Hello, I'm looking to upgrade an HD 5850 to a 600 series Nvidia card, and before making a final decision I'm hoping to learn more about how VRAM and memory bandwidth affect gaming performance.
Normally, I'd just go with the in game benchmarks that indicate that the GTX 660Ti is 90% of the 670, the 670 is 90% of the 680, and hundred dollar cost increments make the 660Ti the best value. However, first the TH review of the 660Ti gave me pause, and then further search turned up a bundle of forum threads with lots of nonspecific pessimism about the 660Ti's performance going forward, due to the smaller memory bus.
I'm now thoroughly concerned about the 660Ti being a good value for current titles, but with a dramatic decline in performance going forward. Worse, I'm looking at the lower memory bandwidth and smaller VRAM on 600 series cards compared with Radeon 7900s cards, and wondering if the same might be the case for this whole generation.
Does anyone have a good explanation (or even just a link) that could confirm or allay my fears? I see from what little I've found that lots of factors affect VRAM requirements, so I'll include relevant personal considerations:
CPU: i5-2500k
CPU cooler: CORSAIR CAFA70
Mobo: Gigabyte Z68X-UD3-B3
RAM: 8GB, 2x4GB DDR3 GSkill
Graphics: HD 5850, 1GB VRAM
PSU: Kingwin ABT-730MM 730W
Case: LIANLI PC-A70F (two front, one rear fan)
Monitor: 1680x1050
I really value smooth performance, and appreciate pretty graphics, so my priorities are high FPS and then high settings. I can imagine getting a higher resolution monitor in the next couple years, but I don't think I'll be considering a multi-screen display.
At the moment, my favored titles are:
Battlefield 3 (and BF4, when it eventually hits)
Shogun 2: Total War
Batman: Arkham City
I'm looking forward to:
Dishonored
Company of Heroes 2
Rome 2: Total War
At the moment, I'm looking hard at two GTX 670 cards:
GIGABYTE GV-N670OC-2GD GeForce GTX 670 2GB 256-bit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125423
Galaxy 67NQH6DN6KXZ GeForce GTX 670 GC 4GB 256-bit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162118
Thanks in advance – any thoughtful advice is really appreciated.
Normally, I'd just go with the in game benchmarks that indicate that the GTX 660Ti is 90% of the 670, the 670 is 90% of the 680, and hundred dollar cost increments make the 660Ti the best value. However, first the TH review of the 660Ti gave me pause, and then further search turned up a bundle of forum threads with lots of nonspecific pessimism about the 660Ti's performance going forward, due to the smaller memory bus.
I'm now thoroughly concerned about the 660Ti being a good value for current titles, but with a dramatic decline in performance going forward. Worse, I'm looking at the lower memory bandwidth and smaller VRAM on 600 series cards compared with Radeon 7900s cards, and wondering if the same might be the case for this whole generation.
Does anyone have a good explanation (or even just a link) that could confirm or allay my fears? I see from what little I've found that lots of factors affect VRAM requirements, so I'll include relevant personal considerations:
CPU: i5-2500k
CPU cooler: CORSAIR CAFA70
Mobo: Gigabyte Z68X-UD3-B3
RAM: 8GB, 2x4GB DDR3 GSkill
Graphics: HD 5850, 1GB VRAM
PSU: Kingwin ABT-730MM 730W
Case: LIANLI PC-A70F (two front, one rear fan)
Monitor: 1680x1050
I really value smooth performance, and appreciate pretty graphics, so my priorities are high FPS and then high settings. I can imagine getting a higher resolution monitor in the next couple years, but I don't think I'll be considering a multi-screen display.
At the moment, my favored titles are:
Battlefield 3 (and BF4, when it eventually hits)
Shogun 2: Total War
Batman: Arkham City
I'm looking forward to:
Dishonored
Company of Heroes 2
Rome 2: Total War
At the moment, I'm looking hard at two GTX 670 cards:
GIGABYTE GV-N670OC-2GD GeForce GTX 670 2GB 256-bit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125423
Galaxy 67NQH6DN6KXZ GeForce GTX 670 GC 4GB 256-bit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162118
Thanks in advance – any thoughtful advice is really appreciated.