Easy way to judge if one video card is better than another?

[JEDI]

ie:
Radeon 2600pro 128bit
Radeon 4550 64bit ddr3 80Stream Processors

is there a general rule of thumb like just look at Stream Processors?

or you gotta google to see which is better?

 

[happy medium]

The best way is to read reviews. Specs mean little to nothing, especially between Nvidia and AMD.

 

[DaveSimmons]

It can vary from game to game (and by screen resolution for a game) and from generation to generation so looking at benchmarks is the most reliable way to compare them.

 

[Seero]

ie:
Radeon 2600pro 128bit
Radeon 4550 64bit ddr3 80Stream Processors

is there a general rule of thumb like just look at Stream Processors?

or you gotta google to see which is better?

Google

 

[bryanW1995]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-radeon-hd-6870-radeon-hd-6850,2782-7.html

4550~3650~2600xt>2600pro. kind of hard to get exact info since 4550 isn't listed, but that chart is typically a easy for a quick and dirty comparison.

 

[exar333]

AT reviews?

 

[cusideabelincoln]

The 2600Pro should be faster than a 4550. It has more stream processors (120 vs. 80) and twice the memory bandwidth in this case.

On AMD's 2000, 3000, 4000, and 5000 series you can generally compare the number of stream processors and you'll get rough estimations of performance. But things will vary a few percentages depending on memory bandwidth, which is related to the type of memory and the bus width.

 

[betasub]

Benchmarks. In apps/games/resolution that mean something to you. There are far too many variables for a general rule of thumb. You need to look specifically at what you want the graphics card do.

Besides, if was as simple as a rule of thumb, this would be a far quieter forum.

 

[Lonyo]

Number of stream processors * clockspeed is a good indicator, assuming the memory bus is the same width.
If that gives a roughly similar result between two cards, the one with the higher model number is probably better.

If you're comparing a 64-bit to 128-bit card, or a 128-bit to 256-bit card, then the one with the higher memory bus is probably faster, probably (e.g. HD5770 vs HD4870)

Of course, this doesn't always work, since the 80SP HD5450 is slower than the 80SP HD4550, despite having a higher clockspeed and equal memory bandwidth.

 

[JEDI]

Number of stream processors * clockspeed is a good indicator, assuming the memory bus is the same width.
If that gives a roughly similar result between two cards, the one with the higher model number is probably better.

If you're comparing a 64-bit to 128-bit card, or a 128-bit to 256-bit card, then the one with the higher memory bus is probably faster, probably (e.g. HD5770 vs HD4870)

Of course, this doesn't always work, since the 80SP HD5450 is slower than the 80SP HD4550, despite having a higher clockspeed and equal memory bandwidth.

what if 64bit card had 100 stream processors, and 128bit card had 80stream processors? clock speed is the same for both

 

[happy medium]

what if 64bit card had 100 stream processors, and 128bit card had 80stream processors? clock speed is the same for both

128 bit 80 sp is faster

The best way to buy a video card is just give us a price range, resolution, cpu you use and, games you like.

 

[Lonyo]

what if 64bit card had 100 stream processors, and 128bit card had 80stream processors? clock speed is the same for both

Then you have to check benchmarks (or RAM type. DDR3 on 128-bit might be slower than GDDR5 on 64-bit)