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VRAM (Graphics Card) question

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Jpurd
Posts: 3196 - Karma: 3,554
Hey Guys,

I'm not going to sit here and pretend like I know a whole lot about computers. Basically I am purchasing or making a new computer. Still doing research on costs etc... but my question now is how much vram (2gb or 4gb are what appears to be my options) should I be expecting to purchase for mostly animation for work, and 1080p video editing as well. I have not found a definitive answer on the interweb so I am reaching out to see if others have more knowledge than I. Thanks to everyone that helps.
Feb 3 2015 10:57PM
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HyphyHusky
Posts: 381 - Karma: 135
What cards are you looking at specifically? Video editing, animation and 3d modelling and rendering all benefit from more vram. It isn't quite so simple because there are 2 different speeds of vram commonly found in graphics cards gddr3 and gddr5 which can significantly affect the performance of the card.
Feb 4 2015 12:11AM
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eheath
Posts: 61637 - Karma: 123,416
I mean, the more ram the better but you'll probably be able to save some money and go for the 2gb though, 4gb of vram will barely help you for video.
Feb 4 2015 12:25AM
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CameraWiz
Posts: 735 - Karma: 2,112
How much are you looking to spend? Also, you should probably be looking more at normal Ram.
Feb 4 2015 12:31AM
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Laurent.
Posts: 10056 - Karma: 25,313
HyphyHuskyWhat cards are you looking at specifically? Video editing, animation and 3d modelling and rendering all benefit from more vram. It isn't quite so simple because there are 2 different speeds of vram commonly found in graphics cards gddr3 and gddr5 which can significantly affect the performance of the card.


GDDR3 & GDDR5 aren't different speeds of VRAM, they are different types of SGRAM, of which GDDR5 has a higher transfer bandwidth 6 GT/s vs 2.5 GT/s. A high clocked GDDR3 with a large total memory bus width could still beat lower clocked GDDR5 with a lower-bit bus width.

Humble jumble aside GDDR5 can make a card faster not necessarily though, in general the cards with better chips will have GDDR5 since they will benefit from it.

Then again nowadays almost every model apart from little budget sluts are equipped with GDDR5, so there's hardly taking that in consideration anymore. (Hell, Ati's and Nvidia's upcoming generations will have GDDR5 exclusively.)
Feb 4 2015 8:05AM
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DorianF
Posts: 241 - Karma: 883
it also depends on the power supply you have, and if it is capable of running the card that you want (although some cards are powered straight from the mobo now)

unless you are planning to use it to game with, the uses you've listed sound like RAM > VRAM, go with a smaller graphics card (2gb) and install more ram
Feb 4 2015 3:22PM
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Jpurd
Posts: 3196 - Karma: 3,554
pussyfooterI mean, the more ram the better but you'll probably be able to save some money and go for the 2gb though, 4gb of vram will barely help you for video.


Yeah totally agree. I am looking at some of the new Imacs and trying to make a decision on VRAM (if I end up getting an mac)

CameraWizHow much are you looking to spend? Also, you should probably be looking more at normal Ram.


Difference between 2gb and 4gb is $225. Totally agree on RAM. Probably going to have at least 24gb if not 32gb of RAM.
Feb 4 2015 10:56PM
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Jpurd
Posts: 3196 - Karma: 3,554
HyphyHuskyWhat cards are you looking at specifically? Video editing, animation and 3d modelling and rendering all benefit from more vram. It isn't quite so simple because there are 2 different speeds of vram commonly found in graphics cards gddr3 and gddr5 which can significantly affect the performance of the card.


The cards that come in the Imac I am looking at are AMD Radeon R9 M290X cards.
Feb 4 2015 10:58PM
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eheath
Posts: 61637 - Karma: 123,416
ski.loonYeah totally agree. I am looking at some of the new Imacs and trying to make a decision on VRAM (if I end up getting an mac)



Difference between 2gb and 4gb is $225. Totally agree on RAM. Probably going to have at least 24gb if not 32gb of RAM.


Fuckin gettin an imac, sure they're pretty and work well, but if you wanna save money and you want a real video powderhouse you should build your own.
Feb 4 2015 11:31PM
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DorianF
Posts: 241 - Karma: 883
pussyfooterFuckin gettin an imac, sure they're pretty and work well, but if you wanna save money and you want a real video powderhouse you should build your own.



completely agree, if you are set on the mac OS then build a hackintosh. but you will spend literally half of what an imac costs for a better computer if you just build your own
Feb 5 2015 2:26PM
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Laurent.
Posts: 10056 - Karma: 25,313
DorianFcompletely agree, if you are set on the mac OS then build a hackintosh. but you will spend literally half of what an imac costs for a better computer if you just build your own


Make me an all-in-one with a 5K display for half the price.

I dare you.
Feb 5 2015 4:19PM
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eheath
Posts: 61637 - Karma: 123,416
omnidataMake me an all-in-one with a 5K display for half the price.

I dare you.


The display thing is the only real benefit to iMacs for the time being... 4k monitors will go down significantly.

But, TBH a 5k screen is fucking worthless. A photo guy might like it, but for video its absolutely worthless which once again makes the "high end" features of an iMac worthless.
Feb 5 2015 4:22PM
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zahava
Posts: 7791 - Karma: 12,039
pussyfooterFuckin gettin an imac, sure they're pretty and work well, but if you wanna save money and you want a real video powderhouse you should build your own.


I bought a 21.5" iMac recently, (3.1ghz i7 16gb RAM, 250gb SSD, NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M 1024 MB). It came to just over 2k, the 27in and 5k (not worth it) were significantly more expensive.

If your doing highly intensive video editing an iMac may be underpowered, but I quite like it for photo work. I didn't really consider a hackintosh personally, I am not very technical and appreciate things like apple care when shit hits the fan the day before a deadline. It does seem relatively straight forward, but I just didn't see enough value at the "relatively" not that high price of my iMac.
Feb 9 2015 11:09PM
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EbonSupplyCo
Posts: 73 - Karma: 421
As many have said here, the more the better. However, 2gb will serve basically everything you need for any kind of editing/rendering.
Feb 10 2015 12:43PM
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