How much VRAM does skyrim need?

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Jonathan Sifleet

Jonathan Sifleet

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Apr 25, 2013
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I'm upgrading my backup pc, as I've sold my current pc (in my signature), and I'd like to know how much VRAM I'll need for skyrim, the thing is, it'll be heavily modded, SMIM, an ENB, 4k textures etc... I watched a video by a youtuber called Gophersvids, and his VRAM usage reaches about 2.8 gb's in certain places, but his skyrim doesnt have nearly as many mods as I'd like mine to have, he only uses 2k textures and no ENB, so how much should VRAM should I go for? I could always SLI two cards.
 
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edogawa
3GB would probably be good for heavily modified Skyrim...I could use 3GB to be honest with all my mods.

I'd say get a 4GB 770 in SLI, and overclock your processor high as you can go. My 670 2GB isn't enough when fully decked out in mods, VRAM hits the roof.
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edogawa

edogawa

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3GB would probably be good for heavily modified Skyrim...I could use 3GB to be honest with all my mods.

I'd say get a 4GB 770 in SLI, and overclock your processor high as you can go. My 670 2GB isn't enough when fully decked out in mods, VRAM hits the roof.
 
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Jonathan Sifleet

Jonathan Sifleet

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Bit of a money problem, I'm planning to OC the CPU im getting to 5ghz (8320). Can skyrim take advantage of SLI? I was thinking either tri-sli 650's for 6gb's of RAM, but unsure if the GPU's will actually be able to get 60+ FPS. Getting a single 4gb gigabyte 670. Or waiting for the new AMD cards coming out in october. However, if possible I want to stick with one card, as I plan to get a new case, GPU, PSU this year, and a new motherboard, CPU, and cooler the next.
 
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wolfkraut

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ENB is not currently compatible with SLI or Crossfire, so it would be a waste of money.

I would say 2GB would be playable, but if you're going for a truly maxed out experience, I would suggest at least a 3GB card, even 4GB would be worth it here. You should check out the ENB Boost mod by the original creator of ENB, though, the program supposedly makes the game's usage of RAM and VRAM more efficient allowing it to function with less and run even better with more.
 
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wolfkraut

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That won't work, besides SLI and Crossfire not being compatible with ENB and not really being an ideal solution (a single more powerful card is ALWAYS preferable to multiple cards, some people still like it, but the technology is not advanced enough yet for them to provide the best experience), VRAM does NOT stack, it is mirrored, so if you SLI 3 2GB cards, you will still have only 2GB of VRAM.

AMD cards usually have more VRAM for less, however, ENB is developed on nVidia hardware and doesn't always function properly with AMD's. That's not to say it would be a bad choice, a recent nVidia driver actually broke ENB. Still, for now a 4GB 760 or 670 would probably be your best choice or a 7970.
 
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edogawa

edogawa

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Skyrim won't be the only game he plays though, so SLI(770's) is still a good option unless money is an issue.

A single powerful/overclocked graphics card will handle Skyrim decked out with mods well, but only so much though; you will have to limit yourself at some point.

I think a single 780 3GB would be an adequate card:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127746


You may want to consider Intel processor as the game will perform quite a bit better. This is kind of an old benchmark, but still reliable I'm sure:

skyrim%201920.png
 
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Jonathan Sifleet

Jonathan Sifleet

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Naturally, of course I'll play more than skyrim. But as far as I'm aware, a full modded skyrim will use more VRAM than any other game. And I'm going to stick with the 8320 (with a high OC), it's ~semi-budget.
 
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