Better Investment Input, Hardware Wise.

[Altrus]

So I've been working on my computer for the past month and have finally come to the graphics card. Now, I'm kinda addicted to making Skyrim look just absolutly gorgeous, along with other fun mods.

 

I've been looking at the GTX 670 FTW 2GB but lately I've got my eye on the GTX 670 Superclocked 4GB. The thing is that this draws close enough to GTX 680's price point that I've been thinking, maybe. I've been slightly ignoring the 680 because from everything I've read most 670's easily overclock to its level if not higher, and a lot of stock cards are only 5% more powerful in most games than its 670 counter part.

The thing is Skyrim HD textures and graphics mods can use up quite a bit of VRAM even at 1080p. My question is, if I do go for the higher priced one, in your opinion, "Would it be better to go for the GTX 670 with 4GB of VRAM or the GTX 680 with 2GB of VRAM?"

 

Currently using a 560ti 1GB and slowing my game down greatly at the settings and mods I enjoy playing with, works fine indoors, but large areas of any type slow it to a crawl, exspecially dragon encounters.

Kinda leaning towards the 4GB at the moment.

[hangarspace]

I'd go with the 4GB of ram, better future proofing and the speed difference you are unlikely to notice in reality. Personally, I have an OC 7970 3GB and with all my hires mods have never exceeded 2GB of vram, come close but never exceeded it.

 

I don't know how much you might save by getting the 670, but the next upgrade imo would be an ssd just for Skyrim and your mods. Doesn't need to be huge, a 64GB one is plenty and the peformance is noticeable thruoughout the game.

 

Chris

[Glhadiator]

I'd go with the extra VRAM. Don't forget power consumption. Better if there is plenty to spare with lots of cooling capability.

[Enatiomorph]

Get a 7950 3gb and save 100 bucks. Unless you do not like AMD. Edited July 25, 2012 by Enatiomorph

[Altrus]

I'd go with the 4GB of ram, better future proofing and the speed difference you are unlikely to notice in reality. Personally, I have an OC 7970 3GB and with all my hires mods have never exceeded 2GB of vram, come close but never exceeded it.

 

I don't know how much you might save by getting the 670, but the next upgrade imo would be an ssd just for Skyrim and your mods. Doesn't need to be huge, a 64GB one is plenty and the peformance is noticeable thruoughout the game.

 

Chris

 

I was actually looking into getting one for my OS to boot off of and I did have the thought of, Hey I can put Skyrim on this!

But how do I do that with a steam version, would I have to go into steam's files and change the address of the game's folder after moving it, or will steam just auto correct that and start downloading the game to the original location?

 

I'd go with the extra VRAM. Don't forget power consumption. Better if there is plenty to spare with lots of cooling capability.

 

I have a Corsair 520w right now and that seems like it will do the job with the 600 series' amazingly low power draw, for now. I plan to get a 750w or a 800w in the near future.

[Altrus]

Get a 7950 3gb and save 100 bucks. Unless you do not like AMD.

 

I don't necessarily dislike AMD, but I enjoy PhysX and I have a 3D monitor with Nvidia's 3Dvision stuff so I'm not looking into transfering over anytime soon. Also, i'm not so much trying to find something that's cheaper, as I am trying to figure out if 4GB would be a waste of money. Like if Skyrim modded would really utilize more than 2GBs and how far into the future til games that really used a good bit of VRAM would come out.

 

But from everything I've read, plus the reinforcment from here, I am going to get an EVGA GTX670 superclocked+ with 4GB of VRAM. Most likely sticking with my 520w PSU for a few weeks and then upgrading to a 750ish psu.