Hi all,

 

A question for users with a GTX TITAN: how much video RAM have you seen P3D use?  Especially Rob, if you read this, how much usage are you seeing with the new features (e.g. cloud shadows) in 2.2 beta?

 

The reason I ask is that I intend to replace my GTX670 some time this year, and I have the following choices:

1. GTX 780ti: Seems to fit the bill in most respects, but I'm worried that 3GB may be insufficient.  I am easily able to reach the 2GB limit on my 670.

2. GTX TITAN Black: Looks great, but it's £300 more than a 780ti, and processing power seems only marginally better.  The main difference is that it has 6GB VRAM (and the floating point support, but I won't use that).

3. Wait until the 8xx series GPU comes out, on the assumption that the GTX880 (or whatever they call the series' top-of-line "standard/gaming" GPU) comes with at least 4GB.

 

Thanks,

Jacob

 

There's also option 4: EGVA will soon be releasing a GTX 780 with 6GB.

There's also option 4: EGVA will soon be releasing a GTX 780 with 6GB.

 

I am also looking at that one. The Titan is too expensive, the 780Ti has 3 GB and the next line of high end GPU's won't be here until the end of this year or even 2015. I don't think I can wait that long... I have to say though that the main things which is holding me back to get a new PC is all the decisions you have to make for all components... The thought alone makes my tired...

Thanks for the info, Arwen: a 6gb 780 may indeed be a good option. It also provides more scope for SLI expansion if I build a multi-monitor setup in the future: a 780ti may be fine on a single monitor, but 2x780ti could become memory bound in a high res, high settings setup, since SLI only expands processing power, not VRAM.

Naw... Just wait a _little_ bit and grab a Titan Z... 12 GB!: http://www.anandtech.com/show/7897/nvidia-announces-geforce-gtx-titan-z-dualgpu-gk110-for-3000

 

And Loge, don't know if you saw but the last line of the article Arwen linked to mentioned they are planning a 780ti with 6 GB as well to be released soon.  That is about all I've seen on it, but it may be worth waiting for with the performance differences between a 780 and a 780ti.

A question for users with a GTX TITAN: how much video RAM have you seen P3D use? 

 

Nearly all 6Gb in very dense scenery...

 

It's too bad SLI doesn't get you access to all VRAM from each card, at least that is how I interpreted what I read.   I wonder if all 12Gb are accessible in Titan Z?

 

 

Nearly all 6Gb in very dense scenery...

 

I am a bit confused. So the 32-bit P3Dv2 cannot access more than 4GB of system RAM, but can access more than 4GB of Video RAM, correct?

I am a bit confused. So the 32-bit P3Dv2 cannot access more than 4GB of system RAM, but can access more than 4GB of Video RAM, correct?

 

Yes.  A graphic card has its own RAM and memory manager system.

A lot of the usage will be the AA settings that are being used, Try running with No AA or SS and see what the usage is, I would be surprised if its anywhere near 3gb

A lot of the usage will be the AA settings that are being used, Try running with No AA or SS and see what the usage is, I would be surprised if its anywhere near 3gb

Probably so, but not sure why that would matter unless the user doesn't wish to run AA or SGSS, etc.  I use MSAA 4x in game, and 8xS or SUPERVCAA_64x_8x in NI typically.   Running the sim at 800x640 would use less VRAM also. 

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.  I intend to use fairly high AA settings, and may switch to a multi-monitor setup at some point, so it seems that 3GB will be insufficient.

 

I will wait for the EVGA 6GB 780 to be released, check for any more news on the 6GB 780ti at that point, and then decide whether to get the 780 or wait for the ti.  I don't think I'll wait for the 800 series: who knows when they'll be available.

 

Titan (Black) doesn't seem worth the additional cost, since I won't use the floating point computation.  A Titan Z would be nice, but I think I'd have trouble explaining that to my wife

Of course if Vram is your concern, then the 770 4Gb would fit the bill. I'd be extremely surprised if anyone could see any discernable difference between the 770 and the 780 in way of performance.