Video memory used/needed per resolution

Red Falcon

Red Falcon

[H]ard DCOTM x3
2FA
Joined
May 7, 2007
Messages
13,444
Hey everyone!

I was wondering how much video memory is used/needed during gaming per resolution.

Example (this may be wrong):

128MB needed for 1024x768
256MB needed for 1600x1200
etc.

With all of the new 512MB and 1GB video cards coming out, I wanted to know when the bottlenecks start. I understand all about the memory bus widths and bandwidths, so you don't need to explain those, only the amount of memory needed.

I know that with Crysis, if people play with HD resolution settings and higher, 512MB tends to become the bottleneck (and the bus width if only 256-bit).

Please let me know! Thanx in advance.
 
ClearM4 said:
depends on the game and the game settings.
Click to expand...

So, lets use this as example. If I play Crysis (which my card could NEVA EVA handle, lol) at medium settings 1600x1200, that would take 256MB of video memory, but if I up the settings to high at 1600x1200, then it would take 320MB+?

So it's not necessarily the resolution as much as the in game settings? (such as texture, shadows, detail, etc.)
 
Red Falcon said:
So, lets use this as example. If I play Crysis (which my card could NEVA EVA handle, lol) at medium settings 1600x1200, that would take 256MB of video memory, but if I up the settings to high at 1600x1200, then it would take 320MB+?

So it's not necessarily the resolution as much as the in game settings? (such as texture, shadows, detail, etc.)
Click to expand...
yes its a culmination of many factors including resolution, game settings, AA, AF and so on. 256mb is all thats needed on cards like 8600gt and below since they dont have the power to run modern games at settings high enough to utilize more than 256mb. 512mb should really be the minimum on cards like the 8800gt since it easily has the power to run at higher resolutions and settings.
 
Yeah, an example: I was able to run the original GL Quake at 1600x1200, 16bpp on my 16MB Riva TNT. The frame buffer for that used only around 11MB, and beyond that the game used less than 2MB for vertex data and textures, and no additional effects.

Today's games use SO MANY MORE effects, it's not even funny. High-res textures, shader programs, AF, AA...there's just no end to it all.
 
These days since one can find 256 Megs slapped onto entry level graphics cards that can't physically push large textures out at decent frame rates. So the size of memory one should get should depend on how fast the video card is at rendering images, and what games you intend to play, rather than just resolution.

The amount of memory required for storing textures is much larger than the amount of memory required for the framebuffer even at 1900x1200. That's assuming you're not running some insane 24x anti-aliasing or something like that.

Note that Crysis will bring *any* current video to its knees at 1280x1024 at "high" graphics settings, so for Crysis gaming at 1280x1024 on high, one requires at LEAST 512MB of video ram and an SLI/Crossfire setup with the highest end cards.
 
it depends i guess
on my 3850 256 i can play nfs and hellgate just fine @ 1600x1200 max settings(no AA though)

^^ also depends on the way
 
certainly depends on the game, and the resolution. Here's an example:

Flash games at 1920x1080 @32bpp = min required is 7.91mb
Crysis @ 1920*1080@32bpp, and all options = at least 512 to remain at a respectable framerate

:D
 
sabregen said:
certainly depends on the game, and the resolution. Here's an example:

Flash games at 1920x1080 @32bpp = min required is 7.91mb
Crysis @ 1920*1080@32bpp, and all options = at least 512 to remain at a respectable framerate<------

:D
Click to expand...

yea, that wont happen I don't think a single card can run crysis with all options at a decent frame rate, let alone @ 1080p rez :p
maybe 1gb for that sucka
 
oh yee of little faith. ever seen a quadro fx 5600 1.GB model on an OC? :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top