Memory Interface: 128bit vs 256bit

[Fabio]

I'm looking at buying a 7600 gt on newegg. They have a 128 bit memory interface version that is $10 more than the 256 bit. What's the difference?


256 bit

128 bit

 

[IEC]

256-bit versus 128-bit means that it has much higher memory bandwidth due to the wider bus, which is a Good Thing?. However, I wasn't aware that there was a 256-bit 7600GT - can anyone confirm this? I know for the past several generations the high-end cards have been 256-bit but the mainstream and mid-range have been 128-bit... and now with G80 we have 384-bit and such...

 

[SexyK]

It's a typo - all 7600GT's have a 128-bit bus. Click

 

[Boyo]

I was surprised to hear a 7600 had 256K.....Sounds more like a 7900GT.

 

[Seekermeister]

They also have a similar eVGA card for alot less money. Is there a particular reason to buy that one?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130062

EDIT: Oops ! Your card is AGP.

 

[Fabio]

I am still old school--AGP

 

[Seekermeister]

Yes, I'm in the same school. PNY has a 7600GS 512MB AGP, which I've recently seen about $50 cheaper, but I'm not sure how it would compare in performance to the card that you are looking at. However, when I just checked CompUSA, it was the same price. I suspect that if you shopped a bit more, you might save some money.

 

[Seekermeister]

Check out these prices:

http://www.pricewatch.com/video_cards/geforce_7600_gs.htm

 

[Fabio]

I need AGP and from the benchmarks I saw the GT was the way to go. I was just surprised to see the 128 bit was cheaper than the 256 bit. I though I was missing something. It appears now that the stats on newegg are not accurate. I have emailed them and asked them to verify and correct if necessary.

 

[Markbnj]

I struggled with this same question when contemplating the replacement for my 6800GT. Investing in another $100+ card in the AGP interface just didn't seem to make sense to me when I could get a PCIE 16x motherboard for $75, and be set to move to a DX10 card when they are available at reasonable prices. I ended up going with the MSI K8 Neo 4F. Working really well so far.

 

[Seekermeister]

Markbnj,

I have thought about buying another motherboard, for the extra SATA controller and ports, but I noticed that your board still has the last PCI slot as orange. On a MSI board that I have, that is dedicated to MSI WIFI only, and I need a minimum of 4 regular PCI slots. Is it still the same with the orange PCI slot now?

 

[SexyK]

Originally posted by: Seekermeister
Markbnj,

I have thought about buying another motherboard, for the extra SATA controller and ports, but I noticed that your board still has the last PCI slot as orange. On a MSI board that I have, that is dedicated to MSI WIFI only, and I need a minimum of 4 regular PCI slots. Is it still the same with the orange PCI slot now?

According to Newegg there are 4 PCI slots. Also note that in that photo there is no orange PCI slot. I believe they use a PCI-x1 slot for communications now, so you should be okay.

 

[Markbnj]

I'm pretty sure I do have an orange slot on mine, though it's been more than a month since I opened up and looked at it. In any case, I didn't need that many slots, and the board was only suggested as an example. There are lots of others to choose from in that general price range. The point is just to suggest that for, say, <$200 you can get a PCIe motherboard and a 7600GT, and the performance increase from going AGP->PCIe should be significant.

 

[Fabio]

My problem is I would then have to buy a CPU as well since currently I have a s478 that I run at 3.6 ghz. Tack on the extra cost for a core 2 duo...

 

[Bob Anderson]

Originally posted by: Fabio
I'm looking at buying a 7600 gt on newegg. They have a 128 bit memory interface version that is $10 more than the 256 bit. What's the difference?


256 bit

128 bit

As someone said, it's a typo.

The EVGA 7600GT KO comes with DDR3 memory. I don't know about other manufacturers. DDR3 makes up a lot for the limited 128 bit interface, or so I have read in many tests of the above card. Highly recommended.

-Bob