34 replies to this topic

[Ghost Slayer3235]

I currently have a Nvidia Geforce 8500 256 Mb video card. yesterday a friend gave me a Nvidia Geforce 8500 512 Mb video card. I haven't noticed really any difference which made me come up with a stupid question which I don't know. Which out of those 2 are better? i thought the 512 is because its obviously more then the 256 but idk.

[Jac3624]

From what I know the RAM on a video card now a days has more to do with the size of the map, the more RAM the bigger the map you can load at one time.

I don't know if I'm explaining that right, but I'm sure that someone could clear it up if I didn't.


I guess that if they have the same specs then the 512Mb one is better. But sometimes you can get 2 different card that are of the same series and have different specs. That's more common if the two cards are made by different companies.

[clubber-t]

RAM = Random Access Memory - 512 is double so it is definatly the better card
This takes info off your hard drive and onto your ram for fast access

This will not be that noticeable until you play a game that has high requirements (most new games)
Or your games will auto set your video setting when you install the game so you can now open your game, go to options or settings then video and crank up those settings.
On older games (BF1942) a 512 is overkill and you will not notice any change because it was designed to only have a recommended 128 mb ram

[Frags]

that extra ram is not very useful since that 8500 isnt fast enough to take advantage of it, you'll run out of processing power before most games can take advantage of the extra ram. An 8800gt 512 is quite a bit faster than the 256 version becuase it has enough power to take advantage of the extra ram

[Ghost Slayer3235]

This will not be that noticeable until you play a game that has high requirements (most new games)

I've tried playing Crysis on high but I can't move . I'm currently trying to save up to get a 8800 gtx 512 mb or is there a video card in the 8800 series that is good but not to expensive?
Thanks for everyone's help.

Slayer

[clubber-t]

What type of slot is your video card?
The PCI Express (E slot or PCI E) is much facter and cheaper than AGP or PCI

The PCI Express video card can vary in price range. If you are into high end video games though, I would save up for a good one.

I am also looking for a high end video card but cant afford to even look now. Just bought a new computer and am still using on board video.

If you have an older com though, new video will not help.

Post your com specs and we can find out better what will suit you.

[Murphyslaw4267]

The RAM on the graphics card is just to compensate it from using the system RAM. The RAM on the graphics card is normally faster than the system memory, so you will get better performance. The extra 256mb is only noticeable if you have low system memory.

[AKAafeks]

The memory on the card is only 15% of the battle.. there are other factors that play into a video card that create speed and resolution...

1. Adapter port (AGP, PCI, PCI-E, PCI-X, etc...)
2. CPU power on the video card
3. Your running programs
4. How much memory is in your computer
5. How much power is available to your system when loaded - people never spend enough on power.
6. Your monitor and what plug are you using (LCD, PLASMA, CRT; DVI, HDMI, VGA)
7. internal temperature
8. CPU
etc...

Overall, I usually tell people that upgrading a video card is like adding a turbo to a car. The turbo may provide some new added power, but unless you tackle intake, exhaust, and power that purchase is pretty menial to the performance. You have to upgrade your video card, power, cooling, and memory to start to see performance increases worth writing home about.

[Ghost Slayer3235]

What type of slot is your video card?
The PCI Express (E slot or PCI E) is much facter and cheaper than AGP or PCI

The PCI Express video card can vary in price range. If you are into high end video games though, I would save up for a good one.

I am also looking for a high end video card but cant afford to even look now. Just bought a new computer and am still using on board video.

If you have an older com though, new video will not help.

Post your com specs and we can find out better what will suit you.

Its an Acer computer running on windows xp
AMD Athlon™ 64 processor 3500+
2.21 GHz
2.5G ram
Xtreme Sound sound card
71.3G hard drive
680 Watt power supply
Video card is in a PCI Express slot, sound card is in PCI
Not sure what else to put down, if you need anymore specs feel free to ask
Thanks for your help

Slayer

EDIT: got another gig of ram, so at 2.5 now

[AKAafeks]

Single core processor? What OS are you running?

[Ghost Slayer3235]

Single core processor? What OS are you running?

I think so and I'm using Windows XP

[clubber-t]

I would say upgrading your system ram is your next step. Its sounds like your com is new enough to use the new type of ram witch can be transfered if you upgrade to a newer com.
Your proccesor is a little lacking for the new highend games though. Gaming is the most intensive work for any com and is like racing your car. I would not invest any money into parts I could not transfer to a new computer.

Ram Help

[Ghost Slayer3235]

I would say upgrading your system ram is your next step. Its sounds like your com is new enough to use the new type of ram witch can be transfered if you upgrade to a newer com.
Your proccesor is a little lacking for the new highend games though. Gaming is the most intensive work for any com and is like racing your car. I would not invest any money into parts I could not transfer to a new computer.

Ram Help

Got another gig earlier, at 2.5 now

[Murphyslaw4267]

What were you at before?

[Ghost Slayer3235]

What were you at before?

Was at 1.5G

[Murphyslaw4267]

That should help being at 2.5GB. Especially in games and when multitasking.

[AKAafeks]

Also, one more thing. What about cooling? MoBo's will slow the system down if there is a lot of heat. Video and system performance are definitely hindered when heat is an issue. I run several fans in my PC, one fan on my power supply, one on my CPU and then my ASUS board has a heat coil with 2 more mini-fans to cool the PCI-E slot (video).

Try to get a better power supply if you can, at least 750 Watts.

To give you a benchmark, here is my setup....
- Intel Pentium, 3.0 GHz (Hyper threaded)
- 4 GB of high performance DDR2 (only 3.2 is available to you, Win XP issue)
- 512 Nvidia Video Card (PCI-E x16)
- 800 watt power supply (50% of my computer problems went away when I upgraded to this)
- My MOBO is also GeForce enabled for added video performance
- Ultra cool steel case with (2) 120 mm fans, (2) 90 mm fans, (1) Coolmaster Intel 778 CPU fan and heatsink, (2) 30 mm fans for MoBo
- and everything is over clocked (video card CPU, PC CPU, RAM speed)

This still only allows me to play Crysis on super low settings. But I get great game play on 2142, pretty much Medium on everything with very High resolution (1600 x 1200 on a 22" wide HD LCD, DVI input).

Best,

-- T

[Murphyslaw4267]

Also, one more thing. What about cooling? MoBo's will slow the system down if there is a lot of heat. Video and system performance are definitely hindered when heat is an issue. I run several fans in my PC, one fan on my power supply, one on my CPU and then my ASUS board has a heat coil with 2 more mini-fans to cool the PCI-E slot (video).

Try to get a better power supply if you can, at least 750 Watts.

To give you a benchmark, here is my setup....
- Intel Pentium, 3.0 GHz (Hyper threaded)
- 4 GB of high performance DDR2 (only 3.2 is available to you, Win XP issue)
- 512 Nvidia Video Card (PCI-E x16)
- 800 watt power supply (50% of my computer problems went away when I upgraded to this)
- My MOBO is also GeForce enabled for added video performance
- Ultra cool steel case with (2) 120 mm fans, (2) 90 mm fans, (1) Coolmaster Intel 778 CPU fan and heatsink, (2) 30 mm fans for MoBo
- and everything is over clocked (video card CPU, PC CPU, RAM speed)

This still only allows me to play Crysis on super low settings. But I get great game play on 2142, pretty much Medium on everything with very High resolution (1600 x 1200 on a 22" wide HD LCD, DVI input).

Best,

-- T

Don't feel bad about Crysis. It brought my two 8800GTXs to their knees. That game is unbelievably demanding.

[Jac3624]

AKAafeks is right, cooling is an important part that is often over looked.

I got a new case that has 2 120mm fans with it and my system temps went down 5-10 degrees. The after I got a new video card I noticed that it was running a little hot for my taste, so when I upgraded the rest I also got a PCI slot fan to help help cool it. That little $3 fan dropped the temps on my video card by around 5 degrees. It does a nice job of sucking the hot air from the "dead" space where the PCI slots are. That's another thing that's over looked in cooling, in the area below you video card there is little air flow. Most cases have vents in that area and most of the time it work well, but with the higher end video cards the produce a lot of heat it's just not enough. The best part is that it can be remedied for less then $10 with a PCI slot fan and if the fan dies you can just pickup another for pocket change.


:edit: I forgot to say that PCI slot fans work for single slot video cards. I doubt it would work well if at all for the 2 slot video cards. Since they vent them selfs.

[Ghost Slayer3235]

I got about $60 right now, getting about $40 soon. Can anyone find a good decent supply supply(700W+) for that or really close to it? Problem about getting a PCI slot fan is I only have 1 PCI slot and thats filled with a sound card. I'm thinking about getting a new motherboard but I have no clue what their prices are or whats good or not