Before you buy a graphic card read this

[Tylerrouse]

Like many builders I'm stressing over the graphic card choice and using it for a dual boot can complicate it further. Many forums seem to discourage potential buyers from opting for the extra VRAM, but since the preview of the new ps4 and Xbox consoles we've seen they will be using an x86 architecture with 8gb of unified memory. This is great news for the pc gaming world in my opinion. Bottom line, developers will be finding ways to utilize that extra VRAM for future releases. Here's the article and its definitely worth a read.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-future-proofing-your-pc-for-next-gen

 

[Asus-Freak]

Like many builders I'm stressing over the graphic card choice and using it for a dual boot...

I don't know anyone stressing over this, hmmm...

 

[Tylerrouse]

I don't know anyone stressing over this, hmmm...

Well it's not an easy choice kduvernay. With all the options between reference and non reference cards for both nvidia and amd it can get a little confusing. There's got to be close to a dozen versions of one card. They're not a cheap piece of hardware and I don't think anyone including myself wants to spend several hundred dollars on something that doesn't meet their needs and expectations.

 

[Nathan991]

All Kepler GPUs currently are supported in OS X.
Nvidia Reference = Air pushed out the back of case, arguably better for SLI (hot air not pushed onto secondary card)
Non-Reference Cards = Typically better GPU temps with better cooling, better performance with GPU boost 2.0 (Good for single GPU setups)
GPU Boost 2.0 clocks the GPU higher until it reaches 80C, (better performance)

Hopefully you're still not confused.

 

[Tylerrouse]

All Kepler GPUs currently are supported in OS X.
Nvidia Reference = Air pushed out the back of case, arguably better for SLI (hot air not pushed onto secondary card)
Non-Reference Cards = Typically better GPU temps with better cooling, better performance with GPU boost 2.0 (Good for single GPU setups)
GPU Boost 2.0 clocks the GPU higher until it reaches 80C, (better performance)

Hopefully you're still not confused.

No I'm not really confused about the hardware. I think I have a pretty solid understanding of the specs and differences between cards. The tough part is trying to predict the future and which way the industry will lean in the next year. I plan on running three 1080 monitors or one 29" ultra wide (2560x1080) so that's what got me looking into the benefits of a 4gb card. Everything I read online said there was no need for a 4gb card performance wise unless you're running several monitors. I posted the article because I think it confirms what I've been thinking which is that even though current games don't use a lot of VRAM, developers will be finding ways to leverage that extra memory in the consoles. A few games already starting to push that 2gb threshold which is why I think we're going to see 4-6gb cards become the norm.

At first I was just going to blindly throw money at a 780 and call it good, but I think now I'll just grab two Gigabyte 4gb 760s. Beats a titan and two is $50 less than a 780.

 

[Tylerrouse]

Yep, looks like 4-5gb GDDR5 will be the magic number for future gaming.

http://www.joystiq.com/2013/07/26/report-ps4-reserves-3-5gb-of-ram-for-the-os/