GPU help very important please help me

[dusR]

hello!!

i am going to buy a new gpu soon!

i just wanted to ask about the Gigabyte GTX 690 4GB!
i saw in some forums that its only 2gb(s) or something like that i just wanted to make sure,
some say i works all 4gb(s) but if you have 2 monitors because that gpu contains 2 gpu(s)
so they say if you have 1 monitor it will use only 1 of the 2 gpu(s) so i will have 2gb of VRAM ?
i want to know because if i will have all the card features including 4gb on 1 monitor it is perfect of me...

and btw i dont want to get answers like bottle neck or etc becuase i have good parts, i7 2700k, 16gb ram, and 1050W power.

 

[Sakkura]

The card has 4 GB memory, but each GPU needs to have the same data in its 2 GB memory, so effectively there's only 2 GB usable memory. That goes whether you connect one or more screens.

2 GB is fine for a single monitor but may become a problem when gaming at multi-monitor resolutions. If you just have the game on one monitor and the Windows desktop on another, that's fine.

 

[teaser]

it will have and use 4 gigs if that is the specs on the card,but it depends how much of that 4 gigs is used depending on other factors,in other words, the resolution your playing at and the games graphics settings,for your use,you should be fine......4 gigs of video memory is way plenty for your use

 

[geofelt]

The GTX690 is essentially two 2gb GTX680 gpu's running in sli under the covers.
The card has a total of 4gb. but each gpu has access to 2gb.
It really is a moot point, since vram is rarely any sort of a performance hit.
Read this: http://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Video-Card-Performance-2GB-vs-4GB-Memory-154

Some games do not play well with dual gpu's, either in a singlle card or two separate cards.
This is not common.

Also, unless you are planning on triple monitor gaming, or are a professional gamer, a GTX690 may not be appropriate compared to a single GTX680.
Assing a second side monitor will have no effect on anything.

If budget is of no concern, then by all means go for it, a GTX690 is as good as it gets today.

 

[dusR]

one more question... just last check,

if money and bottleneck and pc stuff wasnt the problem, would you get an gtx 690 with 4GB or single GTX 680 with 4GB and explain you answer please!!!

 

[neon neophyte]

dont listen to teaser, it is akin to a 2gb card, as each gpu uses 2gb

 

[geofelt]

one more question... just last check,

if money and bottleneck and pc stuff wasnt the problem, would you get an gtx 690 with 4GB or single GTX 680 with 4GB and explain you answer please!!!

If money were no object, I would buy the GTX690.

1. The 2gb/4gb is not an issue of any importance.
2. The GTX690 will still perform as well as a GTX680 in those games that do not support dual gpu's.
3. In games that do support dual cards, you are looking at a big increase in gaming power.

 

[DarkSable]

one more question... just last check,

if money and bottleneck and pc stuff wasnt the problem, would you get an gtx 690 with 4GB or single GTX 680 with 4GB and explain you answer please!!!

Both are bad picks if you're only playing on a single monitor. A single 2GB 670 will max out pretty much any game on a normal 1080p, 60Hz monitor.

The 680 is a bad choice because it's only 5% faster than a 670, but it's 25-30% more expensive.

The 690 is a card for people who don't know what they're talking about - because it has two GPUs, it has only 2GB usable VRAM, just like 2GB cards in SLI... that means that it's not great at multi-monitor gaming, but it's way overkill for single-monitor gaming.

Also, just so you know, because you might not... A 4GB card is not going to be any faster than a 2GB card under normal circumstances. All the "GB" refers to is how much memory it has to store the frames before they're displayed. 2GB is MORE than enough for a single screen.

 

[neon neophyte]

its not like using over 2gb of video ram is unheard of, it just isnt very common and not mainstream.

mutli monitor setups in combination with modification can use considerably more than 2gb of video ram. maldo 4.0 mod for crysis 2 has been see using as much as 3800 mb of ram for instance.

 

[dusR]

accually the GTX 690 isnt really overkill for me even tho i am using single moniter becuase i am not only a professional gamer but i record my games aswell and gaming and recording with fraps for example takes almost double performance.
and i want the card to last longer and be up to date more time, if i would but 670 next year i will have to buy a new card again... but 690 will keep working very fine as example from the performance graph at the nvidia website you can see that the 590 has better performance then the 680 so if i buy 690 now even in about a year i will have better performance then the 780 for example....