Is video card memory important?

[Ignacio49]

This is my first post - Hello everybody.

I am considering buying an inexpensive AGP video card. I've been reading about this matter and it's not very clear to me which way should I go. One of the reasons for my confusion is memory (card's, not mine..lol). I thought the more memory the better, but I've read some comments saying this is not always so.
What should I know about memory? What makes a card better than other - what should I be looking for?

Just please keep in mind that:
1-I want an inexpensive card that makes an improvement over the integrated mobo video (Foxconn/WinFast 760GXK8MC). I do not want to buy a card, no matter its low cost, and get nothing in return.

2- I am not a gamer - just occasional. Use will be mostly office/home and children games.

3- Needless to say, I am a newbie.

Ah, also, where I live I have few choices, most being the old GeForce fx5200, 5500, 5700 and 6200. Also ATI Radeon 9250. Either 128 or 256 Mb. I do not know if buying any of these cards would be a waste of money.....
Appreciate your help.
Best,
Ignacio

 

[mdk2]

Not too important if you are just casual gamer. Video RAM is important if you play games at high resolutions or games that need to store large textures. Since you have an AGP system, I advise you not to get any graphic card that has over 256 VRAM as the GPU (graphic processor unit) are not fast enough to process graphics at very high resolutions.

Don't bother with the GeForce FX series of cards, get at least the GeForce 6 series or if you prefer ATI the 1XXX series.

 

[TheRyuu]

If your looking for budget, the 6600GT is a good performer. The 6600GT will be good if you game a little, and also good for everyday tasks as well.

 

[betasub]

In the low-mid range, video RAM is (misleadingly) used as a selling point. In order to make use of the 256 or 512MB of vRAM, the requierd textures/detail settings would bring the slow GPU core to a crawl. 128MB of vRAM is more than enough.

Furthermore, many of the budget cards are crippled by using a 64bit memory interface. For budget gaming, look for at least 128bit memory (e.g. 6600 series or better): if you are not gaming, I don't see any need to upgrade from your integrated graphics (yet!).

For a graphics card, you should be considering:

1) Interface - AGP if that's expansion slot available on your motherboard.
2) GPU - the graphics core e.g. 6600GT has one of the fastest cores for the low-end budget.
3) Memory interface - currently 64bit is considered low-end, 128bit mid, and 256+bit high.
4) Memory size - only needs to be sufficient to provide enough for limiting factors of GPU & memory interface.

From the Nvidia range, any 6xxx series card with 128MB would suffice, from the slow 6200 through the 6600 to the relatively fast 6600GT. ATi have a similar line-up (but I forget the model numbers in the X series!).

 

[akshayt]

a 6600GT is purely waste if you are not a gamer.

For you i feel even a 128mb geforce 6200 is going to be more than enough.

By the way what is wrong with onboard video if you don't game?

 

[Ika]

Originally posted by: akshayt
a 6600GT is purely waste if you are not a gamer.

For you i feel even a 128mb geforce 6200 is going to be more than enough.

By the way what is wrong with onboard video if you don't game?

Features for multimedia, better video playback, video in/out.

I guess it really depends on how much money you can spend and what kind of deal you can get. I would say get at least a DirectX 9 card, so my recommendations would be either the Nvidia 6600 (non-GT), or the Radeon 95xx/96xx series cards.

 

[Ignacio49]

Originally posted by: akshayt

By the way what is wrong with onboard video if you don't game?

Good question. I've tried Medal Of Honor to check the performance of my pc. I installed the game and experienced problems with audio. All of a sudden no audio after being playing for some minutes. Only way to get it back was to reboot. I went to various windows problem solving, and maybe I did something (like "use default values"....) that got rid of the problem.. No need to tell you that I'm a newbie..lol..
Althought I do not believe that the audio thing had to do with stressing the mobo (..as video performance was fine..), just in case I thought that it would be wise to buy a video card to help the mobo avoid any potential future problems.... That`s the story.

 

[Ignacio49]

Thanks for all your comments.

Where I live I have limited choices, most of them being low range GeForce FX series, some 6000 series and one Ati Radeon 9250 . Only Nvidia 6600 I've seen are PCI-E. I haven't seen any Radeon 95xx/96xx series.

I was thinking to get a 6200 which I found just $6 or 7 more expensive that FX 5500. Two choices: ASUS Geforce 6200 N6200/TD/256, the other is XFX Geforce 6200 256MB DDR2. I guess any of these will be an improvement oner the integrated mobo video. Otherwise it makes no sense to spend some money to get nothing or almost nothing in return. Comments?

And last one, from what I've learned here so far, I should look for a 128 bit interface with 128 Mb, probably a 6200. That seems to be my best bet.

 

[orangat]

Ignacio,
As some of the above posters have said, video ram is sometimes used as a selling point to mislead buyers.

All the choices you stated except probably for the 9250 will be of some benefit but the 6200 would be the best. Get the 64mb/128mb version with the 128bit memory bus.

 

[Nightmare225]

Originally posted by: akshayt
a 6600GT is purely waste if you are not a gamer.

For you i feel even a 128mb geforce 6200 is going to be more than enough.

By the way what is wrong with onboard video if you don't game?

Are you recommending an NVIDIA card? :Q

 

[996GT2]

Originally posted by: Nightmare225

Originally posted by: akshayt
a 6600GT is purely waste if you are not a gamer.

For you i feel even a 128mb geforce 6200 is going to be more than enough.

By the way what is wrong with onboard video if you don't game?

Are you recommending an NVIDIA card? :Q

Lol, well, given that he has a lot of problems with his imaginary X1900XTX, he may have turned sides

 

[Ika]

Originally posted by: 996GT2

Originally posted by: Nightmare225

Originally posted by: akshayt
a 6600GT is purely waste if you are not a gamer.

For you i feel even a 128mb geforce 6200 is going to be more than enough.

By the way what is wrong with onboard video if you don't game?

Are you recommending an NVIDIA card? :Q

Lol, well, given that he has a lot of problems with his imaginary X1900XTX, he may have turned sides

FWIW, he upgraded from a 6600GT

 

[Ignacio49]

The only GeForce 6200's I've seen here do not clearly say "memory interface 64 bit". They say memory type 64 bit, with DDR or DDR II, and I guess 64bit refers to memory interface. Therefore it seems my only 6200 choice is 64 bit and not 128 bit.

One seller told me that performance of 64bit DDR II is equivalent to DDR with 128 bit. Do you agree ?

Bottom line: Is 6200/64/DDR still a better choice than FX5200/5500/5700, even if last two are 128 bit?

Is DDR II/64 as good as DDR/128, and therefore should be the one to buy?

If there exist 6200 with 128 bit, would it be worth to wait until one shows up?

 

[996GT2]

nVidia really screwed up with their FX series, and the GeForce Ti series cards from the generation before the MX often beat the FX line of cards in raw performance. So I advise you to stay away from any FX series cards. That said, the GeForce 6200 is a good card for you if you are not a gamer. I didn some price research online, and prices for the 6200 cards (not LE or TC) are around $50 USD. I don't know if you can shop online, but if you can there are some GeForce 6600 cards for about the same price. I would also advise you to look at the Radeon 9800SE line of cards, as their prices fall in about the same range and they can be unlocked to have 8 Pixel pipelines (like a 9800 Pro) with a simple BIOS flash. The performance of the 6600 or 9800 will be a step up from the 6200, and might be more future-proof if you use Windows VISTA or such in the future. Barring that, though, I would say just get a 6200.

 

[Ignacio49]

Thanks for your answer. I can buy online. The problem is getting the card in my country, shipping/customs/taxes...and the main trouble being to return the card if damaged (happened to me with other items - an expensive pain in the neck). Therefore I try to stick with what I find locally, even if the price is high.

Now, you say 6200 should be ok, but I go back to my original question about 64/128 bit and DDR/DDR II. Do you have any comment about these?

 

[996GT2]

For your needs, there should not be a difference. Yes, true high performance enthusiasts will seek out a 256bit RAM interface and GDDR3, but since you are not a serious gamer it will not matter. And also a 6200, even with a 64 bit interface will beat a FX series card 5200/5500/5700). Granted, the FX5900 series cards come close to GeForce 6600 performance, but those are expensive and very hard to find nowadays.

However if you're wanting a pretty big step up in performance I would still suggest looking at availability of GeForce 6600 and Radeon 9800 cards in your area.

 

[ShadowOfMyself]

Well as far as I know, DDR/2/3 only affects memory speed, not bit interface, so those 64 bits wont magically change to 128.. but since you wont be gaming and just need an all around card for general use even the 64 bit version should manage