Crossfire HD4850 512MB & 1920x1200 rez ?

[Triton.se]

Crossfire HD4850 512MB vs Crossfire HD4850 1GB, is there a big performance differance running games @ 1920x1200 resolution ? I don't care about the 2560x1600 rez at all, but 4xAA and Textures High ofcourse in the games.

 

[brandonwh64]

i think with the 1gb versions you would get smoother game play at higher resolutions.

 

[MoonPig]

Only time ive ever noticed an issue with my 512mb and 1080p is when i play GTA4. Only game that requires more than i have.

Even if i could get higher graphics, im not sure my 4870 could play it smooth. I can still manage it on all high.

Depends on the price really.

 

[Triton.se]

I found a "mini-review", single HD4850 512MB vs 1GB: No differance at all... /// EDIT: even lower scores in Devil May Cry 4 with 1GB.

 

[Mussels]

you're missing the point: if you run a game that uses less than 512MB of Vram, then the cards will appear the same. When you run a game that uses MORE, all of a sudden the 512MB card drops off to single digit FPS, or it stutters a lot.


Also, ram doesnt add in crossfire - so if you have one 512MB card (and pair it with another 512MB or 1GB card) - you only get 512MB usable.

DMC4 is a console port, so its highly unlikely to use even 512MB of vram.

 

[Gzero]

you're missing the point: if you run a game that uses less than 512MB of Vram, then the cards will appear the same. When you run a game that uses MORE, all of a sudden the 512MB card drops off to single digit FPS, or it stutters a lot.


Also, ram doesnt add in crossfire - so if you have one 512MB card (and pair it with another 512MB or 1GB card) - you only get 512MB usable.

DMC4 is a console port, so its highly unlikely to use even 512MB of vram.

Usually games that use more than 512mb will start pushing the gpu core at that res anyway.

 

[Mussels]

Usually games that use more than 512mb will start pushing the gpu core at that res anyway.

i'm sorry, i dont get what you mean.

Do you mean to say that the game engines that would use that much ram, his GPU would be too slow for anyway?

 

[ToTTenTranz]

Dual HD4850 512MB @ 1920*1080/1200 makes no sense in 2010.

Besides, aren't those cards now totally replaced by the HD5750 and HD5770? Those are DX11, are a lot cooler and use a lot less power.

 

[Gzero]

i'm sorry, i dont get what you mean.

Do you mean to say that the game engines that would use that much ram, his GPU would be too slow for anyway?

Not too slow, just the fps would already be taking a hit over the lower resolutions without the texture swapping occurring.

Looking through the benchies:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_480_Fermi/21.html
Is 20fps considered playable?
Then it definitely runs out of ram at 2560 struggling with 2 fps.

 

[Mussels]

Not too slow, just the fps would already be taking a hit over the lower resolutions without the texture swapping occurring.

Looking through the benchies:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_480_Fermi/21.html
Is 20fps considered playable?
Then it definitely runs out of ram at 2560 struggling with 2 fps.

well, we are talking crossfire here - so it may well go into playable levels.

But yes, thats a clear indication the cards ran out of ram - but even at lower res, it may have stuttered a lot and not been visible in the benchmark.

 

[Gzero]

well, we are talking crossfire here - so it may well go into playable levels.

But yes, thats a clear indication the cards ran out of ram - but even at lower res, it may have stuttered a lot and not been visible in the benchmark.

Good point. Minimum framerate would be nice in the reviews (constructive criticism).

Has crossfire matured enough though to make full use of each card though for the latest games, presuming the op is wanting it for new games?

Refeer just decided he had enough and went with a single gpu core.

 

[angelkiller]

Dual HD4850 512MB @ 1920*1080/1200 makes no sense in 2010.

Besides, aren't those cards now totally replaced by the HD5750 and HD5770? Those are DX11, are a lot cooler and use a lot less power.

Find me another setup that can out perform a GTX 280 for $160.

you're missing the point: if you run a game that uses less than 512MB of Vram, then the cards will appear the same. When you run a game that uses MORE, all of a sudden the 512MB card drops off to single digit FPS, or it stutters a lot.


Also, ram doesnt add in crossfire - so if you have one 512MB card (and pair it with another 512MB or 1GB card) - you only get 512MB usable.

DMC4 is a console port, so its highly unlikely to use even 512MB of vram.

All true. The next question to ask is how likely is it that games will use more than 512MB of RAM at 1920x1200?

IMO, Unless you're playing unusually stressful games, 512MB is enough for 1920x1200. But I don't have much evidence for that.

 

[Mussels]

many games use more than 512MB these days.

MW2 does, GTA IV does. i'm sure many more do - ESPECIALLY when you add in AA.


512MB cards arent quite dead, but you're really really pushing it above 1680x1050

 

[Wrigleyvillain]

The answer is absolutely yes. It was a bummer but I had to ditch 4850 crossfire for a 1GB 4870 as I play at 1920x1200 (and like AA but even without it...). It made a big difference, even in loading times for some games like Fallout 3.

 

[GotNoRice]

I run 4850 crossfire with 512mb cards in my secondary rig still and it performs excellent at 1920x1200 in games like BC2. That is probably nearing the limit though in terms of the resolution you would want to run.

The thing is that you do have a bit of control over the situation in most cases. If you actually find yourself VRAM limited you can bring down the AA or lower the texture settings in the game. Alternatively you can use the Edge-Detect custom filter which will use the stream processors on your card to assist in the Anti-Aliasing calculations taking some of the burden off the card's memory subsystem.