Which 4870 for 24/28" moniter?

[fryup]

Hi guys,

Just about to buy new moniter, probably a 24" 1920*1200 but maybe a 28" if i get a bit carried away last minute! As am currently just on an old 17" so i dont have any experience with higher res's. Planning on buying an ATI 4870 as well but not sure if i will need the 1gb version or if the 512mb will do the job at high res? will problably not have the cash for the X2 but hoping to take advantage on the associated price drops when it comes out. also whats anyones recommended res for gaming when on these sized screens?

Cheers

 

[OzzmanFloyd120]

Get the 1gb, that way you won't have the ram bottlenecking the GPU

 

[boogah]

doesn't need the 1GB. only time you would need 1 gb is if you are going with the dell 30" LCD or similar (2560x1600)
unless the price is similar and u feel the urge to have it.

I game at 1920 x 1080 on my 24" Dell and my 50" samsung TV
amount of RAM doesn't bottle neck GPU the bandwidth of the rams would...

 

[REVHEAD]

I am running a dell 30 inch, sure I am running crossfire, but even with crossfire off playing Age of Conan with 4x aa and everything on max except for shadows is smooth as silk, a 512 card will be more than enough.

 

[ShogoXT]

Yea you only need that extra memory for 30inch screens. Same for the 8x vs 16x PCI-E.

 

[wolf]

i run crossfire in 8x/8x @ 2.0 with 2x512mb cards, 1920x1080 / 1920x1200, always with 4 or 8XAA and 16XAF no probs

one would go as far as to say, bulk fps.

 

[Wile E]

I run 1920x1200. Even CoD4 uses almost 700MB of video memory fully maxed out at this res, according to RivaTuner logging. I'd get the 1GB if I planned to keep the card for an extended period of time. I remember when people said 512MB was too much when they first came out, but then games hit that wouldn't max out unless you had a 512MB card.

In short, while there may not be huge gains by going to 1GB right this second, it will pay off down the road when more demanding games release. (If you plan to keep the card for a year or 2, that is)

 

[fryup]

cheers guys, will see what the prices are when i come to buy. might just splash out and get the gig anyway in a vain attempt to future proof myself. at least that way i may not be crying in a few months time when i find out my brand new card doesn't quite cut it anymore! plus i then get to beat my mates card...which we all know is the ultimate aim
cheers

 

[Tatty_Two]

I run 1920x1200. Even CoD4 uses almost 700MB of video memory fully maxed out at this res, according to RivaTuner logging. I'd get the 1GB if I planned to keep the card for an extended period of time. I remember when people said 512MB was too much when they first came out, but then games hit that wouldn't max out unless you had a 512MB card.

In short, while there may not be huge gains by going to 1GB right this second, it will pay off down the road when more demanding games release. (If you plan to keep the card for a year or 2, that is)

Yup, which is why in the end I just ordered a Gainward 260 purely and only because with it's 896MB on board it was waaayyyyy cheaper over here than any 1GB 4870 (by more than £50 or $100.....because with the 260, I also ordered a 28inch Monitor

 

[wolf]

my hardware is always on a fast turnover, i can really see myself selling the 4870's when the X2 hits so i can have effectively the same setup with 1gb each per gpu, and in one card.

the fact is 512 is fine now. but if you plan on keeping your card more than a year or so, then get something with more.

 

[Tatty_Two]

my hardware is always on a fast turnover, i can really see myself selling the 4870's when the X2 hits so i can have effectively the same setup with 1gb each per gpu, and in one card.

the fact is 512 is fine now. but if you plan on keeping your card more than a year or so, then get something with more.

Same here, this is by 6th graphics card in 2008

 

[wolf]

Same here, this is by 6th graphics card in 2008

heheheh, this year ive bought a 1gb 9600GT, an 8600GTS, a 9800GTX and 2 - 4870's, so almost as mucha s you.

but you see our point fryup, if your on a fast turnover like some users then just grab a 512mb card. if, like the people who just upgrade every year or so, maybe even longer, then a 1024mb 4870 would be the go. that or a GTX260.

 

[Tatty_Two]

heheheh, this year ive bought a 1gb 9600GT, an 8600GTS, a 9800GTX and 2 - 4870's, so almost as mucha s you.

but you see our point fryup, if your on a fast turnover like some users then just grab a 512mb card. if, like the people who just upgrade every year or so, maybe even longer, then a 1024mb 4870 would be the go. that or a GTX260.

Yes, benches at 19xx resolutions with the 4870 are very good, I just think perhaps they would be even better with more memory but it's more than adequate and at those resolutions outshine the 260 in many games.

 

[newconroer]

I am running a dell 30 inch, sure I am running crossfire, but even with crossfire off playing Age of Conan with 4x aa and everything on max except for shadows is smooth as silk, a 512 card will be more than enough.

Except for shadows. Eh, turn them on full, do some advanced tweaking and watch your 512 dissipate as the shadows start popping up all over the place as your character moves about.


In this day and age there's no excuse to NOT have at least 1gb of texture RAM or more.

It's just the unfortunate nature of 3d applications.

 

[wolf]

still 1920x1200 is only 2.3 megapixels whereas 2560x1600 is 4, i do believe if this is a mid/short term move the 512 card will suffice.

naturally when thinking about a long term decision there are other factors to take into account, and 1gb+ of vram is one of those things.