2GB VRAM with heavily modded Skyrim: Has anybody had issues?

bgineng · Jun 21, 2012

Well, the ol' GTX 460 Hawk just isn't cutting it any more with the amount of mods I've thrown onto this game. I get low frame rates and constant stuttering, especially when I turn around, dropping down to single digit fps for a few seconds. So I'm looking into purchasing a GTX 670, which I know has enough gpu horsepower for this game. I am wondering if anybody on here who plays heavily modded Skyrim has had any issues where they noticeably max out their 2GB VRAM.

I am not talking about using MSI Afterburner or another monitoring utility where it says your vram is maxed. I am well aware that the game may allocate more VRAM than it actually needs, so this does not concern me.

I am talking about noticeable stuttering, texture loading, or other symptoms of not having enough VRAM. I ask because I would like to avoid spending extra on a 4GB card if I don't have to.

And my resolution is 1080p.

PostalTwinkie · Jun 21, 2012

The 670 would be fine at that resolution, even with 2GB. Part of VRAM is having enough, and another part is having the horsepower to get through the data in VRAM. The 670 has both.

bgineng · Jun 21, 2012

I know the gpu has the power to get through it and that 2GB is a lot for 1080p. I just wanted to see if someone using the card with multiple high-res texture packs, enb, AA and AF has experienced any issues. If I'm gonna be spending at least $400 on a graphics card, I want to make sure I'm not limited by something that I could have changed. I'm sure it's fine, but there's that voice in the back of my head that wants me to check

tedman · Jun 21, 2012

I was just looking into getting a GTX 670 for Skyrim too

I have all the high-res mods etc which are maxing out my 560Ti and its paltry 1GB VRAM. Like you, I get stuttering, especially outdoors with trees etc.

A GTX670 with 2GB VRAM will definitely be enough. I know some people with hundreds of mods that only use about 1.5GB VRAM total.

tedman · Jun 21, 2012

Also worth noting that I have Skyrim installed on my SSD which really cuts the load times and large texture loading issues. I'm sure it helps a bit when my VRAM is maxed

bgineng · Jun 21, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by tedman

A GTX670 with 2GB VRAM will definitely be enough. I know some people with hundreds of mods that only use about 1.5GB VRAM total.

This is the kind of response I was looking for!
Quote:

Originally Posted by tedman

Also worth noting that I have Skyrim installed on my SSD which really cuts the load times and large texture loading issues. I'm sure it helps a bit when my VRAM is maxed

I used to have mine on my SSD as well, but after a few more steam games, I was running out of space. Unfortunately on a HDD now (still performs pretty well). I think a future upgrade for me is going to be another SSD (larger than my 90GB one), so I'll put windows and all my other programs on that, and then use my current one as a dedicated steam drive.

icehotshot · Jun 21, 2012

So far there has not been one shred of evidence 4gb will do anything in any game at any resolution over a 2gb version.

At least I would like to see this proof if it exists.

kumquat · Jun 21, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by icehotshot

So far there has not been one shred of evidence 4gb will do anything in any game at any resolution over a 2gb version.
At least I would like to see this proof if it exists.

+1

bgineng · Jun 21, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by icehotshot

So far there has not been one shred of evidence 4gb will do anything in any game at any resolution over a 2gb version.
At least I would like to see this proof if it exists.

This is partially the reason I started this thread:
http://www.hardwareluxx.de/index.php/artikel/hardware/grafikkarten/22235-test-palit-geforce-gtx-680-4-gb-jetstream.html?start=16 (yes it's in German)
I know they are using 2560x1600, but it still demonstrates an area where 4GB helps. I knew mods increase vram usage, so I wanted to see if someone had experienced this at a lower resolution.

icehotshot · Jun 21, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by bgineng

This is partially the reason I started this thread:
http://www.hardwareluxx.de/index.php/artikel/hardware/grafikkarten/22235-test-palit-geforce-gtx-680-4-gb-jetstream.html?start=16 (yes it's in German)
I know they are using 2560x1600, but it still demonstrates an area where 4GB helps. I knew mods increase vram usage, so I wanted to see if someone had experienced this at a lower resolution.

This is interesting. I wish I could read gernman to see what they were saying.

This is honestly the first time i've seen there be any difference between a 2gb version and 4gb version. Thanks for the find. Although it has nothing really to do with the game, just antialiasing. And it does actually appear to be a vram bottleneck as the performance is crushed on the 2gb card.

I mean sure if you cranked BF3 up to 5000000x MSAA I'm sure the 4gb version would do better....lol

And I have no clue what SGSSAA is lol.....is that just to take up more vram than MSAA does?

+rep for the find.

bgineng · Jun 21, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by icehotshot

This is interesting. I wish I could read gernman to see what they were saying.
This is honestly the first time i've seen there be any difference between a 2gb version and 4gb version. Thanks for the find. Although it has nothing really to do with the game, just antialiasing. And it does actually appear to be a vram bottleneck as the performance is crushed on the 2gb card.
I mean sure if you cranked BF3 up to 5000000x MSAA I'm sure the 4gb version would do better....lol
And I have no clue what SGSSAA is lol.....is that just to take up more vram than MSAA does?
+rep for the find.

Copy it into google translate if you want to get a rough translation.

I know it was more of a comparison for AA and AF in 2gig vs 4gig cards, but it still shows a time when 4GB is helpful. I'm sure its unlikely to happen at a lower resolution, but that's why I posted this thread.

icehotshot · Jun 21, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by bgineng

Copy it into google translate if you want to get a rough translation.
I know it was more of a comparison for AA and AF in 2gig vs 4gig cards, but it still shows a time when 4GB is helpful. I'm sure its unlikely to happen at a lower resolution, but that's why I posted this thread.

I will do that when I get time.

Well now all we need is a surround review of 2gb vs 4gb. To see if vram is really only needed for AA or if surround setups can benefit from it.

Cause I doubt many would pay the $100 premium for a card if all it did was let them enable 10000x AA......once you go over 4x it is just dimishing returns for the most part.

bgineng · Jun 21, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by icehotshot

I will do that when I get time.
Well now all we need is a surround review of 2gb vs 4gb. To see if vram is really only needed for AA or if surround setups can benefit from it.
Cause I doubt many would pay the $100 premium for a card if all it did was let them enable 10000x AA......once you go over 4x it is just dimishing returns for the most part.

Oh surround setups would definitely benefit from it. I'm more concerned with the affects of mods on vram usage, but tripling my current resolution would definitely start to tax 2GB to the point where I would probably need more.

OCScrub · Jun 21, 2012

I play with the full HD skyrim texture package and some lighting and other mods on my 470. I get absolutely no stuttering at all and play it off my HDD.

icehotshot · Jun 21, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by bgineng

Oh surround setups would definitely benefit from it. I'm more concerned with the affects of mods on vram usage, but tripling my current resolution would definitely start to tax 2GB to the point where I would probably need more.

We don't know this yet. We know went you crank up the AA to ridicoulous amounts it can run the gpu out of vram. But we do not have a proper surround review of a 2gb version vs a 4gb version.

It wouldn't surprise me if with a million mods + surround setup that 2gb might not be enough, but at this point in time we have no clue. It could be possible the only way vram will be a problem if you are going crazy with AA.

bgineng · Jun 21, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by OCScrub

I play with the full HD skyrim texture package and some lighting and other mods on my 470. I get absolutely no stuttering at all and play it off my HDD.

470 with 1.25GB of vram?

derfer · Jun 21, 2012

Outdoors in a scene where I wasn't memory limited with my mods my 470 and 580 3GB got the same frames. Indoors where I was memory limited I got 10 more FPS. Now that I've redone my mods over I've hit the memory limit on my 580 3GB and I wonder how a 4GB card would benefit me. This all at 1080p; granted I'm much more through with my modifications than most. With higher monitor resolutions on the horizon I'd say go big or go home for those that don't upgrade their cards often. If you're going to a 780 or w/e by year end don't worry about it. You'll end up with the memory you need when you need it.

bgineng · Jun 21, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by derfer

Outdoors in a scene where I wasn't memory limited with my mods my 470 and 580 3GB got the same frames. Indoors where I was memory limited I got 10 more FPS. Now that I've redone my mods over I've hit the memory limit on my 580 3GB and I wonder how a 4GB card would benefit me. This all at 1080p; granted I'm much more through with my modifications than most. With higher monitor resolutions on the horizon I'd say go big or go home for those that don't upgrade their cards often. If you're going to a 780 or w/e by year end don't worry about it. You'll end up with the memory you need when you need it.

When you say you're more thorough than most, how many mods are you running? And what resolution textures are you running? I really don't plan on going above 2k textures.

tedman · Jun 22, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by derfer

Outdoors in a scene where I wasn't memory limited with my mods my 470 and 580 3GB got the same frames. Indoors where I was memory limited I got 10 more FPS. Now that I've redone my mods over I've hit the memory limit on my 580 3GB and I wonder how a 4GB card would benefit me. This all at 1080p; granted I'm much more through with my modifications than most. With higher monitor resolutions on the horizon I'd say go big or go home for those that don't upgrade their cards often. If you're going to a 780 or w/e by year end don't worry about it. You'll end up with the memory you need when you need it.

How the hell have you maxed out 3GB VRAM with Skyrim?

captainvera · Jun 22, 2012

There was someone here that made a thread about 2gbs not being enough nowadays. He was playing at 1680x1050 and he went over 3gb VRAM in modded skyrim!! I'll try to find the thread and report back! Btw the OP on that thread had a squirrel avatar if that reminds you of someone..

EDIT: spelling mistake

2GB VRAM with heavily modded Skyrim: Has anybody had issues?

bgineng

PostalTwinkie

bgineng

tedman

tedman

bgineng

icehotshot

kumquat

bgineng

icehotshot

bgineng

icehotshot

bgineng

OCScrub

icehotshot

bgineng

derfer

bgineng

tedman

captainvera

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