video card questions

[systim]

hey guys, im hitting a bottleneck with my video card capacity. looking to upgrade and been torn for a week now between the:

• MSI GTX 660 TI Power Edition 2GB VRAM
• MSI GTX 670 2GB VRAM
• MSI Radeon 7950 3GB VRAM.

(if you're wondering why all MSI, they are all on sale for black friday at my local dealer. but welcome to open suggestions on other boards )

Now here's what I'd like to know:

For botting, is VRAM, memory interface width or total memory bandwidth important for multiple game instances (ie. 4 bots on low graphics + starcraft 2 in high graphics [or any 5th game on high graphics, I cant even put XCOM on high graphics if the 4 d3's are running on low, but I can with 2 d3's running])

Currently I'm hovering around 80-90% CPU load with 4 bots going and 1 game (SC2 usually), ~9gb ram usage out of 12gb, and GPU running at 75-95% capacity.


I've done my research for a week now, and haven't inched much closer to my decision (lol). I've read that memory bandwidth is better for higher resolutions, and most games would barely demand more than 2GB VRAM, but since I'm multi-gaming on low resolution, I'm mostly wondering if VRAM is a significant deciding factor since the GTX 660ti and GTX 670 are 2GB VRAM and the 7950 is 3GB VRAM - will this fix my "fps lag" when I play my 5th game on higher graphics?


any insight is much appreciated!

 

[bambam922]

What kind of processor and graphics card do you currently have?
Your graphics card may not be where you are hitting a bottleneck.

 

[systim]

What kind of processor and graphics card do you currently have?
Your graphics card may not be where you are hitting a bottleneck.

currently:

i7 930 at stock speeds (2.8ghz)
msi gtx 460 1GB at stock speeds

 

[bambam922]

I don't have time to research it, but I think the card you have right now is fine.
I used a GTX 260 for the longest time and had no problems.

You might want to think about upgrading your processor since it is a lower-end first gen i7.
It also doesnt hurt to overclock stuff.

 

[systim]

thanks, appreciate your input bambam.

I've considered it, but never seen my cpu load hit => 90% consistently. My buddy OC'ed the same CPU and has only a few % points below me in CPU load but a higher temperature (we have almost identical rigs)

when I sometimes play SC2 on higher graphics, i get a frozen screen and must alt tab out, come back into the game and close a message box that states "your graphics have been reduced to allow gameplay to smoothly operate" ... assumed it was my vid card not being able to handle 4 diablos (all on lowest/800x600 windowed) and SC2 on high graphics?

MSI afterburner has shown that my GPU hits ~90% load consistently too.

 

[bambam922]

Do you have any aftermarket coolers?
If so, try overclocking your hardware and see if it makes much of a difference.

I have an i5 760 OCed to 4.1 ghz
along with my Radeon 6870 OCed using the CCC tool.

Used to have 4 D3s + bots along with battlefield 3 on high settings and had no problems.

Don't bot much anymore so I don't see the need to upgrade my PC.
I probably won't do an upgrade until the next iteration of Intel CPUs is released.

 

[systim]

yea, i was gunna wait till the next iteration of intel cpus too.

but right now vid cards seem like a good time to buy, especially with the newly released 660ti and lowered price of 7950s.

but to answer ur question, i have aftermarket corsair watercooling (hd 70 i believe). my cores hover around 45-55 celsius with 4 bots and a 5th game. running 4 with bf3 is impressive, not sure why mine cant handle high settings sc2 then! I guess ill just go with the GPU upgrade and let ya know. hope someone knows if VRAM is important in our situation tho, would help my decision immensely

 

[bambam922]

My card has 2gb of VRAM
I also used isboxer to make my d3 windows extremely small.

Anyway, good luck!

 

[systim]

I see, that would explain things. and this 2GB of VRAM seems to be important anyways thanks for your help bro. Will let you know how my tests turn out. its good to know for people looking to invest into a rig for botting!

 

[conetopia]

MSI GTX 660 TI Power Edition 2GB VRAM

I honestly think this would be your best choices for games, since it has a lot of game compatiblity.

when you buy a motherboard
make sure you get PCI express version 3.0 slot.
otherwise if you get a super cheap motherboard for like 40 to 60 bucks, most likely your going to get a 1.0 or 2.0 version.

 

[systim]

I have a gigabyte GA-X58A-UD9, wasnt cheap so i think im good. not sure if it supports 3.0 tho.

would u happen to have any knowledge on the impact of VRAM on multiple instances of high-end gaming versus videocard memory bandwidth/speeds?

edit: seems like my motherboard has pci express 2.0, is this going to be an issue? (GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket 1366 - GA-X58A-UD9 (rev. 1.0))