Hello Everyone,

 

I'm getting ready to start my new build and was wondering if a 4gb gtx 680 would offer any advantage with high aa and sgss at 2560x1600?

 

Build includes the following:

 

i72700k

asrock z77 extreme 4

gskill ripjaws 2133 cas 9

kracken x60

Samsung 840 pro 256

dell u3011

evga 2 or 4 gb gtx 680?

 

A sincere thank you for all input.

 

Jamey

Yes... Don't think twice to pull the trigger on the 4GB version.

 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

 

Thank you Efrain. I saw your post using tileproxy and wondered if it was limited to that or if 4gb was still a good choice in general for fsx at this resolution and aa, sgss settings ( 8xs and 4-8xsgss). Also, should I go with the ftw or classified version? I know that nvidia has limited the voltage options on the classified but didn't know if it might still be the better overclocker. My trigger finger at amazon is ready to fire

 

Jamey

Srdan,

 

I think that I found the discussion with Umberto that you are referencing. I know that Efrain saw an average of 2.6gb of vram usage with his tileproxy flight but I certainly do not want a bunch of OOM errors do deal with either after spending so much $$$. So, I'm not really sure what to do now. Also, I'm not using tileproxy but rather gex, rex, orbx and highres aircraft textures when available. I know from reading the forums that both of you gentlemen have high FSXIQ ( intelligence, not image quality, though I'm sure you have that too so I am looking forward to your responses.

 

Jamey

 

 

I am also about to build a new computer and was looking at a 4gb 680gtx as I read that more VRAM was better for multi monitor use. I am looking forward to the responses from the experts here as I will need to reconsider if the higher vram uses resources that induces OOM errors.

 

Ted

Regarding OOM's - yes, using fsx - in the DX9 mode - there is an impact on system memory when using a GPU with the larger memory capacity, but how much of an impact is dependent upon whether a 32-bit OS or a 64-bit OS (because of the negation of the 2GB limit combined with the LargeAddressAware bit).

 

and..

 

Dependent somewhat upon the BufferPools configuration - FSX allocates/creates an 8MB buffer in the gpu memory for every object that it receives, and, (because of DX9) the memory address space of the system may also be increased by the same amount - but this does not mean that the gpu's data is stored in the system memory, or that in fact, any system memory is used by that allocation.

 

The core, memory and shader clock speeds will also have an impact, inasmuch as providing the gpu can process data faster than is being received there will be no queuing or other 'draggy' overhead.

 

My personal thought is that FSX is a 32-bit app, everyone has different hardware, different software, different configurations, all very subjective, and so there can be no "absolute" "correct" answer to the OP's question> That being said - Word Not Allowed's post #4 echoes my feeling - I would purchase the 2 GB card, based upon FSX's empirical memory performance, and the price.

 

Note - DX10 does not duplicate any gpu ram into the system ram , this being a major reason for lack of OOM's.

 

All the Best,

What is VRAM use like when using Nvidea Surround? Looking to get a 680 for a triple monitor setup.

 

Paul, Word Not Allowed, I'm still confused. If I was only going to use one monitor I would not considor a 4 mb video card, however I'm addicted to two and would like three or four. I do have 64 bit Windows 7 and will have 8 gb of ram. Are you saying that the 4 gb video card will use up all of the virtual address space allocated for the OS leaving the OS with none and resulting in OOMs?

I do have 64 bit Windows 7 and will have 8 gb of ram. Are you saying that the 4 gb video card will use up all of the virtual address space allocated for the OS leaving the OS with none and resulting in OOMs?

 

No - not at all, Ted. I didn't mention Virtual Address Space (VAS) - only that there is an impact on system memory, and VAS is an extension to this subject, as is the subject of the different features and mechanisms of DX8, DX9, DX10 and DX11. Memory Allocation can also be Static or Dynamic, which is what I believe DX9 employs. (not sure, but it's most likely) Pretty complicated. Also 4 gig gpu's are new to everyone, not only users! Not too many experts around.

 

A modest study of some of these subjects is here, by Steve Parsons, our DX10 Guru, and here, Windows Memory Management by Mark Russinovich.

Thanks for the links Paul. It is going to take me some time to read and understand this. I just purchased all the parts for my transition from my q6600 to a 3770k. I'm just going to use my old 285gtx in the new system until I can determine whether to get a 2 gb or 4gb 680GTX. These are too expensive to make a mistake on.