I'm with the OP on this one. $20-$30 more for a 2GB variant would be great. It's not like we're in the 6800/7800 512MB days anymore... although I did buy a pair of 7800GTX 512MBs ( @ $699ea 
) when monarchcomputer put them on their site that Saturday instead of Monday. I then sold them on ebay a few weeks later for around $1,600.
I bought a 5850 to mess around with until Fermi shows up. If there was a 2GB 5870 available though I probably would have just picked that up instead... Here's to hoping NV's next gen does for us what the 8800GTX or ATI's 9800 did for us before...
...and no I'm not biased towards nVidia or ATI, just eVGA.
) when monarchcomputer put them on their site that Saturday instead of Monday. I then sold them on ebay a few weeks later for around $1,600. I bought a 5850 to mess around with until Fermi shows up. If there was a 2GB 5870 available though I probably would have just picked that up instead... Here's to hoping NV's next gen does for us what the 8800GTX or ATI's 9800 did for us before...
...and no I'm not biased towards nVidia or ATI, just eVGA.
RussianSensation
Elite Member
- Sep 5, 2003
- 19,458
- 765
- 126
Originally posted by: konakona
Back when I was in grade school, I used to be pretty fluent in Russian. Too bad now I can only understand bits and pieces of two people having a conversation in Russian
Well listen if you can understand certain things, if you take a language class and start reading books/magazines, it will only improve. Maybe you can get a Russian gf to help you speak.
The unfortunate thing is that Russian language is moving away from 'poetic to slang'. On television I hear so many words which are just adopted from the English language such as "restructarizaziya" (restructuring) or "realtor" (real estate agent) or "investirovat'" (investing) or "profil'" (profile). So in fact knowing English may help you understand half of Russian now! :laugh:
I agree with you that if the additional 2GBs of ram is only $50 more, then it may be viable. However, recall that GTX 280 debuted at $600+ in June of 2008 and now you can get the same performance for $175 in a 4890. Similarly 4870 1GB was $299 and now you can get them for $135. So in 12-15 months from now a 5870 will likely be half price (i.e., $190 or lower). I would think twice before throwing $400+ for 'future performance' given the constant innovations in the GPU market. Plus RV900 architecture should bring a brand new architecture and with it, likely significant performance improvements.
Umm....people here are saying 1GB is sufficient. There is a difference between 512 and 1GB right now, no difference between 1GB and 2GB.
Easy stuff.
Yeah it is - that's why I don't really understadn why it's so hard to grasp for you guys. If you have enough GPU you can benefit from more memory, y'know.
No, If you have enough GPU you can benefit from *faster* memory, and just maybe from more memory in a round about sort of way (y'know.)
edit: wrong quote handle
VashHT
Diamond Member
- Feb 1, 2007
- 3,321
- 1,383
- 136
Originally posted by: solofly
GTA 4 and the future games... (when I upgrade I want to make it worthwhile)
Going from 3 x 4870 1GB(each) to 2 x 5870 1GB(each) isn't good enough for me.
I think this is an important post for OP, obviously he doesn't upgrade every couple generations. If you want my opinion, I'd go for the 1Gb cards now, by the time games need 2Gb at your resolution (assuming you don't use eyefinity like some people mentioned) then a new series will be out and you'll probably be looking at the high end card from that series.
How much ram does you vid card really need? (Toms article)
http://www.tomshardware.com/re...ics-ram-4870,2428.html
We've been through a lot of different games, settings, and data. What's the bottom line? How much graphics RAM is the right amount? We've seen enough to formulate some general guidelines.
For the gamer, there are three main factors that have the most influence on how much graphics RAM you'll need: resolution, visual quality detail settings, and AA. For the most part, 512MB of RAM seems sufficient to push one of these factors to the limit, and in most cases, it can handle two of them at once. But if you plan to maximize all three--the highest resolutions, visual quality settings, and AA--then more video RAM than 512MB is a good idea.
Zoom
The primary consideration should probably be resolution, because this is a hardware limitation for many of us. Typically, 20" or smaller monitors will cap out at 1680x1050, so in this case, spending extra on 1GB of graphics RAM might be frivolous. Conversely, if your monitor is 21" or larger with a 1920x1200 native resolution, purchasing a graphics card with 1GB of RAM might be a wise investment for only a little extra money.
A 2GB card is probably only realistically useful for folks who push 1920x1200 resolutions and above, and who demand the highest visual quality settings in conjunction with AA. Since the price difference is substantial, a graphics card with 2GB of RAM is probably overkill for anyone who has a monitor with a native resolution lower than 1920x1200.
There are other factors to consider, too. Longevity might be a concern as games will inevitably require more and more graphics RAM as time goes on. More importantly, do not forget that the amount of RAM on a card does not indicate its relative performance--a 512MB Radeon HD 4870 or 896MB GeForce GTX 260 will always be faster than a 2GB Radeon HD 4670 or a 2GB GeForce 9600 GTS. The point is that the type of card is far more important than the amount of RAM onboard when it comes to raw performance. For a general idea about what cards are faster than others, take a look at our video card hierarchy chart.
In the final analysis, even 512MB of graphics RAM can provide excellent high-resolution service as long as the user is aware that lowering quality settings and AA will allow the card to perform at its peak potential. However, if you plan to use the highest visual quality settings in addition to AA, it's likely worth the extra money for a 1GB or even 2GB card.
http://www.tomshardware.com/re...ics-ram-4870,2428.html
We've been through a lot of different games, settings, and data. What's the bottom line? How much graphics RAM is the right amount? We've seen enough to formulate some general guidelines.
For the gamer, there are three main factors that have the most influence on how much graphics RAM you'll need: resolution, visual quality detail settings, and AA. For the most part, 512MB of RAM seems sufficient to push one of these factors to the limit, and in most cases, it can handle two of them at once. But if you plan to maximize all three--the highest resolutions, visual quality settings, and AA--then more video RAM than 512MB is a good idea.
Zoom
The primary consideration should probably be resolution, because this is a hardware limitation for many of us. Typically, 20" or smaller monitors will cap out at 1680x1050, so in this case, spending extra on 1GB of graphics RAM might be frivolous. Conversely, if your monitor is 21" or larger with a 1920x1200 native resolution, purchasing a graphics card with 1GB of RAM might be a wise investment for only a little extra money.
A 2GB card is probably only realistically useful for folks who push 1920x1200 resolutions and above, and who demand the highest visual quality settings in conjunction with AA. Since the price difference is substantial, a graphics card with 2GB of RAM is probably overkill for anyone who has a monitor with a native resolution lower than 1920x1200.
There are other factors to consider, too. Longevity might be a concern as games will inevitably require more and more graphics RAM as time goes on. More importantly, do not forget that the amount of RAM on a card does not indicate its relative performance--a 512MB Radeon HD 4870 or 896MB GeForce GTX 260 will always be faster than a 2GB Radeon HD 4670 or a 2GB GeForce 9600 GTS. The point is that the type of card is far more important than the amount of RAM onboard when it comes to raw performance. For a general idea about what cards are faster than others, take a look at our video card hierarchy chart.
In the final analysis, even 512MB of graphics RAM can provide excellent high-resolution service as long as the user is aware that lowering quality settings and AA will allow the card to perform at its peak potential. However, if you plan to use the highest visual quality settings in addition to AA, it's likely worth the extra money for a 1GB or even 2GB card.
I thought it was practically universally accepted that a video card won't perform better just because you're slapped more memory on it? I can't think of a single time in history when a card has performed SIGNIFICANTLY better purelybecause the memory has been upped. Even as far back as the Nvidia 6 series, I remember reading reviews about 256 cards vs 512 cards with no appreciable difference.
Its a complete waste of money, and not in the 'Its high end of course its expensive' way, more in the 'This is a cheap ploy to charge more for NO BENEFIT' way.
Its a complete waste of money, and not in the 'Its high end of course its expensive' way, more in the 'This is a cheap ploy to charge more for NO BENEFIT' way.
toyota
Lifer
- Apr 15, 2001
- 12,957
- 1
- 0
it most cases yes its a waste but not always. an 8800gts 320mb was a regrettable purchase for many compared to having the 640mb cards. the 8800gt 256mb was a pretty silly card compared to having the 512mb model.
as for the 5770 2gb, there are already a few games where 1gb of vram can be exceeded at 2560. so at that res or running Eyefinity having more than 1gb of vram could very useful. this will be especially true for those running 5770 crossfire at the extreme resolutions as it will allow the cards to use every bit of their gpu power and crank the settings without being limited to 1gb vram.
It's only universally a waste on lower-end cards that don't have the horsepower to push the resolutions you would need that much VRAM for. Otherwise, it depends on the particulars at the time as to what "enough" video memory is.
A fan header on the back of the card... interesting. I wonder what that powers?
I like the continuity of PCB design though.
I like the continuity of PCB design though.
BFG10K
Lifer
- Aug 14, 2000
- 22,709
- 3,003
- 126
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