How to switch VRAM Steam usage to RAM?

[Dr. Danger]

Hello. Steam is using alot of VRAM on my 2gb GPU, is there any way to switch all that usage to RAM Memory instead or am I doomed to use Small Mode? I have 16gb RAM so I would really benefit from switching all of that Memory to RAM Modules...

[Ogami]

Turn off all the graphical enhancements for the library in your client settings.
Its under "Library" in your settings. Turn on "low performance" mode and turn off "Community Content".
That takes a huge load of the library UI already and should help.

I have it turned off even with my 8GB RTX 2080 because it tends to lag the client UI quiet a bit.

[Dr. Danger]

Originally posted by Ogami:

Turn off all the graphical enhancements for the library in your client settings.
Its under "Library" in your settings. Turn on "low performance" mode and turn off "Community Content".
That takes a huge load of the library UI already and should help.

I have it turned off even with my 8GB RTX 2080 because it tends to lag the client UI quiet a bit.

Thanks, but I already done that, it reduced it only for about 30mb...

[Ogami]

Where do you see the big VRAM usage of Steam? It usually should only take your system RAM unless you are playing a game.

[Dr. Danger]

Originally posted by Ogami:

Where do you see the big VRAM usage of Steam? It usually should only take your system RAM unless you are playing a game.

in GPU-Z, as soon as I open Steam it spikes from like 180mb to around 480mb, then I switch it to the Small Mode and it reduces to 300mb total VRAM...

[Ogami]

Ah yeah, i see. I have bad news for you, i guess you are not on the new BETA client UI which will release for everyone soon?
I am in the BETA and i have 900 MB of VRAM use with Steam open and 700 with the new small mode design.
So i fear this will not get better with the next Steam update.

I know it sounds cliche but did you think about upgrading your GPU anytime soon?
2 GB of VRAM is really low and has been for quiet some years.
I think the last 2GB VRAM card i had was in like 2012.
Even low level entry GPU come with 6-8 GB of VRAM nowadays.

[Dr. Danger]

Originally posted by Ogami:

Ah yeah, i see. I have bad news for you, i guess you are not on the new BETA client UI which will release for everyone soon?
I am in the BETA and i have 900 MB of VRAM use with Steam open and 700 with the new small mode design.
So i fear this will not get better with the next Steam update.

I know it sounds cliche but did you think about upgrading your GPU anytime soon?
2 GB of VRAM is really low and has been for quiet some years.
I think the last 2GB VRAM card i had was in like 2012.
Even low level entry GPU come with 6-8 GB of VRAM nowadays.

Well, brother, you guessed it wrong 😅 I am loyal Steam member/user and I was even in Beta for Trading Cards back in the days... And to answer your question, I have too many life problems to prioritize GPU, especially because I have debt collectors who could one day take my whole PC, so I really try not to put into it more than I need... I play CSGO (soon to be CS2) and sometimes, rarely, the other games... You can see my specs on my profile... I agree about 2gb being too low, but in my country anything above that is kinda expensive and gaming is not my priority at the age of 27 anymore, but CS is something really special... Anyways, we went off-topic 😅 ty for your time bro!

[Mihai_89]

Originally posted by Ogami:

Ah yeah, i see. I have bad news for you, i guess you are not on the new BETA client UI which will release for everyone soon?
I am in the BETA and i have 900 MB of VRAM use with Steam open and 700 with the new small mode design.
So i fear this will not get better with the next Steam update.

I know it sounds cliche but did you think about upgrading your GPU anytime soon?
2 GB of VRAM is really low and has been for quiet some years.
I think the last 2GB VRAM card i had was in like 2012.
Even low level entry GPU come with 6-8 GB of VRAM nowadays.

Sorry for digging up an older thread but im curious.

Will Steam change to a new UI soon and if so will it increase the VRAM usage significantly ?

I mean so far i'm pretty much able to use ULTRA settings in any game on GTX 1660 SUPER but will the new UI actually use 2 GB VRAM alone ?

If that's the case they seriously need to think about the rest of the users that are using lower-end hardware and specifically GPUs.

Hell i know games that use less than 2 GB VRAM and look amazing on HIGH to ULTRA settings - a good example is Witcher 3 vanilla version not the so-called "next gen" crap they released last year.

[Ogami]

Originally posted by Mihai_89:

Will Steam change to a new UI soon and if so will it increase the VRAM usage significantly ?

I mean so far i'm pretty much able to use ULTRA settings in any game on GTX 1660 SUPER but will the new UI actually use 2 GB VRAM alone ?

If that's the case they seriously need to think about the rest of the users that are using lower-end hardware and specifically GPUs.

Hell i know games that use less than 2 GB VRAM and look amazing on HIGH to ULTRA settings - a good example is Witcher 3 vanilla version not the so-called "next gen" crap they released last year.

Nah , not significantly. Its a bit higher then before but a 1660 Super is still modern enough to not have any problems with the increase.
Its older cards with only 2 GB or less VRAM that may perform a bit worse with the overhauled UI but to be honest, thats just PC gaming.
At some time you HAVE to upgrade your components and cards with only 1-2 GB of VRAM are like 10+ years old at this point.

But like the OP wrote, you can still just switch to "small mode" for your library UI that uses a lot less VRAM.

But again, any semi modern GPU from the last 7-8 years or so should notice no difference with the new UI.

[ReBoot]

Disable HW acceleration for web views & restart Steam. Should immediately lower VRAM usage.

[Mihai_89]

Originally posted by Ogami:

Originally posted by Mihai_89:

Will Steam change to a new UI soon and if so will it increase the VRAM usage significantly ?

I mean so far i'm pretty much able to use ULTRA settings in any game on GTX 1660 SUPER but will the new UI actually use 2 GB VRAM alone ?

If that's the case they seriously need to think about the rest of the users that are using lower-end hardware and specifically GPUs.

Hell i know games that use less than 2 GB VRAM and look amazing on HIGH to ULTRA settings - a good example is Witcher 3 vanilla version not the so-called "next gen" crap they released last year.

Nah , not significantly. Its a bit higher then before but a 1660 Super is still modern enough to not have any problems with the increase.
Its older cards with only 2 GB or less VRAM that may perform a bit worse with the overhauled UI but to be honest, thats just PC gaming.
At some time you HAVE to upgrade your components and cards with only 1-2 GB of VRAM are like 10+ years old at this point.

But like the OP wrote, you can still just switch to "small mode" for your library UI that uses a lot less VRAM.

But again, any semi modern GPU from the last 7-8 years or so should notice no difference with the new UI.

Yeah i mean i know eventually you gotta upgrade.

But just for comparison i was looking at my current VRAM usage earlier in task manager at 0.3 GB earlier.

I mean up until this point i figured all i had to "worry about" were basically developers not giving a crap and releasing unoptimized PC ports.

I really damn hope they don't start going down a similar path with Steam and just release new versions without giving a crap about hardware resource usage.

[Muppet among Puppets]

Did it fix your problem if you disable hardware acceleration in steam settings?

I mean 900mb vram for steam in the beta, i have no words.
Imagine every client goes that way.
Ubo, epec, xbo, ea, bnet
5,4gb videocard just for the clients you need for the games.

[Godnamedtay]

Whoa lol. What did I even read here. Somebody needs a therapist or something.

[Nanami]

This thread was quite old before the recent post, so we're locking it to prevent confusion.