8600GTS Memory Interface Question

[Euchrestalin]

I just recently bought the 8600GTS 256MB card. Can someone please explain to me what the 128-bit memory interface means? How much will this affect my card and will the interface be the bottleneck(ignoring the rest of the system)?

 

[Euchrestalin]

Anyone?

 

[DaveBC]

Originally posted by: Euchrestalin
I just recently bought the 8600GTS 256MB card. Can someone please explain to me what the 128-bit memory interface means? How much will this affect my card and will the interface be the bottleneck(ignoring the rest of the system)?

Its bandwidth. Like a highway for data. 128 bit handles less traffic at the same time. The speed remains the same but the highway is wider for 256 bit, 384 bit, 512 bit and so on.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

This should help you see what the guy above me was talking about :

Config A.
Memory running at 1000mhz multiplied by a bit width of 128 bits = 128,000 divided by 8 = 16,000 megabytes per second of memory bandwidth or 16 gigabytes per second.

Config B.
Memory running at 1000mhz multiplied by a bit width of 256 bits = 256,000 divided by 8 = 32,000 megabytes per second of memory bandwidth or 32 gigabytes per second.

In both instances the memory is running at the same effective speed but the example in Config B. gains twice the effective memory bandwidth over Config A. as it has twice the memory bit width 🙂

Here is the formula simplified :

( Effective Memory Speed ) x ( Bit width of memory bus ) = ( Total ) / 8 = ( Effective memory bandwidth in MBPS )

1000 x 256 = 256,000 / 8 = 32,000