What does more memory actually do?

[WipeOut]

I know this is a little off topic but hopefully someone can explain to me in simple terms what the advantage is having more memory on the graphics card..

I am trying to decide if its worth spending the extra on a 512MB card vs a 256MB card..

I am not a big gamer, I do occasionally play games for a couple of hours every few months when the mood strikes.. Mostly I am using the pc for work and watching movies.. I do like using lots of 3D desktop effects but they aren't that intensive.. (BTW I use Linux on my desktop)..

So what, if anything, would 512MB of memory do for me over 256MB?

Thanks..

[thejamppa]

You will use memory when you use games where is lot's of high detailed textures, like Crysis or when you play big resolutions ( above 1280x1024 ) games intend you use more and more memory.

However I can play anything with my HD 3850 256MB with single or CF mode . Albeit in bigger resolutions the 512mb version is faster when memory becomes bottle necking. But since I don't have TFT but CRT in game rig, that really isn't issue with me.

According Guru3D tests HD 3850 can run any game in playable FPS' without taking all goodies off up to 1600x1200 resolution when you would start benefitting of bigger memory amount.

[Wedge]

So what, if anything, would 512MB of memory do for me over 256MB?

Unless you game at high resolutions and/or use advanced video settings like anti-aliasing, then the extra memory would improve nothing for the uses you are describing. Stick with the lesser card.

[JazzJackRabbit]

So what, if anything, would 512MB of memory do for me over 256MB?

Unless you game at high resolutions and/or use advanced video settings like anti-aliasing, then the extra memory would improve nothing for the uses you are describing. Stick with the lesser card.

Not always true. It depends on a game. From the tests I've seen 8800GT 256MB lost very badly against 9600GT 512MB despite having superior GPU in Crysis. If you want to play newest games 512 today is a must. 256MB are OK if you mostly play older games and do not plan to play current ones until you upgrade.


To the OP which card you want to buy? Investing in additional 256MB will only make sense if the GPU is fast enough to need it like 9600GT/8800GT/3850/3870. For example 512MB 8500GT are not any faster than 256MB 8500GT, and in fact sometimes slower than 6600GT with 128MB.

[Wedge]

I am not a big gamer, I do occasionally play games for a couple of hours every few months when the mood strikes.. Mostly I am using the pc for work and watching movies.. I do like using lots of 3D desktop effects but they aren't that intensive.. (BTW I use Linux on my desktop)..

I don't know for sure, but I am under the impression that he is a casual gamer that does not feel the need to play at anything beyond default video settings that will be provided by the game after the hardware is detected. And if this is the case, the majority of current games do fine with 256MB of RAM. If he is looking to play cutting edge games in the future, he needs to state this much.

[WipeOut]

Thanks for the replies.. I think I understand beter now where the memory comes in..

I am currently using a 22" LCD panel so I am guessing that running games at full res would be quite taxing on the memory since its significantly more than 1024x768..

JazzJackRabbit, I was looking at getting an 8600GT, pref a passive one (either Asus or Gigabyte) and with HDCP support for future potential usage to a larger LCD monitor/TV.. I figured the 8600GT should give reasonable gaming for the amount I play games as well as being able to handle hi-def movies when I upgrade to a blu-ray drive.. Would love to get a 9600 or 8800 with and Accelero S1 on it but just cant stretch the budget that far right now and I do want it to be quiet..

Wedge, You are correct I am just a casual gamer.. Although it seems that the resolution of my screen is probably suggesting getting a higher memory graphics card..

[yukon]

Better to look at benchmarks for any given card than the theory, since there are tradeoffs for any given GPU. There are 8800GTs with 1gb of RAM (instead of 512), where the benchmarks show no improvement in performance.

I'd also suggest the 9600GT. Depending on what you have now, waiting for the price to go down and saving some extra money would give a large boost in performance. The midrange cards are cooler, and the newest card generation has more features and usually about double the performance.

[angelkiller]

For the OP: This info is specifically for you. Your choice depends on how high settings you want to play at. Some casual gamers demand the highest quality. Some don't. If you are OK, with low/medium settings, than the 8600GT is a good choice. However, if you want to play at high settings with AA or AF, than the 9600GT is for you. Now, memory size. The 9600GT comes in one size, so there is no choice. The 8600GT comes in many different varieties. First you need to look at the memory's type. Either GDDR2 or GDDR3. Avoid GDDR2 based 8600GT's! They are noticeably slower. Capacity doesn't matter, GDDR2 is not what you want. Now the difference between GDDR3 256MB and GDDR3 512MB depends on how well the 8600GT GPU can take advantage of memory. I don't have an answer to that. I say get a GDDR3 256MB 8600GT because the performance difference (vs GDDR3 512MB) is small while there is a $30 price difference.

From the tests I've seen 8800GT 256MB lost very badly against 9600GT 512MB despite having superior GPU... If you want to play newest games 512 today is a must.

The 8800GT 256MB loses to a 9600GT not because of memory size, but because the 8800GT's inefficient use of video memory. For example, a 512MB HD3850 offers little gain over a 256MB version. Why? The HD3850 only effectively uses its 256MB RAM. Notice there is no significant performance drop when cranking up the resolution. The 256MB part easily keeps up with the 512MB part, proving two things. 1) 512MB of graphics RAM isn't necessary for today's games. 2) Performance depends on the GPU architecture.

[scdr]

Probably doesn't matter for the OP (using Linux), but seems to me I read that
Windows Vista's new interface uses lots of video RAM since it keeps copies of Window images in video memory (so it can use 3D hardware for overlaps, etc.)

Not sure how much this matters, and it undoubtedly depends on the card where the bottlenecks are.

Just a thought

[thejamppa]

t;]From the tests I've seen 8800GT 256MB lost very badly against 9600GT 512MB despite having superior GPU... If you want to play newest games 512 today is a must.

The 8800GT 256MB loses to a 9600GT not because of memory size, but because the 8800GT's inefficient use of video memory. For example, a 512MB HD3850 offers little gain over a 256MB version. Why? The HD3850 only effectively uses its 256MB RAM. Notice there is no significant performance drop when cranking up the resolution. The 256MB part easily keeps up with the 512MB part, proving two things. 1) 512MB of graphics RAM isn't necessary for today's games. 2) Performance depends on the GPU architecture.

Wow, I am so glad I got two HD 3850 256 MB's and not the 512 MB's. I really though that I should have gotten 512 Mb version but it seems it wouldn't have been much beneficial.

[JazzJackRabbit]

The 8800GT 256MB loses to a 9600GT not because of memory size, but because the 8800GT's inefficient use of video memory.

You won't know it for sure until we see 9600GT 256MB reviews (if they will ever come out) compared to 8800GT 256. Then you'd be able to make assessment about memory usage between two cards.

For example, a 512MB HD3850 offers little gain over a 256MB version. Why? The HD3850 only effectively uses its 256MB RAM. Notice there is no significant performance drop when cranking up the resolution. The 256MB part easily keeps up with the 512MB part, proving two things. 1) 512MB of graphics RAM isn't necessary for today's games. 2) Performance depends on the GPU architecture.

The argument can go both ways. Regarding 3850 256/512MB variants you could say that GPU is not powerful enough to take advantage of more memory just like 8500GT 512 isn't anymore powerful than 8500GT 256. That is the card is being limited by GPU speed, instead of memory.

In the end if op was looking at 3850 256/512 he could buy 256MB variant and be fine. However, if he were to buy 8800GT 256/512, he'd better buy 512 variant otherwise it would be handicapped by memory size.