- Can you advise best settings for Fortnite to record using Streamlabs OBS with webcam for the below pc as have recently purchased this AMD Ryzen 5-2600 6 core 3.9 GHz 8GB RAM.
- However, the 3GB 1060 is really intended for 1080p gameplay but even so lowering the resolution to 1080p still sees RAM usage peak at 9.7GB, though for the most part the game only allocates around.
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Video Memory or VRAM is a high-speed DRAM (Dynamic RAM) used in discrete graphics cards or video cards. This is a buffer memory, just like your normal computer RAM but it is very fast compared to it. VRAM is a very fast and high bandwidth memory on graphics cards, which is used to store textures, graphics information & data (shadows, lightning info, frame buffer) for GPU processing and for rendering in games. VRAM is one of the most important factors that come into play when buying a graphics card for gaming. However, it is not always true that a graphics card with higher video memory is also big on performance because for most of the part the performance of a graphics card is dependent more on GPU (Graphics Processing Unit).
So, now let's take a look at a general rundown of the amount of VRAM you'll need at various monitor resolutions: @720P: 2GB of VRAM @1080P: 2GB-6GB of VRAM @1440P: 4-8GB of VRAM. Like if you have a single 16 GB RAM and there is some issue with it you have to replace it but if you have two 8 GB RAM then it will be easy to replace. Final Words: I have given all the necessary details about the RAM and How Much RAM Do I Need for Gaming.
The most type common video memory used in graphics cards is GDDR5 where G stands for Graphics and DDR for Double Data RAM. DDR3 was used in previous generations entry level graphics cards but nowadays even entry-level budget graphics cards do come with GDDR5 memory only. GDDR5 is a high-speed memory that offers great performance and bandwidth in gaming and in other graphics-intensive tasks. It is used in entry-level, mid-range, and high-end graphics cards. An improved version of GDDR5 memory is GDDR5X that offers up to twice as the performance of GDDR5 and is used in flagship or top of the line high-end graphics cards. The successor of GDDR5 and GDDR5X memory is GDDR6 memory that offers much higher speed, bandwidth and has lower power consumption.
Another video memory type that is used in high-end graphics cards is HBM or HBM2, which is a High Bandwidth Memory having much higher performance compared to GDDR5 memory. It is a stacked memory type that uses less space on graphics card PCB and also consumes less power. This is the preferred memory for use in Virtual Reality (VR) and for top-end workstation graphics cards. You can check out the comparison between different graphics card video memories by going to the article link given below.
Must Read:GDDR5 vs GDDR5X vs HBM2 vs GDDR6 Memory Comparison
Factors Affecting Video Memory Usage
Here are the most important factors that can affect video memory requirements in a game.
Resolution – Higher is your in-game resolution, the greater amount of video memory you would require. For example, you will need more video memory for games running at 1440p compared to running at 1080p resolution. This is because extra pixels increase the texture size and thus require more video memory for its storage and for rendering purposes.
Anti-Aliasing (AA) – If you have enabled Anti-aliasing (AA) setting then the video memory consumption is bound to be higher. Anti-aliasing is a graphics technology to eliminate or smoothen out jagged edges of objects in a game. It requires extra pixels for that and thus video memory consumption increases when this setting is enabled. Sometimes it is also known as oversampling. Some of the most popular types of anti-aliasing techniques include Supersample anti-aliasing (SSAA), Multisample anti-aliasing (MSAA), Fast approximate anti-aliasing (FXAA), Coverage sampling anti-aliasing (CSAA) and Temporal Anti-Aliasing (TXAA).
Game – Some games require more video memory than others. This applies mostly to the latest AAA games and the games that are not optimized and are just bad PC ports. So game optimization and game graphics also play an important role in VRAM consumption.
Game Mods – Third-party game mods or addons do push the video memory usage to higher amounts because some mods contain high-resolution textures and graphics that can eat up your video memory like a cake.
Must Read:How much RAM do you need for Gaming
Low Video Memory Problems
Here are the various problems or issues that you can face due to low VRAM in games.
Texture Issues – If your video memory is low in-game then you may face texture issues that include texture popping, distort images, frame delay or frame skipping, or may be screen tearing. You can also face some other graphical issues too due to low video memory.
Stuttering – You may also face stuttering in games due to low VRAM in your games. It is one of the most annoying problems and really destroys the whole gaming experience.
How to download adobe photoshop cs6 for free full version. Low Performance – The most common problem that can occur due to low video memory is the lower performance in games. If video memory is too low than required then you may face serious performance issues that include very low frame rates in games.
Check out:How to increase frame rate (FPS) in games
Tips on Choosing Video Memory for Graphics Card
Higher video memory does not always translate into higher performance in games because if you put more video memory on an entry-level graphics card with low-end GPU then it is of no use because the GPU of entry-level graphics card is not powerful enough to run demanding games on higher resolutions and graphics settings with AA, e.g. if you have 4GB video memory on graphics card such as GeForce GT 710 then it will not make any sense and even 2GB of video memory is too much for cards like GT 710. On the other hand, if a high-end GPU like GTX 1070 has only 2GB of memory then it is also absurd because the GPU is powerful enough to run games at 1440p & 4K but low video memory, in this case, will degrade the gaming performance. So, here I have listed down video memory requirements for the different range of GPUs starting from entry-level to high-end ones.
For Entry-level GPUs –> up to 2GB only
For Mid-range GPUs –> 3GB to 6GB
For High-end GPUs –> 8GB and more
Video Memory Requirements for Gaming
Here are the approximate video memory requirements for gaming at different resolutions. It must be noted that in-game graphics settings and Anti-aliasing also impact video memory consumption. Also, different games may have different video memory requirements at the same resolution because each one of them is optimized differently and has different graphics engine and graphics details.
For 720p & 900p Gaming [2GB to 3GB]
Well if you game at 720p or 900p settings at medium to high graphics settings with no AA then you will require 2GB to 3GB video memory.
Check out:Best 2GB Graphics Cards for Gaming
For 1080p Gaming [4GB to 6GB]
For gaming at 1080p at high to very graphics settings with AA turned on, you will need 4GB to 6GB video memory.
Check out:Best 4GB Graphics Cards for Gaming
For 1440p Gaming [6GB to 8GB]
For gaming at 1440p at very high to ultra graphics settings with AA, you need around 6GB to 8GB of video memory.
For 4K Gaming [8GB or higher]
How to download and unzip a zip file. For 4K Gaming at Ultra Graphics Settings with everything turned on, you should go for a graphics card with 8GB or higher video memory.
Check out:Best 8GB Graphics Cards for 4K Gaming
How Fix Low Video Memory Issues in Games
To fix low video memory issues in games you can do the following things:
Lower your Game Resolution – The first step to lower your game video memory usage is by lowering your in-game resolution e.g. if you are gaming at 1080p but your video memory consumption is higher than your video card's memory then you can reduce it by lowering your game resolution to 720p or 900p. It may reduce your graphics quality depending upon how low you go but you will get better frame rates and smoother gameplay. You can check your game system requirements using can I run it tools.
Disable Anti-aliasing & Lower Texture Quality – You can also disable Anti-aliasing (AA) and other in-game advanced settings like render distance, tessellation, ambient occlusion and lower texture quality in games.
Upgrade Graphics Card – Well if everything fails then you have to upgrade graphics card with better GPU and having a higher amount of video memory on it. You can check your current graphics card video memory by using graphics card information tools.
Important Note: Multi-GPU setups like Nvidia SLI and AMD CrossFire (or mGPU) does not double the amount of video memory for games and other applications. This means if you are using two 4GB graphics cards in multi-GPU mode (SLI/CrossFire), then the available video memory for games or other applications will still be 4GB only and not 8GB.
See also:
Final Thoughts
In the end, I would like to say that video memory does play an important part in gaming but it is not the deciding factor for evaluating graphics card performance. For budget or entry-level graphics cards, video memory is not as important as it is with the mid-range or high-end graphics cards. However, I would strongly suggest that for modern-day AAA games you should always get a graphics card with 4GB or higher VRAM. If you have any questions or doubts regarding video memory or graphics cards, then you can ask me by leaving a comment below.
(*This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission if you choose to purchase through links I provide (at no extra cost to you). Thank you for supporting the work I put into this site!)
Memory or RAM, no doubt plays an important role in gaming. If you do not have the recommended amount of RAM (for games) in your PC then either you won't be able to run the game at all or won't be able to run it properly. Some games require more RAM to run and some of them are less demanding and can run on a moderate amount of RAM perfectly.
But the question always remains how much RAM is sufficient for current games because every year new games come out and they always have higher system requirements compared to the older ones. Well, graphics card and processors do matter the most when it comes to gaming but you cannot leave RAM out of this whole scenario if you really want smoother and stutter-free gameplay at high graphics settings. So here in this post, I am going to clear all your doubts regarding how much RAM you really want for gaming in 2020, but if you also want to know that how much video memory (VRAM) do you need for gaming in 2020 then you can check it out by going to the link given below. How to run 7z files on windows 10.
Must Read:How much Video Memory (VRAM) Do I need for Gaming
How much RAM is enough for Gaming in 2020
Most of the latest high-end or AAA games require 8GB of RAM. You must have seen that almost every AAA game list two types of requirements. One is the minimum system requirements and the other is the recommended system requirements. The first one list the basic requirements and you should meet these minimum requirements to play the game smoothly on low or medium settings. On the other hand, if your computer possesses or exceeds recommended requirements then you will be able to play the game on high settings at 1080p or higher resolutions depending on how powerful your hardware is. Below you can see the minimum and recommended system requirements for a 2014 game which is Assassin's Creed Unity.
Today most of the games list 8GB RAM in minimum requirements and some of them also list this on the recommended system requirements too. Some games list 4GB / 6GB as minimum and 8GB as recommended RAM, and some of the most recent games are listing 8GB or 16GB as minimum and 16GB as recommended amount RAM for them. There are also other factors too that can affect your RAM requirements for a game and here we are going to discuss that.
Also Read:How to Increase FPS in Games for Smooth Gameplay
Windows OS
The choice of the operating system also plays an important role in the RAM consumption and the free amount left for the game to use. Well almost all the latest games now require 64-bit version of Windows OS because 32-bit versions have RAM limit of 4GB only. The current Windows operating systems supported by most games include Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8 and Windows 10 [all 64-bit versions only]. Windows 7 requires the least amount of resources and thus RAM. Windows 8 is also good in terms of resource usage but if you are using Windows 10 then you got to have more RAM on your PC compared to Windows 7 and Windows 8. You can get away with 8GB RAM on Windows 7 and Windows 8 for games requiring 8GB RAM but on Windows 10 you would require 12GB or more RAM for the games that list 8GB RAM as minimum or recommended.
For example, Batman Arkham Knight runs well on systems with Windows 7 / 8 with 8GB RAM but will stutter on systems with Windows 10 with 8GB RAM. For this, you would require at least 12GB of RAM to avoid any occasional stuttering and hiccups in the game. However, it is better to move towards Windows 10 because from now on most of the latest AAA games will support Windows 10 only and you will be then forced to upgrade your OS and RAM too.
Game Optimization
Game Optimization is also an important factor when it comes to RAM usage by the games. If the game is not optimized properly by the developers and there is a memory leak issue then the game will consume more than the recommended RAM and if you don't have enough extra RAM then you will experience stuttering or issues with performance. Most of the PC Ports or games that are directly ported from consoles to PC are not optimized for Windows or PC and they frequently encounter issues with performance and higher resource usage that also includes RAM. Some game developers may issue some patches to fix these high memory and performance issues but I have personally experienced that the issues still remains or do not get fixed completely.
Usage
If you are a multi-tasker and do browsing in Chrome or Firefox even when the game is running then you may run out memory very easily if your computer does not possess extra RAM above the game recommendation. So if you do a lot of things even when playing a game then you should get plenty of RAM for your gaming PC.
8GB or 16GB or 32GB?
8GB of RAM was enough for gaming in 2015 or even in 2016 but now it is the minimum memory requirement for most of the latest games. For gaming in 2020, I would suggest you to get 16GB RAM, which I think is the sweet spot for gaming from now on. Also for gaming on Windows 10, you should require more than 8GB RAM to avoid performance issues. 32GB is way more than enough RAM and you won't be able to use the half of it and thus does not make any sense, but If you have lots of money to spare then you may get 32GB of RAM otherwise it is just useless and totally waste of money especially for gaming.
My Recommendation-> 16GB for Gaming in 2020
I would say that 16GB is the current sweet spot for gaming in 2020. If you have 12GB RAM then also it is sufficient but 8GB is certainly short.
Some Games that require 12 – 16GB RAM
Here are some games that require around 12GB to 16GB RAM to run smoothly on high settings:
- ARK: Survival Evolved
- Ashes of the Singularity
- Gears of War 4
- PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds
- Gears of War Ultimate Edition
- GTA V
- Titanfall 2
- Star Wars Battlefront
- Recore
- Dying light
- Batman Arkham Knight
- Battlefield 1
- Deus Ex Mankind Divided
- Quantum Break
- Dishonored 2
- Fallout 4
- Mirrors Edge Catalyst
- Forza Horizon 3
- Forza Motorsport 6
- Halo 5: Forge
Branded vs. Non-Branded RAM
It is always better to get branded RAM for better warranty and stability as have seen that non-branded local RAMs are not very reliable and they start giving problems after some time. So always go for reliable and top brands like Corsair, Kingston, Crucial and G.Skill.
Single Channel vs. Dual Channel
Theoretically, Dual Channel memory mode does means double bandwidth but in gaming, you won't really notice any difference compared to single-channel mode. The only thing that matters is the amount of RAM, so it is better to get more memory rather than anything else.
Best Budget RAM for Gaming [Recommendation]
Here are some of the best budget gaming RAM that you can buy for your gaming rig. These memories are affordable and are not very expensive like the other gaming RAMs with LEDs and larger heatsinks.
DDR4 RAM
DDR3 RAM
See also:Best RGB LED RAM for Customized Gaming Build [DDR4 Memory]
Ram Required For Fortnite
Final Thoughts
How Much Space Does Fortnite Take
At the end I would only like to say that having extra RAM is always advantageous and if you are still on 8GB then you should get 12GB or 16GB for the upcoming AAA titles. If you have any questions regarding RAM then please leave a comment below to connect with me
