Tylerslikewhoa
.... 4 gb will only last you another 6 months 1 year tops.  6 and 8 gb cards are the norm within the next 6 months

 
That's a bit overstating it there. Sure games are going to get better and stronger but not at that super fast rate. PLEASE don't use S.o.Mordor as an example.

I want to play those unoptimized PC ports, so gimme that 8GB!!!!
 
Also articles stated SoM uses 8GB VRAM at 4K and 6GB VRAM at 1080p.

The big thing is this do gamers need 6gb of vram at 1080p? No, but its nice. What does it allow the developer to do with systems using more vram, up the DPI and use more of the original, uncompressed texture files, like take 4k texture files, have them set to 200 DPI, now take those same 4k texture files and down them to 72 DPI you will see a difference. I do texturing all the time for 3d assets. A higher res texture with just 72 DPI that is compressed,  will look like poo regardless, where if you had the original PSD files they did the textures on I am sure the artist are using anywhere from 180-500 DPI on the 4k textures. This allows for less pixelation and a better game texture in general even when converting to DDS, but in turn it cost the user in terms of hardware resources.
 
I do have to say the new Shadow of Mordor game when you crank up all the eye candy, and slam up the textures looks pretty damn good in comparison to everything else out there currently, that is why it is highly recommended that you have 6gb of vram. Does it mean you need a 6gb card to play at 1080p? Umm no but it helps just to have things loaded, but if you have a fast enough gpu, with fast enough vram at 2-3gb you will be fine, the engine will drop textured loaded into vram quicker if that is the case, and if the gpu chip and the vram is fast enough you will not even notice as the card and the game engine swap everything out.
 
The only time you need 6gb of vram is your playing at 4k+ to surround, or your doing 3d work and do things like hair simulations, and other task that directly use the hardware on your video card in your workflow. Or you just want bragging epeen rights.... my card cost me 1k+ it has 6gb+ of vram dude I am leet now! Just my few cents on the subject.
 
I am still laughing at those thinking there will be a 980 TI-.- when the 980 already has all cores enabled, now if they didnt skip the 800 series there would had been an 880 and an 880 TI one with more cores than the other just like the 780 and 780 TI, but nvidia skipped the 800 series of kelper all together we may see an oem card of the 800 series like the 300 series in pre-build machines like dell/alienware and so on...
 
But yeah having to rush out and spend 1k on a gpu or close to it for 6gb of vram at 1080p your high..... a 2-4gb card is more than enough, and most of you do not have the trained artist eye of an industry professional to even notice the texture swapping or down rezzing though the mips to even realize it...but like always I am sure enough will scream for it and tell nvidia or amd to take mi monez now and they will give you all the product your asking for while they are laughing and thinking we just made free money off those fools, and its going to be funny when we release the next real big card and they will end up buying that one too.

donta1979
The big thing is this do gamers need 6gb of vram at 1080p? No, but its nice. What does it allow the developer to do with systems using more vram, up the DPI and use more of the original, uncompressed texture files, like take 4k texture files, have them set to 200 DPI, now take those same 4k texture files and down them to 72 DPI you will see a difference. I do texturing all the time for 3d assets. A higher res texture with just 72 DPI that is compressed,  will look like poo regardless, where if you had the original PSD files they did the textures on I am sure the artist are using anywhere from 180-500 DPI on the 4k textures. This allows for less pixelation and a better game texture in general even when converting to DDS, but in turn it cost the user in terms of hardware resources. I do have to say the new Shadow of Mordor game when you crank up all the eye candy, and slam up the textures looks pretty damn good in comparison to everything else out there currently, that is why it is highly recommended that you have 6gb of vram. Does it mean you need a 6gb card to play at 1080p? Umm no but it helps just to have things loaded, but if you have a fast enough gpu, with fast enough vram at 2-3gb you will be fine, the engine will drop textured loaded into vram quicker if that is the case, and if the gpu chip and the vram is fast enough you will not even notice as the card and the game engine swap everything out. The only time you need 6gb of vram is your playing at 4k+ to surround, or your doing 3d work and do things like hair simulations, and other task that directly use the hardware on your video card in your workflow. Or you just want bragging epeen rights.... my card cost me 1k+ it has 6gb+ of vram dude I am leet now! Just my few cents on the subject, I am still laughing at those thinking there will be a 980 TI-.- when the 980 already has all cores enabled, now if they didnt skip the 800 series there would had been an 880 and an 880 TI one with more cores than the other just like the 780 and 780 TI, but nvidia skipped the 800 series of kelper all together we may see an oem card of the 800 series like the 300 series in pre-build machines like dell/alienware and so on... but yeah having to rush out and spend 1k on a gpu or close to it for 6gb of vram at 1080p your high..... a 2-4gb card is more than enough, and most of you do not have the trained artist eye of an industry professional to even notice the texture swapping or down rezzing though the mips to even realize it...but like always I am sure enough will scream for it and tell nvidia or amd to take mi monez now and they will give you all the product your asking for while they are laughing and thinking we just made free money off those fools.

I'm getting old, man - wall of text is painful now.  Help me out: use paragraphs.

4gb is definitely not enough but what are you actually missing out on?

SoM is an open world game with crazy textures. Not all games are sandboxes that require every texture to be loaded at the same time. Some games are just more optimized.

Still SoM will run on ultra even with 4gb of memory. It will cache to system RAM and will run. It still looks epic and its single player anyway. Ideally you want like 12gb to futureproof 3 years.

I'm playing Arma 3 in 4k and I still don't get near 4gb.
I don't even get to 3 gb.

D-007
I'm playing Arma 3 in 4k and I still don't get near 4gb.
I don't even get to 3 gb.

Play Call of Duty :Ghosts and check again.

Fennicillin

Brimy
Play Call of Duty :Ghosts and check again.

That's cruel man, may as well ask him to stick a fork in an outlet.

lol...dude CoD Ghosts is a very texture rich game, we are just checking the Vram consumption is all. When i play CoD Ghosts my whole 4GB of RAM is used on ultra. Arma is mostly CPU intensive.

All this 4k nonsense. I get it, it's cool. I just went to a 2560x1600 30 inch and I'm loving it. I am a bit worried about moving to a 4gb card with the 980 but while I'm losing 2gb from my 780 I'm gaining a lot. I haven't really bought any of the consol port games recently but I was planning on the mordor game. Though now I'm wondering if I should pass. I am really getting sick of hearing about all these games we get to buy that are broken or rushed to make a short deadline. Needing 6 plus gb of vram to play a game is stupid.

Mobile versions got 8gb, needed or not its nice to have the option to get one with more vram.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152661&cm_re=msi_gt72-_-34-152-661-_-Product

I can understand mobile GPUs having more because they don't get upgraded nearly as often or at all (assuming your laptop can even be upgraded).

Oh I know that. I have an Alienware 18 with dual GTX 780Ms that are super easy to upgrade when I want. But most laptops don't unless you get an expensive gaming laptop like I did.

But even with these gaming laptops, I doubt people upgrade them nearly as often as desktop GPUs. Mobile GPUs cost much more and aren't as fast like you said. Thankfully I was able to get a custom bios for my 780Ms that allows me to overclock them much more and are as powerful as desktop 680s. And I don't plan on upgrading them anytime soon. Unlike my desktop that I just got a nice new 970 FTW.

Tylerslikewhoa
I fell bad for anyone that bought into the 970 and 980 hype. They will have to update soon just to have more vram

According to you.

The industry is (Edited out for language) nowadays, why do expect PC optimization?

 
Let's get back on topic, watch the language, and stop the attacks.