPS. If Vram was going to affect performance in a meaningful way, it would be on a game optimised for that much Vram, and at that point it would be rather easy to run with a decent card anyway, Vram notwithstanding.

 

[eli150]

The problem is not fps, its stutters that will make the game unplayable because of lack in vram

 

[RobCrezz]

Ignore stupid requirements and wait and see benchmarks.

People are running Shadow of mordor on overclockers.co.uk on 4gb GTX 980 running ultra and the HD texture pack and still getting over 70fps avg and smooth gameplay.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18627134

 

[eli150]

Ok but still i rather wait and see how this all vram bullshit plays out before i buy the wrong gpu version again. Thanks for your help guys.

 

[RobCrezz]

Ok but still i rather wait and see how this all vram bullshit plays out before i buy the wrong gpu version again. Thanks for your help guys.

Are you having any issues with your 770 then?

 

[eli150]

yes. my card is fast enough to deliver high fps on ultra settings but i cant play on ultra without stutters because i dont have enough vram.
not talking just about watch dogs but also titanfall, wolfenstein the new order,dead rising 3 and soon shadow of mordor.

2gb vram is not enough for 1080p and i think that soon 4gb wont enough either - if it was, i would buy a 970 4gb tomorrow

 

[Fitzitz]

yes. my card is fast enough to deliver high fps on ultra settings but i cant play on ultra without stutters because i dont have enough vram.
not talking just about watch dogs but also titanfall, wolfenstein the new order,dead rising 3 and soon shadow of mordor.

People are playing shadow of mordor on maxed settings with a 7970 ghz, but then, that does have 3gb Vram, so I guess it's possible that the lack of Vram is causing stuttering. As I said before, I highly doubt you will need more than 4gb Vram, but if you want to get the 8gb Vram, that is up to you, although as with everything, it will carry a heavy price premium.

 

[eli150]

what do you think will be the price difference? why are you so sure 8gb vram wont be used at 1080p? is it because the gpus are not fast enough? please explain if you can. i just dont want to pay 480$+ for the 4gb version and then regret it.

 

[eli150]

yes. my card is fast enough to deliver high fps on ultra settings but i cant play on ultra without stutters because i dont have enough vram.
not talking just about watch dogs but also titanfall, wolfenstein the new order,dead rising 3 and soon shadow of mordor.

People are playing shadow of mordor on maxed settings with a 7970 ghz, but then, that does have 3gb Vram, so I guess it's possible that the lack of Vram is causing stuttering. As I said before, I highly doubt you will need more than 4gb Vram, but if you want to get the 8gb Vram, that is up to you, although as with everything, it will carry a heavy price premium.

what do you think will be the price difference? why are you so sure 8gb vram wont be used at 1080p? is it because the gpus are not fast enough? please explain if you can. i just dont want to pay 480$+ for the 4gb version and then regret it.