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256mb ddr3 or 512mb ddr2?

Forum Graphic & Displays : ATI - 256mb ddr3 or 512mb ddr2?

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Snoozle   07-04-2007 at 08:09:17 PM

Hi,
my graffics card gave up on me the other day (6800GT) and i have been looking for a replacment. For the money i want to spend i have seen 2 cards, both are X1650 Pro but one has 256mb ddr3 and the other for just about the same price has 512mb ddr2.

Now i know ddr3 is faster than ddr2 but 512mb is twice as much as 256mb 8O
I do play a lot of games, mostly guildwars and battlefield 2.

So realy what i would like to know, is quality better than quantity?
256 ddr3 or 512 ddr2? or maybe not even these cards at all :?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

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asdasd123   07-05-2007 at 11:09:10 AM
- 0 +

the 256mb ddr3 would be faster period. Oh, and the x1650pro would be more than likely to perform similarly to your old 6800gt so it would be better to upgrade to a better option depending on your budget.

Reply to asdasd123
jonisginger   07-05-2007 at 12:29:26 PM
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Get an 8800GTS, they are only about $280, am I right? I live in England so I am estimating prices in the US

Reply to jonisginger
andybird123   07-05-2007 at 12:40:55 PM
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I disagree, it depends what games you are playing and how much texture memory that game uses - for instance GRAW and Doom3 use more than 256mb of texture memory for their "High" texture settings, so trying to run either of them on high with 256mb will make them crawl regardless of what speed that 256 is running at, where as the 512mb card would cope better

and judging by the differences DDR2 vs DDR3 is making now it's moved to main memory as well, the difference in speed is negligible, I'd go for the 512mb over the 256mb if the price is almost identical

Reply to andybird123
jonisginger   07-05-2007 at 12:52:14 PM
- 0 +

The 8600GT isn't really powerful enough for games at max settings above 1280*1024. It can't really handle DX10 effect well enough.

Get an 8800GTS, outstanding value.

Reply to jonisginger
blade85   07-05-2007 at 03:41:29 PM
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Quote :



Get an 8800GTS, outstanding value.



I dont get how you can give advice like that without knowing anything about the OP's current system or budget. For all you know, he can only spend enough to get a 1650, or have a psu that wont support the 8800...or better yet, an AGP slot, in which case the 8800 advice is...well....pretty darn useless.


I got questions for the OP

1- How much can you afford to spend
2- What is your power supply like? (amps and watts)
3- whats the rest of your system like??
4- AGP slot or Pci-e slot? if its agp, the 8800 idea goes out the window.

Reply to blade85
asdasd123   07-05-2007 at 04:39:07 PM
- 0 +

Quote :

I disagree, it depends what games you are playing and how much texture memory that game uses - for instance GRAW and Doom3 use more than 256mb of texture memory for their "High" texture settings, so trying to run either of them on high with 256mb will make them crawl regardless of what speed that 256 is running at, where as the 512mb card would cope better

and judging by the differences DDR2 vs DDR3 is making now it's moved to main memory as well, the difference in speed is negligible, I'd go for the 512mb over the 256mb if the price is almost identical



Can you politely show me a benchmark where an x1650pro 512ddr2 beats a 256ddr3 version. I am basing all of this from something else, a 512mb ddr2 7600gs and a 256ddr3 7600gs in which case, the 256ddr3 beats the heck out of the 512mb version in any game, ANY game at all.

Reply to asdasd123
jonisginger   07-05-2007 at 05:37:32 PM
- 0 +

Quote :



Get an 8800GTS, outstanding value.



I dont get how you can give advice like that without knowing anything about the OP's current system or budget. For all you know, he can only spend enough to get a 1650, or have a psu that wont support the 8800...or better yet, an AGP slot, in which case the 8800 advice is...well....pretty darn useless.


I got questions for the OP

1- How much can you afford to spend
2- What is your power supply like? (amps and watts)
3- whats the rest of your system like??
4- AGP slot or Pci-e slot? if its agp, the 8800 idea goes out the window.


I don't need to know his system specs to say its good value

Reply to jonisginger
blade85   07-05-2007 at 05:39:35 PM
- 0 +

but your not just stating its good value...ur saying "Get it".

It wouldnt exactly be good value if he cant use it.

Your comment is less of an advice and more of an advertisement.

Reply to blade85
squall_leonhart   07-05-2007 at 05:40:53 PM
- 0 +

The 8800GTS is indeed a fantastic value card within a certain range :)

I know that theoretically the 512MB card SHOULD beat the 256MB one, I've never seen it happen before. I wouldn't worry about the amount of VRAM, just get whichever you can find cheaper.

Reply to squall_leonhart
Snoozle   07-05-2007 at 07:52:43 PM
- 0 +

I have looked at the 8800GTS it is nice but i dont have that much money to spend also my system is AGP anyway :cry:

The 512mb card i found is £2 cheaper than the 256mb i found online.
I only have about £70 to spend

For an extra £15 i have seen a X/VISION 7600GT 256mb ddr3, now am i right that this is a much better card than the x1650 pro and worth paying the extra £15?

Reply to Snoozle
jonisginger   07-05-2007 at 07:54:50 PM
- 0 +

Definitley, are you in US or UK?

your currency sign came up as "?"

Reply to jonisginger
jonisginger   07-05-2007 at 07:56:32 PM
- 0 +

OH YEAH

Scout around and you can find a 7800GS for about £100ish, now THATS worth it if you PSU can take it (about 450w+ i would think)

If you are in the UK:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/show [...] =GX-137-SP

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/show [...] subcat=411

Reply to jonisginger
Snoozle   07-05-2007 at 10:17:48 PM
- 0 +

Im in the UK im not sure how to change my currency sign i will check in my profile i guess maybe its there.

I have a 500w PSU so i think i could have most things in there.

Im not sure about how they price things, does it really matter which name it has on the card? e.g. Gainward, XFX, BFG, Asus etc etc

The 7600GS you show is £105 while this 7600GT made by Point Of View is only £65
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/pro [...] 43&_LOC=UK

Reply to Snoozle
jonisginger   07-05-2007 at 10:19:40 PM
- 0 +

Not really. XFX cards I *think* have a rep of blowing up, as they are pre-overclocked.

EVGA are good, and Inno3D

But in short, it doesn't matter

Cheaper = better

Reply to jonisginger
SuicideSilence   07-05-2007 at 10:57:23 PM
- 0 +

in my opinion, get the 256 card. those cards are not even fast enough to take advantage of 512 mb of memory

Reply to SuicideSilence
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