Tim Sweeney says memory is all you need
WITH BOTH G92 and RV670 coming out in different variations (256, 512 and overclocked 1GB SKUs) during November, we wanted to hear what is the engine guru behind Unreal Engine 3 going to say.
Two major titles from Epic are coming out now, Gears of War for PC and Unreal Tournament 3, mega-titles that are also going to be on market in November. When asked about the amount of video memory, here is what Tim stated:
"In Unreal Tournament 3 and Gears of War for PC, there is a significant gain in having 512MB of video memory rather than 256MB. So, first and foremost, get at least a 512MB card if you can afford it. If you haven’t maxed out your budget, then go for the maximum single-card performance that doesn’t require extreme cooling, e.g. buy an entry-level GeForce 8800 over a GeForce 8600."
As you can read for yourself, if an entry-level 8800 is your thing, skimp the 199-something card and just shell out additional 50 somethings for a 512MB card. In Blighty, 512MB board should cost 149 quids (yes, getting ripped off all over again), so this is the card Tim wholeheartedly reccomends as "at least". However, with several partners coming down the line with 1GB cards, know that UE3 engine will more than welcome more memory. We guess this puts the whole idea by some engineers about "what's the use of 1GB memory with 256-bit interface" to rest. Yes, it is worthawhile. Nuff' said.
"Are you broke yet? If not, then go for more memory, especially if you plan to build mods or levels (as the tools are more memory-intensive); or if you plan to move to 64-bit Windows Vista, which manag es memory more efficiently than 32-bit Vista or XP."
Second in the line for an upgrade is system memory. Just like we expected, there is no need to go overboard with CPUs, dual-cores or multi-cores will do just fine - but memory, memory, memory. Try to kill the need for swap file. If that means going to 4GB of memory, go to 4GB of memory and look at advanced operating systems that expand over that 32-bit limit of 2.75 to 3.24 GB of system memory.
"And, if you still have funds left over after that, and you’re feeling brave, then look at SLI, crazy cooling options, etc."
After a strong GPU and a lot of system memory were taken care of, then you can take a look at multi-GPUs.
So in short, when it comes to titles powered by Unreal Engine, there is only one word: memory. More of it, that is. µ
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Also Once I read about Many Shader units in Post 2950 World, Then Main & Auxilliary, Now Less? yet More Memory is Great, Yet What is Post 2950/ 8800XTX?(Hey-Best Buy,Find Out)
Only Future Proof Solution will have to incorporate OVER 8 gb of main Memory per processor, Then its HOT as Pistol in 64 Bit ULTIE_TOM Quality Coming On:ON.

Signed:T. von drashek
Why would you even think of putting in 4GB of memory next to 1, or maybe even 2 1 GB graphics cards?

System needs to make a memory hole so it can address that video memory so you lose at least a gig, possibly more!

And the only way to get around that is with a 64 bit OS which depending on your motherboard might still leave you with a memory hole at 3-4 GB so you still lose a gig.

Im looking forward to playing this but if Gears of War on the 360 is basically a slightly less polished U3 engine, why do we need all this memory? It made do fine with less, admitedly without the bloated hog of an OS on it.
We've all played the demo and seen how silky smooth it runs on even mid-range hardware such as 7900GT's. 
Yes, the final version will have larger textures and more detail but this article is so patronising it's untrue. "Look at SLI. Go with 4GB. Upgrade upgrade upgrade." 
If Tim wants us to upgrade so much then maybe he should have created a less efficient engine, because it's going to run beautifully on my 320MB 8800GTS, E6600, and 2GB RAM. :-)
How will it run on my system?

AMD X2 6000 CPU
NVIDIA 7900GTO 512 VIDEO CARD
CORSAIR DDR2-800 2GB MEMORY

Thanks
I have a brand new Q6600 siting here with 4GB system RAM and a 640MB 8800GTS; I say let Epic do its worst :)
definately ending G7 or starting G8 series with about 1.5GB DDR2 RAM will be fine great game but not great mind game TIM .........

If some how i have that money i rather buy PS3 than upgrading this GPU/MEMORY stuff because technology changes with months somehow this is useless as it is expensive ........
runs smooth on my aging rig, with full detail, in 720hd, 2x6600gt + c2d 2.4ghz, and only 1gb (one chip, so no dual channel)
Tims right you **** people are all ungrateful nerds that play WoW or came from crappy consoles and know **** about pc gaming no to mention the **** people will create just like with all the other UT games will exceed the requirements. 
Some maps in ut2004 lagged people on the highest end rigs but they were beautiful and a year later when people could upgrade and play them, these maps became favorites. You people are all dumb asses. 
Sweeney is right and Epic has always been a good developer. [That's enough asterisks, Ed.]
Lol. The game is CPU limited for most users (minimum framerates driven by weak CPU/FSBs)

I'd bet money that someone with an Intel Q6600 1gb RAM and a weak little 8600 will get *BETTER* framerates than someone with an AMD X2 3800+ 4gb RAM 8800 GTX.

And by BETTER framerates, I mean that the game will be solid, playable and consistent (40-60) rather than spiking between 15-100 FPS depending on CPU load and bus saturation.