A question about VRAM video card?

[FillipeMattos]

The VRAM video card is very important when playing Skyrim with Mods? Why?

[OozyGorilla]

The more VRAM you have the more texture data (among other stuff) your video card can hold on to in memory, allowing your video card to faster load the textures when they're needed. It acts like regular RAM, but for graphics. I'm sure someone could go into more detail, but that's the very basic of it.

[FillipeMattos]

The more VRAM you have the more texture data (among other stuff) your video card can hold on to in memory, allowing your video card to faster load the textures when they're needed. It acts like regular RAM, but for graphics. I'm sure someone could go into more detail, but that's the very basic of it.

 

 

How many data textures a video card GTX 680 2GB VRAM can support maximum before presenting problems of instability in the game?

Edited April 19, 2013 by FillipeMattos

[OozyGorilla]

How many data textures a video card GTX 680 2GB VRAM can support maximum before presenting problems of instability in the game?

There isn't a set number of textures. It all depends on the file size of the textures (larger resolution textures have bigger file sizes). A 2GB VRAM will hold up to 2GB of data. If you use smaller textures, you can get more. If you use bigger textures, you can't store as many in the VRAM.

[FillipeMattos]

 

How many data textures a video card GTX 680 2GB VRAM can support maximum before presenting problems of instability in the game?

There isn't a set number of textures. It all depends on the file size of the textures (larger resolution textures have bigger file sizes). A 2GB VRAM will hold up to 2GB of data. If you use smaller textures, you can get more. If you use bigger textures, you can't store as many in the VRAM.

 

 

How do I know that I'm using more than 2 GB of data on my textures? All textures that I downloaded, from animals, people, hair, landscape, houses, cities, clothes, water, had 2K resolution, this is too much for the GTX 680 2GB of VRAM? I need a Titan 6 GB of VRAM to run it all without presenting problems? ( The resolution of my game is already 1920x1080 )

Edited April 19, 2013 by FillipeMattos

[Concept83]

You can check how much VRAM you have by loading up this tool prior to starting Skyrim: GPU-Z

Edit: Load GPU-z and have it running WHILE you're playing Skyrim

It's a free tool that will allow you to know how much VRAM you are using during your play.

2 GB should be fine if you're running textures at or below 2k, but if you are running textures at 4k and up(CBBE body mods, high res weapon mods) then during extended play you could run into slight stuttering and maybe freezing. But don't worry, 2GB is good, since my old video card ran at that and as long as I ran an optimizer (search for it on Nexus and learn how to use this handy tool) I didn't have an issues.

You don't need a Titan for Skyrim unless you're playing with 3 screens at once. Your 680 is more than enough.

 

Edit: Also it has to be a TON of 4K textures. You can run some mods at 4K, just don't go overboard with it. You'll be fine

Edited April 19, 2013 by Concept83

[ZoMHead]

Noticed zero difference running HD 2K textures on a single 4Gb gtx 670 and 2Gb GTX 670.

 

I actually run several 4K textures, ENB and other intensive mods on my single gtx 670 2GB and have zero issues, i even live stream it as well in 1080p with no issues.

 

Ram is mainly used for resolutions, that is why you see most laptops/notepads having large ram on their video cards, to allow the HDMI output to handle higher resolutions when coupled with a bigger monitor or TV.

[FillipeMattos]

 

 

 

 

How many data textures a video card GTX 680 2GB VRAM can support maximum before presenting problems of instability in the game?

There isn't a set number of textures. It all depends on the file size of the textures (larger resolution textures have bigger file sizes). A 2GB VRAM will hold up to 2GB of data. If you use smaller textures, you can get more. If you use bigger textures, you can't store as many in the VRAM.

 

How do I know that I'm using more than 2 GB of data on my textures? All textures that I downloaded, from animals, people, hair, landscape, houses, cities, clothes, water, had 2K resolution, this is too much for the GTX 680 2GB of VRAM? I need a Titan 6 GB of VRAM to run it all without presenting problems? ( The resolution of my game is already 1920x1080 )

 

In addition to the 2K textures of animals and landscapes, I always use the mod "Caliente Female Body." If the game freeze out of nowhere, it is because of this mod?

 

 

I use this mod: http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/12801

I download with the "Nexus manager" and install using that program.

Edited April 19, 2013 by FillipeMattos

[panurgy]

I started out with an 800MB VRAM GPU on Skyrim, then upgraded to a 1.5GB card, and finally a third time to a GTX 670 with 4GB. Most of the new mid- to high-end Radeons have 3GB of VRAM, and most mid- to high-end NVIDIA cards come in 2 and 4 GB varieties.

 

If you use high res textures, such as from a setup like the STEP guide, you will probably surpass 2GB of VRAM usage, which will cause stuttering. No matter how fast the card is, you'll stutter and increase the risk of freezes or crashing if your VRAM use is too high. You either have to be careful with high res textures, or get a GPU with enough VRAM.

 

Another thing to consider is that Skyrim itself can't seem to handle more than 3GB of RAM use total. Skyrim is a 32-bit application, and even with the LAA flag set, a lot of people have reported crashing when surpassing 3GB. Skyrim keeps a copy of the VRAM memory in system RAM.

 

So there are 2 constraints:

Use of high-res textures can surpass 2GB of VRAM, requiring a GPU with > 2GB of VRAM.

If the total amount of memory in the game surpasses 3GB, you're likely to crash.

[FillipeMattos]

I started out with an 800MB VRAM GPU on Skyrim, then upgraded to a 1.5GB card, and finally a third time to a GTX 670 with 4GB. Most of the new mid- to high-end Radeons have 3GB of VRAM, and most mid- to high-end NVIDIA cards come in 2 and 4 GB varieties.

 

If you use high res textures, such as from a setup like the STEP guide, you will probably surpass 2GB of VRAM usage, which will cause stuttering. No matter how fast the card is, you'll stutter and increase the risk of freezes or crashing if your VRAM use is too high. You either have to be careful with high res textures, or get a GPU with enough VRAM.

 

Another thing to consider is that Skyrim itself can't seem to handle more than 3GB of RAM use total. Skyrim is a 32-bit application, and even with the LAA flag set, a lot of people have reported crashing when surpassing 3GB. Skyrim keeps a copy of the VRAM memory in system RAM.

 

So there are 2 constraints:

Use of high-res textures can surpass 2GB of VRAM, requiring a GPU with > 2GB of VRAM.

If the total amount of memory in the game surpasses 3GB, you're likely to crash.

 

 

What is the solution for this case? Do not feel like changing the video card because of a game only. If I decrease the quality of the textures too the game will start to get ugly and unsightly. The GTX 680 2 GB VRAM is not able to rotate high-resolution textures such as 2K? Only textures 1K? The Calientes Body Mod Famele uses 4K resolutions? GTX 680 2GB VRAM is too weak to mods. I remember that the game has come to freeze sometimes when I used the DLC high-resolution Bethesda, or when I will walking to the outskirts of Riften, not to mention elsewhere (which is very rare to happen). Or when I'm facing multiple enemies (which is also rare to happen). This is all the fault of the video card 680 gtx of only "2 GB VRAM?" I usually download many textures 2K, I believe my video card can handle it.

Edited April 19, 2013 by FillipeMattos