What's more desirable, RAM or GPU?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Yousuf Khan
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Yousuf Khan

Given a choice of getting a video card with a fast GPU and 256MB of RAM
vs. a mid-level GPU with 512MB of RAM, which is more desirable? Let's
say the ATI fast GPU would be an X1900 and the mid-grade GPU would be an
X1600? Similarly for Nvidia, let's say it's between fast 7900 vs.
mid-level 7600?

Yousuf Khan
 
Yousuf Khan said:
Given a choice of getting a video card with a fast GPU and 256MB of RAM
vs. a mid-level GPU with 512MB of RAM, which is more desirable? Let's say
the ATI fast GPU would be an X1900 and the mid-grade GPU would be an
X1600? Similarly for Nvidia, let's say it's between fast 7900 vs.
mid-level 7600?

Yousuf Khan
Click to expand...

If you are talking about the difference between 256 and 512MB, then
definitely the ram. Most games these days require 512MB, so with 256 you
will get horrible swapping to disk.

A much more difficult question is the difference between 512 and 1GB of ram.

With 1GB and 2GB, I would say definitely the video card is more important -
although it obviously depends on the game to some extent as well.

The resolution (ie, monitor you are using) also needs to be taken into
account in terms of just how important the graphics card is.
 
Mark said:
If you are talking about the difference between 256 and 512MB, then
definitely the ram. Most games these days require 512MB, so with 256 you
will get horrible swapping to disk.
Click to expand...

The game I'm most interested in is Black & White 2. I've heard that
it's a machine breaker. And so far, yes, it's lived up to its
reputation.
A much more difficult question is the difference between 512 and 1GB of ram.

With 1GB and 2GB, I would say definitely the video card is more important -
although it obviously depends on the game to some extent as well.
Click to expand...

Well, the 512MB mid-level card was cheaper than the 256MB high-end
card. I don't even want to think about 1GB/2GB at the moment. Let's
just say there were budget constraints.
The resolution (ie, monitor you are using) also needs to be taken into
account in terms of just how important the graphics card is.
Click to expand...

So far, I've kept the resolution a nice compromise, less than the
maximum that the monitor can display, but keeping the same aspect
ratios. I'll bump up the resolution if I find it's going well. But so
far the game is just barely responsive enough.

Yousuf Khan
 
YKhan said:
The game I'm most interested in is Black & White 2. I've heard that
it's a machine breaker. And so far, yes, it's lived up to its
reputation.


Well, the 512MB mid-level card was cheaper than the 256MB high-end
card. I don't even want to think about 1GB/2GB at the moment. Let's
just say there were budget constraints.


So far, I've kept the resolution a nice compromise, less than the
maximum that the monitor can display, but keeping the same aspect
ratios. I'll bump up the resolution if I find it's going well. But so
far the game is just barely responsive enough.

Yousuf Khan
Click to expand...

Sorry, just re-read your post and realized you were asking about ram on the
video card. I thought it was the typical question of whether more system ram
or a faster video card should be purchased.

I would say the better gpu would certainly be the way to go (although the
better gpu's also usually have consequently more ram - so I'm not sure just
how easy it is to make the choice you are describing). 256mb is still
relatively high-end for video cards, whereas the gpu's themselves can still
be a limiting factor. Also, the slower gpu's can also be crippled versions
of the faster gpu's, so even if you do have more memory, the memory
bandwidth can be crippled which is largely negating the benefits of more
ram. So in short, I think definitely go with the better gpu unless someone
has specific experience with Black and White 2 and says differently. I
presume you have already looked at the benchmarks on websites, as I believe
a number of them do use Black and White 2 for benchmarking.
 
If you are talking about the difference between 256 and 512MB, then
definitely the ram. Most games these days require 512MB, so with 256 you
will get horrible swapping to disk.
Click to expand...

Bullshit. There are very few games that will mnake use of 512mb of video
ram. The smart man buys the faster GPU, every time. The man with money to
burn will buy a card with both.
 
Sorry, just re-read your post and realized you were asking about ram on the
video card. I thought it was the typical question of whether more system ram
or a faster video card should be purchased.
Click to expand...

Ah, now I see you made a mistake. Sorry about the bullshit comment. Yousuf,
unless you run all your games at extremely high res with FSAA, aniso
filtering etc. always opt for the fater card with 256mb over a slower card
with 512mb.
 
Mark said:
Sorry, just re-read your post and realized you were asking about ram on the
video card. I thought it was the typical question of whether more system ram
or a faster video card should be purchased.
Click to expand...

I understand, no problem. I've been out of the video card purchasing
market for a number of years now. I typically upgrade other parts of the
computer before the video card. I don't play a lot of games, but certain
games catch my attention every few years, and that usually precipitates
a new video card purchase. The last card I will be replacing is a
Geforce 2 GTS with 32MB of RAM. So it's been a number of years since the
last video upgrade. The Geforce 2 itself was a video card that was
purchased to play a game from a few years ago, Homeworld. Before that I
was using 3DFX Voodoo 2's in SLI mode (yes, the very original SLI mode).


I would say the better gpu would certainly be the way to go (although the
better gpu's also usually have consequently more ram - so I'm not sure just
how easy it is to make the choice you are describing). 256mb is still
relatively high-end for video cards, whereas the gpu's themselves can still
be a limiting factor. Also, the slower gpu's can also be crippled versions
of the faster gpu's, so even if you do have more memory, the memory
bandwidth can be crippled which is largely negating the benefits of more
ram. So in short, I think definitely go with the better gpu unless someone
has specific experience with Black and White 2 and says differently. I
presume you have already looked at the benchmarks on websites, as I believe
a number of them do use Black and White 2 for benchmarking.
Click to expand...

No, haven't looked at the Black & White 2 benchmarks. So 256MB of video
ram should've been fine then? Will I see any noticeable benefits from
512MB of video ram, at all?

Yousuf Khan
 
No, haven't looked at the Black & White 2 benchmarks. So 256MB of video
ram should've been fine then? Will I see any noticeable benefits from
512MB of video ram, at all?

Yousuf Khan
Click to expand...

Only if a game uses massive textures, a game like Oblivion for example.
It's like system ram, you won't see a benefit with 2gb compared to 1gb if
nothing actually uses the extra ram. Games are starting to use much higher
resolution textures these days so it will benefit you mostly for newer
games. In many games though there is no difference in performance between
256mb and 512mb. Thing is that once games start using DirectX-10 you will
need a new DX10 compatible video card anyway so a faster 256mb video card
now would have been my choice and get a DX-10 512mb card next year. But
that's me, I get a new video card at least once a year. On the plus side,
having 512mb of video ram will allow you to run your old favourite games at
very high res if you so desire. If you have a widescreen 24"+ LCD then a
512mb card is better as the native res is quite high and it's always better
to run a game at the LCD's native res if you can.
 
Garrot said:
Thing is that once games start using DirectX-10 you will
need a new DX10 compatible video card anyway
Click to expand...

Of course DX10 will only come with Vista, and I think that no small
number of people will avoid Vista for as long as they can.
 
Of course DX10 will only come with Vista, and I think that no small
number of people will avoid Vista for as long as they can.
Click to expand...

True, but if you're a gamer and the game you want requires DX10 then you
may have no choice but to buy Vista. But I am sure that is by Microsoft's
design and not something they couldn't make XP support too. I've tried the
beta of Vista and have to say I prefer XP. Vista suffers from too many
layers in the GUI for my liking.
 
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