OpenGL 1.5 vs 2.0? ...x700 vs x600?

[myspoontoobig]

Im looking to upgrade my computer pretty much completely...mobo, cpu, gfx card, ram, but im kind of stuck on what graphics card to get. mainly i have no idea if there is a big difference between OpenGL 1.5 and 2.0. im looking at a budget system, hoping to spend no more than 120-150 on graphics. so do i get the abit x700 pro 128pcie with OpenGL 2.0 or do i get the abit x700pro 256pcie OpenGL 1.5 and pay 30 bucks more for the increse of memory but downgrade back to OpenGL 1.5. or lastly do i get a abit x600pro 256pcie OpenGL 1.5 and sacrifice core+memory clock speeds, OpenGL, and pixel pipelines

I just used the abit manufacturer for sake of comparison, other maker suggestions welcome!

 

[imported_miahallen]

Get the first one, higher compatibility is alway a bonus. 128MB of RAM is sufficient for that graphics card. Many games can take advantage of 256MB of RAM with the detail level cranked up to Ulta-Crazy High........BUT! If you run at those resolutions/detail levels (in order to utilize the full 256MB of RAM) your framerate will be terrible. So what I'm saying is get the 128MB w/ OpenGL 2.0 The extra 128MB of RAM in the other cards is only there for marketing reasons.

- I know people are going to jump on me for this, but it's true....read the graphics card comparisions and you'll see what I mean.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Isn't nvidia supposed to have better / faster OpenGL drivers?

Is this for linux / xwindows, or for a Windows CAD or modeling program?

 

[myspoontoobig]

Originally posted by: miahallen
The extra 128MB of RAM in the other cards is only there for marketing reasons.

i always wondered about that. so i guess the OpenGL 2.0 is worth it eh?

also to clarify, what i hope to achieve is to be able to play the games i have at high settings...im just getting sick of having to turn down everything just to play, but also balancing in a pretty low budget into the equation.

hl2, ut4, guild wars...and hopefully ill be able to play any of the new games that will be released in the next couple of quarters

the rest of my system will look like this:

msi k8n neo4-f socket 939
amd athlon 3200 venice core
corsair 1gb (2x512)

 

[DaveSimmons]

Unless you're gaming on Linux, Direct3D performance is much more important than OpenGL, id (and id engine games) are about the only ones who use OpenGL on a PC and I don't think they care about 1.5 vs 2.0.

That is just what ships with the card anyway. Given 2 cards with the same GPU you should be able to download generic drivers from ATI or nvidia (depending on the GPU) which will offer their latest version of OpenGL support.

You can get a bunch of different nvidia 6600GT PCI-E cards from newegg for $169, here is the AnandTech areticle comparing them to X700 Pro

 

[akshayt]

256mb may help in hl2 specially for te future you might be mroe secure and how does it matter even at extreme you do loose few fps in old games .

consider 6600gt 128mb pci-e for abt 170$.

 

[Twsmit]

Im not 100% uptodate on OpenGL but i believe that since these are teh exact same cards minus the ram differences and since they are based off of the same core, they support the same version of OpenGL. I am pretty sure OpenGL 2.0 is just a drive update for support on these cards. (again im not 100% up to speed on this) but there should be no difference in OGL support for these two cards.

I would get the 128MB version because its probably cheaper and the card is a lowend card and cannot really use the extra memory at acceptable framerates. The OGL question is irrelevant because as I understand it they support the same version.

 

[Goi]

The x600 and the x700 use entirely different cores. The former is based on the 4-pipe RV350 while the latter is based on the 8-pipe RV410. OGL version support refers to features rather than performance. In either case, the X700 is more feature-filled and faster than the X600 by a mile. If you're a gamer and these were your only 2 choices then the X700 would be a better choice. However, there are other cards to consider such as the 6600GT.