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4GB cards vs. 6GB

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  • Gtx
  • GPUs
  • Graphics
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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June 21, 2014 11:53:38 PM

My GPU currently is a GTX 770 2gb and I want to future-proof my card a little. So I'm going to get a 4gb version of the 770 but I also considered getting a 780 6gb card. But I'm unsure of which one to get. I'm obviously looking for the one with more value.

More about : 4gb cards 6gb

June 22, 2014 12:09:37 AM

Neither would present a value in your current situation unless you are attempting to play at 1440 or 4k

The GTX770 will play most things at max settings at 1080 or lower just fine. It will also play many things on high or better over 1080 too.

The GTX770 4G wont give you a noticeable difference in almost all scenarios. The GTX780 would give you ~15-20% improvement but you most likely don't need it. So save your cash for whatever is coming next.
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June 22, 2014 12:13:48 AM

Kraszmyl said:
Neither would present a value in your current situation unless you are attempting to play at 1440 or 4k

The GTX770 will play most things at max settings at 1080 or lower just fine. It will also play many things on high or better over 1080 too.

The GTX770 4G wont give you a noticeable difference in almost all scenarios. The GTX780 would give you ~15-20% improvement but you most likely don't need it. So save your cash for whatever is coming next.


My card is having issues running Watch_Dogs because it is not a 4gb card. I get lag/stuttering every second I drive a vehicle. The newer games are going to use more memory, I don't know why you didn't mention that.
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June 22, 2014 12:40:51 AM

Try selling you 770 and get something like an R9 290 or an R9 290X which both have 4GB VRAM, R9 290 is GTX 780 and a 290X is very VERY close to a 780 Ti if you over clock a 290X just a little it can be above a reference 780 Ti, I've seen a lot of posts and videos from reviewers saying they get the best experience on watch dogs out of an R9 290X, you can find them both very cheap on amazon compared to the competition, AMD drivers and support was only bad back in the ATI days so don't worry about that and also heat between AMD and Nvidia isn't a problem the 780 runs a tiny bit cooler than the R9 290 but the 780 Ti and the R9 290X run at the same heat, but an aftermarket cooler can change alot, if you have anymore questions just ask I'm around quite often, good luck :) 
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June 22, 2014 12:48:28 AM

PC-Noobist said:
Try selling you 770 and get something like an R9 290 or an R9 290X which both have 4GB VRAM, R9 290 is GTX 780 and a 290X is very VERY close to a 780 Ti if you over clock a 290X just a little it can be above a reference 780 Ti, I've seen a lot of posts and videos from reviewers saying they get the best experience on watch dogs out of an R9 290X, you can find them both very cheap on amazon compared to the competition, AMD drivers and support was only bad back in the ATI days so don't worry about that and also heat between AMD and Nvidia isn't a problem the 780 runs a tiny bit cooler than the R9 290 but the 780 Ti and the R9 290X run at the same heat, but an aftermarket cooler can change alot, if you have anymore questions just ask I'm around quite often, good luck :) 


I more of a Nvidia fan.
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June 22, 2014 1:21:57 AM

Just hold onto your current GPU and wait for next gen GPU. The latest rumor suggest 880/870 might come around October/November time frame. Even if this rumor turn out to be false the expectation is for both AMD and nvidia to launch their next gen part with the first half of next year. On other rumor (well not really rumor since the info is based on real shipping parts) that nvidia next high end will going to have as much as 8GB of VRAM on reference design.
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June 22, 2014 1:27:33 AM

renz496 said:
Just hold onto your current GPU and wait for next gen GPU. The latest rumor suggest 880/870 might come around October/November time frame. Even if this rumor turn out to be false the expectation is for both AMD and nvidia to launch their next gen part with the first half of next year. On other rumor (well not really rumor since the info is based on real shipping parts) that nvidia next high end will going to have as much as 8GB of VRAM on reference design.


Probably not going to buy another card for a while. I already spent enough on my current setup.
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June 22, 2014 1:28:19 AM

Mr_inflexible said:
PC-Noobist said:
Try selling you 770 and get something like an R9 290 or an R9 290X which both have 4GB VRAM, R9 290 is GTX 780 and a 290X is very VERY close to a 780 Ti if you over clock a 290X just a little it can be above a reference 780 Ti, I've seen a lot of posts and videos from reviewers saying they get the best experience on watch dogs out of an R9 290X, you can find them both very cheap on amazon compared to the competition, AMD drivers and support was only bad back in the ATI days so don't worry about that and also heat between AMD and Nvidia isn't a problem the 780 runs a tiny bit cooler than the R9 290 but the 780 Ti and the R9 290X run at the same heat, but an aftermarket cooler can change alot, if you have anymore questions just ask I'm around quite often, good luck :) 


I more of a Nvidia fan.


Well honestly if you want the best performance for your money then just grab another 2GB 770, you will got a lot more performance than 1 770 but sometimes ultra "might" be a problem, I'm sure that you know that if you get a 2GB 770 and a 4GB 770 the 4GB version will act as a 2GB, oh and i see watch dogs using 3.2GB so any 3GB card still won't be sufficient so your best upgrade is either of the two you chose any the one that holds the best performance is the 6GB 780 which costs just a bit less than a 780 Ti but if you can't afford that a 4GB 770, your whole situation comes down to money.
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June 22, 2014 1:40:33 AM

PC-Noobist said:
Mr_inflexible said:
PC-Noobist said:
Try selling you 770 and get something like an R9 290 or an R9 290X which both have 4GB VRAM, R9 290 is GTX 780 and a 290X is very VERY close to a 780 Ti if you over clock a 290X just a little it can be above a reference 780 Ti, I've seen a lot of posts and videos from reviewers saying they get the best experience on watch dogs out of an R9 290X, you can find them both very cheap on amazon compared to the competition, AMD drivers and support was only bad back in the ATI days so don't worry about that and also heat between AMD and Nvidia isn't a problem the 780 runs a tiny bit cooler than the R9 290 but the 780 Ti and the R9 290X run at the same heat, but an aftermarket cooler can change alot, if you have anymore questions just ask I'm around quite often, good luck :) 


I more of a Nvidia fan.


Well honestly if you want the best performance for your money then just grab another 2GB 770, you will got a lot more performance than 1 770 but sometimes ultra "might" be a problem, I'm sure that you know that if you get a 2GB 770 and a 4GB 770 the 4GB version will act as a 2GB, oh and i see watch dogs using 3.2GB so any 3GB card still won't be sufficient so your best upgrade is either of the two you chose any the one that holds the best performance is the 6GB 780 which costs just a bit less than a 780 Ti but if you can't afford that a 4GB 770, your whole situation comes down to money.


I can get a 4GB card but I probably won't get it for one game. I've heard news about new games using more memory that's the only reason I want a 4GB card.
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June 22, 2014 2:59:13 AM

Mr_inflexible said:
PC-Noobist said:
Mr_inflexible said:
PC-Noobist said:
Try selling you 770 and get something like an R9 290 or an R9 290X which both have 4GB VRAM, R9 290 is GTX 780 and a 290X is very VERY close to a 780 Ti if you over clock a 290X just a little it can be above a reference 780 Ti, I've seen a lot of posts and videos from reviewers saying they get the best experience on watch dogs out of an R9 290X, you can find them both very cheap on amazon compared to the competition, AMD drivers and support was only bad back in the ATI days so don't worry about that and also heat between AMD and Nvidia isn't a problem the 780 runs a tiny bit cooler than the R9 290 but the 780 Ti and the R9 290X run at the same heat, but an aftermarket cooler can change alot, if you have anymore questions just ask I'm around quite often, good luck :) 


I more of a Nvidia fan.


Well honestly if you want the best performance for your money then just grab another 2GB 770, you will got a lot more performance than 1 770 but sometimes ultra "might" be a problem, I'm sure that you know that if you get a 2GB 770 and a 4GB 770 the 4GB version will act as a 2GB, oh and i see watch dogs using 3.2GB so any 3GB card still won't be sufficient so your best upgrade is either of the two you chose any the one that holds the best performance is the 6GB 780 which costs just a bit less than a 780 Ti but if you can't afford that a 4GB 770, your whole situation comes down to money.


I can get a 4GB card but I probably won't get it for one game. I've heard news about new games using more memory that's the only reason I want a 4GB card.


That is true ^ games like Crysis 3, Watch Dogs, Battlefield 4, Modded Skyrim use 3GB of VRAM or more and thats just from the top of my head, you will yield a much better and more "future proof" experience from 4GB or more of VRAM, so if you can afford it sell the 770 and buy a 4GB version but this time around treat yourself to a higher end one like an EVGA GTX 770 Superclocked ACX as that card is BEAUTIFUL and i would get one if i wasn't building a higher end system or you could get a Gigabyte GTX 770 Windforce OC something like that to make buying a 4GB version worth it, then once you do that over clock your card and have fun
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June 22, 2014 4:05:58 AM

Mr_inflexible said:
Kraszmyl said:
Neither would present a value in your current situation unless you are attempting to play at 1440 or 4k

The GTX770 will play most things at max settings at 1080 or lower just fine. It will also play many things on high or better over 1080 too.

The GTX770 4G wont give you a noticeable difference in almost all scenarios. The GTX780 would give you ~15-20% improvement but you most likely don't need it. So save your cash for whatever is coming next.


My card is having issues running Watch_Dogs because it is not a 4gb card. I get lag/stuttering every second I drive a vehicle. The newer games are going to use more memory, I don't know why you didn't mention that.


Your question is which had more value for you. Neither.

Also watch dogs is a bad example and shown to be poorly optimized and honestly I run it maxed on a gtx680 with a e5-1650 just fine so you might be running into other issues or one of the various glitches present with the game.

Unless you are using resolutions beyond 1080 the vram is tolerable for the time being and I doubt you'll run into a reasonable limitation with it. As everyone else has said save your cash and wait for the 8 series.
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June 22, 2014 5:53:21 PM

Kraszmyl said:
Mr_inflexible said:
Kraszmyl said:
Neither would present a value in your current situation unless you are attempting to play at 1440 or 4k

The GTX770 will play most things at max settings at 1080 or lower just fine. It will also play many things on high or better over 1080 too.

The GTX770 4G wont give you a noticeable difference in almost all scenarios. The GTX780 would give you ~15-20% improvement but you most likely don't need it. So save your cash for whatever is coming next.


My card is having issues running Watch_Dogs because it is not a 4gb card. I get lag/stuttering every second I drive a vehicle. The newer games are going to use more memory, I don't know why you didn't mention that.


Your question is which had more value for you. Neither.

Also watch dogs is a bad example and shown to be poorly optimized and honestly I run it maxed on a gtx680 with a e5-1650 just fine so you might be running into other issues or one of the various glitches present with the game.

Unless you are using resolutions beyond 1080 the vram is tolerable for the time being and I doubt you'll run into a reasonable limitation with it. As everyone else has said save your cash and wait for the 8 series.


When will the new 800 series cards launch? I'm going to RMA my card this week for a 4gb version.
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June 22, 2014 6:38:16 PM

No one could tell you when the 8 series will be out but most people would agree before the end of the year or januaryish at the latest baring any sort of colossal screw ups.

Why do you think you need a 4gb card? Very very few games use that much currently unless you are playing beyond 1080 which you haven't mentioned what you play at currently. Honestly you'll run into processing power limitations with a 680/770 long before you run into memory limitations generally especially at 1080. The only game I can think of off hand at 1080 that I saw use more than 2gb was Civ5.

Have you run msi afterburner or something and had it check your gpu usage to see if you are actually bottlenecking there or some where else?

I mean I play at 1920x1080 and 5670x1080 with two gtx680 2g cards. VRAM limitations with setup are rare and I mostly run into them on 5670x1080 and dropping AS/AA generally takes care of that.

I also want more vram because of the limits I run into at 5670 and a better gpu in general. But frankly even if I had a single gtx680 the like 20% difference in raw performance wouldn't be worth it for the ~300$ premium never mind the drop I would see when SLI does its thing correctly. So I like most people are waiting and seeing what Maxwell brings. But holy shit the 200$ r9-290s on craigslist have been super tempting.
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June 22, 2014 9:42:45 PM

Kraszmyl said:
No one could tell you when the 8 series will be out but most people would agree before the end of the year or januaryish at the latest baring any sort of colossal screw ups.

Why do you think you need a 4gb card? Very very few games use that much currently unless you are playing beyond 1080 which you haven't mentioned what you play at currently. Honestly you'll run into processing power limitations with a 680/770 long before you run into memory limitations generally especially at 1080. The only game I can think of off hand at 1080 that I saw use more than 2gb was Civ5.

Have you run msi afterburner or something and had it check your gpu usage to see if you are actually bottlenecking there or some where else?

I mean I play at 1920x1080 and 5670x1080 with two gtx680 2g cards. VRAM limitations with setup are rare and I mostly run into them on 5670x1080 and dropping AS/AA generally takes care of that.

I also want more vram because of the limits I run into at 5670 and a better gpu in general. But frankly even if I had a single gtx680 the like 20% difference in raw performance wouldn't be worth it for the ~300$ premium never mind the drop I would see when SLI does its thing correctly. So I like most people are waiting and seeing what Maxwell brings. But holy shit the 200$ r9-290s on craigslist have been super tempting.


Don't buy anything on craigslist lol. I need the 4gb card to future proof my gpu for a few years.
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