Will more then 2GB VRAM be needed in 3-4 years?

[Chingylol]

I get a new GPU every 3-4 years and it's about that time.

I know some games like BF4 and probably other titles like Watcher 3 will require 2GB VRAM, but will 3GB be needed for a single monitor rig @ 1080p in 3 years or so?

Just wondering because I'm looking at a card thats only 2GB and not sure if it will suffice in 3 years or so. Thoughts?

[Argarock]

2GB will suffice, but it wont be optimal, with 4K comming in the next couple of years
I'd assume 2gb will be 'average' in 1-2 years and 4gb being so in 3-4

[Chingylol]

Yeah that's what I figured. Will probably get the 3GB just in case.

[Wildtree]

In 3 - 4 yrs your whole computer is outdated, and you may or may not just get a whole new setup instead..
One single component won't make much difference, except that this very component will then be a lot cheaper as it is now.

[Tehterokkar]

Battlefield 4 already requires more than 2GB VRAM at full ultra(AA, AF etc. at max). And with Unreal Engine 4 coming soon, we will see some pretty badass games where having more than 2GB is of help certainly.

[BergErr]

Any card out now wont suffice in 3-4years. You will probably have to dump settings so low that VRAM wont be an issue.
Just get 2GB unless u know u will break that barrier.

[Vishiz]

as long as you're only running 1080p, 2gb of vram will be enough.

[Cyanotical]

2GB is fine for several years, but that depends on resolution, for a 1920x1080 screen, 2GB is more than enough, with the new consoles being pathetically weak compared to PCs, any sandy bridge or newer PC will probably be fine for gaming for many more years (yes, that's right, a 3.5 year old build is still more powerful than a new console)

[enchanted]

2GB is fine for several years, but that depends on resolution, for a 1920x1080 screen, 2GB is more than enough, with the new consoles being pathetically weak compared to PCs, any sandy bridge or newer PC will probably be fine for gaming for many more years (yes, that's right, a 3.5 year old build is still more powerful than a new console)

Excuse my noobishness when it comes to these stuff but, from what I understand is that monitors with resolutions higher than 1920x1080 would require more than 2GB vram to support it?

[Cyanotical]

Excuse my noobishness when it comes to these stuff but, from what I understand is that monitors with resolutions higher than 1920x1080 would require more than 2GB vram to support it?

no, i run 2560x1440 with 2GB of VRAM, you can put 6x 4K monitors on a 1GB GPU, but it will run like crap, there is no "requirement" but for useablility 2GB is probably the limit for anything up to 2560x1600, higher than that and you do want more VRAM just so things stay playable

[BergErr]

Excuse my noobishness when it comes to these stuff but, from what I understand is that monitors with resolutions higher than 1920x1080 would require more than 2GB vram to support it?

Depends on what you do, but yes in games.
2560x1440 bf3 ultra would break 2GB VRAM on my pc (200-300MB VRAM used before starting the game).
Though playing diablo3(all max 2560x1440) on same setup I dont even reach 1GB VRAM used.
BF4 ultra will use 2.2GB~ VRAM @ 1920x1080.

When you run out of VRAM u will get insane lagspikes.

[fixx]

Excuse my noobishness when it comes to these stuff but, from what I understand is that monitors with resolutions higher than 1920x1080 would require more than 2GB vram to support it?

Yes and no.

You can totally use bigger monitor with less VRAM, you just can't turn on all graphics effects to maximum. On the other hand with high resolution monitors you dont need AA/AF filters for good picture quality like low resolution monitors do and can turn effects lower without noticing any difference.

[Roia]

Take a read through this thread: http://www.overclock.net/t/1273846/h...ge-effectively

To summarize, larger vram's are mostly marketing. There currently is no way to measure actual usage, just what is allocated. If a game starts up and sees 2 gigs of vram available, it will simply preemptively load up various textures to use the available vram. It really for the most part depends much more on how well the game is optimized to use the vram cache, than how much of it you have. Currently, 2gig is plenty and you most likely won't take that much of fps hit if and when games actually start to use more than that. However, by that time, you will be looking for another video card regardless.

[Zephyr Storm]

My personal opinion and nothing more.

If you are looking to get a new card, why not go for one that is guaranteed to last you awhile? AKA, a 3GB or 4GB card? You can get a REALLY nice GTX 770 4GB edition that will play pretty much anything on Ultra right now and will continue doing so for some time to come. Or go really big (if you have the money) and get a 3GB 780 or 3GB 780ti. I have a 3GB 780ti and don't look for the need to upgrade until AT LEAST the generation after Maxwell. (if some of the leaked, rumored specs of the GTX 880 are to be believed, it won't be hardly any better than a 780ti in terms of gaming performance, at least not enough to warrant an upgrade....but it should be better in terms of power consumption).

I wouldn't waste your money on a Titan Black however. The 6GB of VRAM sounds nice, but is overkill and the card doesn't perform any better than a 780ti (which is $300 less) except at 4K resolutions.

So yeah, I'd go for at least a nice card with 3GB-4GB of VRAM on it. As I always say, better safe than sorry. Especially if you really aren't going to upgrade for another 3-4 years.

[Chingylol]

Thanks for the replies. My budget for a new card is $300ish USD, so will probably go with a HD 7970 with 3gb.

[Zephyr Storm]

Thanks for the replies. My budget for a new card is $300ish USD, so will probably go with a HD 7970 with 3gb.

Yuck. /10 chars

[Deleted]

Thanks for the replies. My budget for a new card is $300ish USD, so will probably go with a HD 7970 with 3gb.

Im not sure if they still sell 7970s for 300 dollars. If you can find one go for it

If not, take a look at the 280 or 280x, they are pretty much the same as a 7950 and 7970.