Going from 256MB to 512MB, Is it worth it?

mb1955 · May 9th, 2006

Hi All,

Wanted to know is there any real performance increase to be had going from a 256MB graphics card to a 512MB one. My system specs are in my sig. Thank you in advance for all replies.

Tyreal · May 9th, 2006

Most games today will not take advantage of the full 512mb to give you a noticeable framerate difference. In the games that do take advantage of the 512mb you will notice a huge difference especially with games that utilize many high quality textures.
This article that I found should shine some light on your question.
http://www.pureoverclock.com/review.php?id=33&page=1

I would rather choose a 7900GTX or antoher 7800GTX than to buy another 7800GTX that has 512mb of ram. If there were a model that had 512mb.

Lead Head · May 9th, 2006

If you are going to get an ATI Radeon x1900 XTX,XT,GT,GTO Carrd, MAKE SURE THAT IT IS 512MB. The x1900 series suffers alot from only 256MB of ram, the x1900 like 512 MB of ram. If its a 7900 series, it doesnt matter that much

Tyreal · May 9th, 2006

Really? I'm interested in this... do you have any benchmarks or articles where I can see some numbers?

mb1955 · May 9th, 2006

Hi All,

Thanks for the link Tyreal. I guess the question now is should I go with another 7800GTX 256MB & take the SLI plunge, or go with a 7900GTX 512MB card. Also for those of you out there with SLI Rigs, what if any are some of the downsides ie heat, noise?

Tyreal · May 9th, 2006

I would go for the 7900GTX . With that setup, you will score around 10K in 3dmark 05. Whats strange is that hte 7800GTX SLI will score 11K, not much of difference. But its a synthetic benchmark and does not represent real world performance. According to some benchmarks i've seen, the 7900GTX 512mb will be around 5-15 FPS higher than the 7800GTX SLI setup at higher resolutions. About the same at lower resolutions.

btw. your signature has a typo. OCZ Powerstream 600SLI. :D

Lead Head · May 9th, 2006

x1900 XT in crossfire is better ;)

mb1955 · May 9th, 2006

Hi All,

Maybe I'll go for a 7900GTX ,not sure though. Have to see how much more the prices come down

Tyreal · May 9th, 2006

I recommend selling your 7800GTX and then buying the 7900GTX.
This is the cheapest 7900GTX I could find at newegg.com
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127097
and another 7800gt...the cheapest one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814141014

mb1955 · May 9th, 2006

Hi All,

Tyreal, I'm going with this card for the same price.
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16814122242

May 9th, 2006	#1
mb1955 Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 24	Going from 256MB to 512MB, Is it worth it? Hi All, Wanted to know is there any real performance increase to be had going from a 256MB graphics card to a 512MB one. My system specs are in my sig. Thank you in advance for all replies. AMD 170 Opteron LeadTek 7800 GTX 256 Extreme Asus A8N SLI Premium Western Digital 74 GB Raptor RAID 0 (2) BenQ 1640 Pioneer S120 Sound Blaster Xtreme Music Thermaltake K450 SuperMicro SC733T Ablecom 645 Watt Power Supply Samsung Syncmaster 204T Corsair XMS 2 GB (2X1GB) DDR 400 Windows XP Pro

May 9th, 2006	#2
Tyreal Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: British Columbia, Canada Posts: 2,557	Most games today will not take advantage of the full 512mb to give you a noticeable framerate difference. In the games that do take advantage of the 512mb you will notice a huge difference especially with games that utilize many high quality textures. This article that I found should shine some light on your question. http://www.pureoverclock.com/review.php?id=33&page=1 I would rather choose a 7900GTX or antoher 7800GTX than to buy another 7800GTX that has 512mb of ram. If there were a model that had 512mb. I Like Watercooling. D-Tek Fuzion, MCP655, MCR220

May 9th, 2006	#4
Tyreal Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: British Columbia, Canada Posts: 2,557	Really? I'm interested in this... do you have any benchmarks or articles where I can see some numbers? I Like Watercooling. D-Tek Fuzion, MCP655, MCR220

May 9th, 2006	#5
mb1955 Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 24	Hi All, Thanks for the link Tyreal. I guess the question now is should I go with another 7800GTX 256MB & take the SLI plunge, or go with a 7900GTX 512MB card. Also for those of you out there with SLI Rigs, what if any are some of the downsides ie heat, noise? AMD 170 Opteron LeadTek 7800 GTX 256 Extreme Asus A8N SLI Premium Western Digital 74 GB Raptor RAID 0 (2) BenQ 1640 Pioneer S120 Sound Blaster Xtreme Music Thermaltake K450 SuperMicro SC733T Ablecom 645 Watt Power Supply Samsung Syncmaster 204T Corsair XMS 2 GB (2X1GB) DDR 400 Windows XP Pro

May 9th, 2006	#6
Tyreal Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: British Columbia, Canada Posts: 2,557	I would go for the 7900GTX . With that setup, you will score around 10K in 3dmark 05. Whats strange is that hte 7800GTX SLI will score 11K, not much of difference. But its a synthetic benchmark and does not represent real world performance. According to some benchmarks i've seen, the 7900GTX 512mb will be around 5-15 FPS higher than the 7800GTX SLI setup at higher resolutions. About the same at lower resolutions. btw. your signature has a typo. OCZ Powerstream 600SLI. :D I Like Watercooling. D-Tek Fuzion, MCP655, MCR220

May 9th, 2006	#3
Lead Head Join Date: May 2006 Location: Rhode Island USA Posts: 1,716	If you are going to get an ATI Radeon x1900 XTX,XT,GT,GTO Carrd, MAKE SURE THAT IT IS 512MB. The x1900 series suffers alot from only 256MB of ram, the x1900 like 512 MB of ram. If its a 7900 series, it doesnt matter that much

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