GT 440 1GB DDR5 or GTS 450 512mb DDR5?

[ModernKamikaze]

GT 440 1GB DDR5 or GTS 450 512mb DDR5?

What does the 1gb or 512mb in the video card do?
is it important?

 

[Vettedude]

The VRAM is the memory that the GPU uses to hold textures and other things that it needs to process. The higher resolution you play at, generally the more VRAM you need, but that depends on what settings you are playing at. Also the VRAM needs high bandwidth to move lots of data. GDDR5 is the best for bandwidth, but that's not the only story. Clock speed and bus width both affect the bandwidth. Both have a 128-bit bus, so the higher memory clocked GTS 450 has slightly better bandwidth. I would recommend going with the GTS 450 if those are your options, as the GPU itself is much better.

 

[ModernKamikaze]

The VRAM is the memory that the GPU uses to hold textures and other things that it needs to process. The higher resolution you play at, generally the more VRAM you need, but that depends on what settings you are playing at. Also the VRAM needs high bandwidth to move lots of data. GDDR5 is the best for bandwidth, but that's not the only story. Clock speed and bus width both affect the bandwidth. Both have a 128-bit bus, so the higher memory clocked GTS 450 has slightly better bandwidth. I would recommend going with the GTS 450 if those are your options, as the GPU itself is much better.

is it good enough to play with Battlefield 3, Sims 3, Sims 2?

 

[Vettedude]

What is your budget and CPU? Sims would play, but Battlefield depends on your resolution and CPU. Here is a comparison of the GTS 450 and an HD 5770 (rebadged as 6770 now)

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/316?vs=296 (note, its the 2011 bench that doesn't have BF3. The 2012 bench doesn't have those cards)

Battlefield games are VERY CPU stressing, I have an HD 6850 that is bottlenecked by my Core 2 QUAD in Bad Company 2.

 

[ModernKamikaze]

What is your budget and CPU? Sims would play, but Battlefield depends on your resolution and CPU. Here is a comparison of the GTS 450 and an HD 5770 (rebadged as 6770 now)

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/316?vs=296 (note, its the 2011 bench that doesn't have BF3. The 2012 bench doesn't have those cards)

Battlefield games are VERY CPU stressing, I have an HD 6850 that is bottlenecked by my Core 2 QUAD in Bad Company 2.

$100 lower and i3-2100.
I'll be using my old HP w17e, my res right now is 1440x900.

 

[Vettedude]

You have a full size case, right? Don't need low profile, etc...

For $100, you can get an HD6750 with GDDR5. It would use less power than the GTS 450. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161379

If you are willing to spend $110, I'd HIGHLY recommend the HD 7750, the newest card series from AMD (with the power efficient 28nm design) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121633

Here's the comparison of the HD 6770 (HD 5770 in the bench) and the HD 7750. Look for BF3 performance, although yours will be slightly higher because of the lower res than 1680x1050. The 7750 is worse, but you can overclock! And with driver updates, it only gets better.

 

[ModernKamikaze]

You have a full size case, right? Don't need low profile, etc...

For $100, you can get an HD6750 with GDDR5. It would use less power than the GTS 450. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161379

If you are willing to spend $110, I'd HIGHLY recommend the HD 7750, the newest card series from AMD (with the power efficient 28nm design) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121633

Here's the comparison of the HD 6770 (HD 5770 in the bench) and the HD 7750. Look for BF3 performance, although yours will be slightly higher because of the lower res than 1680x1050. The 7750 is worse, but you can overclock! And with driver updates, it only gets better.

Do you have any for Nvidia?

 

[Vettedude]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133431

Nvidia's sub-$100 cards are horrible and suck down unholy amounts of power. The 550ti is the lowest end Nvidia card I would recommend.

 

[ModernKamikaze]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133431

Nvidia's sub-$100 cards are horrible and suck down unholy amounts of power. The 550ti is the lowest end Nvidia card I would recommend.

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?objectID=c01298195&lang=en&cc=us&taskId=120&contentType=SupportFAQ&prodSeriesId=3644673&prodTypeId=12454

will a GTS 450 or 7750 fit in this case?

 

[Vettedude]

NO! 250w PSU. No go. Both cards consume 100w on their own.

For a 250w card, you are looking at a terrible Nvidia card like the 430, or a low end AMD card like the HD 6570.

 

[ModernKamikaze]

NO! 250w PSU. No go. Both cards consume 100w on their own.

For a 250w card, you are looking at a terrible Nvidia card like the 430, or a low end AMD card like the HD 6570.

Asking if it will fit in the case,
this is old and I am upgrading to:

i3-2100
Asrock H61M-DGS
4 or 8GB of RAM
Antec VP 450.

 

[Vettedude]

Yes, it would fit. Don't get the Antec VP, get an Antec Neo Eco (either 400, 520, or 620). I have the 400C which is a great deal at 50 bucks: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371029. Plus it saves you some power with the 80-plus efficiency

400w doesn't sound like a lot, but on a high quality unit its fine. I'm running a 95w TDP Core 2 Quad and an HD 6850 on it, but use more power than your CPU and GPU. If you think in the future you will want a great GPU, get the 520C, it has 2 PEG connectors for graphics.

 

[ModernKamikaze]

Yes, it would fit. Don't get the Antec VP, get an Antec Neo Eco (either 400, 520, or 620). I have the 400C which is a great deal at 50 bucks: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371029. Plus it saves you some power with the 80-plus efficiency

400w doesn't sound like a lot, but on a high quality unit its fine. I'm running a 95w TDP Core 2 Quad and an HD 6850 on it, but use more power than your CPU and GPU. If you think in the future you will want a great GPU, get the 520C, it has 2 PEG connectors for graphics.

Thanks for the recommendation but I really am okay with VP 450.
Also Thanks for answering my questions very much!
I will choose between GTS 450 and 7750.

 

[ModernKamikaze]

Best answer selected by ModernKamikaze.