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| System Name | MoneySink |
|---|---|
| Processor | 2600K @ 4.8 |
| Motherboard | P8Z77-V |
| Cooling | AC NexXxos XT45 360, RayStorm, D5T+XSPC tank, Tygon R-3603, Bitspower |
| Memory | 16GB Crucial Ballistix DDR3-1600C8 |
| Video Card(s) | GTX 780 SLI (EVGA SC ACX + Giga GHz Ed.) |
| Storage | Kingston HyperX SSD (128) OS, WD RE4 (1TB), RE2 (1TB), Cav. Black (2 x 500GB), Red (4TB) |
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| Case | NZXT Switch 810 |
| Audio Device(s) | onboard Realtek yawn edition |
| Power Supply | Seasonic X-1050 |
| Software | Win8.1 Pro |
| Benchmark Scores | 3.5 litres of Pale Ale in 18 minutes. |
It's not a case of either/or. GPU processing and vRAM increases are linked. If a GPU has power but it is hamstrung by a lack of framebuffer, what good is the GPU gain? Likewise, why push games that require more vRAM if the GPUs aren't able to run the settings to take advantage of it.
As it stands now, both AMD and Nvidia's gaming programs push the software to a point where the game at its maximum quality/resolution levels is around two generations of GPUs removed from the ability to play them with a single GPU. This is not by accident. Having the games outstrip the cards ability ensures a market for SLI/Crossfire.
Nothing extreme. Larger framebuffers are as much a marketing tool as a requirement. As I said before, there is always the option of dialling down image quality and/or playing at a lower resolution...and as should be apparent, not every game is a GPU-killing resource hog and the console market dictates to a large degree how much graphics horsepower is required.
As a trend will memory capacity get larger? Of course, unless you expect the quality of gaming images and the game environment to remain unchanged. If you'd followed up any of the links I pointed you towards, the message is pretty clear - the resources to make gaming more realistic are available, but one of the biggest stumbling blocks to implementation (aside from consolitis) is memory capacity and bandwidth. Read though any next-gen 3D article or paper and count how often the words memory/bandwidth limitation (or similar) pop up.
This is the internet. Your choice as to what to take on board and what to leave aside. People who aim broadsides at a vendor usually have some weird attachment to another brand. The view from the other side of the fence isn't much dissimilar - "Don't buy Radeon their drivers suck, their support sucks" etc. Filter the opinion and question and evaluate the fact. The fun part is separating out the comments that are opinion (or trolling/shilling) that masquerade as fact....but on one ever said the quest for knowledge was easy.
