newtekie1
Semi-Retired Folder
- Joined
- Nov 22, 2005
- Messages
- 28,473 (4.16/day)
- Location
- Indiana, USA
Processor | Intel Core i7 10850K@5.2GHz |
---|---|
Motherboard | AsRock Z470 Taichi |
Cooling | Corsair H115i Pro w/ Noctua NF-A14 Fans |
Memory | 32GB DDR4-3600 |
Video Card(s) | RTX 2070 Super |
Storage | 500GB SX8200 Pro + 8TB with 1TB SSD Cache |
Display(s) | Acer Nitro VG280K 4K 28" |
Case | Fractal Design Define S |
Audio Device(s) | Onboard is good enough for me |
Power Supply | eVGA SuperNOVA 1000w G3 |
Software | Windows 10 Pro x64 |
The problem that I think many non-owners can't seem to grasp (and as shown in the videos kindly posted above) is not that general performance hasn't changed, as you're right it doesn't change the performance shown at launch. The problem is the transition from the 3.5GB to .5GB segment causes stutter. This is very real and it is extremely annoying. This was not showcased/highlighted in many (any?) reviews, perhaps as they didn't think to look for it or saw any potential hiccups as some other personal anomaly. Maybe most tested it at resolutions that could be contained within 3.5GB (again, this is a great 1080p->1440p card as it is), or scenarios the core was bottlenecked before vram became the bottleneck. The fact remains, there are scenarios where the core can put up with gaming scenarios that would utilize that partition for a fluid experience (in essence I disagree with many that say it is moot because it can't). There are instances where the bottleneck is that .5GB, or rather switching to it causes stutter (ie resolutions/settings in Mordor that would otherwise run solidly above 30fps, I'm sure there are others) and that is a problem, especially because we were lied to about it's capabilities. Had we known about that, it may have caused some people to buy a 290x, as at higher resolutions (while otherwise a similar-performing core) the AMD cards will not have this problem. I have said it about 37 times in this thread: no 290(x) would fit in my case; the 970 is the best option for me regardless. That doesn't change the fact the stutter is annoying.
I've been playing FC4@1440p MSAA4 since I got my GTX970(and on my 4GB 670s before that). Memory usage is often over 3.7GB, the stuttering really isn't bad, or even noticeable. The odd thing is those videos show the GPU usage drop to 0% when the stuttering happens, and that doesn't happen with my card. The GPU usage is pegged at 100% always.
Plus there were plenty of opportunities where this should have come up in the reviews. W1z did a lot of testing at 4k with the card both single card and SLI. You'd think he would have mentioned the stuttering instead of praising the card as a great card for 4k. He even tested BF4 and Watch_Dogs at 4k, both of which I know use more than 3.5GB.
Last edited: