DCSW VRAM Requirements

[Gloom Demon]

What is the maximum VRAM usage by DCSW on a system with 1 display - say 1920x1080?

[BitMaster]

All I know is that with 1440p it goes up to about 3.8x GB, according to my Asus Tweak-Tool logs.

 

It also depends on what kind of mods you run, MoreVisibility set to EXTREME added a couple hundred MB on top of the standard maxed out settings, also acc. to the logs.

 

.

Run the game and use your GPU's Manufacturer Tools, they usually offer such progs

 

Bit

[*Rage*]

At 1600p I only use max 2.5 Gb. All settings maxed.

[BitMaster]

At 1600p I only use max 2.5 Gb. All settings maxed.

 

 

With a vanilla install and all maxed but civil traffic and tree shadows, 4xMSAA, I get a MINIMUM of 3.4GB VRAM usage when flying with any of the high polygone AC. I haven't tested in a 2D-Cockpit MiG-29 yet but I expect the VRAM usage to drop way down if you fly FC3.

 

Take the MiG-21bis and read VRAM usage again, I cannot believe your numbers.

 

hmmm....

 

Bit

[Gloom Demon]

Thanks for the answers guys :-)

 

Another question - I have, never thought I would say that, "only" 2Gb of VRAM. How much in terms of FPS am I loosing from not having enough VRAM?

[OnlyforDCS]

Gloom Demon, at the standard resolution of 1080p you shouldn't be 'losing' FPS. I have a similar card to yours the 760GTX but with 4GB vram and I run the same resolution. I dont think my VRAM ever goes above 2GB, but then again I don't run any anti-aliasing. (The visibility issues are much more pronounced with aliasing turned on).

 

DCS is very CPU intensive, this is a bigger problem with your configuration. Unfortunately AMD CPUs are severly underpowered compared to Intel i5 and higher processors in single threaded applications, this is the biggest bottleneck in your system (at that resolution).

[JayPee]

Bear in mind that a GPU will also fill up VRAM just because it can. Call it sloppy, call it caching, it happens. Point I am trying to make is that just because your VRAM usage-o-meter reads 4GB, this does not mean DCS will run better than it would on an equal rig with 1GB or 2GB less VRAM at it's disposal. A VRAM usage monitor displays actual VRAM used, not minimum VRAM required by the game/application.

Edited March 19, 2015 by JayPee

[Nooch]

I really don't think you're losing any fps by having just 2gb of vram. I have conducted the same tests and I was using only around 1.5gb of vram with nearly all settings maxed out at 1080p. I'd say you should upgrade your gpu only if your vram constantly stays around it's max.

I think a gtx 760 is fine for 1080p right now. Of course, more fps is always better but we should remain reasonable. On the other hand, if you have all the $ in the world, go for a Titan X :D

[Gloom Demon]

Thanks - I wont loose any sleep over this then :-)

[SkateZilla]

w/ VRAM, as long as its decent speed GDDR5, 2Gb, 3Gb, 4Gb and so on shouldnt affect your FPS.

(at least not directly).

 

What it will affect is texture quality detail level, and MSAA level etc.

 

where this affects fps, is You ramp the resolution, AA. AF, abd textures up and the amount of VRAM needed exceeds the capacity of the card you will have issues ranging from Extreme FPS drops to application.crashes

[BitMaster]

Install MoreVisibility mod, set it to Extreme and you look at VRAM a totally different way.

 

Mods can dramatically change the amount of VRAM required I guess, but as mentioned before, caching plays a role too and actual VRAM needed is still a number I haven't figured out yet.

 

Bit

[Demon_]

Thanks for the answers guys :-)

 

Another question - I have, never thought I would say that, "only" 2Gb of VRAM. How much in terms of FPS am I loosing from not having enough VRAM?

 

Nothing, i runs 3240x1920 with 2Gb of Vram at 60fps. Graphics settings to medium, high for the shadows, cockpit shadows and 4x msaa (or less).

 

I need this:

Edited March 24, 2015 by Demon_