Comment 23 for bug 428519

This might help:
If the line 'GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX=text' is in /etc/default/grub and I boot with the kernel parameter 'noplymouth' (instead of default 'quiet splash') then the first few messages after the kernel is loaded do appear on a screen with (estimated) VGA size! But only seconds later the resolution changes to the usual maximum of my laptop (1680x1050), and no wonder all the Ctrl+Alt+F1...6 consoles are again 1680x1050 too.
So no matter what GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD or GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX is, the resolution of consoles stays at maximum (which in my case is hard to read and memory-consuming).

After some googling and tweaking I bet it is not the fault of grub or the kernel. It is a component that starts a bit later in the boot process, e.g. plymouth.