Video Memory - Playing it safe or going to the max?

[Runnin_Gag]

Is it a good idea to set your graphic settings while trying to stay significantly beneath your Video memory maximum in order to have some leeway?

 

With my current settings im at 2300/3000mb video memory, will that give me any benefits (for example prevent framedrops to critical ares (below 30fps)) or can I crank up the settings even more until i reach ~2800mb without noticing negative side effects?

[joebloggs]

I currently have around 50-100mb free. I don't see any performance drops. I mean it's there to use it

Edited April 14, 2015 by joebloggs

[Sztywny]

Im running the game on a pretty low/mid-end machine:

Phenom II 965 @3,7GHz,

GTX 550 Ti 1GB,

8gb ram.

Res. 1360x768.

 

Using about 1900mb out of 1gb memory available, and im getting almost constantly 50-70fps. This is insane.

[Huskerboy42]

Im running the game on a pretty low/mid-end machine:

Phenom II 965 @3,7GHz,

GTX 550 Ti 1GB,

8gb ram.

Res. 1360x768.

 

Using about 1900mb out of 1gb memory available, and im getting almost constantly 50-70fps. This is insane.

So you are using nearly 2gb of your 1gb? (1900mb=1.9gb) did you mean out of 2gb or 900mb?

[Frenesis]

Im running the game on a pretty low/mid-end machine:

Phenom II 965 @3,7GHz,

GTX 550 Ti 1GB,

8gb ram.

Res. 1360x768.

 

Using about 1900mb out of 1gb memory available, and im getting almost constantly 50-70fps. This is insane.

realy? i have:

Phenom II x4 965

hd 7870 2gb

4 gb ram

and i'm unable to play if i don't move my character i do 50-60 FPS (at any res. with any setting) but if i move they drops to around 25 FPS and if i drive is unplayable around 16 - 6 FPS

maybe 4gb of ram are simply not enought?

[oaoso]

nvm

Edited April 15, 2015 by oaoso

[IcePwrd]

Unused memory is wasted memory, as long as your GPU can handle it, there is not reason not to.

[TaazR]

I'm using 2400/2048mb. Stable 60fps, only started lagging after playing 4 hours straight...

[Reformed Squid]

It seems like the guideline is an example of an absolutely worst-case scenario. 95% of the time you will probably be using much less VRAM then the guideline says you will use, and you'll only reach that number when there's a ridiculous amount of stuff to render at a single time, like a ton of stuff exploding at once. That's my guess anyways, and a possible explanation on why people are using settings that game says will cause the VRAM usage to go over their amount, yet they're having no problems.

[Pvt. Slim]

I'm also using the memory graph bar about 95%

[Huskerboy42]

It seems like the guideline is an example of an absolutely worst-case scenario. 95% of the time you will probably be using much less VRAM then the guideline says you will use, and you'll only reach that number when there's a ridiculous amount of stuff to render at a single time, like a ton of stuff exploding at once. That's my guess anyways, and a possible explanation on why people are using settings that game says will cause the VRAM usage to go over their amount, yet they're having no problems.

How the hell do people use more vram than their card has?!?!?

[PCMasterRace46]

Getting 50-55 fps very high settings at 4K. 2 x 980 classifieds 4790k @ 4.8 16gb ram 1Tb Samsung 850 SSD.

[Kaito Katsumi]

Is there a way to cheat the settings to make the game think we have more vram? I remember in GTA IV its possible.

[Sztywny]

 

There is a setting in graphic options to disable the memory limit, read above.

[twannie1997]

I think the memory thing is kinda of bullsh*t, since it doesn't make sense to use all the VRAM on something like a GT 630 4GB (low-end card with a ton of video memory).

 

I use about 60% of the memory on my GPU, and it runs more than fine. I don't want to push it any further though, since the GPU itself is running quite warm. (65-80 degrees celsius territory)

 

 

Basically: The GPU needs to handle the data you push through it. If you have sufficient memory for the data to push through, but the GPU can't handle it, it will cause problems as well. I'd say, crank the settings up a bit, and then benchmark it with something like MSI Afterburner. Keep the GPU usage below 100%.

Edited April 15, 2015 by twannie1997

[Gdog]

you seen the price that VRAM adds to a GPU? if you're paying for an extra 2 or 4GB...you better bloody get the most out of every last mb!

 

who cares if it starts to turn orange/red. if you have 4096mb available then i expect to see nothing less than that used.

Edited April 15, 2015 by one55

[xy-maps]

I'm playing with 2,5 GB of 1,5 GB and the game runs still smooth. Why is this happening?

[Craigsters]

I have no clue what to change in the in game menu so I leave it as to what the game chooses, I'm the type of guy that if it ain't broken don't fix it and so I figure let it choose the settings in the menu, I only changed the screen resolution to 1920 x 1080 and full screen, not liking borders!..

 

my memory use in game is 1253mb / 2048 mb

 

a in game screen shoot of my menu setting's

http://i.imgur.com/mRpjPvD.jpg

Edited April 15, 2015 by Craigsters

[MajorVienna]

Interesting. Will try jacking up the textures when I get home.

[Prodigalsunz]

I'm about 500mb above my VRAM (2gb) mainly because I've set textures to high.

All other settings are high/very high.

runs pretty smooth except when its raining (I think because the reflections in the water puddles)

 

i7 4790 @ 3.60Ghz

GTX 660

12gb DDR3

[DavidTheThird]

I also have it set so it's using about 200MB more than my card has and am playing at stable 40fps.

i7 4770 @ 3,40GHz (I think..)

GTX750 (2GB)

16GB RAM

[gwlaw99]

As a poster already said, the memory settings probably reflect a worst case scenario. You will mostly be using less than the settings show.

Edited April 15, 2015 by gwlaw99

[bowbra100]

I went way beyond my limit 2.1gigs I wanted to try very high textures from normal which takes about 700 mbs. But no change in fps.. still get 30-60fps. Is this dangerous? I have a maxwell gtx 860M 2gig overclocked

Edited April 15, 2015 by bowbra100

[MrTay]

I've got a weird thing going on too.

After plugging in my phone to the PC to charge everything went to desktop. Going back to the game put it in window mode so i went into the settings to change it.

Here's the weird bit - It let me choose a resolution that is double my 1080p. The video limit is 100Mb over the top but it looks bloody amazing and plays a whole lot better.

Before this at 1080p i was getting a happy 50fps on average, now it's up to a constant 80+

Any ideas?? I'm not complaining obviously but if there's settings that can be unlocked through a lucky glitch that makes the whole thing better it needs looking at!

[Creed Bratton]

Don't take the VRAM usage as gospel. Remember GTA IV. That info isn't actually an accurate indicator of how much memory you'll be using. Crank it up and see what happens. If you notice stuttering, that's when you're using more than you should.

Edited April 15, 2015 by The Yokel

[coolbam14]

Take the VRAM usage meter with a grain of salt. I am at a constant 60FPS with my GTX 770 2GB SLI cards on 1080p with 4.7GB "usage" that the settings in game report to me. My cards hover around 60C with 50%-70% usage with the memory usage of around 1800MB-2000MB. I am on an i7-4790k with 16GB of RAM.

Edited April 15, 2015 by coolbam14

[oaoso]

The VRAM meter is simply a guide. If its in the green, you should never have performance issues, if its not in the green, you could. The only difference w/ this game to another is that if you push options in another game higher, it doesnt have a meter to visially show you. The performance takes a hit and you lower settings.

[oaoso]

I think the memory thing is kinda of bullsh*t, since it doesn't make sense to use all the VRAM on something like a GT 630 4GB (low-end card with a ton of video memory).

 

I use about 60% of the memory on my GPU, and it runs more than fine. I don't want to push it any further though, since the GPU itself is running quite warm. (65-80 degrees celsius territory)

 

Basically: The GPU needs to handle the data you push through it. If you have sufficient memory for the data to push through, but the GPU can't handle it, it will cause problems as well. I'd say, crank the settings up a bit, and then benchmark it with something like MSI Afterburner. Keep the GPU usage below 100%.

 

It makes perfect sense to use all of the VRAM memory if its onboard the card. Thats what its there for. As long as your temps are in a safe range, there's nothing to worry about. "Keep GPU usage below 100%" is nonsense. Its not going to degrade if you're gaming at 100%, and some games its impossible to alter if the game is programmed to use it. You don't have to baby a GPU. Make it do its job. If the performance is there and temps/voltages are safe, its perfectly fine. If temperatures and voltages get out of range, then you want to watch it. Load is a problem when the %'s are high when you're not gaming. That's the sign of a likely problem..

Edited April 15, 2015 by oaoso

[nine9six]

I have all of my settings on their maximum values (only @ 1080p), and when I'm in-game I've seen my G19 display read as high as 3.7GB used of my 4GB. Most of the time it's in the 2GB range. I guess it's just filling-up memory...just because it can?

 

This is using EVGA Precision, so IDK how accurate that is? The in-game bar graph shows it all the way to the right (maxed-out).

[Wallander]

I pumped my texture settings from normal to very high without any FPS drop and actually have used 2.650 out of my 2000 GPU:) temperature in normal - around 60-65 Celsius in heavy load (silent and powerful asus fans:). I think that memory meter is only "for worst case scenario". If you exceed it and nothing is happening, then you will be fine. At least I hope so:)

 

i5 4570

ASUS GTX 670 Direct CU II 2 GB

8 GB RAM

Win 8.1

FPS average +/- 50

Edited April 15, 2015 by Wallander