What you need to know
- Sharing their modified NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti GPU benchmark results, Twitter user @wxnod increased its VRAM from 11GB to 48GB (44GB usable.)
- Graphics cards use VRAM (video random access memory) to help render complex visual effects in real time.
- The increase in VRAM didn't affect the card's processing performance in benchmarks or video games, likely due to bandwidth limitations.
NVIDIA graphics cards are renowned for the sheer processing power behind some breathtaking visuals rendered in real-time for video games. It also develops ultra-powerful workstation cards for rendering complex CGI, with NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation GPUs pushing for around a mind-melting 48GB of GDDR6 VRAM. Naturally, these industry-focused cards carry a similarly eye-watering price tag of around $6,800, excluding most folk from ever coming close.
That hasn't stopped Алексей (Alexei) from sharing their outrageous attempt at upgrading the VRM on an RTX card from two whole decades ago from a measly 11GB all the way up to 44GB. Yes, you read that right. As Tom's Hardware covered all the intricate details, this GeForce RTX 2080 Ti had its memory expanded into such ridiculous proportions, thanks to its physical similarities to NVIDIA's Titan RTX, though even that was capped at 24GB of GDDR6 VRAM.
pic.twitter.com/sW5hcS9cLXJune 11, 2023
What does any of this mean? This brave (yet relatively fruitless) project bumps the older GeForce RTX 2080 Ti GPU up to 48GB of total physical modules. However, it can only access 22 of the available slots due to limitations with its GDDR6 memory interface setup, so it caps out at 44GB. Still, GPU-Z and DxDiag (DirectX diagnostic tool) screenshots show that Windows does detect all 44GB of VRAM, even if the question of using it for benchmarking or playing games yields a disappointing answer.
"Does it work with games?" - @VideoCardz
"no" - @wxnod
What a shame. Without proper BIOS or driver support, this roided-up RTX 2080 Ti is nothing more than a fascination, but it's nonetheless impressive. Considering the price tags attached to some of the best graphics cards sail far and above the supposed MSRP, it's admirable to see hobbyists pushing older cards to their absolute power limits.
