1 1080p monitor and 2Gb VRAM bottleneck

[Shrewsie_B]

Hey guys,

I have one 2Gb Gtx 680 right now and I've been thinking about my next upgrade in the wake of the 700 series and "next-gen"console releases. I plan on gaming on an 24" ASUS 144 Ghz 1080p monitor and want to keep FPS above 60 on everything. I like to run games on the highest textural quality with as much AA as I can get away with.

So I guess the question is: To upgrade for the next 1-2 years, should I SLI my 2Gb Gtx 680 or think about upgrading to a 4Gb 770 (probable SLI soon to follow)?

Budget is a concern and keep in mind that I'm only gaming on one monitor. Will 2 gigs of VRAM hinder the maxed out textures over the next couple years (guesses are appreciated)?

I do plan to upgrade to Maxwell if it releases around or after Holiday 2014. But until then........

Also keep in mind that I have considered holding off on Maxwell if a 4Gb Gtx 770 SLI setup holds up to every gaming benchmark well by Holiday 2014.

Thoughts?
Thanks

 

[dingo07]

you need a 4GB card - or even 2 4GB in SLI if you plan on setting everything to Ultra

depending on which games you play, like Skyrim, with texture mods, you can easily swallow up 2GB Vram

 

[dannyboy2233]

you need a 4GB card - or even 2 in SLI if you plan on setting everything to Ultra

I disagree. If OP is only running 1080p, the only thing which would really surpass the 2GB VRAM limit is heavily-modded Skyrim, at which point the VRAM would not be the hindrance. What I'm trying to say is that if it gets to the point where the VRAM is the problem, then the card itself will already be unable to perform at the highest point.
What I'm trying to say is that the card itself will become a problem long before the VRAM does.

 

[Intel God]

The only game i know that can eat up 2GB Vram at 1920X1080 is Skyrim with texture mods. Every other game is fine with 2GB at that res

 

[Xiceman007x]

Dingo is correct about skyrim actually, but that game is a-typical and the only one of its kind currently. As to the future, I personally wouldn't buy anything with less than 3gb VRAM, but I run eyefinity. Even on 3gb most games don't use that in VRAM, and the 2x 7970's lose their muscle before they run out of VRAM. My suggestion to the OP, you will have to upgrade eventually. When is determined by you when you are no longer satisfied with the image quality you set due to your cards. Then when you upgrade, I would not purchase a card with less than 3 gb VRAM. So--I would not sli when it comes time to upgrade, but rather get a new card with at least 3gb VRAM (who knows 6 might be common when you decide to upgrade), and then sli that new card after that.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

GTX 770s (2GB) in SLI is just fine at 1920 x 1080

http://uk.hardware.info/reviews/4440/nvidia-geforce-gtx-770-review-incl-3-way-sli-and-frametimes

BF3 Ultra High 4AA - 141.5 fps
Bioshoack Infinite Ultra DDOF - 124.3
Crysis 4 very High4 AA - 88.9
Dirt Showdown - Ultra High 4AA - 131.4
Far Cry 3 Ultra 4AA - 66.1
Hitman Absolution Very high 4AA - 621.1
Max payne 3 Highest 16xAF2AA - 160.4
Metro 2033 very High - 63.0
Elder Scrolls Skyrim High 4AA - 222.6
TombRaider Ultra 4AA - 91.4
Unreal 3 High 4X MSAA - 176
Dirt 3 Ultra 4AA
Hard Reset Ultra 4AA
Metro 2033 Very High
Skyrim High 4AA
Shogun 2 Ultra 4AA

 

[dingo07]

you guys are all missing the point - you have NO Idea what games in the future will do or how they'll perform, except the fact that they are not going to get less-intensive on the hardware... c'mon guys...

 

[JackNaylorPE]

For the most part the new games will be ports from weak consoles

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/PlayStation-4-Xbox-One-Alienware-APU-Radeon,23293.html

But 2 GB been standard thru the 5xx, 6xx and 7xx series .... it's primarily large resolutions that have been kicking up the memory numbers. Break 1920 x 1080 and it starts to matter.

 

[adimeister]

Yea, like what Intel God and dannyboy2233 said, you need 2gb or higher if you run a multi monitor setup.

 

[katiklysm]

I think 2GB will be fine for 3-4 years.

Could be entirely wrong, and I wouldn't be all that surprised- but I can't imagine Nvidia shipping the majority of the 700 series with 2GB as the standard config if your average 1080p gamer were going to leverage more than that in the near future.

I'll admit to some mild concern here, it sounds like PS4/Xbone will have 8! GB DDR5 Graphics memory- so I suppose if that somehow becomes very useful in development for the next 2-4 years, PC ports may suffer. I actually just bought a GTX 770 2GB, so, fingers crossed.