vRAM - 4 GB vs 2 GB

Get much for an extra $50?

Take the NVidia GTX 960, for example. This mid-range card offers 2 GB and 4 GB versions, respectively -- at about a $50 discrepancy between the two cards.

That being what the cost of a whole new game, for some, this makes the world of difference.

 

 

GTA V

A memory-hungry game to the fullest; where the more vRAM, the better.

That is, the 970's 3.5 GB is just about the bare minimum, to run this game at max, 60 FPS.

The 960's 4 GB are not fully taken advantage of on the lower GM206 Maxwell architecture.

Therefore any additional vRAM here would be best for a more constant frame rate, with less dips and stutters between lowest and highest framerate.

While this can be easily rectified with vSync enabled - you do get about 3-5 FPS higher on the four GB model of the GTX 960.

You can enable far more advanced graphics options in GTA V with 4 or more GB of vRAM - namely ancillary settings like higher population density, depth of view, detail distance, ambient occlusion, better reflections, higher water quality, deeper shadows - practically everything.

The major one though - that would be 4K.

4K

What PC gamer wouldn't want this option?

Maybe those still playing flash games, Solitaire and the new Candy Crush that comes with Windows 10.

In that case, the upgrade wouldn't make a difference - and you probably don't even own GTA.

For those that need to breathe their vehicle exhaust, you simply need 4 GB of vRAM.

Not even a question.

I had to turn down population density and shadows to medium, simply because I want higher-than-60 frames, but 4K is sweet ... from what I've heard.

With 4K, naturally the FPS would cap at around 30 on the 970. That's where AMD cards are a better investment.

Having a memory capacity that's at least partially usable, but doesn't even partially perform.

Don't even start with CUDA Cores v.s. Stream Processors me.

Wait that's for core clock, not mem clock.

Anyhow, NVidia strength is performance; AMD's strength is price - so deal! They say you pay for what you get.

What is this Mac v.s. PC?


Ok, I joke.

<--- What the hell is this about?


Just buy both.

Now that's been cleared, 2016's next big AAA game is Tom Clancy's the Division.

I skipped Rainbow 6 for this, because why not? Ubisoft isn't exactly driven by narrative - and all of its recent games I've played, are practically identical.

Don't go all Assassin's Creed v.s. Ghost Recon! I mean the core elements of gameplay.

Sandbox here, shooting there. Maybe a different accent here.

I'm expecting it to be all graphics and physics this year, Ubi - start the year off the right way.