[Solved] Different Manufacturers

So if they use double the RAM than the OEM card then it really doesn't make much difference but the the size of the hole in your pockets? Thanks

that's completely incorrect. the core clock and interface is too slow to use that full amount of RAM in gaming, eyefinity, or any other Software. too many noobs on these boards making idiotic statements that more memory equals better performance. its no different then have a PC with a slow dual core CPU and 6GB of RAM. it will perform just as fast with 3GB of ram.

While we're on the subject of different manufacturers...It's been about 5 years since I built my last computer and I haven't been keeping up much with things lately, so maybe I've missed something, but does ATI still manufacture their video cards at all? I've been trying to get my hands on a 5850 for a new build and I can't find any ATI branded 5850s. Everything is third party using ATI chipset. I've searched all over the web and the closest thing I can find to an answer is that the supply is low. When you search the website, Newegg doesn't even mark ATI branded cards as an option, let alone mark them as out of stock. What gives? Last two cards I got were 9800pro and X1600 retail cards and they were ATI branded, so I know they manufactured their own retail cards at least at one time. What gives?

Actually a cheap dual-core cpu will be able to use 6GB, when I used my E4500 to build a map in UDK there was a difference from just using Vista's speedboost.

....one game....at 1280x1024......174 to 166 FPS....5% increase.....totally proves your point....outside of every other test that proves it false as stated above.

this is me waving goodbye to you to go back into your mother's basement and keep playing WoW

So the main point is that is causes a slight performance increase that's minuscule and really doesn't justify the price difference? So it would be better to get a better card than it is to get a higher RAM version?

Whether the GPU itself can actually handle the 2GB of VRAM is beside the point. The 2GB won't be needed unless you start running more extreme resolutions anyhow. Eyefinity with 3 x 1920x1080 monitors as an example. With a typical high res monitor the memory difference wouldn't matter anyhow.

when you look at the benchmarks between the 58501GB and 2GB; the FPS gap from 1280x1024 (around 2-3FPS) actually closed as you moved up to 2560x1600 (1FPS to dead even). The added pixels at each increased resolution only closed the tiny gap to one of 1% (aka dead even). So at 3 x 1920x1080, the demands would lower the gap even more. Less then 1%. The 2GB on the 5850 is clearly wasted unless playing Crysis at 17FPS is worth the extra money over 16FPS.

http://www.overclockersclub.com/re [...] _2gb/8.htm

or the other end of the spectrum with RE5 at 57FPS rather then 56FPS.

http://www.overclockersclub.com/re [...] 2gb/13.htm

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey