rad 64 ddr vs. rad 32 ddr

[paun]

what are the big visual and performance gains going from the 32ddr to the 64ddr. I have the 32ddr and with the price drop on the 64ddr, am considering buying it if the gains are really worth it.This is also without overclocking either card.

 

[arod324]

The performance increase will not be THAT great. It will be fairly minimal. The only benefit I can see by getting the 64MB model, is the VIVO and Tv-out options of the Radeon 64 VIVO.

 

[dolphins]

higher framerates in certain games thats about it.

 

[demenion]

better frames, higher resolutions, future games

 

[Hawk]

Not too much performance, and no visual quality improvement. Just the VIVO options, and the 32 MB extra ram would be for higher resolution/detail, so not a real big deal.

 

[dolphins]

If your not a big frame rate type of gameplayer go with the 32meg card msi starforce 815 geforce 2 gts can be had for 140 bucks no frills, save the pennies for the geforce 3 ultrapure whatever 6 months down the road for any meaningful gains. it'll play just about any games out there now. figure a year before any real new games come out benefiting from geforce 3. So again if your really not looking for an extra 3 fps go with it. Oops sorry forgot to read you already have a card sorry having a bad day the stock market is falling down all around me. Its minimal at best not worth the cost.

 

[oldfart]

I have a 64 and have also used a 32 meg card. There is a nice improvement with the 64 meg card. The added texture memory is nice in current games and will be even more so in upcoming games. UT and Q3 are noticeably smoother. This is not something that shows up all that much in benchmarks, but is quite noticeable in gameplay. The retail card is the one to get since it has 5.5ns ram and a 183 Mhz clock.

 

[XGamer]

64mb over 32mb is one of those topics which people will be arguing over for a while. The facts are, 64mb over 32mb is like around maybe 3 fps more in games in all resolutions 1024x768 and below. Thats it, and since nobody plays games above 1024x768, 64mb video cards are pointless right now. Even if you were to argue that "oh but I play above 1024x768"(which nobody does, unless they do not plan on performing well ever), the fps increase is not anymore than around 5-10fps, which isnt even noticeable. The Geforce3 would be the only card I would say that can take the most advantage of 64mb ram. To reply to the statement about 64 being better for future games. You will want new technology for future games, not 32mb more ram alone.

 

[arod324]

IMHO, if you don't want the extra frills of VIVO, it would be a much better deal to get the Radeon DDR LE. This will perform CLOSE to a Radeon 64VIVO, but is less than 1/2 of the price ($77 shipped @www.newegg.com). My Radeon DDR LE performs like a beaut and it was worth every penny. However, with this card you have to "overclock" it. It is essentially underclocked, so overclocking it would bring it back to normal. Also you would only have to do a few minor tweaks, but I believe this steps are worth the money saved.

 

[paun]

Thanks for all the opinions guys.I dont know if shelling out another$180.00 is worth it for smoother gameplay.might just wait for radeon-2 to get 64 megs of memory. paun------------

 

[oldfart]

I have compared 32 Vs 64 side by side. The 64 meg card is a lot smoother. It's more of a difference than you would think. I'm not talking high res either. 1024 x 768 x 32 with max details is much smoother on the 64 meg card. Large maps in UT such as deck 16 run MUCH nicer on the 64 meg card. In Q3 if you turn off texture compression on the 64, you get a small frame rate hit. On a 32 meg card, its quite a bit larger.

It depends on if you plan on keeping the card for awhile or if its temporary until the next gen cards come out. If you plan on keeping it for a few, I'd recommend the 64, if its temporary, get a cheap LE card and tweak it up.

 

[Bartman39]

I had... (notice had...) both the 32meg DDR & 64meg VIVO and the 64meg wiped the floor with the 32meg in performance and that no joke... Also even when I tweaked up the 32DDR it did not compete with the 64 VIVO its just not the same but if your $$$ is tight then the LE model would be an excellent choice... Otherwise... 64 VIVO..!!! Or wait 2 weeks and get a Kyro II...?


That .02 thang...!

 

[LuciferHaze]

I think the 32MB Radeon is clocked at 166/166 whereas the 64MB Radeon is clocked at 183/183. I'd go for the extra oomph! of the 64MB Radeon.

 

[BFG10K]

Well think of it this way: any 32 MB board board will start to struggle in Quake 3 at 640 x 480 x 32, 4/4 textures with texture compression disabled in the biggest maps. And the trend of games requiring more and more VRAM is increasing. So you should basically get the 64 MB version unless it's significantly more expensive than the 32 MB version.