More Vram or more ram?

[gunnyfreak]

Hi, So my new card (AMD Radeon HD 6950 1GB) is having video memory issues with some games on ultra....

the game (hawken) would crash with an error message that says out of video memory, try lower texture resolution.

I only have 4 GB of system Ram and am considering an upgrade on that front, would that help with this problem?

My current findings would seem to be yes (I played on a map with less texture than another, the Ram display was lower by 25 percent on the former), but I thought it best to consult the collective wisdom of TH before committing the money

Thanks in advance

gunny

 

[Deleted member 217926]

The game is still in beta. That's the problem right there. It just has not been optimized yet and is not officially supported by your video driver. An HD 6950 should be able to handle just about any game at 1920 x 1080 or less although you might have to turn down the eye candy in some of the newer more demanding titles.

4GB of RAM should be fine. 8GB is the new normal I guess you could say but that is really just because RAM is dirt cheap right now more than because it's needed. What are the rest of your specs? A good 8GB DDR3 1600 kit can be had for ~$45 so that is a cheap upgrade.

I have the feeling once the game is finished it will be a better experience for you.

How is it? I have been a huge mech game fan since Mechwarrior 2 came as a showcase title for the 2MB Ati Rage II + 3D that came in my IBM Pentium 233Mhz Windows 95 box back in the late 90s. I might have to check it out especially if it's free to play.

 

[gunnyfreak]

thanks for the advise.... My main question is whether if getting more RAM will help when my Vram isn't enough, have you anything to say on that?

Hawken Alpha (yes, it's in alpha) runs under a strict NDA that basically means I can't discuss the details, so I'll just say it's the best damn FPS I've played for the past decade and leave it at that. (my opinion ofc, but I think it's that good)

Oh yeah, specs:
Mobo: Asus M5A78L
HDD: Seagate 500GB
CPU: AMD FX4100

 

[ShadyHamster]

Hawken seems to run perfectly fine on my HD5870 at 1080p with max settings.

i would suggest upgrading the ram and try with that.

my specs are:
CPU: P2 960t @4ghz
mobo: Gigabyte GA-890XA-UD3
ram: corsair dominator 8gig
120gig ssd.

btw the alpha closes in a day or so, maybe less (time zones are annoying to work out).

 

[Deleted member 217926]

The FX 4100 is notorious for being a bottleneck. It's just not a great gaming CPU and that might be holding your 6950 back a bit. Overclocking it to ~4.5Ghz will help a bit.

More system RAM will not help a lack of VRAM. It will not hurt anything though. And as I mentioned above is a very cheap upgrade.

Too bad about the NDA. Wikipedia says the game is still in closed beta until December. I will have to check it out for sure. I was just getting psyched up about the Mechwarrior Online article from a few days ago.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/MechWarrior-Online-Piranha-preview-beta-review,18123.html

 

[gunnyfreak]

Best answer selected by gunnyfreak.

 

[gunnyfreak]

It would OC that high? damn......

What precautions should I keep in mind before doing that? cooling n all?

also does the CPU or mobo have any failsafe that would prevent noob overclockers from frying the stuff?

Never OC'ed before.... tbh I'm kinda scared......

maybe I'll wait till I really need it, some info right now would be nice though

thanks in advance

gunny

 

[Deleted member 217926]

The FX chips are great overclockers. You would need aftermarket CPU cooling and a case with at least a couple of fans.

With any overclock you start low and only after stability testing do you go higher.

There are great guides online if you just google " overclocking FX 4100 " and you can even add your motherboard model to that search and see specific guides.

Use Prime 95 small FFT test to check for stability.

http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft/

Monitor temps with CoreTemp and HWMonitor.

http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

 

[swifty_morgan]

forgot to mention your monitor and resolution I think. but not having enough vram will most certainly cause spits and sputters because information can't be held on the card's one gig frame buffer, the card unloads to the HD ( virtual ram ) ......

stop blaming the 4100.

1gig is the new 512..................... get used to it.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

forgot to mention your monitor and resolution I think. but not having enough vram will most certainly cause spits and sputters because information can't be held on the card's one gig frame buffer, the card unloads to the HD ( virtual ram ) ......

stop blaming the 4100.

1gig is the new 512..................... get used to it.

Yeah....except for the other poster with a less powerful graphics card and a better gaming CPU who has no problems maxing the game.

 

[swifty_morgan]

gotta remember the 5870 won't render the same as the 6950. the 6950 has something like twice the components and twice the rendering capability. completely different animals. it's the lack of vram that's hurting.

 

[swifty_morgan]

here's a video for you. although the processor speed isn't something we can all achieve or possess it will give you some kind of perspective on what I'm talking about......... not too long ago tons of people were saying how great the 560 was......... except for me. always thought it was a pile of manure....... but watch carefully and pay attention. it will show how important vram is.......... especially as we move ahead and evolve ( games )

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CC0QtwIwAg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DHaXVrCFvL94&ei=fiZvULb6POri0QG8zID4Bw&usg=AFQjCNGunZ8BusEF5MFOKOwnv0W0NtNofA&cad=rja

 

[egilbe]

Of course a new Kepler based GPU should run faster than the last gen Fermi Architecture. That doesn't explain why a last gen Radeon GPU runs faster than new gen Radeon GPU

 

[swifty_morgan]

yawn >>>>>>>>....................