[Techno-Kitchen] GTX1060 3GB has major VRAM bottlenecks in Forza Horizon 3 & Mirror's Edge Catalyst

[RussianSensation]

GTX 1060 3GB vs RX 480 8Gb in Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst (Hyper Quality)

GTX 1060 3GB vs. GTX1060 6GB in Forza Horizon 3

MSI GTX1060 6GB or the EVGA 1060 6GB can be purchased for $230 and RX 480 8GB for $235. GTX 1060 3GB can be purchased for $190 but make sure you know the compromises.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

This is only going to get worse throughout this generation. As devs start seeing more of these 8GB midrange cards float into market, they're going to build the upper-end graphics capabilities with them in mind. 6GB users are going to be feeling the squeeze even @1080p within a year I'd wager.

 

[DamZe]

And so it begins.....

I've said it so many times, and I'll say it again the 3GimpEdition is obsolete in under a year, the future is 4GB+, 3GB is so 2012/13!

 

[RussianSensation]

And so it begins.....

I've said it so many times, and I'll say it again the 3GimpEdition is obsolete in under a year, the future is 4GB+, 3GB is so 2012/13!

Clearly, you get what you pay for in this case. TechSpot confirms the outcome in Mirror's Edge Catalyst. Notice the 3.5GB 970 and 4GB 980 are way ahead.

Reviews claiming that 1060 3GB cards are just as good for 1080p as RX 480/1060 4/6/8GB should start incorporating frame time testing, because sometimes the FPS do not show stutters produced by lack of VRAM.

 

[PhonakV30]

http://www.portvapes.co.uk/?id=Latest-exam-1Z0-876-Dumps&exid=threads/gears-of-war-4-benchmark.2488420/page-9#post-38525333

It happened with GoF 4

 

[DamZe]

Clearly, you get what you pay for in this case. TechSpot confirms the outcome in Mirror's Edge Catalyst. Notice the 3.5GB 970 and 4GB 980 are way ahead.

Reviews claiming that 1060 3GB cards are just as good for 1080p as RX 480/1060 4/6/8GB should start incorporating frame time testing, because sometimes the FPS do not show stutters produced by lack of VRAM.

Lol! Even with its castrated memory config, the 970 looks like it could outlast the 3GB 1060 in more vRAM intensive scenarios. But why not, same IPC as the Pascal part, minus the preemption.

 

[Mopetar]

I'm somewhat surprised this is an issue already. I was anticipating at least another year before this became a problem for mainstream games.

 

[Bacon1]

Yep computerbase found that the 3GB was limited in quite a few games:

https://www.computerbase.de/2016-09/grafikkarten-speicher-vram-test/2/

 

[Headfoot]

If you can spend $190 on a 3GB 1060 you can save the extra $40 and get the 6GB version that won't have to be replaced as soon.

 

[moonbogg]

Releasing a 3GB card at this stage was just a troll move. I guess it could be an OK 720p card or something.

 

[Thinker_145]

And yet you are the one who talks about the 4GB 480 being a great value card for 1080p. And no don't ask me to show you "evidence" because time will give you that and you know that very well yourself.

 

[imported_bman]

I wonder if the 1050ti with 4GB will outperform the 1060 3GB in certain games because of this.

 

[LTC8K6]

I wonder if the 1050ti with 4GB will outperform the 1060 3GB in certain games because of this.

Does the 4gb 960 card best the 3gb 1060 card?

 

[96Firebird]

Adjustable settings, how do they work?!

 

[EXCellR8]

I miss the 512MB days... wasn't nearly as much flak surrounding GPU specs and mostly everything ran fine at release time.

2008 - Fallout 3... 512MB to 1GB was perfect.

2015 - Fallout 4... 3 or 4GB recommended and the graphics aren't even that much of an improvement. Bad port but still wth?

Anyone else ready to wave their BS flag?

 

[railven]

Adjustable settings, how do they work?!

Well, everyone knows anyone buying in the 1060 3GB Price range runs DSR 4K with 8xMSAA.

I still don't get outside of "buy AMD, please - it's BETTER" is this an issue for anyone, particularly on this board. The people buying these cards probably have i3 or worse CPUs. I'm pretty sure they are more than happy with medium settings.

And before I get lumped into the "Pro-Nvidia," I didn't recommend this card to the people who asked me about it and I still won't. However, if someone buys it - welps, I'm sure they won't be crying on a forum they can't do 1080P Hyper Settings on MIrror's Edge 2.

 

[Atreidin]

Makes me nostalgic for the old days when adding video memory seemed to always make a huge difference. Being able to go from 640x480 to 1024x768 in 32bits? Oh yeah.

 

[RussianSensation]

If you can spend $190 on a 3GB 1060 you can save the extra $40 and get the 6GB version that won't have to be replaced as soon.

There are even better deals popping up now while the $25 off $200 MasterPass coupon is still in effect on Newegg until the end of the month.

• PowerColor Red Devil Radeon RX 480 8GB GDDR5 PCIE 3.0 ATX Video Card (AXRX480 8GBD5-3DH/OC)
  • $249.99 - $15 rebate - $25 w/ code MPGAMER16 (use MasterPass Checkout) = $209.99
• MSI GeForce GTX 1060 Armor 6 GB 192-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 ATX Video Card (GTX 1060 ARMOR 6G OCV1)
  • $244.99 - $15 rebate - $25 w/ code MPGAMER16 (use MasterPass Checkout) = $204.99
  • http://slickdeals.net/f/9218875-pow...o-card-for-204-99-ar-free-shipping-newegg-com

Newegg.com has MSI Radeon RX 480 Gaming X 4GB GDDR5 Video Card on sale for $209.99 - $25 w/ promo code MPGAMER16 - $20 Rebate = $164.99.
http://slickdeals.net/f/9214107-msi-radeon-rx-480-directx-12-rx-480-gaming-x-4g-4gb-164-99-ar

With prices like these, the GTX1060 3GB is a tough sell. With RX 480 4GB at $165, it also completely eliminates $169 RX 470 and $139 GTX1050Ti for those who can take advantage of these deals. At $205, the GTX1060 6GB is a really good deal now as a great 1080p 60Hz GPU.

It seems like the entire low-end segment has been overpriced, spec and VRAM gimped for the last couple of generations. That's why I keep reiterating that since 2012 era, it makes sense to buy GPUs in the $170-200 range at minimum for 1080p gaming and skip everything underneath. $30-40 savings is no longer worth it for budget gaming because you end up with 20-50% lower performance and sometimes VRAM bottlenecks. $30-40 savings over 3-4 years the average PC gamer keeps their GPU doesn't sound logical when the price of AAA games is $50-60. Per NV's own data, at the mid-point of the Maxwell generation, 70% of their userbase was still on pre-Maxwell GPUs which suggests the vast majority of PC gamers keep their graphics cards for longer than 2 years. Buying a $170+ GPU with 3GB of VRAM seems like a bad trade-off for those who want to keep their card for 2 years and enjoy higher quality textures than say an 2012 (!) HD7950/7970 3GB can offer.

Releasing a 3GB card at this stage was just a troll move. I guess it could be an OK 720p card or something.

It's worse in the case of 1060 since the specs are neutered too compared to the 6GB model. Even some professional review sites still list incorrect GPU specs for the 1060 3GB model, doing consumers additional disservice and validating NV's 1060 marketing name when the card should have been called 1050Ti. Hardware Canucks manages to incorrectly list both the CUDA cores and TMU specs for the 1060 3GB model. The poor consumer ends up with a spec and VRAM gimped card that just shares the 1060 name. In the old days, NV would go out of their way to differentiate GTX260 and GTX260 216 or GTX560Ti and GTX560Ti 448 Core. Today, they don't even bother which results in these types of blunders:

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...dia-geforce-gtx-1050-gtx-1050-ti-preview.html

 

[imported_bman]

Does the 4gb 960 card best the 3gb 1060 card?

True, though less than a 15% delta in favor of the 1060 3GB. Only recently looked at the 1050Ti numbers and it looks to be on par with the 960, was thinking it was going to be slightly faster than a 960.

 

[Bacon1]

And yet you are the one who talks about the 4GB 480 being a great value card for 1080p. And no don't ask me to show you "evidence" because time will give you that and you know that very well yourself.

Because 4GB is where developers are targeting hence the very popular Maxwell series @ 4gb.

Have you not seen plenty of examples where 4GB cards work fine yet 3GB have issues?

 

[f2bnp]

Texture quality is one of the most, if not the most important, IQ setting right after resolution. Why people don't see this, I will never understand.

Be that as it may, I've seen VRAM starved gameplay and it looks nothing like it does on the above videos. Old example, but I watched this recently and this is how it's supposed to surface:
https://youtu.be/91CAcoe6Rw8?t=7m9s
So, you may be experiencing smooth gameplay and as soon as you turn your mouse and the game has to load new stuff in, everything stutters to hell!

Have they implemented some sort of dynamic memory management in the driver or certain games? That is a good thing, stuttering is awful.

 

[railven]

Texture quality is one of the most, if not the most important, IQ setting right after resolution. Why people don't see this, I will never understand.

Be that as it may, I've seen VRAM starved gameplay and it looks nothing like it does on the above videos. Old example, but I watched this recently and this is how it's supposed to surface:
https://youtu.be/91CAcoe6Rw8?t=7m9s
So, you may be experiencing smooth gameplay and as soon as you turn your mouse and the game has to load new stuff in, everything stutters to hell!

Have they implemented some sort of dynamic memory management in the driver or certain games? That is a good thing, stuttering is awful.

Problem is, at least in my experience, the people who buy at these prices - 20-30FPS+stuttering is acceptable. When some friends/family sees my rig and gameplay, they always point out how smooth it is. When I explain why, they choke on the price tag. I try to explain why spending a little more goes a long way and we're back at "elitist PC gamer, we're not all made of money." EDIT: And I'm not telling my friends/family to buy GTX 1080's. Just a few weeks ago I couldn't convince a friend to upgrade from the GTX 1060 3GB to the RX 480, because "Nvidia" and the 6GB was out of his price range. /facepalm

Which is why I've found the last 20+ threads about 3GB vs 4GB in the sub $250 category almost unbearable. We know, at least I hope we, which is why we don't buy that stuff, let alone openly recommend it as a first choice.

I always use my GF as an example. I look over at her screen and she's chugging away at 30-40 FPS and doesn't seem to care at all. I'm about ready to switch her options but she hits me with the fly swatter.

 

[RussianSensation]

Because 4GB is where developers are targeting hence the very popular Maxwell series @ 4gb.

Have you not seen plenty of examples where 4GB cards work fine yet 3GB have issues?

Apparently he hasn't. 1060 3GB vs. 1060 6GB vs. RX 480 4GB. 3GB < 4GB < 6GB/8GB

RX 480 4GB runs Mirror's Edge Catalyst on Hyper better than GTX1060 3GB runs the game on Ultra.

and

In DE:MD, the GTX1060 3GB runs the game even worse than the RX 470 4GB.

COD Black Ops causes insane stutters both the GTX1060 3GB and the RX 480 4GB.

Rise of the Tomb Raider is another game that runs worse on 3-4GB cards.

ComputerBase has already quantified that 4GB cards in a similar performance class such as 480 can perform better than 3GB cards such as the GTX1060 when VRAM is a bottleneck. The best bet if keeping the GPU for the typical 2-3 year duration is to buy a 6-8GB card if the price difference isn't too large. If budget is tight, I'd go for the RX 480 4GB card over the GTX1060 3GB unless for sure not playing the games that will require between 3-4GB at 1080p or accepting lower IQ given the lower price of the 3-4GB models.

 

[nurturedhate]

Because 4GB is where developers are targeting hence the very popular Maxwell series @ 4gb.

Have you not seen plenty of examples where 4GB cards work fine yet 3GB have issues?

We both know that his complaint has nothing to do with 3GB vs 4GB and everything to do with it being an Nvidia card.

Now back in reality, we know that 3GB is doa today. The question becomes when does 4GB face the same fate. We have low end cards with 4, we have last generation mid/high end with 4. More than likely based on what is in the market currently and what history has shown is we'll see this same issue with 4GB cards inside the next two years. Should someone buy a 3GB card today? Not really with 470 and 480 4GB below $175 and 1060 6GB/480 8GB around $200 when they are all on sale. Black Friday is coming up and there will most likely be slightly better deals. It's not that the 1060 3GB is a bad card from a technical perspective, it just sits in no mans land. With the coming release of the 1050ti 4GB it wouldn't surprise me if Nvidia phases out the 1060 3GB or relegates it to China/OEMs.

 

[Thinker_145]

Have you not seen plenty of examples where 4GB cards work fine yet 3GB have issues?

And what does that prove? 4GB is 1/3 more than 3GB so of course it will have a longer lifespan. The fact that 1/3 can make such a difference should show how much 1/2 or 100% more could do in future.

And to the user above I am the Nvidia fanboy who recommends the 480 over 1060. Quite a fanboy I am I guess.