32GB RAM or 8GB VRAM - which would be more worth it?

[Nathalie]

Hi! I'm looking to buy a new gaming laptop for the coming ~4 years. (I know they're not as powerful as desktop PCs, but I like how practical they are and I'm willing to put up with the fact that it will no longer run stuff at high/ultra a few years down the line.)

That said, I'm torn between two models that are pretty much identical in other specs/price save for this one difference:
One has 16GB RAM and 8GB VRAM
The other has 32GB RAM and 4GB VRAM

Both have a 980M video card.

From what I know both 32GB RAM and 8GB VRAM are kind of overkill right now, but I'm wondering which would be the most useful upgrade keeping in mind that I won't be upgrading the laptop in the coming years?

Thanks in advance for any possible insight. :)

[_I_]

8g of vram on the 980m is a waste
the 4g ver will perform just as good

8g of vram is enough for any current game
16g will be ok for video editing and game streaming ect..

[Nathalie]

Heya, why is 8GB VRAM a waste on the card? Any particular reason?

[Air]

Both aren't worth it at all when talking about gaming.

8GB of RAM is the current standard for gaming and you'll never need more then 16GB of RAM for gaming(at least, not for another decade or so). 32GB of RAM is only needed for RAM hungry applications such as video editors, not games.

8GB of VRAM, as well, is very likely more than a single GTX 980m can utilize, so that's pointless as well.

More RAM does not equal a more future-proof PC, and you'll definitely be needing a replacement in 5-8 years no matter which you chose, so I'd suggest saving some money and going with something along the lines of 8 or 16GB of RAM and 4GB VRAM for now.

[Nathalie]

Hi Air, thanks for the reply. Much appreciated.

I'll be getting one of the two regardless since I don't like the cheaper versions of this laptop (they don't come with SSDs, or with this video card). So I'm wondering which would be the "least pointless", if you will. But I guess that's not easily answered.

I was thinking along the lines of extra VRAM since games do seem to be getting more "VRAM hungry". It's probably not too strange to think that 2 years from now, games will require more than 4GB?

On the other hand, I do like running a lot of stuff simultaneously, so that would be a reason to go with standard system RAM. Certainly if the video card can't properly make use of the VRAM... tricky!

[Paraborne]

Originally posted by Nathalie:

Hi Air, thanks for the reply. Much appreciated.

I'll be getting one of the two regardless since I don't like the cheaper versions of this laptop (they don't come with SSDs, or with this video card). So I'm wondering which would be the "least pointless", if you will. But I guess that's not easily answered.

I was thinking along the lines of extra VRAM since games do seem to be getting more "VRAM hungry". It's probably not too strange to think that 2 years from now, games will require more than 4GB?

On the other hand, I do like running a lot of stuff simultaneously, so that would be a reason to go with standard system RAM. Certainly if the video card can't properly make use of the VRAM... tricky!

Just keep in mind that more VRAM doesn't equate to better performance all the time. Only if the graphics card actually has the power to utilize all of that VRAM.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Utv144XeHag

It's a bit of a balancing act ^~^

[Nathalie]

Thanks for the video, just had a look. :) But I'm assuming that as the guy said, common sense is used when deciding how much VRAM comes with a card - meaning that since a 980M 8GB version exists, the card is able to use the VRAM (when a game requires it). I suppose.

[rotNdude]

Post the links to what you're buying. If you're looking at both of these, then it seems to me you don't care about budget? Or do you?

[Paraborne]

Originally posted by Nathalie:

Thanks for the video, just had a look. :) But I'm assuming that as the guy said, common sense is used when deciding how much VRAM comes with a card - meaning that since a 980M 8GB version exists, the card is able to use the VRAM (when a game requires it). I suppose.

The more you know. =)

[Nathalie]

Originally posted by rotNdude:

Post the links to what you're buying. If you're looking at both of these, then it seems to me you don't care about budget? Or do you?

I do care about budget, otherwise I'd just get both of the above along with a 512GB SSD (but I think I'll be settling with 256GB).

I can post the links, but the pages are in Dutch, and the prices are a bit misleading since the cheaper one has a hefty shipping price and the more expensive one includes the "super pack" with backpack etc. So in practise they are pretty much the same price.

https://www.4launch.nl/shop/#p-4-productid-358446
http://www.tones.be/product/gt72-2qe-649be-super-pack-i7-4720hq-16gb-2-x-128ssd1000gb-gtx980m-4gb-w81

[_I_]

Originally posted by Nathalie:

Thanks for the video, just had a look. :) But I'm assuming that as the guy said, common sense is used when deciding how much VRAM comes with a card - meaning that since a 980M 8GB version exists, the card is able to use the VRAM (when a game requires it). I suppose.

yes but in the future when games can use 4+g of vram, the card will not be fast enough to run it at settings that will allow it to use 4+g of vram

[Azza ☠]

Video memory:

8GB for gaming purposes.
16GB for application, streaming and multi-tasking.

Optimal DDR3 specs: 1600Mhz or 1866Mhz | CL9 timing or less (most important) | 1.5V

---

Graphic card memory:

2GB is optimal for 1920x1080 resolution (max used will be 3GB)
4GB is optimal for Nvidia Surround (3 monitors + 1 accessory display) or two-way SLI

8GB is designed for 4K UltraHD and SLI purposes - since video memory is shared between graphic cards this only really comes into play when using 3-way or 4-way SLI (multiple graphic cards). As a single card by itself, it will never be fully used - it's just for SLI future proofing as such.

---

SSD space:

Win 7 - Ultimate 64bit will take approx 90GB, including it's service pack and full up-to-date.

Optimal size is 128GB. 256GB SDD will sometimes gives you a slight write performance increase. Ensure at least 15% of the SSD is free space or reserved at all times. Disable Windows hibernation to free up to 16GB (the size of your system memory) wasted space. As 16GB system memory, you can also reduce the Windows page file down to an optimal size of 1GB (1024MB).

[Paraborne]

Originally posted by Azza ☠:

Video memory:

8GB for gaming purposes.
16GB for application, streaming and multi-tasking.

Optimal DDR3 specs: 1600Mhz or 1866Mhz | CL9 timing or less (most important) | 1.5V

---

Graphic card memory:

2GB is optimal for 1920x1080 resolution (max used will be 3GB)
4GB is optimal for Nvidia Surround (3 monitors + 1 accessory display) or two-way SLI

8GB is designed for 4K UltraHD and SLI purposes - since video memory is shared between graphic cards this only really comes into play when using 3-way or 4-way SLI (multiple graphic cards). As a single card by itself, it will never be fully used - it's just for SLI future proofing as such.

---

SSD space:

Win 7 - Ultimate 64bit will take approx 90GB, including it's service pack and full up-to-date.

Optimal size is 128GB. 256GB SDD will sometimes gives you a slight write performance increase. Ensure at least 15% of the SSD is free space or reserved at all times. Disable Windows hibernation to free up to 16GB (the size of your system memory) wasted space. As 16GB system memory, you can also reduce the Windows page file down to an optimal size of 1GB (1024MB).

I second this. Get a 128GB SSD, and a large HDD 'If possible with laptops'. But OS on SSD and ALL other files on HDD, and if you ever need to reinstall windows, you still have all of your otherfiles. SSD for the OS will make it much faster.

[HLCinSC]

I bought this on a back to school sale last year for $1200 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834233046

It has a 870m with 6gb of vram but after doing some research the consensus seemed to be that it was more a marketing ploy the system would never be able to fully utilize all that VRAM or at least not benefit from the extra vram by much. I don't know if the newer tech in your proposed gaming laptop has similar limitations, but I thought I would throw this out there anyway.

[Nathalie]

Thanks to everyone for the comments! I ended up getting the 8GB VRAM version since it ended up being cheaper in the end. Once I get it I'll have to do some testing to see if I can get it to use more than 4GB VRAM at a time.