Hello there, im in a pickle on which 770 i should buy. I was going to go for the Asus 770 with 2gb vram because its just a monster, but then the bf4 specs were released. They recommend a 3gb card. Thats probably just a marketing thing since amd has the 3gb cards and no game except for heavily modded skyrim uses mroe than 2, yada yada i know all that, but heres my question. I plan on playing at 1080p. PROBABLY not on ultra everything maxed, maybe on high with some aa and filters etc etc since i plan on recording gameplay as well (Hopefully with shadowplay) As of now, 2gb is plenty. BUT. What about 2 years from now? I highly doubt that games are still going to be using 2gb ram. I dont know when im going to upgrade my gpu, but i just want it to last around 2 years easily without it starting to loose performance just because of something simple like vram.. So should i just get the 4GB and be more "future proof" in that aspect just in case games start using more of it? Or should i just get the 2gb version, turn down some settings, and upgrade sooner to a 8xx card or maybe even 9xx card when they come out? I plan on buying it within the next week or so, i would like to get it before the bf4 beta is out, since we all know dice. Beta = final game downgraded to 1 map & 1 game mode. Please help :c
GTX 770 2GB VS 4GB "future proofing" BF4
- Thread starter JoseyMG
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dannyboy2233
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I hate to say it, but the concept of "future-proofing" in computers is simply nonexistent. I can almost completely guarantee you that you will start to see the games lagging and your graphics card struggling before you will really need the extra VRAM.
Take, for example, the GTX 295. Released in early 2009, it was the top-of-the-line, dual-GPU card from NVIDIA. Now, only four years later, it is practically obsolete. I can go on ebay right now and buy one for 20% what it originally cost, due to the fact that, when it comes to maximum performance, no one wants it anymore.
And that was their top-of-the-line card. The 770, although it is a spectacular card, is not the very best. As I said, the GPU will become obsolete and start underperforming before you will see that the VRAM limit is being pushed.
Since you won't be playing on Ultra, there's even more reason to not get 4GB.
Take, for example, the GTX 295. Released in early 2009, it was the top-of-the-line, dual-GPU card from NVIDIA. Now, only four years later, it is practically obsolete. I can go on ebay right now and buy one for 20% what it originally cost, due to the fact that, when it comes to maximum performance, no one wants it anymore.
And that was their top-of-the-line card. The 770, although it is a spectacular card, is not the very best. As I said, the GPU will become obsolete and start underperforming before you will see that the VRAM limit is being pushed.
Since you won't be playing on Ultra, there's even more reason to not get 4GB.
Take a look at these benchmarks on BF4 alpha: http://www.bf4blog.com/battlefield-4-alpha-gpu-and-cpu-benchmarks/
You'll see at the end, it shows memory usage to go beyond 2Gb, but just above, all the benchmarks show equal minimums and averages of comparable 2Gb and 3Gb cards.
It doesn't appear to need more than 2Gb, and at those settings, the game isn't playable anyways, unless you SLI.
If you never plan to SLI, I'd just get the 2Gb card, if you do, it might be worth considering the extra cost of the 4Gb card.
You'll see at the end, it shows memory usage to go beyond 2Gb, but just above, all the benchmarks show equal minimums and averages of comparable 2Gb and 3Gb cards.
It doesn't appear to need more than 2Gb, and at those settings, the game isn't playable anyways, unless you SLI.
If you never plan to SLI, I'd just get the 2Gb card, if you do, it might be worth considering the extra cost of the 4Gb card.
Keep in mind that was alpha and the game was poorly optimized. I might sli, when games get too tough for the card to handle, but that all depends on the cards that will be out at the time. Id rather just get a newer single card than an older 770 :T
Thats why i put it in quotes
And i guess youre right about the card struggling before i exceed the vram. Ill be getting the asus and see how it performs in the beta. I trust dice and hopefully they know what theyre doing. They also said a 8800gt can still play it so i should be fine with the 2gb 770.
dannyboy2233
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JoseyMG :
Thats why i put it in quotes
And i guess youre right about the card struggling before i exceed the vram. Ill be getting the asus and see how it performs in the beta. I trust dice and hopefully they know what theyre doing. They also said a 8800gt can still play it so i should be fine with the 2gb 770.
Yeah, I gotcha.
Go for it! I was having the same problem (although I was going to purchase dual 770s), and I ended up going with a 690 that I got for a great deal. The 680 is similar enough to the 770 that we can call them the "same", and I have yet to reach the VRAM limit in any game that I play, including BF3, Borderlands 2, etc. all on Ultra with full AA.
Good luck!
dannyboy2233
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Reaper0402
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dannyboy2233 :
JoseyMG :
Thats why i put it in quotes
And i guess youre right about the card struggling before i exceed the vram. Ill be getting the asus and see how it performs in the beta. I trust dice and hopefully they know what theyre doing. They also said a 8800gt can still play it so i should be fine with the 2gb 770.
Yeah, I gotcha.
Go for it! I was having the same problem (although I was going to purchase dual 770s), and I ended up going with a 690 that I got for a great deal. The 680 is similar enough to the 770 that we can call them the "same", and I have yet to reach the VRAM limit in any game that I play, including BF3, Borderlands 2, etc. all on Ultra with full AA.
Good luck!
I was playing BF3 tonight and it was pulling steady 1.8 gb of vram on ultra preset with the occasional spike to over 2 gb (1080). If its not too much more I would say go for the 4gb. Dice is recommending 3gb, I doubt that's merely a marketing ploy, the game will likely tax a 2gb card on the higher settings. I went for the 760 4gb and do not regret it.
dannyboy2233
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Reaper0402 :
dannyboy2233 :
JoseyMG :
Thats why i put it in quotes
And i guess youre right about the card struggling before i exceed the vram. Ill be getting the asus and see how it performs in the beta. I trust dice and hopefully they know what theyre doing. They also said a 8800gt can still play it so i should be fine with the 2gb 770.
Yeah, I gotcha.
Go for it! I was having the same problem (although I was going to purchase dual 770s), and I ended up going with a 690 that I got for a great deal. The 680 is similar enough to the 770 that we can call them the "same", and I have yet to reach the VRAM limit in any game that I play, including BF3, Borderlands 2, etc. all on Ultra with full AA.
Good luck!
I was playing BF3 tonight and it was pulling steady 1.8 gb of vram on ultra preset with the occasional spike to over 2 gb (1080). If its not too much more I would say go for the 4gb. Dice is recommending 3gb, I doubt that's merely a marketing ploy, the game will likely tax a 2gb card on the higher settings. I went for the 760 4gb and do not regret it.
However, you must also remember that AMD is the only company that makes 3GB cards, and that BF4 is optimized for AMD. I disagree with you, and I think that their "3GB" claim is simply a marketing ploy.
Reaper0402
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dannyboy2233 :
Reaper0402 :
dannyboy2233 :
JoseyMG :
Thats why i put it in quotes
And i guess youre right about the card struggling before i exceed the vram. Ill be getting the asus and see how it performs in the beta. I trust dice and hopefully they know what theyre doing. They also said a 8800gt can still play it so i should be fine with the 2gb 770.
Yeah, I gotcha.
Go for it! I was having the same problem (although I was going to purchase dual 770s), and I ended up going with a 690 that I got for a great deal. The 680 is similar enough to the 770 that we can call them the "same", and I have yet to reach the VRAM limit in any game that I play, including BF3, Borderlands 2, etc. all on Ultra with full AA.
Good luck!
I was playing BF3 tonight and it was pulling steady 1.8 gb of vram on ultra preset with the occasional spike to over 2 gb (1080). If its not too much more I would say go for the 4gb. Dice is recommending 3gb, I doubt that's merely a marketing ploy, the game will likely tax a 2gb card on the higher settings. I went for the 760 4gb and do not regret it.
However, you must also remember that AMD is the only company that makes 3GB cards, and that BF4 is optimized for AMD. I disagree with you, and I think that their "3GB" claim is simply a marketing ploy.
Well actually there are nvidia cards with 3gb (http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130835). As for bf4 being optimized for AMD - it wouldn't change my decision for 4g vs 2gb.
We'll know soon enough if the 3gb recommendation is a ploy, I'll post my stats on the beta next week and the full version when available.
Reaper0402
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quick update based on my first play through of the siege of shanghai Beta. I played 2 rounds on the "auto" video settings which set my textures to ultra and everything else to high. Afterburner logged that a steady 2.225 gb if vram was used for almost the entire time. For interest I played part of a third match on ultra preset and found that the vram usage logged jumped a bit to 2.35 gb. Note that this was on a 32 player map not 64 so could affect things. Will keep playing and see if I get different results.
OUch thats a lot of ram. I might actually have to return this as im also getting near the 2gb limit. 1.9 on ultra with some settings on low, also 32 players :c Might get one of the amd cards so i can get bf4 for free while im at it.
Keep in mind, that GPU VRAM usage reported is often times a fair bit higher than the VRAM that is needed for optimal results. A game knows if it needs to release VRAM or not based on how much VRAM the card has, and does not always choose to release unused VRAM.
DarylEPerez
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The 2GB, you don't really need 4GB unless you're into multiple displays. I own GTX 770 2GB, look at the gameplay I recorded on Battlefield 4:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6cUTWlW1fQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6cUTWlW1fQ
These 2Gb 770s should be referred to as "half-VRAM" cards, because that's what they are. That 2Gb limit is going to be a very HARD limitation for you in no time. Sure, BF4 might be OK at high + FSAA 4x on 2gb. But unless that's the ONLY game you'll be playing for the foreseeable future, you aren't getting the full picture of future VRAM usage for optimal performance.
Do you remember the GTX 570? It has a measly 1.25Gb of VRAM. I remember it well, because I had 2 of those, and was forced to dial BF3 back, not because of lack of GPU power on my SLI rig, but because of lack of VRAM. And if it happened to me with the second best nV half-VRAM card 2 years ago, it's a fair bet that it will happen again.
NEVER EVER buy half-VRAM cards! They are another one of nVidia's planned obsolescence / upgradeology / money grabbing schemes. Look at AMD, they had 2GB with the 69xx series almost 3 years ago and look, that's enough VRAM to run BF4 at really nice settings. Those are 3 year old cards! Anyone with a 7970 (again, 2 year old card) has 3Gb and that's enough for BF4 on the highest settings!
And to the guy stating that AMD is the only one with 3Gb cards, how much does the GTX 780 have by default?
So, in short, if you want to know how much VRAM you should get in your cards, look at AMD's lineup. Don't want an AMD? Fine, just get the nV card that has that amount of VRAM or more. My main rig has nV cards, but I always use my rule of getting the full VRAM, not the cut-down, half VRAM model. Sure, price/performance it's not so attractive, but for price/performance, there is AMD. My second gaming rig sports a 7970 and it's good stuff too.
Do you remember the GTX 570? It has a measly 1.25Gb of VRAM. I remember it well, because I had 2 of those, and was forced to dial BF3 back, not because of lack of GPU power on my SLI rig, but because of lack of VRAM. And if it happened to me with the second best nV half-VRAM card 2 years ago, it's a fair bet that it will happen again.
NEVER EVER buy half-VRAM cards! They are another one of nVidia's planned obsolescence / upgradeology / money grabbing schemes. Look at AMD, they had 2GB with the 69xx series almost 3 years ago and look, that's enough VRAM to run BF4 at really nice settings. Those are 3 year old cards! Anyone with a 7970 (again, 2 year old card) has 3Gb and that's enough for BF4 on the highest settings!
And to the guy stating that AMD is the only one with 3Gb cards, how much does the GTX 780 have by default?
So, in short, if you want to know how much VRAM you should get in your cards, look at AMD's lineup. Don't want an AMD? Fine, just get the nV card that has that amount of VRAM or more. My main rig has nV cards, but I always use my rule of getting the full VRAM, not the cut-down, half VRAM model. Sure, price/performance it's not so attractive, but for price/performance, there is AMD. My second gaming rig sports a 7970 and it's good stuff too.
WateriZgood
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The only reason you will need 4gb cards is for higher resolutions like 1440p. Higher resolutions require more Vram due to higher texture count. If your just playing at 1920x1080 then 2gb should be fine for the next couple of years.
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