VRAM Stacking in The Witcher 3?

[Dartmaster]

I just upgraded to windows 10, installed latest nvidia driver (353.62 I think) and noticed while playing the witcher 3 that mem. usage was getting up to 6996MB. Where before it never went above 3800MB or so which is in line with my cards specs. This is at max resolution 4096x2160 all settings at max/Ultra. I let geforce experience optimize and launch the game with evga precission x OSD running and then turn all settings to max. Also, dxdiag says directx12 is being used. Just wondering if anyone can confirm ths or tell me why I'm wrong?

System-I7 3930k@4.4gh
Dual GTX 980 SCs OC by 10% (4GB VRAM each)
16 GB patriot viper extreme 2166
300GB sdd
2TB hdd

 

[jimmysmitty]

Your system is DX12 but The Witcher 3 is still only DX11. hey have not shown anything about VRAM stacking yet and the game would also have to support it.

What it sounds like is that the monitor is reporting all VRAM use and not just the 4GB. This might have to do with the newer version of WDDM which handles all the drivers and the EVGA Precision might not be reading it the same as in Windows 7/8.

 

[Dartmaster]

Your system is DX12 but The Witcher 3 is still only DX11. hey have not shown anything about VRAM stacking yet and the game would also have to support it.

What it sounds like is that the monitor is reporting all VRAM use and not just the 4GB. This might have to do with the newer version of WDDM which handles all the drivers and the EVGA Precision might not be reading it the same as in Windows 7/8.

That's what I was thinking. Is there another monitor that I can check it against? While in-game gpu-z shows memory usage to be 4087MB for each card and OSD shows anywhere from 5480MB to 7560MB. Before windows 10 and new driver at max settings The Witcher 3 would only get about 24FPS with hairworks and AA off, but now it averages 33FPS with everything on. Something is going on (maybe driver optimization possibly) but I would like to check.

 

[jimmysmitty]

It is most likely driver optimization and Windows 10 optimization. 10 is using a newer version of WDDM10 and some DX11 features are said to be sped up by DX12 even without support.

A lot of other people are getting better performanc on 10 in other games like GTA V or Batman AK (I actually get better performance in Batman AK than I did on 8.1).

Have you tried MSI Afterburner? I think it can monitor VRAM usage as well.

 

[Dartmaster]

It is most likely driver optimization and Windows 10 optimization. 10 is using a newer version of WDDM10 and some DX11 features are said to be sped up by DX12 even without support.

A lot of other people are getting better performanc on 10 in other games like GTA V or Batman AK (I actually get better performance in Batman AK than I did on 8.1).

Have you tried MSI Afterburner? I think it can monitor VRAM usage as well.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I heard having PX and Afterburner on the same pc, can conflict with each other.

 

[jimmysmitty]

They can but you can turn off one or the other to use the other. You don;t need both running to test.

 

[Dartmaster]

Thanks, I'll give it a shot.

 

[Dartmaster]

MSI Afterburner had the exact same readings (6680MB at max) but I think you were right in the first place. Thanks

 

[GObonzo]

A lot of other people are getting better performanc on 10 in other games like GTA V or Batman AK (I actually get better performance in Batman AK than I did on 8.1).

definitely some kind of optimization going on. Arkham Knight was the worst stutter fest i had ever seen on 8.1 but with 10 it is playable, actually sitting at a smooth 60fps for a good percentage of the time. have installed no updates for the game since the OS upgrade.