The shadowing doesn't only work on .bgl buildings.

 

What do you mean there ?

Does anyone here think that P3D2 will use more than 3GB of VRam once we get the high end heavies from PMDG ?  I would like to get the GTX780 for it but really would hate to add it only to find out later that I needed more Vram.

Welcome to the conundrum thread, Mark. After 167 posts the answer still eludes me. I dont fly PMDG stuff but would heavy sceneries or higher resolution than 1080  benefit from a Titan. Jury still open.

I really doubt it.

 

The thing to keep in mind is that VRAM isn't impacted the in the same way as system RAM, and the difference from one aircraft to the next will be marginal. The settings/resolution you run will dictate your VRAM requirements, not the aircraft you fly.

 

EDIT: Just to add, for single display 1080p/1200p I don;t see any issue with a ~2GB+ buffer to be perfectly honest. 1440p/1600p are probably going to want 3GB to be on the safe side. Multi-display...well...that's another street over. 

On a 1080p display, at Flightbeam's KIAD and/or KPHX, with the Aerosoft Airbus X Extended, on a GTX780, I'm getting 25 frames on avg. and approx. 2.3GB of VRAM usage.

As I continue to read I am sure like many reading here, "What should be my next graphic's card?"

 

I was running dual 580s with 1.5GB on board with P3D1.4 across three 27" 1080p display at 30FPS and it ran pretty darn good.  Could always over load it though.

 

Currently, have a single GTX 670 2GB and testing what I can do with it.  From what I think, these types of GPU's are sort of at the minimum area of a card that's required.  I can get good FPS using default settings with no add-ons but what about taking the next step?

 

From reading here it appears most see a VAS of just over 2GB with default setups and maybe a 3rd party plane or airport thrown in.  That means my card is probably swapping memory and thus seeing the dips in FPS when trying to add stuff like FOG or shadows.  Seems like the sweet spot is a 3-4GB card but with my wrap-around I am thinking a 6GB Titan to cover my butt for when I start loading add-ons.

 

So for  me the question is:

 

a 770 with 4GB VRAM

a 780 or 780 Ti with 3GB VRAM

a Titan with 6GB VRAM

 

Hopefully someone with enough time (and money) will be able to come up with some tests that show if there is a clear way to go.  And hopefully before Xmas!  Any takers!?  :lol:

The question comes again and again  Clutch :smile: the issue IMO is  :can P3D use/address the 3 "last" Gb of a Titan over the standard "1st" 3Gb of the 780Ti ? Or is there an inherent limit to it.  

 

Hopefully someone with enough time (and money) will be able to come up with some tests that show if there is a clear way to go.

 

That "clear way to go" needs to take into account what resolution you are running the simulation at, and also how many monitors you are using. A single monitor at 1280x1024 resolution (like my system) is a completely different ball game when compared to 5760x1200 spread across three widescreen monitors. Fortunately for me, I only have to worry about the first one!

Honestly Clutch, you may not even entertain the idea, but a pair of non-reference 290X's would be my call.

I'm getting my GTX770 4Gb next week, and will throw everything I have at it within P3D. I will also overclock the card (some truly nice overclocking utilities available, example MSI Afterburner, Palit Thundermaster, etc.). I decided on the higher VRAM card, as the 770 is not substantially slower than the 780. Will report my findings. I will also need to learn NVidia Inspector and its settings though, never used it before, looks like a "must have" for better images.

 

Domkle, just on your comment, I believe the 780Ti only comes in 3Gb? I may be wrong.

so Chris are you saying that a 2GB ddr5 card can perform well on a single monitor, depending on the resolution of course

thanks Vlooi I edited my post which was not clear

A couple of static building shadows can make a 780 GTX struggle?

Jeez I thought P3D was supposed to be optimized.

There's a number of problems with the question.

 

First, there are thousands of buildings not a 'couple'. Secondly, the shadows are not static, they are dynamic...as in calculated and rendered per frame based on light sources in the game. Third, shadows are not only cast by objects, they are cast upon objects (i.e. the control tower casts a shadow on the terminal building which is casting a shadow on your plane which is casting a shadow onto the fuel tuck driving under the wing of your plane, which is also casting a shadow as it moves. The shadow you see is the union of all these effects and it changes per frame with the environment.) Did I mention they're anti-aliased?

 

Real time ray casting isn't free and it will bury a 780 and I suspect a Titan or an R9 too if you go crazy with it.

 

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

 

so Chris are you saying that a 2GB ddr5 card can perform well on a single monitor, depending on the resolution of course

 

This is what I am hoping will be the case! I am not spending stupid money on top end 780Ti or Titan cards, that's for sure. Mind you, it would be nice to find a 4GB 760Ti card for a 2GB card price :smile:

 

If I decide to purchase P3Dv2, I will not be attempting to run it with full terrain and object shadows at the outset. Dynamic cockpit shadows are far more important to me, so any new card needs to be able to run P3D smoothly at high detail (and AI) settings with those enabled. Anything else would be a bonus.

 

 

I will not be attempting to run it with full terrain and object shadows at the outset. Dynamic cockpit shadows are far more important to me

 

I though the same but now I can't do without those shadows... They ARE important!

 

http://forum.avsim.net/topic/427668-if-you-think-shadows-are-not-important/