128/256 Is there any major difference?

[psyclone]

I was just wondering if there was any major difference between a 128MB Radeon 9600XT and a 256MB Radeon 9600XT

The reasion i ask is that i remember a while back nvidia released the same video cards in a 64Mb and a 128MB variety, but the 64MB actually out performed the 128MB version because it had faster memory on-board and to keep costs down on the 128mb version they used slower memory.

Is this similar with the radeons or do they both run at the same core/memory speeds one just has twice as much?

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Psyclone
www.lexicon.net/p5yc10n3
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[Crashman]

I'd go 128MB, by the time programs make decent use of more than that, your video card will be old and slow anyway.

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[GeneticWeapon]

What's funny is that Call of Duty requires a 256mb card to play in max detail, lot'sa textures involved.

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[psyclone]

Because its only likw $20 difference to go upto the 256MB card so if its all running at the same clock speeds then i will probably get the 256MB version.

I just want to make sure ATI havent done an Nvidia first

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Psyclone
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[Spitfire_x86]

Don't waste your $20 for extra 128 MB VRAM. Use it elsewhere. The extra VRAM isn't even worth $5.

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[Crashman]

Haha, my friend plays it on his 8500DV (64MB) with like 3/4 details and 256MB of aperture!

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[lik]

256 is a good choice if you want to use AA and anisotropic in max details and High resolutions. But the price gap is huge. Nowadays the 256Mb versions have in almost every cases the same memory speed or even sup. (9800 Pro 128 680Mhz, 9800 Pro 256 7xxMz)

 

[cleeve]

There are only 2 reasons to get 256 megs of RAM:

1. Games that support gobs of high-res texturing

2. SLightly better AA and Ansio at high resolutions

As for number 1, the number of games that even OFFER 256 megs of high-res textures can be counted on one hand, and ALL of those games offwer smaller texture sets for 128 and 64 meg cards.

As for #2, this only really matters if you have a supercard like a 9800 PRO/ 5900 ULTRA, because any slower card can't really handle those image quality features at high res anyway.

To put it into perspective, a 64mb Geforce4 Ti4200 will blow the doors of a GeforceFX 5200 256mb any day of the week.

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