2GB or 3GB Graphics card for mods

[sw1000xg]

Hey all

 

My 560Ti just can't handle the mods I have downloaded (like over 150) and will now update to a 660Ti, I want to start using Amidian Born and 2K textures plus a load of like 4K dragon bones, lush grass and so on. Because I have so many other mods I can't live without can't decide which to go for an Asus 2GB 660Ti (maybe go SLI later on) or the Gigabyte 3GB super O/C... How would the 3GB benefit over the 2GB... And is it worth the extra money? Pulling my hair out trying to decide can you help?

 

Cheers lads/Ladies!

Edited January 19, 2013 by sw1000xg

[Brandy1123]

I would not judge my GPU upgrade on Skyrim. Skyrim is really coming to the end of its life (or already surpassed by some counts). Instead, look to the future. A 660 TI card is not much less then a GTX 670. The 670 will give you about a 25% increase in memory bandwidth and bus width. You also get a better fillrate.

 

The TI is a great card. I had one. THey tend to run a bit hot and require a slighyl larger power supply then your 560. An OC or over clocked card will run hotter.

 

The 3GB will only pay off dividends in the future and take your card beyond the life span of a 1 or 2 GB card. The type of games you plan to play and other requirements should also go into your decision. Games like Elder Scrolls Online will probably run fine on your 560 card, buit look really good on a 600 series. While that 660 ti may look good playing the up and coming Crysis 3, the 670 will give it a smoother frame rate and be a bit cooler when you would be peaking out your TI card.

 

I always say get the most you can afford when you make a purchase. Shop smart, but don't skimp on hardware. The better equipment you get, barring a hardware failure, will last longer and give your money back in useability. Newegg.com has great prices and when compared to Amazon.com, you can pretty much see what prices are good or bad. For the record, I think Galaxy puts out great hardware. Usually you can get a THREE year warranty instead of 2 for no extra cost, but you need to jump a few online hoops to register your purchase.

 

best wishes on your purchase :)

 

EDIT : looking at your post about SLI - You really should purchase both cards at the same time. As time moves on, roms change, BIOS changes as does hardware and sometimes clocks and card branding. Sure they may run, but may not run effiently. Again, it would be better to purchase the higher rated card if you are going to get just one card at this time. More then likely the second card won't be purchased and you might wish you spent the few extra $$ now.

[sw1000xg]

I would not judge my GPU upgrade on Skyrim. Skyrim is really coming to the end of its life (or already surpassed by some counts). Instead, look to the future. A 660 TI card is not much less then a GTX 670. The 670 will give you about a 25% increase in memory bandwidth and bus width. You also get a better fillrate.

 

The TI is a great card. I had one. THey tend to run a bit hot and require a slighyl larger power supply then your 560. An OC or over clocked card will run hotter.

 

The 3GB will only pay off dividends in the future and take your card beyond the life span of a 1 or 2 GB card. The type of games you plan to play and other requirements should also go into your decision. Games like Elder Scrolls Online will probably run fine on your 560 card, buit look really good on a 600 series. While that 660 ti may look good playing the up and coming Crysis 3, the 670 will give it a smoother frame rate and be a bit cooler when you would be peaking out your TI card.

 

I always say get the most you can afford when you make a purchase. Shop smart, but don't skimp on hardware. The better equipment you get, barring a hardware failure, will last longer and give your money back in useability. Newegg.com has great prices and when compared to Amazon.com, you can pretty much see what prices are good or bad. For the record, I think Galaxy puts out great hardware. Usually you can get a THREE year warranty instead of 2 for no extra cost, but you need to jump a few online hoops to register your purchase.

 

best wishes on your purchase :)

 

EDIT : looking at your post about SLI - You really should purchase both cards at the same time. As time moves on, roms change, BIOS changes as does hardware and sometimes clocks and card branding. Sure they may run, but may not run effiently. Again, it would be better to purchase the higher rated card if you are going to get just one card at this time. More then likely the second card won't be purchased and you might wish you spent the few extra $$ now.

 

Oh no now you just made it harder...

 

For me at the moment the only games I care about are Skyrim and Crysis 2. Not much else really floats my boat. Skyrim is only just getting going, for me at least, all the new graphics mods, quests, improvements and so on. A 670 is defo out of my price range. The gigabyte 660Ti 3GB Super o/c is on a pare with a 670 but has 3 instead of 2GB Vram, a lot less. Crysis 2 I own but not played it, it's just too slow on my 560 and want to play it through at least with 50-60fps, now about 30fps. So just want a good card but wont break the bank/ Cheers for the quick response...

[Brandy1123]

If that is what you are confortable with, then by all means keep looking into it.

 

A 3 GB card will store and utilize more textures and graphic maps more efficiently then a 2 GB or 1 GB card. The 660 ti is not a bad card and will play Crysis 3 (its a really nice card for Crysis 2 as I played it and can vouch first hand). As for games, a game is really only dead when YOU stop playing it. I dislike a lot about Skyrim but there's more that I like then dislike AND there really is no competition for this genre of game.

[omar1975]

I'm in a simioar situation, mi GTX 560 Ti can't handle all Hi res mods correctly.

 

I am thinking about change it for a:

 

EVGA GTX 660 3GB ftw

 

and the question is obvious, is it enough for a heavy modd Skyrim in 1920x1200 ?

 

I have a SSC an i5+ processor and 8 GB of RAM so... could it be a right choice the GTX 660 3GB ?

 

thanks in advance.

Edited January 28, 2013 by j_omar7

[Half64]

I can hit 2Gb of VRAM with 16 mods, all texture enhancements, 2K textures, ENB plus Anti-Aliasing at 1920x1080. If you start getting bad pausing then you might want to think about a 3GB card, just make sure you want it for other games as well not just for skyrim

 

I have a GTX560 Ti 2GB.

Edited January 29, 2013 by Half64

[Nadimos]

I never hit 2 GB limit with highres texture mods.*

 

I would say if you want huge battles with it (Warzones mod on overdrive and such), then go 3 GB. But really think about the games, where you gonna hit this limit. Atm i cannot think of anything. And Skyrim is such a wonky engine it is not made for many actors in the same place. Let alone lightning and totally advanced stuff like that (pun intended). :P

 

GTX 660 gives you the best bang for you buck as far as Nvidia goes. AMD is abit cheaper and gives you more raw computing power. Overall there are only minor diffrences between the two manufactures.

 

Just make sure you get a card with silent cooler.

 

Actually there is something more thing to consider. If you want to render with your GPU in Blender and/or want to give Linux a try, you are definitely better of with Nvidia.

 

*I dont use 4k ever, because there is almost no diffrence to 2k, that you are gonna notice and the memory useage is way more friendly that way. Beisdes i dont have a fast SSD. So it fits nicely with that aspect aswell.

Edited January 29, 2013 by Nadimos

[Bloodinfested]

I have a gtx570 with 2.5gb and I few times I caped my memory and CTD. My ini is tweaked with really every graphical mod a few mods when it has anything to do with increasing spawns like warzones is when I CTD do to memory. If you plan on doing some heavy modding I would say go for the 3G.

 

I would try to stay away from 4k textures unless its for inside cells otherwise they suck up enormous amount of vram its just not practical

 

Heres a nice benchmark chart to checkout http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html

[omar1975]

Thanks for your answer :)

 

so.. with a GTX 660 3Gb I'm going really to improve my 30 fps from my actual GTX 560 Ti 1Gb with moods and enb to near 60 ? (using enb too)

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

[spanian77]

You forget something important here..Skyrim is one of the games that can't utilize more than 4GB ram VRAM AND main RAM so if you have 3GB Vram you may reduce some issues with stuttering(visual gain,smoother gameplay) but game will lose from its main resources(main RAM) for transitions between CPU-RAM-VRAM meaning for utilizing loading for threads,scripts and anything has to do with load-it-and-pass-it-to-action(and some hold them there for later use).Also don't forget that it's a game that benefits from higher frequency CPUs mostly due to shading is cpubound (awful choice from Beth here..for example its better to have a [email protected] with your current card than a [email protected] with a 660),so don't forget that if you put many 4K textures your chances for ctds will increase no matter if its a 2GB or a 3GB(always depending from your cpu's speed,Ram's speed,HDD's speed ofc)

 

I don't want to confuse you more so :

 

3GB Vram will last longer hoping that future games will be designed to be able to utilize more than 4GB ( aka as pure 64bit games) and give you the choice of playing smoother on higher resolutions with really impressive hardware AA types(1080p with SGSSAx8 is the best...) without stuttering due to exceeding Vram's usage

 

and

 

Fewer Vram but better gpu / "newer stuff" (or simple cooler card will o/c more = more raw horsepower) will give you more fps but Vram usage will cut you some choices..(for example you will be able to run at 1080p with AAx8 but not supersampling or SGSSAA so high).

 

And then it comes to your pocket...

Edited January 31, 2013 by spanian77