HD3850 512Mb vs 256Mb @ 1680x1050

[Nosada]

Hey all,

I was wondering what everyone's opinions were on the use of 512Mb VRAM on a card like the HD3850. I recently had my aging 800GTO² die on me and I'm in the market for a new card. The HD3850 seems like my cup of tea, especially the Powercolor PCS version. Sadly though, the supply of HD38xx cards in europe has been laughable and most shops don't show a restock any sooner than mid december or early januari. The ones that show stock are rediculously overpriced or have terrible reputations.

However ... HD3850 256Mb editions are plentiful and cheap to boot. Question is though: how do these cards hold up at 1680x1050. I'm not a purist when it comes to graphics, I don't mind turning down some options to medium at all, but I wouldn't want a video card that would have been capable of a lot more with 512Mb instead of 256Mb.

Any links to benchies showing the difference between the 512/256Mb versions or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated

 

[quasar923]

right now i have a year old ati radeon sapphire x850xtx 256 mb running at 500/700 and i am at 1600x1200 which is the next step of resolution you have. it works great altho the only game i currently play is halo 1, and i used to play black and white 2 which used more graphics but they both ran fine. i think especially since the hd3850 is much faster than my card you should be fine with 256 because your willing to turn down settings to medium and i play at full 1600x1200 on halo and same with black and white 2.

 

[trog100]

OK/UK have some.. be quick if u want one thow.. i think they will ship to belgium.. as for some being over priced.. it aint all bad.. at least u can buy one which i think is better than none available at all.. being over priced is the only reason they have some when everyone else hasnt..

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=56&sortby=nameAsc&subid=416&mfrid=

trog

 

[KainXS]

256mb should be enough at those resolutions(really cutting it)

 

[devguy]

I don't remember where I read this (or even how accurate it is), but for modern games, you want:
DX9: Anything greater than 1600x1200 => 512mb or more VRAM
DX10: Anything greater than 1280x1024 => 512mb or more VRAM

For anything less than that, I think 256mb should be fine. That is what I'm banking on with my new HD 3850 256mb gDDR3 at 1440x900.

 

[Xaser04]

My HD3850 runs crysis fine at medium settings @ 1680x1050.

 

[Xaser04]

Sorry its a 256mb card btw

 

[AddSub]

I would go with 512MB, not only because of the resolution (1680x1050), but it pretty much future-proofs your system for at least a short period of time. Also, with AA/AF turned up, 512MB disappears pretty quickly. Even without AF/AA some games (S.T.A.L.K.E.R. for example) use well in excess of 800MB of VRAM/RAM (or more depending on the settings) for texture storage. So even 512MB is a pretty paltry amount for some games.

 

[DaMulta]

There is a review on the front page.