512 vs 1meg

[Hammer_757]

Im looking at a Radeon HD 4850 what does the 1meg vs 512 get me for the $
I'm just working and gaming mostly military sims and an occasional shooter. No hdtv or hometheater on the PC... I dont mind spending the extra just don want to be buying crap I dont need.
thanks

 

[hsetir]

If you meantt 512MB vs 1GB, the difference becomes apparent at only very high resolutions with anti-aliasing enabled. If not on hdtv, you're fine with 512mb.

 

[Hammer_757]

yes, thats what I meant
I do remember 1 meg of ram. that makes me feel old.

 

[coozie7]

@ HAMMER_757: Know what you mean about the 1 Mb!
Really, the HD4850 is n`t powerful enough to justify the extra memory because it starts to run out of steam at 16x12 and 1 Gb is n`t really needed until 19x12 and even then, only for the most modern, texture heavy games.

 

[L1qu1d]

The difference is very minimal when it comes to the 4850, generall 1-3 fps, sometimes not even, and even at higher resolutions, if the 4850 1 gig gets 15 fps, and the 4850 512 gets 7 or 8, its still un playable.

 

[Hammer_757]

Thanks for all the responses. The answer is clear as far as the 4850 choice.

But coozie7 triggered another question with "starts to run out of steam at 16x12"

I have a 22" LCD with a native resolution of 1680x1050. I run games at 1680x1050 but dumb them down in the settings so they are playable. Ive noticed since buying the monitor that running at anything else looks pretty bad. Which is the reason for the upgrade.

I know allot has to do with personal preference but in general does a 4850 support gaming at 1680x1050? I mostly play armor sims like Steel Beasts which is not a video hog and the more recent Steel Fury taxes the system a bit more. After an especially crappy day at work I resort to more hoggish things like the Call of Duty, MOH and Brothers in Arms.

 

[coozie7]

@ HAMMER_757: What I meant is that the 4850, like any card, has its limitations due to clockspeeds and internal design. For the 4850 the point where it can start to struggle playing games at high settings is at or around 16x12 but it will still play well, even at 19x12 but the settings will have to be reduced to ease its workload, whereas a faster card can cope with the higher resoloution at higher settings.

 

[Hammer_757]

thanks coozie7, the plastic is coming out!

 

[L1qu1d]

I still think it would be around 3 fps difference tops. Unless its only 10-20$ more for the 1 gig, its def not worth it when it comes to the 4850, Its not like 4870 512 and 1 gig, where the difference can be noticeable.

 

[Hammer_757]

Thanks L1qu1d