Video card memory

[k3nt]

Is there any big difference in having 128 vs. 256 mb memory on a graphics card? I don't think there is right now, but what about games like half life 2 and doom 3? Will they run significantly worse with only 128mb?

 

[Regs]

Originally posted by: k3nt
Is there any big difference in having 128 vs. 256 mb memory on a graphics card? I don't think there is right now, but what about games like half life 2 and doom 3? Will they run significantly worse with only 128mb?

Carmack, maker of D3, said the game uses 128 MB at the most for frame buffering. Other than that, I have nothing else to add. I don't know how much Far cry uses, but im sure I could ask someone at cyrtek.

 

[high]

no system ram is way better than video ram....1 gb and 128mb are each ample for todays generation

 

it depend on the bit. the memory is all just marketing. for example, the radeon 9600 (non-pro) 256ddr 128bit but is much crappier performance than ti4200 64mb 128bit.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: k3nt
Is there any big difference in having 128 vs. 256 mb memory on a graphics card? I don't think there is right now, but what about games like half life 2 and doom 3? Will they run significantly worse with only 128mb?

No, because current cards won't be able to run well at the high resolution (1600x1200) where 256 MB starts to make a slight difference.

21 frames/sec instead of 20 frames/sec is a useless difference for most people, who would rather drop down to 1024x768 to get 40-60 fps instead.

 

[k3nt]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons

Originally posted by: k3nt
Is there any big difference in having 128 vs. 256 mb memory on a graphics card? I don't think there is right now, but what about games like half life 2 and doom 3? Will they run significantly worse with only 128mb?

No, because current cards won't be able to run well at the high resolution (1600x1200) where 256 MB starts to make a slight difference.

21 frames/sec instead of 20 frames/sec is a useless difference for most people, who would rather drop down to 1024x768 to get 40-60 fps instead.

so does 256mb only make a significant difference on 1600x1200? I use 1280x1024.

 

[DaveSimmons]

> so does 256mb only make a significant difference on 1600x1200? I use 1280x1024.

Yes for Radeon 9800 Pro you'll see no difference at 1280x1024, same with other ATI's.

I forget whether there were any differences for nV 5900 Ultra, I think the 256 MB cards also had both the chip and RAM clocked faster than the 128 MB models, and it was speed that made the difference not the amount of RAM.

 

[k3nt]

do you think a radeon 9800 pro 128mb will run half life 2 pretty well?

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: k3nt
do you think a radeon 9800 pro 128mb will run half life 2 pretty well?

No one really knows, though it looked like a good card for it based on the version shown 9 months ago.

Since HL2 and D3 might not come out until December you might want to put off buying a card for as long as you can. You might at least wait until the new X800 cards are reviewed by sites like AnandTech to see how much faster they are for DX9 games.

 

[warcrow]

Originally posted by: Regs

Originally posted by: k3nt
Is there any big difference in having 128 vs. 256 mb memory on a graphics card? I don't think there is right now, but what about games like half life 2 and doom 3? Will they run significantly worse with only 128mb?

Carmack, maker of D3, said the game uses 128 MB at the most for frame buffering. Other than that, I have nothing else to add. I don't know how much Far cry uses, but im sure I could ask someone at cyrtek.

Not anymore, they're in jail b/c of teh warez!

http://www.nextl3vel.net/comments.php?shownews=3803&catid=2

 

[hahher]

Originally posted by: warcrow

Originally posted by: Regs

Originally posted by: k3nt
Is there any big difference in having 128 vs. 256 mb memory on a graphics card? I don't think there is right now, but what about games like half life 2 and doom 3? Will they run significantly worse with only 128mb?

Carmack, maker of D3, said the game uses 128 MB at the most for frame buffering. Other than that, I have nothing else to add. I don't know how much Far cry uses, but im sure I could ask someone at cyrtek.

Not anymore, they're in jail b/c of teh warez!

http://www.nextl3vel.net/comments.php?shownews=3803&catid=2

good thing they raided after far cry was released