The difference between 128bit and 64bit video cards?

[EliZ]

My old video card got messed up so I want to buy a new, mainstream, one.
I'm probably going to take either the Radeon 9200 of the FX 5200, and I noticed a non-trivial price difference between the 128bit and 64bit versions of both cards. So, how big is the performance difference?

 

[Reliant]

If I'm not mistaken it's the memory bandwith, higher is better.

 

[EliZ]

Well, ok. But the question is how much better it is. Are we talking an improvement on the order of single percents, or tens of them?

 

[Cawchy87]

large proformance gain. differance between low end can barely run games(fx5200) ----> cards to the midrange 9600 series.

a 128 bit card kills any 64 bit card.

 

[DarkKnight]

Originally posted by: Cawchy87
large proformance gain. differance between low end can barely run games(fx5200) ----> cards to the midrange 9600 series.

a 128 bit card kills any 64 bit card.

couldn't have said it better myself

 

[Pete]

It's literally a 2x (100%) difference if the two cards are otherwise identical and you're comparing them in a memory-bandwidth-limited situation.

What's your budget, what games do you plan on playing, and you use a CRT or a LCD? You may be better off trying to find a used card with 128-bit memory.

 

[Acanthus]

Even at 128bit some cards are rediculously heavily limited by their bandwidth.

My Geforce FX5600 is one of those cases. If i underclock the core by 100 (!) mhz, i see a 0-4% performance loss.

 

[VIAN]

To play games, I recommend a card with 256-bit memory interface. Anything below that is just crap.

 

[SneakyStuff]

Originally posted by: VIAN
To play games, I recommend a card with 256-bit memory interface. Anything below that is just crap.

I've got a 5700 Ultra, overclocked to 520/1000 at the moment, I can play any game out there just fine, with some AA/AF too. I've got vsync on for Unreal 2K4, and I max out at 85 FPS during Invasion mode. I don't consider that crap, Intel EXTREME GRAPHICS! Is where I raise the crap flag :roll:

 

[Gamingphreek]

Dont get the 5200 or 9200. Go with a Ti4200, or evena 5700LE. Anything but the 5200 and 9200!!

-Kevin

 

[EliZ]

Why?

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: EliZ
Why?

Did you read the thread? The 64-bit cards (FX5200 and RADEON 9200SE) are horrendously slow, and the 128-bit variants of them (5200Ultra, 9200) are, while not flat-out *awful*, not much better. You'd be far better off spending your money on a decent 128-bit card like a 9600Pro (~$110), or easily doubling or tripling your performance by stepping up to a 256-bit card like an GeForceFX 5900XT or RADEON 9800Pro.

 

[TStep]

Here is a pretty good overview of mainstream cards. The 9200 and the FX 5200 cards are 128bit and they perform pretty poorly in comparison to the 9600 card. The difference in performance between 128bit and 64bit can be seen by comparing the 9600 and the 9600SE. Big drop, although the memory is slightly slower on the SE (400 vs 366).

 

[EliZ]

Originally posted by: Matthias99

Originally posted by: EliZ
Why?

Did you read the thread? The 64-bit cards (FX5200 and RADEON 9200SE) are horrendously slow, and the 128-bit variants of them (5200Ultra, 9200) are, while not flat-out *awful*, not much better. You'd be far better off spending your money on a decent 128-bit card like a 9600Pro (~$110), or easily doubling or tripling your performance by stepping up to a 256-bit card like an GeForceFX 5900XT or RADEON 9800Pro.

Well, prices are higher here in Israel. I can expect to pay 110$ for the 128bit version of the FX5200 or the Radeon 7200 and about twice more for the better cards you mention. Here lies my problem. I'm not a heavy gamer, but I need a card that will run games(not with the highest options selected) for the next couple years. That's why I was asking about 64 vs 128 bit because here the difference in price is about 20% and I can afford that for a major improvement in quality.

 

[Cawchy87]

a fx5200 won't run game that are currently out, nevermind games that are coming out in 2 years. same thing with 7200. i wouldn't go for anything less than a 9600pro

 

[Concillian]

Originally posted by: EliZ
I noticed a non-trivial price difference between the 128bit and 64bit versions of both cards. So, how big is the performance difference?

non-trivial

it's the single largest performance difference you'll see for cards in that pricerange. The crappiest 128 bit card is sometimes outperformed by the best 64 bit card, but very rarely.

If you play games and you're looking in the low end, do yourself a favor and buy a used card like a GeForce 4 Ti 4200 or Radeon 9500 or something. The low end cards cut all the corners they can to get price down, and performance really shows.

If you do not play games, you will notice NO difference between the 64 bit and 128 bit memory cards. The difference is only visible in 3D games.

 

[Marsumane]

Originally posted by: Concillian

Originally posted by: EliZ
I noticed a non-trivial price difference between the 128bit and 64bit versions of both cards. So, how big is the performance difference?

non-trivial

it's the single largest performance difference you'll see for cards in that pricerange. The crappiest 128 bit card is sometimes outperformed by the best 64 bit card, but very rarely.

If you play games and you're looking in the low end, do yourself a favor and buy a used card like a GeForce 4 Ti 4200 or Radeon 9500 or something. The low end cards cut all the corners they can to get price down, and performance really shows.

If you do not play games, you will notice NO difference between the 64 bit and 128 bit memory cards. The difference is only visible in 3D games.

1)He cant get a used card. He is in Israel.

2) Look for a GF4ti4200. That is the cheapest card here that is able to run games at a respectable level. If that is too much, consider a GF3 series card/8500/9000/9100. DONT get the 9200 unless u know for sure its the 128bit version. These cards that I mentioned above will PLAY games of today, but probably will either barely play, or not even be able to render games out in 2 yrs. I highly reccomend the GF4TI4200 at MINIMUM due to this.

 

[PhoenixOrion]

ah.....the gpu memory bandwidth, one of two most neglected specification for gfx boards besides the vram access times/cycle settings.

 

[spazo]

Originally posted by: EliZ

Originally posted by: Matthias99

Originally posted by: EliZ
Why?

Did you read the thread? The 64-bit cards (FX5200 and RADEON 9200SE) are horrendously slow, and the 128-bit variants of them (5200Ultra, 9200) are, while not flat-out *awful*, not much better. You'd be far better off spending your money on a decent 128-bit card like a 9600Pro (~$110), or easily doubling or tripling your performance by stepping up to a 256-bit card like an GeForceFX 5900XT or RADEON 9800Pro.

Well, prices are higher here in Israel. I can expect to pay 110$ for the 128bit version of the FX5200 or the Radeon 7200 and about twice more for the better cards you mention. Here lies my problem. I'm not a heavy gamer, but I need a card that will run games(not with the highest options selected) for the next couple years. That's why I was asking about 64 vs 128 bit because here the difference in price is about 20% and I can afford that for a major improvement in quality.

Get the 128bit 5200, its not all that bad. Although its probably one of the slowest cards you can get, you can play games on them. I've seen a 5200 PCI card in action and its tolerable. Although I've only seen it in Unreal Tournament 2004. The owner claims he can play Far Cry with his Celeron setup so its not so bad as unplayable that no one can play it.

 

[VIAN]

I've got a 5700 Ultra, overclocked to 520/1000 at the moment, I can play any game out there just fine, with some AA/AF too. I've got vsync on for Unreal 2K4, and I max out at 85 FPS during Invasion mode. I don't consider that crap, Intel EXTREME GRAPHICS! Is where I raise the crap flag

Onslaught, how about that. I wish I got 85fps there.

 

[PhoenixOrion]

Hmmmm, thats odd......because on Onslaught my fraps average is 79 at 12x10 res with all the eye candy on high using My Main Rig. The only time I get any higher is during intro of game when fraps go around 220.

 

[VIAN]

Stop bragging.

 

[PhoenixOrion]

You missed my point Vian. Don't you find it hard to believe how the overclocked 5700 nvidia can get 85 and my average on x800 is 79?

 

[Pete]

Used 128MB 4200s sell for ~$50 in the USA. Would shipping one to Israel push it to over $100? A 4200 will be far faster than any 9200 or 5200.

 

[SneakyStuff]

Originally posted by: VIAN

I've got a 5700 Ultra, overclocked to 520/1000 at the moment, I can play any game out there just fine, with some AA/AF too. I've got vsync on for Unreal 2K4, and I max out at 85 FPS during Invasion mode. I don't consider that crap, Intel EXTREME GRAPHICS! Is where I raise the crap flag

Onslaught, how about that. I wish I got 85fps there.

53 FPS THANK you very much