vRAM vs. computation power

[AureusPhoenix]

Hi Guys,

I need a bit help deciding which kind of new graphics card(s) I should buy.

 

At the moment I am running an Intel 4770K with my old GTX 560 2gb graphics card on 1080p. Since I am using Immersive Settlements, Skyrim Flora Overhaul and almost all texture packs available (combined with texture pack combiner), ENB + ENBoost, I achieve fps in the range of 10-40. If I would also use open cities, I would be totally screwed.

 

I thought of buying a new card. Unfortunately, all newer cards (except the titan) just have 3gb of vRAM. I am uncertain if this is enough. At the moment, I am filling up the 2gb instantly. I am pretty sure, that this will also be the case with 3gb. However, those newer cards exhibit higher memory bandwidth. But I am not sure if this will alleviate the problem.

 

Here are my considered configurations:

• GTX Titan with 6gb
• GTX 780 Ti with 3gb (higher computation power, lower amount of memory)
• GTX 770 with 4gb (bit higher amount of memory but much lower computation power)
• 2 GTX 780 in SLI (enormous computation power. But I am not sure weather the memory sums up in a single monitor configuration or not)

 

I am aware, that those configurations are from the price point far away from each other. However, that is not the major issue. If the costs are too high, I will just wait a few months longer.

In the end, I want a machine with which I can run Skyrim with pretty much any graphics mod I like without fearing to drop below 40 to 50fps.

 

 

Thanks a lot for your help !!!

Cheers,

AureusPhoenix

 

[DanielCoffey]

Skyrim has flickering issues with SLI and crossfire, especially the water ripples - you will be better off with one card. Also, when you are in a 2xGPU machine, the vram is not just combined into a single pool - it is still per card. A pair of 2Gb cards still has the same texture issues as a single 2Gb card.

 

You may also want to have a look at the AMD R2 290X (providing you have GOOD case cooling or are prepared to water cool).

 

EDIT : Are you overclocking your 4770K at all? Skyrim benefits from faster CPU too. You should be able to get 4.2GHz out of it easily with the chance of 4.3 on air cooling if you got a good chip. Water cooling or de-lidding will let you get around 4.5-4.6GHz.

[Miguelr23]

well it think you should wait for a gtx 780 ti with 6gb nvidia was smart because they put a card that has better performance than the titan somewhat cheap but only with 3gb of vram and thats not much future proof(3gb is becoming the new "standard"

 

like daniel said you should look at amd new gpus r9 290x and r9 290

imho the best price performance card out there atm is the 290(399$)performance its equal to the gtx 780 and has 4gb of vram but its very hot so unless you put on a waterblock i wont recommend reference cards(custom cooling should be out by late november)

 

PS:forget the gtx 770 with 4gb is chip is too weak that before you fill all your 4gb of vram you will have very low fps(the only way to make use of those 4gb is going sli)

Edited November 16, 2013 by Miguelr23

[AureusPhoenix]

Hi guys,

thanks for the quick response. Regarding the water cooling and overclocking topic ... At the moment I'm running a Corsair H100i water cooling solution. Thus, water cooling the graphics card would mean to overhaul the entire build. Regarding the overclocking ... yes, I've overclocked the CPU a bit. Unfortunately, I had bad luck with my chip. It becomes unstable already at 4.3GHz. I hope, that future bios updates might help a bit.

 

Regarding the graphic cards.... I've already feared, that I have to wait until 780ti comes out with 6gb.

AMD cards are not really an option for me. First of all, I am doing some video rendering stuff, so CUDA is a must have. And second, I am using linux quiet often and had a lot of issues in the past with AMD cards.

 

Again ... Thanks!

[strike667]

3GB of VRAM will be more than enough for 1080p, go for the 780 Ti.

[Georgiegril]

I agree with strike667. 3 GB is ample, and computation speed should improve your gaming experience. Although cards start to become obsolete the second you buy them--personally I think the 780 ti is a really good compromise between price and performance. If I had the cash, I'd get it myself! I would also look carefully into who manuafactures your card-- make sure they have the support and return policies you expect.

[dave1029]

I would stay away from Nvidia. Every game that is ported from console to PC for all the next gen games will be optimized for AMD. Save yourself some money and get either the HD 7970, or one of the high end RX models like an above poster suggested.