GTX 770 4GB vs 2GB Showdown
Conclusion
This has been quite an enjoyable exploration for us in comparing the 4GB vRAM-equipped EVGA GTX 770 SC to the 2GB reference GTX 770 at the same clocks. Unless a gamer plays at 5760×1080, we wouldn’t recommend choosing 4GB vRAM over 2GB for a single GTX 770 for today’s games. However, if a gamer is planning to SLI GTX 770s at 5760×1080, then it might be reasonable to pick the 4GB version. We can’t predict future performance of upcoming games so we will leave them out of our equation.
Pros – 4GB over 2GB
- The EVGA GTX 770 4GB SC provides excellent performance for a 4GB $459 card even when clocked to the reference card’s clocks and it provides marginal improvements at super-widescreen resolutions.
- SLIing two or more 4GB cards has more room for better performance at 5760×1080 over SLI’ing 2GB cards.
Cons
- Cost. 4GB-equipped GTX 770s cost about $40 to $50 more than their 2GB counterparts.
- 4GB is generally unnecessary for 1920×1080 or even for 2560×1600. Only marginal benefits are found at 5760×1080 for a single card.
The Verdict:
- We would not recommend buying a single GTX 770 4GB card over the 2GB version if there is a significant price difference. We might recommend choosing 4GB GTX 770 SLI over 2GB GTX 770 SLI, but only if the gamer plays at super-widescreen resolutions or requires extreme anti-aliasing.
Stay tuned, there is a lot coming from us at ABT. Next week, expect an evaluation of Cooler Master’s Comforter Air laptop cooler. We also received a Hall of Fame GTX 770 from Galaxy and there will be a showdown with the EVGA GTX 770 SC as well as a comparison with the reference GTX 770, also scheduled for next week. And it will lead to a GTX 770 SLI evaluation the week after. Please don’t forget to check our Forums. ABT forum tech discussions are among the best to be found anywhere. Happy Gaming!
I wonder if the 4gb might have a more pronounced advantage when it comes to the Oculus Rift?
Oculus Rift is 1080p (half that resolution per eye) on the current HD version…sooo doubt it? Maybe when they make a higher res version
This was great. Almost time for BF4 and I was wondering if it would be a big difference. Looks like at 1920/2560 these two guys are on par.
I realy hope it’s no deference more than one fps in BF4, because I just buy today new 770 with 2GB video memory. :
So you dont need more than 2 gb… except on those games that having 4 gb’s in sli will make unplayable games, playable…You kinda skim over that pretty quick.
I know that on Crysis 3 I have seen it idle at over 2000 mb’s at 1080p. I doubt Its going to be long before it will go over 2048 mb’s, even at 1080p…
I should say that I have the 4 gb evga ftw 760’s. I went with 4 gb versions because I am going to be picking up a couple more monitors and game at 5760 x 1080 at some point.
1 FPS wouldn’t be noticeable anyway.
Indeed for only one monitor, and btw, most of them are 1920×1080, there’s no need in hell to choose the 4gb version. Unless you’re an enthusiast… but them you’d go for a better vga, like 790 when it comes out.
I don’t think it was at 1080 2 months ago. Just a goal. Pretty sure it was only 480 720
I got the 4gb version only because I was able to get it for $6 more than the 2gb. $6 is worth bragging rights alone.
What about people who mod there games with high res textures and do pass 2gb’s of ram at 1080p? I do and I no longer get the issues it caused since upping my vram, this review doesn’t cover all the bases and for that reason it isn’t a very good review in my opinion. Sorry, I realise it’s a few months old now but i was passing 2gb’s when modded a year ago, And now if Battlefield 4 does in fact hit 2gb’s as claimed (I haven’t tested that myself) then this is already outdated and inaccurate and giving bad advice. I know you say how you don’t take possible future changes into account in the review but it’s not a possible change it’s something that is guaranteed and the industry knows and accepts that, Thumbs down.
it also uses stereoscopic 3D which means it will render the frame twice. i went with 770 4gb and in some games it does go over 2gb and still at a playable frame rate.
Please check GTAIV too. It’s the most memory consumer game that i know.
How are you going to do this comparison without posting minimum frame rates…that is where you will see the difference. Check out anandtech or toms hardware for people that actually know what they are talking about.
You should revisit vram in the future with newer games like watch dogs, bf4, star citizen and maybe gta5, if ever it comes out on the pc. I think it would be also nice to test it with the future direct x 12 once its out.
Thanks for posting this… so sick of people wasting their money on cards that have more VRAM. There’s a reason that GTX 780 Ti only has 3GB and doesn’t even offer 6GB… because the card is designed with the appropriate amount of VRAM for its performance! Why would a GTX 770 use 4GB if a 780 Ti doesn’t cap 3GB?
In any situation that would normally use above 2GB of VRAM, the card will give out due to other issues regardless, so throwing more VRAM won’t make a difference since the memory bandwidth, ROPs etc. are unchanged.
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