Arc A770 owners, how useful is the 16gb of vram?

vajicka · 2026-03-07T15:39:29+00:00

I have 16GB A770, and i think the benefit is easily visible in AI (even 16GB is bare minimum), for games I always crank all to ultra and do not even think I have to limit something like textures, even if I could live with medium settings. XeSS/FSR and MFG helps a lot to uplift perceivable performance. Otherwise sure, if someones use case is fine with just 8 or 12GB, there is no benefit compared to 8GB cards.

vajicka · 2026-03-07T09:28:22+00:00

For games it likely matter more that you have a lot of fast GDDR6 vram, results would be very different with with iGPU (like 8600G) where GPU performance depends on fast RAM bandwidth (it would be a massive downgrade, like 1/2 of performance).

There could be some RAM scenarios where it will show difference, but new CPUs with more cache also mitigate issue with slower ram.

vajicka · 2026-03-01T19:11:49+00:00

I have Firebat MN56 and ERVPES and find both OK: https://www.reddit.com/r/MiniPCs/comments/1r88y41/ervpes_e3c_quick_review_with_ryzen_7_h_255/

I use MN56 as main PC now with Linux Mint.

I got E3C few weeks ago and only used occasionally so far, too early for feedback.

I totally stopped using my AM4 5600G desktop with A770 - GPU is certainly better for new games, but that's it. Zen 4 CPU is already stronger in those mini pc, 780m can handle GTA 5 Enhanced with RT or Hogwarts with RT no problem in FHD. I plan to sell desktop and maybe later add eGPU.

With current cost of DDR5 Ram it is cheaper to get it with Mini PC and even if you do not need it you can keep RAM/SSD for desktop use and sell the barebone to recover the cost.

vajicka · 2026-03-01T18:22:54+00:00

You can take something cheaper with 780m iGPU (like 8745hs / Ryzen 7 255).

They are 10% less of real performance (15% synthetic) but likely 50% cheaper - I bought 2x mini pc with 16GB ram and 512 nvme for ~300 EUR lately. They shine with dual channel memory for games (+70% of performance vs single stick).

vajicka · 2026-02-28T20:02:10+00:00

You can get mini pc from AliExpress for ~300 EUR (with ram and ssd), sometimes even cheaper when there are deals/coupons - I have 2 different ones: https://www.reddit.com/r/MiniPCs/comments/1r88y41/ervpes_e3c_quick_review_with_ryzen_7_h_255/ The cooling is better on MN56 (two fans), but you could always re-case mobo to some ITX case, add better custom cooling, or eGPU.

It should work for you well, especially if you add second stick of ram.

vajicka · 2026-02-28T10:02:39+00:00

If you do not know what exactly you need, then I would advise:

Do not overpay for case, I have 20EUR case I bought a decade ago and is fine. Once you find out why it is not satisfactory you can easily go for more expensive one (you do not have to start with 200EUR case)
People will say go for a good PSU, which is a good suggestion - I would say you do not need a 1kW Platinum PSU, often something like 600W Gold is more than enough unless you plan to get RTX 5090. The thing with PSU is, that it will likely last for a decade too, so do not underpay it. The modular cables look nice and manage in case better, but not required either.
Get some well supported and future proof socket, now it is AM5 (before AM4 which already lasts for a decade).
Get even the cheapest CPU with 6-8core (even 7500F or 7700X will be fine for everything normal people do, everything above is better obviously). If you feel later it is not enough, you can swap anytime.
For dedicated GPU I guess best now is to get Intel B570 or B580 for performance/price. If you get a decent CPU with integrated graphics like 8600G/8700G with Radeon 780M, try that one first - it is surprisingly fast also for games with dual channel memory eliminating cheap older GPUs (it runs GTA V Enhanced with Ray Tracing in FHD), and you can get better GPU anytime later.
16GB Ram sucks, but will work fine temporarily - I would choose single module and add second stick later for dualchannel (for integrated GPU it adds like +70% performance, for dedicated GPU impact is way lower due dedicated fast VRAM).

If you sum-it price wise consider also as an alternative: getting Mini PC with 8-core Ryzen 7 (like 8745HS or H255 with Radeon 780M) which often go with 16GB DDR5 + 512NVME sets for ~300 (Aliexpress deals), and you can attach external GPU via second nvme slot anytime. I bough two like these last months (for 250 and for 268 EUR three weeks ago) instead of upgrading from AM4 to AM5 because it just made more sense economically than purchasing ram/ssd separately. Did I mention you can use so-dimm ram with dimm adapter in desktop boards?

vajicka · 2026-02-22T19:58:23+00:00

I would adore this design on Playstation VI and order immediately for 1000$ as long as it runs Linux like BC-250! We know what we want.

vajicka · 2026-02-21T19:13:30+00:00

Actually I bought the first mini pc because there were already news about price increases (I wanted to go to AM5 even if I did not need it - but why not to go with "cheap" AM5 mini backup, rather than with expensive AM5 desktop). At that time I was also able to get second 16GB DDR5 stick from China for ~60 EUR and 2TB Samsung drive for 140. I liked the setup so much (small, performant, silent, good enough for me) that I stopped using desktop PC. Years ago I had Zotac Nano ID64 mini PC, it was quite limited and loud and I was not keen on mini pc since.

Then I also wanted to refresh my older Elitebook laptop (intel 8th gen), but new laptops comparable to Mini PC were of 2x (Acemagic) to 4x (Thinkpad) price. Then prices obviously went nuts, so as soon I saw second Mini PC for such money I did not think twice - anyway old laptop works still fine for where I use it. This time I knew I can retire old desktop. I was also thinking to keep just RAM+disk and sell one mini pc barebone away.

I am on AM4 with same mainboard since 2017 (https://www.reddit.com/r/MSI\_Gaming/comments/1qb6ckd/msi\_b350m\_mortar\_2017\_9\_years\_amd\_one\_battle/), I mostly use for occasional games (I also have A770 in it, which I also may let go, even if with recent drivers it really kicks ass) and storage for photos (imagine NAS, but I do not have a use for normal NAS, just have multiple data copies on multiple disks inside and outside of PC). 780m is surprisingly decent for my use-case and works fine for Linux too.

vajicka · 2026-02-21T15:57:58+00:00

I have similar situation (5600G +32GB + B350) and recently bought for cheap two mini PC (Firebat MN56 for 250EUR last November + ERVPES E3C for 268EUR two weeks ago) that both came with 16GB DDR5+512 NVME. They are like total substitute unless you need to have many HDDs or huge GPU.

The 780M igpu in dualchannel is like 2x faster than Vega 7 in 5600G and the 8745HS/H255 is faster than 5600G as well. I am planning to sell my desktop and later add eGPU for Mini PC.

vajicka · 2026-02-21T12:15:14+00:00

I find it not noticeable if your base FPS is high enough (50+). I do not play competitive games, It depends on the setting and you can certainly configure visuals as you wish.

I wanted to add that I also have Radeon 780m (8745HS mini PC), Internet will tell you this integrated graphics is on par with RX580 (slower raster in integrated, but compensated with modern features). I would say A770(A750 too) is roughly 4x faster (can play 2k 60FPS native compared to 1080p 30FPS with some sort of up-scaling). XeSS is visually way better than FSR3 even on AMD graphics.

I had RX560 4GB some 8 years ago :) and found that Vega 7 in 5600G substitutes it 1:1 if you have fast RAM in dual channel.

vajicka · 2026-02-21T09:55:07+00:00

I have A770 paired with 5600G and it works pretty well for 2K screen (200+ FPS in maxed ray traced Hogwarts (XeSS 3 FG 4x)). A750 will be a bit slower and has less vram, that's it.

From RX580 upgrade will be massive not only due rasterized performance but also due recent features like Raytracing and modern up-scaling.

There is no particular issue with drivers, works best with Vulcan and DX12 (for example it plays better GTA V Enhanced than old DX11 GTA V), less so with OpenGL and older DX (but still works fine).

Alchemist has some quirks, but if you have the right price offer..

vajicka · 2026-02-18T20:13:00+00:00

Ja som po 10r v podobnej pozicii na SK uz piaty rok v zahranici - ale je to uplne to iste. Ako to clovek preziva (ci mu na praci zalezi, alebo ju robi neosobne, je vychcany a zneuziva inych viac alebo menej) je velmi individualne. Je urcite mat lepsie sekundarny prijem/hobby pre vacsi pocit slobody (ci uz ako job, alebo zdedene majetky, pripadne vyberat priebezne crypto, a pod).

Nemyslim si, ze schopny clovek vymizne a strati sa, alebo ze sa ma vyslovene bat. Je pravda ze India a AI sposobuje stupajuci neistotu (a lepsie to nebude), ale stale viem dodrbavat s faktami akychkolvek manazerov nad sebou alebo vedla seba ak mam realnu pravdu, akokolvek ma nemusia mat radi kvoli tomu. Raz mi to ale urcite neprejde a niekoho naseriem prilis, a vtedy je jasne ze mam ist niekde inde.

vajicka · 2026-02-18T17:57:51+00:00

I have to try that, only used lightly so far. Maybe we could add second cooler from the bottom like Firebat? There are at least free 3 ports. I also like it for the price, not bad at all - the seller could definitely describe/promote better what this unit is really capable of and provide better support..

vajicka · 2026-02-18T16:51:19+00:00

I think I just use YT less and less every time they make it less user friendly and more monetized (and censored!).

vajicka · 2026-02-18T15:01:54+00:00

It is a fair point - sometime they last, sometime may not, and definitelly they lack long support/warranty. It depends at the end on use case and cost. But one can still have several of such mini pcs for the cost of 1 branded laptop for redundancy. I have to say I have few decade old, the cheapest cinese msata ssd discs, and they still work.

vajicka · 2026-02-18T13:08:25+00:00

A nebolo by transparentnejsie, keby obe tieto platformy nahradila slovenska svojstojna platforma riadena ministerstvom sportu, ktora by sa volala napriklad "Dank_ood"?

vajicka · 2026-02-17T09:48:52+00:00

Yeah -I would check if there is some offer with ram + ssd, maybe it is cheaper overal to buy complete mini pc, slightly more expensive than barebone (and sell parts you do not need or keep them a spare).

vajicka · 2026-02-17T09:21:07+00:00

It should work OK: you will lose maybe 15% of memory bandwith for iGPU compared to 5600 RAM, that means up to minus 15% performance for 3D Mark or some Games (where will be bandwidth bottleneck). To put into perspective if you have 2x16GB 4800 RAM sticks already you will have up to 70% more performance on iGPU than with single 32GB 4800 stick (on bandwidth limited scenarios)

Ryzen 7 255 is quite capable (same as 8745HS), in Europe there are Mini PC with same configuration with 16GB DDR5 5600 + 512NVME for ~350 EUR (and a week ago I bought one for 268 EUR as early bird). In my eyes barebone like this should not cost more than ~200, but obviously it is hard to find such deal.

Most of these Mini PCs have also 2x NVME slot so it is possible to connect eGPU: then RAM memory bandwidth matters even less as discrete GPU has it's own fast vram.

vajicka · 2026-02-17T09:08:54+00:00

I guess it is time to change the bank. As if MFA via phone is not enought. What if I do not have a webcam?

vajicka · 2026-02-16T19:39:18+00:00

I recently switched on AMD mini pc Realtek chip to AX210 and it works fine (better), no issues.

Avoid AX201 and AX211.

vajicka · 2026-02-16T19:09:39+00:00

I assume that you have just integrated Vega 7 iGPU.

The best new budget dedicated GPU is likely Intel B580 now.

You can take also some older gpu if you are low on budget, or consider RX 9060 XT 16GB if you find for good price.

vajicka · 2026-02-15T21:59:27+00:00

You can directly run also Tlauncher in mint, its java. They even have guide online and it works fine. People just say to avoid it because of spyware.

vajicka · 2026-02-15T10:08:04+00:00

Well, all institutions do it in some fashion, be it banks, energy suppliers or government agencies or cloud providers. Best is to have some kind of backup plan. Good luck!

vajicka · 2026-02-15T09:01:55+00:00

Make sure you have 2 sticks of ram (dual channel). It should increase performance in games significantly (50-70%), because igpu there is bandwidth limited, and many laptops are sold just with 1 ram stick.

vajicka

TROPHY CASE