GPU memory size vs interface

LiquidIce

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Jul 1, 2012
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10,510
I have been looking for a new upgrade from my Radeon 4870 and was thinking I would go to Radeon HD 7870, but I found some benchmarks with a large sample size that seems to show that the Radeon HD 7870 is outperformed by the GTX 480 (3451 vs 3558). I looked up the specs on the GTX 480 and the HD 7870 and got

GTX 480 ~ $199
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130759
1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP

Radeon HD 7870 ~ $309
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125418
2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP

GPU Benchmark from passmark
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html

The only difference I am seeing is the memory interface vs memory amount, so does the memory interface really make that much of a difference or am I not looking closely enough?

 

Temile

Honorable
Jun 7, 2012
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It is far more complex than those few numbers. Even for a computer engineer in the end the only way to really tell is to look at the benchmarks.
 
note you shouldnt trust passmark. how in the world does a gtx 690 score lower than a gtx 480(gtx 690 is a dual card, which is only slightly less than a gtx 680 in sli)


then you have the 590 thats apparently less than the 470 :sweat:
 
personally I'd suggest a 7850 over a 7870. or if you're going to spend 300+ might as well get a 7950 for a few bucks more and get the 3 free games

www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102989
www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127667
 
I really like that version of the 560Ti myself. And while it is generally all around better from a power etc point of view don't dismiss the 480 out of hand. Look at gaming performance reviews of the kind of games you play and see which one performs better at those titles.

Also remember as with all these reviews, unless you realise and take into account that the 560Ti from Zotac linked is about as fast a clocked version you can get, and also that the 480 in the review will be a stock standard card, then things can get twisted quite quickly.
A review of a tweaked 480 would like wise list a standard 560Ti which it would make look silly compared to the Zotac version.

Just so you are aware.


http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Zotac/GeForce_GTX_560_Ti_Amp_Edition/1.html

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Gigabyte/GeForce_GTX_480_SOC/30.html

Mactronix :)