ATI 8500 128mb VS 64mb

[max105]

I was wondering if someone would tell me if there's any major difference and performance I can get with the 128mb card vs the 64mb. Of course I'm going to expect the 128 to do better, but is it going to do noticeably MUCH better or just better on paper? Thanks for any info anybody can give me.

 

[JHeiderman]

One of the hardware review sites that I check out regularly (HardOCP, Anandtech etc I don't remember which one) mentioned that Doom 3 is going to use 80mb of textures. If that is really the case then you will definately be served better with that 128meg Radeon 8500 over te 64meg unit. If you know you're going to upgrade your vid card before Doom 3 comes out then maybe you save yourself $30 and go with the 64 meg version. I will be honest though and this is a bit off topic. I'm still a bit disapointed in the little problems that pop up with the ATI cards and their drivers. GTA3 and Die Hard Nakatomi plaza come to mind. I don't care how piss poor the programming is on those cards, the problems aren't there on my Geforce3. Now, if I had to buy a vid card today. It would be the Radeon.


Hope that helps a bit.

- J

 

[Slaimus]

My theory is that since there is no way a Radeon 8500 can possibly play doom3 at full detail settings, you will end up turning the texture detail a notch or two down anyways. That is assuming that 80MB is the maximum. 80MB of compressed textures is a lot.

 

[BFG10K]

You should definitely get the 128 MB card. Today's games eat 64 MB cards alive and you'll see an obvious difference during actual gameplay if you play these games.