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256mb 9800 EVER gonna be useful?

B

BoboTheAngry

Junior Member
I'm debating what card i should get for my next computer.. I've read some good things about the new 256 radeons but I've also read that the next gen of games wont actually need that much memory... I only upgrade my computer once eveyr two years, but I just want some feed back on how much the extra 128 of memory would actually help
 
well, since you only upgrade every two years, it probably wouldnt hurt to get the 256. while it doesnt really provide much extra performance over the 128mb card now, it could be useful a few years down the road.. if you can afford it, id say go for it! 🙂
 
I think the Geforce might actually be faster, but it has a couple of disadvantages for me.. Takes up two slots, extra long, and is noisy... The length isnt too big of a problem, but from what i've heard, its a lot louder than the ATI =( and the two slot size isnt cool either...
The catch is, that im seeing the "Nvidia" logo on a lot of games, so I might just have to wait and see how the cards turn out
(How much later this month do ya think it will be out?)
 
Its not nosiey anymore, less than 35dbs anyway. Personally, I think I'll wait for the next installment of video cards before I need 256MB of onboard video memory.
 
Originally posted by: BoboTheAngry
I think the Geforce might actually be faster, but it has a couple of disadvantages for me.. Takes up two slots, extra long, and is noisy... The length isnt too big of a problem, but from what i've heard, its a lot louder than the ATI =( and the two slot size isnt cool either...
The catch is, that im seeing the "Nvidia" logo on a lot of games, so I might just have to wait and see how the cards turn out
(How much later this month do ya think it will be out?)
Click to expand...

the noise and 2 slot things really depends on which AIB manufacturer you pick buying from. Im sure we will be sing single slot nv35 that are not noisy in the weeks to come. for the date, probably mid to late this month.
 
Yeah so its not TOO loud, but the two PCI thing is kind of a hassle... of course, if it is actually noticbly faster than the Radeon, thats how ill have to go... Not to mention the detonator drivers have always been great
 
I think that if you were to pick the NVidia or ATI card I'd go ATI right now- but why not wait for the next iteration and then get the card since the price'll drop a bit...and if you want to waste all the money then just get the new one 😉
 
Well..didn't Bill Gates once said that "640k (he was referring to RAM i think) ought to be enough for everybody" ? 😛
 
The 256 DOES make a difference in several games right now. Take Comanche 4, the 256 is the difference between being playable at 1600x1200 6xAA (38 fps vs 24 fps) compaired to the 128 meg version. It also does the same with UT2003 at 1600x1200 6xAA (87 fsp vs 53). So it really does get used on intense games, and will probably be used in Doom 3 when its drivers are fixed to properly utilize it... but, that being said with all the people saying wait for the end of June for Nvidia, at the end of June ATI should be releasing the R360 chips (9900's), so its not like NVidia will be the undisputed king, as ATI is also releasing a new product to directly compete.
 
Since you only upgrade every 2 years or so, would getting a high end video card make your CPU the bottleneck? What CPU and other things would you be running the card?
 
Dont worry, I'm building a new computer... CPU wont be a problem =) Ill post all the specs in a seperate post as soon as i can decide on the vid card
 
It depends on your point of view. The only reason my Geforce 2 is still usable in games like ut2003 and BF1942 is because the guy that had it before me decided to "waste his money" on the 64 meg version instead of the 32.

Something to think about, eh?
 
When more and more games are programmed to use video ram to load texture memory, then yes, the 256 would be advantagous over the 128. For example, VietCong uses this method, and video ram (2.8ns) runs hella faster than system ram (5.0ns).
 
256 MB VRAM is useful in games right now, especially in the likes of UT2003 and Unreal 2. if you only upgrade every two years then you should definitely pick up a 256 MB 9800 Pro.

As for the 5900 Ultra, it's hard to recommend it to anyone at this stage as nVidia's cheating is making it hard to tell just how fast the card really is.

When more and more games are programmed to use video ram to load texture memory, then yes, the 256 would be advantagous over the 128.
Click to expand...
Uh, all games use it and in most cases it's automatic since the drivers and operating system control the memory heirarchy. If there's space on the card then it'll always get used first, ahead of system memory.
 
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