Video Card Memory Interface- Real World Performance?

[butterseviltwin]

1) I am wondering if anyone has seen any articles that show real world performance difference regarding memory interface speeds. I am considering two cards, one with 128 and another with 256 interface and I am wondering if it generally worth the extra cash to go for the 256 bit.

I know bigger is better but I am still wondering what the actual expected increase may be. I realize that many other factors effect a video cards performance so it may be hard to find direct comparisons.

2) If anyone knows any good articles explaining the stats of video cards or current performance suggestions that would be appreciated. Basically it been a while since I have looked at video cards, so I need to get up to date on what I need and should focus on to decently play mainstream games.

Thanks a bunch

 

[shadow187]

The interface usually does mean a lot in performance, but not always. The HD5770 is 128-bit, and the HD4870 is 256-bit, and they perform the same. Which two cards were you considering?

 

[jyjjy]

The bus by itself is not important. What matters is memory bandwidth which is a combination of both the memory speed and the bus width.
What is actually important though is performance. Just look up benchmarks to compare cards. That is what matters and in the end it doesn't matter how a certain card gets there.