Fast 128MB or slow 256MB?

[Jimmy 2004]

Ok, this is something I wondered about but was never sure. I know that in all games at the moment, as an example, a 128MB 9800 would still be better than a 256MB 9550. But what if a game came out that said you need a 256MB graphics card, shouldn't a 256MB card play it better even if its speeds are lower? Or would it still be better to have a 9800 with half the required mem?

 

[ADV4NCED]

It should still be better to play the game with the Radeon 9800 128Mb because you can always set your AGP Aperture higher which makes up for your card not having 256Mb + your getting the faster speeds so it'll be better to use the Radeon 9800.

 

[Nergal]

an 9800 has more pipes and shaders(?) So it will handle the mem better.

but to make it clear.

an 6800LE can be unlocked to and 6800 ULTRA(but with lower mem settings ofc),
only with DDR1, and not DDR3 (both 256MB)

the difference in speed is around 30%, in 3dmakr03 (10k vs 13k)

however, in games it's less. Afterall, it depends on the ram of the 6800LE.
there are some with 2.0ns!!! while ddr3 is 1.6ns.....getting close there.

However, to answer your question, I believe ASUS has 6800GT cards,
with 128MB DDR3. And yes, they are faster then 256MB DDR1.

But for now, 256MB is just for show, 128MB works just as good.
In the future (1-2years) 256MB can be used fully. So an high-end card with 128MB is fine to buy.

Take into considiration that a lower card also has lesser pipes and other features.
So while an high-end can use lesser ram, to the safe result, a lower-end will have to use a bit more ram. However, things can be decieving, an 6600GT uses 256MB DDR3.
But it only got a sad 128bits core, with 4GB/s access.
A standard 6800LE@NU has easly 11GB/s, with more pipes. In the end, meaning that it's DDR1 runs virtually faster then it's DDR3


Before buying a card, post here m8, you'll get good options from a lots of people.

 

[W1zzard]

in my opinion the only ati cards that benefit from 256mb memory are the x800 series and up. all other cards are just too slow to run at such high resolutions/aa settings.

on the other hand 256MB TSOP cost a manufcturer like $9. these $9 increase sales A LOT - many people just look at the 256MB sticker and buy it

 

[critofur]

For Doom 3 it will take advantage of 256 vs 128 MB video RAM, but I would still choose a faster 128 over a slower 256. Id even says you're supposed to have 512 MB of video RAM to run the highest quality setting, though people were saying it works fine on their 6800 Ultras.

 

[Deleted member 3]

I can run Doom 3 at ultra high on my 6800LE with 55FPS, that's a 128Mb card.

 

[INSTG8R]

in my opinion the only ati cards that benefit from 256mb memory are the x800 series and up. all other cards are just too slow to run at such high resolutions/aa settings.

on the other hand 256MB TSOP cost a manufcturer like $9. these $9 increase sales A LOT - many people just look at the 256MB sticker and buy it

yeah that was a great gimmick with the Nvidia FX series, use SLOW 256 RAM and people saw 256 and did just that

 

[critofur]

I can run Doom 3 at ultra high on my 6800LE with 55FPS, that's a 128Mb card.

Well, 55FPS is definately not your minimum FPS, I'm sure it dips fairly low sometimes set on ultra, I don't even use ultra on my 6800nu with the extra pipes & shader unlocked. I run at 1280 x 1024 'cause I have an LCD.

 

[Deleted member 3]

It's the average the timedemo gives me.