29 replies to this topic

[ISHOTGUNJENI]

Hey!

 

I have noticed recently that my Graphics Card (Nvidia GTX 650Ti OC 2GB) has been really struggling on Skyrim lately and I think I am using up most of my VRAM, I have been getting regular stutters everytime I turn my character around and my FPS will drop, I'm also getting the odd CTD after about 2hrs of playing. I do know that my current Graphics card is not the best or the fastest.

 

I am using a lot of Texture mods like Official High Res Pack, W.A.T.E.R, 2K HD Textures, SMIM, Lush Tree's etc... And I can tell my Graphics Card can't take no more mods (currently have roughly 150 mods installed) lol...

So I need help with choosing a decent Graphics Card that will last me a good while and run Skyrim Heavliy Modded like a beast, but I do have a budget of around £200-£300 tho  

I would also like to know if its worth getting a 4GB VRAM Graphics Card, as I'm using up most of my 2GB VRAM on my current Graphics Card?

(Oh and I'm only intersted in Nvidia Graphics Cards btw)

 

Any advice would be great, thanks

 

 

My System Spec:

 

Zoostorm

Intel i7 2600@ 3.4ghz

8GB Ram

Nvidia Gigabyte GTX 650Ti OC 2GB

AOC 23" 1080p LED Monitor

 

[Reynard131]

Try letting Skyrim resetting your .ini for your video settings....

[dave1029]

I would go with AMD honestly, as AMD is now the sole provider of GPU's for the next-gen consoles. Games will be more quickly optimized. I would go with the Radeon 7950 or 7970. The 7950 is the same as the 7970, just a tad slower but cheaper. Both have 3GB VRAM. But I would like to point out that the CPU is playing an integral part in loading your shadows. I don't know why, or how, but turning down shadow res. for me stopped the stuttering you're describing. And I have a 7970. There is no such thing as a true 4GB GPU yet. From what I understand Nvidia's "4GB" GPU is actually 2 GPU'S at 2GB RAM each. Which is not the same as 4GB of RAM on a single GPU. 

[prod80]

Anything with 3 or more GB lets you max out whatever you throw at it... if you choose NVidia, do not pick the 7xx series - the new drivers do not work well with ENB (if you care for ENB, otherwise don't mind and wait for the GTX760, I'd say)... since the 7xx series is just launched there is a good chance you can pick up a top end 6xx series card for cheap(er). I just got a 4GB GTX680 this week for 25% off. It's the same chipset as the GTX770 with more RAM and when you overclock it you can reach the same speeds on Mem and Core (GTX770 is basically a pumped up GTX680). GTX660, 670, 680 are in good sales now, you might wanna have a look at their 3/4GB models. I would not pick a 2GB card unless you plan on upgrading next year again... (2GB is fine for current games, but since everything will be ported to consoles, and the new consoles will come with 8GB RAM... you'll probably need more than 2GB pretty soon to max out stuff)

 

I cannot speak for AMD/ATI... I have used their cards in the past - gave me nothing but headaches - so I stopped using them a couple of years back and haven't looked back since. I'm not saying they are bad, I'm just not lucky with them I guess.

[blitzen]

I don't think there is anything wrong with your graphics card. You might benefit from a little more VRAM, but my game is running smoothly with a GTX 570 using 2.5 GB VRAM. If your game is having problems, it's most likely not directly because of the graphics card, unless you are running at extremely high resolutions (>1920x1080) with AA and similar features at the highest settings, and have piled on a lot of very high quality texture replacers. I have seen posts from people with more powerful cards and very high-end machines that have similar issues. I would look at the game itself first, not the card.

Edited by blitzen, 21 June 2013 - 08:49 PM.

[joe1st]

after some digging the poster above me is right it does not matter how strong your computer is the game has limits as this other poster wrote

As far as reaching around 3GB and then crashing, as I understand it the game is a 32 bit application and has an internal limit on the amount of ram that can be used. Despite having more system ram, the game will still crash when this limit is reached.  Reducing eye candy (hi-res textures & hi-poly meshes) can help.  Reducing mods that utilize lots of scripts especially constant polling update cycles can help as well


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this is my rig I got from digital stormonline . com

http://www.digitalst...20&price=$2,499

its a lil outdated now that the titans have come out but it will allow me to blow this and rome two total war out of the water so im happy



 

[prod80]

Look man... a 650Ti is equal to a 560Ti (which I had) so I'm not surprised it causes slowdowns...  I've seen my FPS drop below 10 when using a lot of texture mods, and just light versions. Heavy combat scenes are no fun at all at PowerPoint speeds. On his system is very much his GFX card holding things back. It's not his VRAM, it's simply the speed of the card.

 

The game has limits... 32bit app... can allocate only 4GB RAM on a 64bit system... but due to DX9 the limit is more or less around 3.2GB... RAM and VRAM go up at approx. the same rate... a >3GB VRAM card has no use with Skyrim because of this, but does with other games which use DX10 or DX11. A 2GB card can cause limits on the texture sizes you can use. I'd still opt for a 3GB card, pref. a GTX*70 or 80 card, as they are definitely a lot faster than 50/60 cards.

 

 

** He doesn't have the "Boost" edition which is highlighted here.. or at least his OP doesn't say Boost, just OC **

 

Even a 660Ti would be a considerable upgrade. But I'd aim for the x70 or x80 because of the memory bandwidth.

[ISHOTGUNJENI]

I was thinking of the Nvidia Gigabyte GTX 660Ti 3GB OC, what do you guys think?

I would love to get the Nvidia GTX 670 4GB but that is stretching my budget a bit ...

 

Thanks for all the responses so far guys

[prod80]

I was thinking of the Nvidia Gigabyte GTX 660Ti 3GB OC, what do you guys think?

I would love to get the Nvidia GTX 670 4GB but that is stretching my budget a bit ...

 

Thanks for all the responses so far guys

 

If I were you I'd wait a little bit... im sure you will be able to get a gtx670 4gb within your budget soon... the 6xx series is End of Life, price will drop only further. If you go for NVidia 6xx series, only get 660Ti, 670 or 680 (or 690, but it's just the gtx680 x2). They are the only 3 that have the GK104 chip, which is also used in the newer 7xx series up till 770. The 780 has the "newest" (not really new) GK110 chip.

 

If you don't mind buying from abroad, you can already get them within budget imported from the US: http://www.amazon.co...electronics,367

 

Also, the card you show there has a 192bit memory bus? You'll need a bit more for efficiency...

[ISHOTGUNJENI]

Thanks for the Info, I've decided on the Nvidia GTX 670 4GB, I'll just have to save up a bit more. Thanks everyone for your advice