xbitlabs 4890 roundup, 1gb vs 2gb = no diference?

[Solus Corvus]

you guys are game modders and such and still dont know its a gimmick like every thing else in this industry.
enev if the textures were high enuff to need 2g it woulg give you 2-3 frames xtra woopy doo

It may only show up as a few FPS lower on average, but thrashing can be very visually distracting. It also has a very negative effect on gameplay because it often happens when things are moving the fastest and there is the most action.

[cegras]

you guys are game modders and such and still dont know its a gimmick like every thing else in this industry.
enev if the textures were high enuff to need 2g it woulg give you 2-3 frames xtra woopy doo

So what's your threshold for minimum vram size?

[safan80]

I like how people still want to claim 1GB of video memory is enough. If you are playing 2560x1600 with 4xAA it is not enough. The thing I'm hating the most about all the game reviews is you don't know what section of a map/game they used. The game benchs are worthless without min/max frame rates included because no matter what there's always a spot in a game that is going to slow way down and that's where more vram is going to matter.

[STEvil]

Didnt use a single game which uses more than 1gb of video memory.... go figure.

[saaya]

Shame they did not test GTA IV, the 2GB card would rock the socks off in that game
I have found that 2GB cards have a much higher minimum frame rate at resolutions equal to or greater than 1920x1200, for example in Crysis you can get a 3fps minimum frame rate boost! (on a 2GB GTX 285), no difference on Maximum Framerate tho.
John

hmmm so you think nv gpus need more mem than ati gpus?
could be... depends how they handle stuff in their drivers i guess

where is gta4? where is cinematic mod? where is fallout 3 with hd textures pack?

good point! pcgh tested those mods in the past, but i dont remember if they tested 1gb vs 2gb cards...

oh yeah they did!
for some reason they set the view distance to 50% though...
and as a result, the 2gb card was slightly SLOWER than the 1gb card, LOL

they also tested hl2 cm and there is 0 diference between the 1gb and 2gb gtx285, nada... even at 2560x1600 hmmmm

interestingly far cry2 shows a 2-3fps gain for the 2gb card in 1920x1200, and in 2560x1600 the boost is huge, BUT, 22min 30av fps arent really playable... well you can argue about that... so with 2gb memory you can arguably play far cry2 at 2560x1600 with a single gtx285 while with 1gb you def can not (13min 23.8av)

http://www.pcgameshardware.de/aid,69...e/Test/?page=8

the largest gains were in the fallout3 mod, but again, only at 2560x1600 and again its arguable how playable it is with 26min 32.8av... but its notably more than 1gb (6min 11.1av)

HD4890 1GB in Crossfire vs. HD4890 2GB in Crossfire.

Using a single HD4890 2GB in Crossfire doesn't give it justice... use 2 of them in 2560x1600 and compare it to 1GB cards...

good point, id like to see that as well... seems nobody is testing this

[Mav451]

I like how people still want to claim 1GB of video memory is enough. If you are playing 2560x1600 with 4xAA it is not enough. The thing I'm hating the most about all the game reviews is you don't know what section of a map/game they used. The game benchs are worthless without min/max frame rates included because no matter what there's always a spot in a game that is going to slow way down and that's where more vram is going to matter.

Exactly. It's unfortunate that this forum is allergic to one of the few hardware sites that actually shows their data however. It's too bad really.

[saaya]

i dont think its that hw sites want to hide that 2gb makes sense or try to prove that 1gb is enough... i think they just dont try hard enough to really make use of it and then do a reality check if its worth it and how big the diference is... thats a shame...

[STEvil]

hmmm so you think nv gpus need more mem than ati gpus?
could be... depends how they handle stuff in their drivers i guess

He made no mention of ATi/nV at all?

good point! pcgh tested those mods in the past, but i dont remember if they tested 1gb vs 2gb cards...

oh yeah they did!
for some reason they set the view distance to 50% though...
and as a result, the 2gb card was slightly SLOWER than the 1gb card, LOL

they also tested hl2 cm and there is 0 diference between the 1gb and 2gb gtx285, nada... even at 2560x1600 hmmmm

interestingly far cry2 shows a 2-3fps gain for the 2gb card in 1920x1200, and in 2560x1600 the boost is huge, BUT, 22min 30av fps arent really playable... well you can argue about that... so with 2gb memory you can arguably play far cry2 at 2560x1600 with a single gtx285 while with 1gb you def can not (13min 23.8av)

http://www.pcgameshardware.de/aid,69...e/Test/?page=8

the largest gains were in the fallout3 mod, but again, only at 2560x1600 and again its arguable how playable it is with 26min 32.8av... but its notably more than 1gb (6min 11.1av)

good point, id like to see that as well... seems nobody is testing this

With HL2 you may need to set mat_min_heapsize and mat_max_heapsize larger (value measured in MB btw, I run 1024 and 2048 respectively) to "fill" the video memory (yes I realize it is more related to system memory).

There may also be a console variable that automatically sets the preferred video memory amount... all I have is my 4870X2 so I cant test really.