Graphics Card Memory...

[oldewolfe]

Silly Question, but... If you had to Choose... 1 Gb @ DDR3 vs 512 Mb @ DDR5, which would ya choose and Why...???

I'm in the Hunt for a New Card and I've been lookin' at the GeForce 220 and 240 due to Space limitations in my Gateway Frame...

 

[stormy13]

For both of those cards it doesn't make any difference as neither is fast enough to make use of 1 GB, 512 MB is more than enough.

GeForce GT 220 review

MSI GeForce GT 240 review

If you have to decide between the two go or the GT 240 as it will be the aster of the two

 

[ThePizzaMan]

hm....... the ddr5, but what are you looking for in a new card?

 

[Fumz]

Typically, when deciding on the amount of onboard graphics memory, you must take your screen's resolution into account. The higher the screen resolution, the more onboard memory you'll want/need. However, the larger memory configurations are "needed" only to employ anti aliasing and anisotropic filtering... and as storm13 has already said, neither card is powerful enough to to do that... so it's really just nifty marketing for the 1GB card as it will go unused.

 

[oldewolfe]

At some point I wanna build a Media Computer for the Living Room... Right now I'm using our Desktop in the Living room since we've elected to leave our DirecTV down to cut Expenses for a bit... It's only got an EVGA PCIex16 6800GT Dual DVI card and I'm using a DVI/HDMI Cable to my 37" LG LCD TV...

The Desktop is a Gateway GT5026E, PentiumD 820 Dual Core, 2Gb DDR2 RAM, Dual Partitioned 500Gb HD (Win7x86 on one and x64 on the other), and a 3Mb/750Kb DSL Internet Connection... Budget's part of the Consideration, but Space is the main Factor due to the BTX design, so a Single Space Card is a Requirement...

 

[bobkn]

Is there a point to adding a more powerful graphics card to this system?

Unless you're trying for more performance in 3D gaming, it may well be a waste.

(With a Pentium D 820, it might be a waste even if you are trying to improve 3D gaming.)

 

[stormy13]

If it is for a HTPC might want to look at something like the ATI HD 4350 or 4550. Both come in fanless models, and they also both have a HDMI port and their own built-in audio that allows audio over HDMI (unlike the Nvidia cards that require a cable between the video card and the sound card). Won't be gaming on them, but for around $40 or less they're perfect for a HTPC.

 

[oldewolfe]

Thanks for the Responses, they've been very helpful...

As for the Postings, I'm seeing that Memory Size means something only under certain situations and Memory Speed is more Important Overall in the Grand Scheme of things... So, regardless of Make or Manufacturer, Theoretically, the Smaller DDR5'll beat out most any other Larger DDR3 Card...

As for the Choices I'd listed for THIS particular Unit (the Gateway), they were Chosen for Price, Size, and Built In Audio features for the HDMI, plus the fact I've been Happy with my Nvidia 6800GT and thought I'd stick with EVGA for now... And Yes, there'll be Plenty of Online Gaming, I'm rather partial to Combat Arms since it's got my Favorite Price Tag... Free... lol

The main Focus for the Media PC'll be a Small Form Factor to Blend into the Living Room similar to any other VCR/DVD Player/DVR Box/Gaming Console and is Open to it's Componant List, but I would like to use an AMD Processor if at all possible... Any other things I should Consider for such a Unit, since this'll be the First I've built...???

And Thank You again...

 

[Fumz]

... As for the Postings, I'm seeing that Memory Size means something only under certain situations and Memory Speed is more Important Overall in the Grand Scheme of things... So, regardless of Make or Manufacturer, Theoretically, the Smaller DDR5'll beat out most any other Larger DDR3 Card...

No. Actually, memory speed is rather insignificant. For the most part, you're going to find that even though company A uses DDR5 and company N uses DDR3, performance is usually about the same when looking at comparable cards... so speed is insignificant almost to the point of being meaningless and certainly should not be a determining factor when making your choice.

You want to select a card based on what you want it to do, period. In the case of home theater pc's, most of the ATI offerings run sound through their hdmi outputs, rather than making you run it through your card, as is often the case with nvidia.

 

[oldewolfe]

OK, Let us Resurrect an Olde Post to give ya an Update....

We finally made the Jump to Win7 a couple of Months ago and I can say the only Trouble we had was we got the Family Pack and Started with a New HD, that went less smoothly than I had liked since it did not have Windows on it at all from the git go... At the same time, I installed a New Graphics Card that I'd picked up at Best Buy the same day I got the Hard Drive, it was a Visiontek Radeon HD5670 2Gb DDR3 Card...

I used the Disk that came with the Card for my Drivers and such and I must say, I'm Impressed with it so Far... I have yet to try the HDMI out due to the Comp being in the Basement and the TV being Upstairs, but I have a Plan... lol

I picked up 4 Games at The 5 Below Store out here, HAWX, Raven Squad, Red Faction and AvP- the last 2 being DX10 and DX11 respectively- and I've had zero Issues with Lagging on a 7yr Olde System...

Now, I might just need another one for another System... lol