Radeon 9600XT with 256MB vs 128MB DDR?! Is there much difference between those two?!!

[Dance123]

Hi,

At my local store they have a Sapphire Radeon 9600 XT with 128MB and one with 256MB. I was wondering if it is worth getting the 256MB version over the 128MB, like does the extra 128MB make much difference in games, etc.. What's the purpose/gain of the extra 128MB of the 256MB card, cause the better 9800 pro was only released with 128MB I believe?

PS: I don't need a 9800 card, it's just that I am wondering what the 256MB version is all about and how it makes a difference? Anybody could please clarify this and also explain why so I can understand it?! Thanks very much!!

Cheers, Mike.

 

[McArra]

Is not, 256mb is marketing unless you're using a new gen card.

 

[Dance123]

Thanks for the reply, but could somebody please explain WHY so I can understand it! Thanks very much!!

 

[McArra]

You have no power in those cores to move such a big ammount of data. Games don't need that ammount unless you are using high AA and AF @1600x1200 normally, and those settings can't be moved with a non-new gen card.

 

[VIAN]

256MB in the mid-range sector and low-range sector is nothing more than a marketing tool. Computer illiterate people judge how good a product is by how much RAM it has because they don't know better. They see this 400 dollar card with 256MB of RAM and then they see this 200 dollar card with 256MB of RAM and people think they are getting a deal. Especially when, in the mid-range sector, the box highlights 256MB like it's something special. In these situations, they also lower the speed of the RAM so that they will be able to add the other 128MB with little rise in cost to the customer.

There few games that takes advantage of 256MB. One such game is Call of Duty. You would need to turn everything on high and have a resolution of 1280x1024 w/4xAA for there to be a difference and even then, it's not a significant one. Playing at higher resolutions and adding more AA and AF will then show the power of having 256MB of RAM. But it's not all that cut and dry. Bandwidth and Fill-rate also play a part in how much AA and AF and Resolution you can turn up to challenge the 256MB of RAM. This is where you can clearly see that the extra RAM is marketing. These midrange cards don't have the power to run at these high enough resolutions, AA, and AF at a decent framerate to take advantage of the 256MB. The high end cards barely make it.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

couldnt have put it better than vian

256mb on anything less than a 9800 or 5900 is a complete waste, and a marketing ploy

 

[apoppin]

it actuallyDOES make a difference on the 9800Pro.

Even in that case, the improvement - from the 9800Pro128MB > 9800Pro256MB is only about 1-4%; the 9800-XT's gets almost +10% (in newer games) over the 9800Pro-128, but that is mostly due to its O/C in combination with more memory.

Unless they are the same price, i's say forget it for the 9600 series.

 

[Blastman]

The original 256MB Sapphire 9600XT?s that shipped came with 3.3ns TSOP memory clocked 300MHz but apparently some of the OEM models showed up clocked 250 DDR with 4ns memory. I believe the standard memory clock for 256MB 9600XT?s is 250 DDR --so the Sapphire?s are generally faster than the standard.

If you can confirm the 256MB card has the 3.3ns then it would be ok. There is a shot from Polish review showing what the 3.3ns Samsungs look like ?.

http://www.in4.pl/recenzje.htm?rec_id=188

If the memory on the 256MB cards was clocked the same as the 128MB card and the price difference was minimal (< $10) then it really didn?t hurt to have 256MB -- I mean the more the merrier. But 256MB (as already pointed out) really isn?t needed on a midrange card like the 9600XT. And if it?s the slower clocked 250mhz memory you take a pretty good performance hit.

 

[Blastman]

I also should point out that the Sapphire 128MB cards are clocked 500/325 DDR -- faster memory than the standard 300MHz.

 

[dguy6789]

but rembmer this. People said the geforce 2 mx was too slow to fully utilize 64MB of mem. they said it was better to get a 32MB one. They got so badly proved wrong later.

 

[VIAN]

nm