Went on gigabytes. Last year NVIDIA released the GeForce GTX TITAN X (review) is the most powerful single-GPU graphics adapter of the present. The video card supplied with 12 gigabytes of memory standard GDDR5. The unofficial standard in 2016 is the presence of either two or four gigabytes. Some seven years ago flagship 3D-accelerator NVIDIA (e.g. GeForce 8800 Ultra) was bragging 768 MB of memory. This volume abundantly enough for most games at the time. The mainstream solution to the GeForce 8800 GTS is equipped with laughable by the standards of 2016 320 MB.
How to change video memory in graphics cards
Today, even the most slow graphics card Low-end has at least one Gigabyte of memory. Gaming solutions medium and high price ranges are equipped with 2 GB, 4 GB, 6 GB or even 8 GB. On sale quite models based on the same GPU but with different memory capacity. The increased volume will have to pay. But does this make sense? Try to understand the example of a pair of GeForce GTX 960 (review) and Radeon R9 380 (review).
Third degree lie
In the title of the article Full HD refers not just. It is the most popular format of gaming. Such authorization has a modern gaming console (turns out, though, not always). Full HD monitors are used by the majority of customers Steam. Below I will give the official statistics for January 2016. Steam registered over 125 million accounts. So provide the gaming service database is completely objective. Total: 35% of Steam users use a resolution of Full HD. In second place with a lag of almost 10% is the ratio 1366×768 (Hello nobuchika!). The third stage — resolution 1600х900 points. Finally, the formats WQHD (2560×1440) and Ultra HD (3840×2160), so zealously imposed on the marketing departments of AMD and NVIDIA, even in 2016 do not enjoy great popularity. These permissions to 1.34% and 0.07% of the share respectively. That is why Full HD is considered standard format. From him Mary. Besides the video card designed for gaming in WQHD and Ultra HD, as a rule, have a certain (read — no choice) of memory. For example, the GeForce GTX 980 exists only in versions with 4GB, Radeon R9 variations of Fury/Nano/Fury X — only with 4 GB.
The most popular components among Steam users
Interesting paradox. The most popular adapter on the Steam stats was the model GeForce GTX 970 (review) with 4 GB of memory (more precisely, c 3,5+0,5 GB). I wrote about this phenomenon (to this moment in the lead exceptionally low cost solution when price is +/-200$. In particular, the GeForce GTX 660/760). At the same time, the most popular volume remains one Gigabyte of memory (34%). In second place are adapters with two gigabytes. Such systems 25%, we are talking about every fourth computer. Graphics card with four gigabytes of memory installed only in 9% of Steam users, but there is the pronounced monthly growth rate of 0.34 per cent. That means only two things: first, the market appeared more products with increased memory. Second, buy 3D-accelerator GeForce GTX 970 forced trends of the modern gaming industry. Porting games from consoles PlayStation 4 and Xbox One leads to serious overestimation of system requirements. Obvious example — the January Rise of the Tomb Raider. The game to run on minimum graphics quality settings require a video card with two gigabytes of memory.
How much VRAM in graphics cards-Steam users
GeForce GTX 960 and the year is not required to go for third place in the ranking of Steam. It’s very simple: for a relatively modest fee (~$200) the user gets a device that pulls all modern games even at maximum graphics quality settings. From AMD to such decisions include the level of adapters Radeon R9 380/380X. In times past — Radeon R9 270/270X and the Radeon HD 7870/7850.
Most popular graphics cards among Steam users
Briefly about the choice of video cards
Here we gradually came to the question about the choice of graphics card. Which adapter is suitable for modern (and future) games at Full HD resolution? I suggest to get acquainted with the following table. Graphics cards are sorted out including the level of performance.
The actual game graphics for Full HD
AMD
NVIDIA
Title:
Video memory:
Title:
Video memory:
Radeon R9 390
8 GB
GeForce GTX 970
4 GB
Radeon R9 380X
4 GB
—
—
Radeon R9 380
2/4 GB
GeForce GTX 960
2/4 GB
—
—
The GeForce GTX 950
2 GB
Radeon R7 370
2/4 GB
—
—
Radeon R7 360
2 GB
GeForce GTX 750 Ti
1/2 GB
Model Radeon R9 390 and GeForce GTX 970 is the ideal solution for Full HD. With some amendments they are suitable for gaming in WQHD. Memory for these cards is not worth it. In sale there are only versions of the Radeon R9 390 with 8 GB and only version of GeForce GTX 970 with 4 GB. You can decide on a specific camp. However, this is a topic for another article.
How to choose a gaming graphics card.
Is Radeon R9 380X. This model is also available with only one video memory to 4 GB. But then the fun begins. The most attractive in the coordinate system of “price/performance” Radeon R9 380 and GeForce GTX 960 are supplied by manufacturers as 2 Gbytes and 4 Gbytes of GDDR5 memory. Test laboratory the length and breadth studied these devices. At similar performance level of both adapters are well-suited for gaming at Full HD resolution. But the trend with modern games make you think about choosing a device version with different memory size. The point in this matter and will put the “Iron experiment”.
The participants of the test: AMD Radeon R9 380 and GeForce GTX 960
Obviously, to use the Radeon R9 380 and GeForce GTX 960 in resolution WQHD and above makes no sense. The performance of these cards simply don’t have enough for the issuance of a comfortable level of FPS with the settings above average. The chips are not pull. Video card Radeon R7 370 at high graphics quality settings “choking” in Full HD. Adding memory is something that will bring very little benefit, because the FPS will lead to a weak chip. It turns out that the question of choice memory is relevant today mainly for models of the Radeon R9 380 and GeForce GTX 960.
Features of the experiment
Test stand:
- Processor: Intel Core i7-4790K @4 GHz
- CPU cooler: Corsair H75
- Motherboard: MSI Z97 MPOWER
- Storage: OCZ Vertex 3, 360 GB
- RAM: DDR3-2133 2x 8 GB
- Power supply: Corsair AX1500i, 1500W
- Peripherals: Samsung U28D590D, ROCCAT ARVO, ROCCAT SAVU
- Operating system: Windows 10 x64
For my experiment, I took 17 games. Nine of them (more than half) came out in 2015-2016. I don’t think it’s a coincidence, but the Radeon R9 380 and GeForce GTX 960 pulled almost all of these games in Full HD at maximum graphics quality settings. The word “pull” I mean a comfortable amount of frames per second. Ideally 60 FPS, but the frequency should not squander below 25-30 FPS. The phrase “at the maximum graphics quality settings,” I mean the highest possible presets for the following settings: texture quality/shadow/Shader/reflections, the range of rendering, tessellation, anisotropic filtering, obstruction of ambient light and other effects. Again, almost all games they are set to maximum. So I will not bring the Shin guard with a detailed listing of all settings. The exception to the rule became Assassin’s Creed Syndicate and Rise of the Tomb Raider. In the first case for the Radeon R9 380 and GeForce GTX 960, I put the setting “Very high”. To activate the preset “Maximum” to play with these graphics in Full HD is unreal.
Settings Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
Settings Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
As for Rise of the Tomb Raider, the preset “Very high” does not hold all settings on maximum. In particular, this applies to technology PureHair (TressFX third generation).
Maximum settings in Rise of the Tomb Raider
Maximum settings in Rise of the Tomb Raider
Settings in Rise of the Tomb Raider (“Very high”)
Settings in Rise of the Tomb Raider (“Very high”)
What gives PureHair? Easier to show a couple of screenshots to determine whether there is a meaning in it. In my opinion, is.
Lara PureHair
Lara with PureHair
But the anti aliasing (or smoothing) for the games used are different every time. But so that the amount of FPS the Radeon R9 380 and GeForce GTX 960 not dipped below a comfortable minimum. Smoothing is a very demanding option, which not only seriously load the chip, but also “eats away” a lot of VRAM. Perhaps the most common mode of anti aliasing in games 2015-the year is FXAA (Fast approXimate Anti-Aliasing). Quick postprocessing filter, which noticeably smooths out the edges of polygons and textures with a minimum of expended resources of the graphics card. “Budget” such smoothing results in violent zamylivanie textures.
Equally popular filter MSAA (Multisample Anti-Aliasing). This type of anti aliasing load stronger graphics card. Is noticeably stronger. In some cases, the FXAA used in conjunction with MSAA.
Graphics settings in GTA V
In Rise of the Tomb Raider, use the smooth format SSAA (Supersampling Anti-Aliasing). In short, this filter increases the resolution of the rendering, and then formats the results under a smaller resolution. In the end, 4x SSAA mode for Full HD conforms to the schema run the game in 4K resolution (3840×2160). The picture is great, but to cope with this load under force not to each card.
Returning to the experiment, for each game were chosen with the specific type and frequency smoothing to get a comfortable amount of frames per second. This parameter is specified in the final table.
Graphics card XFX DD Radeon R9 380
In the test used four video cards. A couple of GeForce GTX 960 was represented by samples from Palit. Version Super JetStream with 2GB of memory I have tested. The adapter Radeon R9 380 is represented by models from XFX. For more relevant comparison of the frequencies of chip and memory are aligned. Graphics card XFX worked at speeds of 1030 MHz on the chip and 1450 (5800) MHz on the memory. Adapters Palit — 1279 (1342) MHz for the chip and 1800 (7200) MHz on the memory.
Graphics card Palit JetStream GeForce GTX 960
The test results
First define how much video memory Radeon R9 380 and GeForce GTX 960 consumes the game. Nine of the seventeen applications at Full HD resolution when we set graphics quality settings it took more than three gigabytes. And just three games “eaten” is less than two gigabytes. All the hits from three years ago: Crysis 3, Tomb Raider and Metro: Last Light. Demanding game even by today’s standards, but to consume RAM, as you can see, they are quite loyal.
Whether business trends this season! In Rise of the Tomb Raider from GeForce GTX 960 it took more than four gigabytes. Memory Radeon R9 380 is enough, but back to back. Apparently, differences in the compression buffer, implemented in the chips AMD GCN 1.2 architecture and NVIDIA Maxwell architecture. Plus limiting other factors related to the characteristics of video cards (e.g., bus width), and optimize game engines for a specific architecture. RotTR actually claims to be the most demanding computer games of today. In Full HD resolution with maximum graphics quality settings, so she needs a video card with 6 GB memory.
Wanted to add in a test just published XCOM2, however, the game is rife with a large number of bugs. Users complain about the big amount of bugs and poor optimization. And while the game is in Full HD when you enable the maximum graphics quality settings, but with antialiasing FXAA consumes more than three gigabytes of video memory. In the end, XCOM2 always lag.
Shown picture is depressing, but it’s a well known realities of 2015, about which I wrote in the 27th “Iron shop”. It turns out that in most games at 2-Gigabyte versions of the Radeon R9 380 and GeForce GTX 960 has no chance? Because insufficient memory will lead to poor performance and the appearance of unpleasant lags. Fortunately, all the more difficult.
Consumption of VRAM in games
Of course, if possible, the game will deploy all required data (textures, buffers and other files), so less time to address other elements of the system. If not expected, that doesn’t mean that the game will immediately begin to slow down, though, and to exclude such a scenario is not worth it. It turns out that out of 17 games a serious problem with performance degradation the result of the lack of memory appeared only five. In Assassin’s Creed Syndicate and F1 2015 the number of frames dropped, but not so critical on the General background. Rise of the Tomb Raider in the “Very high” with antialiasing FXAA playable on the graphics cards with 4 GB, but the maximum possible graphics quality even they are baffled.
Test results of graphics cards
In Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor has the ability to activate HD textures. The game warns you that the settings “Ultra” for a comfortable gaming adapter is required with six gigabytes of memory. In the end, the average FPS dropped slightly, but there was lag (minimum FPS) that affect the comfort. Verdict: unplayable.
The results of testing the graphics cards in Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
Watch Dogs on ultra settings with 2x MSAA antialiasing “bent” both 2 GB version cards. Stronger suffered GeForce GTX 960. Probably due to the fact that it requires 500 MB more memory. By itself, the FPS level — average and minimum — is below comfort zone at the rate of 25 FPS.
The results of testing the graphics in Watch Dogs
Call of Duty: Black Ops III is observed in about the same pattern. If we compare the 4-Gigabyte version of the GPU, the more fps the Radeon R9 380. This applies to both minimum and average FPS levels. 2 GB version of retarding the same.
The results of testing the graphics cards in Call of Duty: Black Ops III
We will conduct additional analysis for Rise of the Tomb Raider. With settings “Very high” on the 4-GB adapters to play there is a reason. Level FPS fluctuates slightly. Lag I have not even found in the transition from game action to cut-scenes. If you increase the graphics quality (like in the screenshot above) it is impossible to play even with four gigabytes.
Obviously, the owner of a video card with two gigabytes to achieve a comfortable level of FPS will have to reduce the quality settings. The most demanding option is the texture quality. Lowered it to “high” and get 38 average FPS with periodic drawdowns of up to 28 FPS. Already better.
The results of testing the graphics cards in Rise of the Tomb Raider
The results of testing the graphics cards in Rise of the Tomb Raider
What have in the end? When you set graphics quality settings from 17 games, ten 2-GB version showed exactly the same results as the 4-Gigabyte Radeon R9 380 and GeForce GTX 960. That is more than half. On the one hand, this is a good result. I used the max settings and antialiasing. Therefore, at low FPS, the user may slightly reduce the quality of the graphics, and to abandon the anti aliasing. On the other hand, the popular game of 2015 consistently consume more than two gigabytes of VRAM in Full HD.
Statistics
Total games: 17 (100%)
Video memory does not affect performance:
The amount of video memory has little effect on performance:
Video memory has a big influence on performance:
10 (58,8%)
2 (11,8%)
5 (29,4%)
- Metro: Last Light;
- Tomb Raider (2013);
- Battlefield 4;
- Crysis 3;
- Far Cry 4;
- “The Witcher 3: wild hunt”;
- Star Wars: Battlefront;
- GTA V;
- Fallout 4;
- DiRT Rally.
- Assassin’s Creed Syndicate;
- F1 2015.
- Dragon Age: Inquisition;
- Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor;
- Watch Dogs;
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III;
- Rise of the Tomb Raider.
In conclusion
Most computer games that are worth paying attention to, now consume more than two gigabytes of video memory. However, modern graphics architecture GCN 1.2 and Maxwell allow a graphics card with two gigabytes to hold at the level of more expensive 4GB versions. Today’s test demonstrates this fact: in 10 of 17 games of video cards with different volume showed similar results.
Some more statistics: 13 of the 17 games in Full HD resolution with maximum graphics quality settings (with antialiasing) consume more than two gigabytes of video memory. All games released in 2015. The trend, however! In some applications, the performance drops quite significantly. For example, in Rise of the Tomb Raider, which for a comfortable gaming in Full HD in “maximum speed” you need a video card with a minimum of 6 GB of memory. Some games periodically retarding (Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Dragon Age: Inquisition) that not less annoying. The solution to these troubles is very simple: to reduce the graphics quality in the settings. To make consumption of video memory reduced. There are games which two gigabytes will suffice with a head. This is Dota 2, CS: GO, World of Warcraft, World of Tanks, and similar projects.
Obviously, users with powerful gaming graphics card with 2-3 GB of memory of past generations (GeForce GTX 680, GeForce GTX 770, Radeon HD 7950, Radeon HD 7970) here and now it makes no sense to pursue buying a new device, unless, of course, we are not talking about the most productive solutions. For example, the GeForce GTX 980 Ti. I would like to see a new generation of video cards AMD and NVIDIA Pascal Polaris, and then took any action. I am sure that all decisions mid range in 2016 will receive a minimum of 4 GB of video memory. Those who are here and now considering the purchase the GeForce GTX 960 or Radeon R9 380, is to get a version with four gigabytes of memory. And to the point. Overpay a little bit: around 1.5-2 thousand rubles.
The price is the same graphics cards with different memory
In other price categories the choice is obvious. Less powerful adapters (slower than Radeon R9 380 and GeForce GTX 960) are mainly equipped with 2 GB of memory. There is an exception — Radeon R7 370. To pay for the version with 4 GB makes no sense. The chip of this graphics card still will not pull the modern game at maximum settings. And the medium is sufficient 2 GB. More efficient 3D accelerators are deprived of versions with different memory: Radeon R9 390/390X is always 8 GB; GeForce GTX 970/980 video cards, Radeon R9 Fury/Nano/Fury X is always 4 GB; GeForce GTX 980 Ti is always 6 GB; GeForce GTX TITAN X is always 12 GB.
Don’t see the point in 2016 to collect an array of SLI/CrossFire adapter of GeForce GTX 960/970 and Radeon R9 380/380X. Recall that memory when you combine graphics cards in a single cluster is not formed. So an increase of FPS from using even a single card can be limited precisely by the lack of GDDR5.