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Graphics Memory

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rajmist   08-08-2007 at 10:13:55 AM

Hi Guys

any chance of someones putting some light on my question

How important is Graphics memory?

Games i'm in to is Supreme Commander and i'm hoping to get the new Crysis game but the card i'm going to buy for my new build will be the
ATI HD2600XT 256MB GDDR4 Mem

is this enough to last me or at least a a couple of years before i upgrade to ATIs equivelent to the 880GTX

Basic spech of new build will be

Core 2 Duo E6850
2Gb Ram
ATI HD2600XT 256MB GDDR4
Gigabyte GA P35 DQ6, iP35 Express

cheers for the help

Raj

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blade85   08-08-2007 at 11:42:27 AM
- 0 +

if your into gaming that card wont do you much good.

 

you'll be better off getting a dx9 card to game with.

 

if you really want to play crysis and sup com on "good" settings, i would go over the 2600 and 8600 cards, and:

 

a) get a 8800 or 2900 card now and make them last a year or two

 

OR

 

b) get a dx9 card like x1950pro/xt (cause they are cheap as hell now) and make them last a year till the whole fuss about which card will be good enough to ply crysis dies down (since we will know which card in november as thats when crysis comes out)

 

OR

 

c) get an even cheaper card just to last you 6 months or so (since even that time will be enough to see how the current line up of high end cards stack up against the games yet to be released)


Message edited by blade85 on 08-08-2007 at 11:43:08 AM
------------------------------ I came here to kick ass and chew bubblegum.....and I'm all out of gum!
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demowhc   08-08-2007 at 11:52:37 AM
- 0 +

agreed, the 2600 and 8600 are no good for gaming

save a few more bucks and get a 2900xt 8800gts or 8800gtx


or get a cheaper dx9 card like a 1950 or 7950 to tie you over for a while

and go for 512mb or higher it will be better in the long run


Message edited by demowhc on 08-08-2007 at 11:53:44 AM
Reply to demowhc
rajmist   08-08-2007 at 12:37:34 PM
- 0 +

What if i was to to run 2600 in crossfire mode

Reply to rajmist
blade85   08-08-2007 at 12:54:51 PM
- 0 +

that would just be a waste of money, since the card sux, and adding 2 crap cards wont make it better than an already good card.

 

you'll be better off crossfiring 2 x1950 pro cards than 2 2600XT cards

 

I know in england you can get a 2600XT card for around £70-90, but then you can also get a x1950pro for the same range. So to me, the choice is obvious.

 

Plus if you have the money to crossfire two 2600XT cards, why not just use it to buy a x1950XT?

 


here is a comparision of the two: http://www23.tomshardware.com/grap [...] &chart=275

 

just pick your games and press go, see what you get.


Message edited by blade85 on 08-08-2007 at 01:01:34 PM
------------------------------ I came here to kick ass and chew bubblegum.....and I'm all out of gum!
 Reply to blade85
Maziar   08-08-2007 at 01:13:34 PM
- 0 +

first of all the board u mentioned are limited to 16x4x crossfire ,also 2600xt isnt good for gaming ,even 2 of them

------------------------------ Q6600@3.4+ TT V1 Cooler,SAPPHIRE HD 4870X2,ASUS MAXIMUS FORMULA,4GB OCZ DDR2 800,LG W2452V 1920x1200
 Reply to Maziar
Hatman   08-08-2007 at 01:24:06 PM
- 0 +

16x4x performs no differently to 8x8x.

 

2600xt will do for light gaming, dont crossfire them though, and amke sure you get the GDDR4 version and then overclock it, to get a bit mroe boost. Its a good overclocker.

------------------------------ Na na na na na na na na HATMAN!
 Reply to Hatman
rajmist   08-08-2007 at 01:54:13 PM
- 0 +

So i take it that as short term solution if i put the HD2600XT (ddr4) one in and then like someone said earlier put in the 2900XT thats the best way to go and in the short term use the system at 1280 x 1024 res

Reply to rajmist
blade85   08-08-2007 at 02:05:06 PM
- 0 +

you cant crossfire 2 different cards.

so your short term option is either get a Hd2600XT now (thought i dont know why you want it so bad..it really is crap, i would still go for a x1950pro) and then in 6 months time when the more demanding dx10 games are out, see which card does the best and go for that as a single card option.

------------------------------ I came here to kick ass and chew bubblegum.....and I'm all out of gum!
 Reply to blade85
rajmist   08-08-2007 at 02:49:20 PM
- 0 +

blade85 i think your right and will most probably do that then the reason i am going for the 2600 is because i like ati and wanted something that could lst that little bit longer dx10 wise

Reply to rajmist
ethel   08-08-2007 at 03:03:30 PM
- 0 +

You should listen to the advice here. There is no reason to buy a mid-range DX10 card because they can't run DX10 games effectively. Read this Anandtech article:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3029

So you either have to spend some $$ and get a 8800GTX 320, which will run DX10 games reasonably well, or get a powerful DX9 card such as the X1950XT or the X1950Pro (XT is significantly better by the way).

Reply to ethel
rajmist   08-08-2007 at 03:10:58 PM
- 0 +

Hi

Question

When i Check toms Harddware they use the following spec ATI card

rv630 800mhz 1100mhz 256 ddr4

now when i check scan.co.uk it gives me different stats does that mean the 2600 i am loooking at is better the stats are;
GPU speed 800mhz Memory speed 2200mhz 256mb ddr4??

Reply to rajmist
rajmist   08-08-2007 at 03:12:12 PM
- 0 +

I would like to thank everyone for their advice

cheers guys

Raj

Reply to rajmist
ultralord910   08-08-2007 at 03:27:17 PM
- 0 +

Maybe you can wait for the HD2900 Pro? I heard it should be coming out within weeks and retail for $200-250. That should be a good mid range card.

Reply to ultralord910
rajmist   08-08-2007 at 03:38:15 PM
- 0 +

I am not looking to buy untill September but the 2600 is bothering me as in UK sites i can find 2200mhz memory speed but in the states its just 1100mhz ??

ultralord910 that sounds like a good idea though

Reply to rajmist
blade85   08-08-2007 at 05:37:30 PM
- 0 +

the memory thing your looking at is normal.

Toms is showing the speed of the memory at 1100mhz, scan is showing the DDR speed (double data rate) this is basically the normal memory speed x2,

sooo in this case 1100x2 = 2200. Either way, its the same thing.

an example would be my x1950 pro. when using monitoring tools it says memory is running at 702mhz, but if you look else where on sites it will say that has 1.4ghz DDR. That's just 702x2 (to get DDR), so in a nut shell, its the same thing.

Soooo the answer to your question is....no the one you are looking at is exactly the same on as on toms list.

------------------------------ I came here to kick ass and chew bubblegum.....and I'm all out of gum!
 Reply to blade85
rajmist   08-08-2007 at 06:12:19 PM
- 0 +

Thanks blade85

Reply to rajmist
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