Skip to main content

GTX 970 only uses 3.5GB of memory instead of 4GB? ‘Whoops,’ says Nvidia

gtx 970 uses 3 5gb memory instead 4 woops says nvidia shutterstock 194315435
Image Credit: Katherine Wells/Shutterstock
Over the past few days, forum members at The Tech Report have been tracking a supposed issue with GTX 970 graphics cards from Nvidia, claiming that in their tests they could only access 3.5GB of available memory, opposed to the 4GB the card is advertised to carry.

The company has since responded to the controversy, stating that unlike the GTX 980, the 970 separates two sections of its memory to save on power and resource requirements. The first is filled out by what Nvidia calls a “high priority access” chunk of 3.5GB, followed by a 0.5GB chunk that’s ready for any runoff required by higher end games.

This means that any applications which requires 3.5GB of memory or less will only access the first section, and more demanding games like Battlefield 4 and Shadows of Mordor will utilize both in conjunction with one another when cranked up to 4K resolution.

Related: Check out our complete GTX 960 review

According to Nvidia’s own tests, this method of segmentation causes about a 25 percent loss in efficiency when running high-end games, but also keeps the cost of the card down and allows it to stay competitive with similar offerings from AMD. Furthermore, it only represents about a one to three percent drop in speeds from the 980 GTX running on the same configuration, so as long as you’re not a real stickler for the details, the change shouldn’t ruffle too many feathers in the crowd. Unless you’re a PC hardware nut on a web forum, of course.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Chris Stobing
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Self-proclaimed geek and nerd extraordinaire, Chris Stobing is a writer and blogger from the heart of Silicon Valley. Raised…
Nvidia GTX 16 series: Everything we know so far
Nvidia's GTX 16 series might be the best deal for a Turing graphics cards yet

At the beginning of 2019, it seemed likely Nvidia would launch a GTX 1160 graphics card. That turned out to be the Turing-powered-GTX 1660 Ti, with rumors still suggesting a 1660 and 1650 could launch not long after it.

This means Nvidia's midrange lineup is now more fleshed out, offering gamers an alternative to the RTX lineup and also greater competition for AMD's aging Polaris RX 500 GPUs. They also make worthwhile replacements for Nvidia's own last-generation GTX 1060 and other midrange cards.
Pricing and availability

Read more
Nvidia’s GTX 1660 Ti may launch right after Valentine’s Day
graphics card shortage

GTX 1050 Ti graphics cards Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

If love isn't in the air for you this year (or even if it is) why not use your savings to buy a new graphics card this Valentine's Day instead? Nvidia may debut the first of a trio of new midrange graphics cards on February 15, starting with the GTX 1660 Ti. The still-Turing, but not-RTX GPU will reportedly offer performance somewhere between the GTX 1060 and 1070, likely with an eye on competing directly with AMD's RX 590, and will be priced around $280.

Read more
Nvidia’s Titan RTX is the first full Turing GPU with 24GB of memory
nvidia rtx titan 2080 ti titanrtx02

It turns out Nvidia's RTX 2080 Ti wasn't a new breed of consumer-facing Titan; it was a Ti. And now, just weeks after the original lineup was unveiled, the real Titan RTX is here, and it's a real monster. Although aimed more at enterprises than gamers, the Titan RTX is effectively just a bigger, badder 2080 Ti, with the same (but fully unlocked) Turing GPU at its core. It comes with a full complement of CUDA cores, more Tensor cores, a higher boost clock, and more than double the memory of its 2080 Ti counterpart.

As powerful as the 2080 Ti of Nvidia's new Turing generation of RTX graphics cards is, the whole launch was a little underwhelming. Only the Ti offered any real gains in intergenerational performance, the cards were very expensive, and few games are available even now that support the new ray tracing and DLSS features. The Titan RTX isn't going to change that, with a monstrous $2,500 price tag of its own, but its performance should be eye-watering all the same.

Read more