10 replies to this topic

[dilnalomo]

hi guys, i need your help!

i am planning to buy a saphhire x1800xt, but dont know if the one with 512mb memory is significantly better than the 256mb one. is 512mb really makes a huge difference?

give me some ideas, thanks!

[node64]

if you were to play games then yes.. id go with 512.

[dilnalomo]

node64, on Jul 2 2006, 12:40 PM, said:

if you were to play games then yes.. id go with 512.

well, i am going to play games, and 512 really makes a huge difference in frame rate etc?

[U.C.]

Depends on how much RAM u have. But 512 is gonna help in FEAR or Doom3. Most games donot require such high VRAMs. But then again if the price aint too much, why not.

If u have 1GB RAM, then 512 MB VRAM wont really make a difference in todays normal games. FEAR runs fine on my 128 MB card.

[dilnalomo]

umm, i have 2 512mb ram in dual-channel mode. i am leaning towards 256mb, considering my budget. but if 512mb really makes a huge difference, i will wait a few more weeks to save more money.

[MaFL]

Hi,

in general the 512mb cards are about ~10% faster than their 256mb competitors.
In some games (for example CoD2) if you activate AA/AF the difference is much higher (@1600x1200 4xAA/16xAF: 18 vs 31fps)
So far there are only a few titles that really gains from the 512, but already the 10% let me think about it, because the price diff isn´t that much.

But the big question is... does the x1800xt works with borisbadenovs method? So far I only know about an XL?

Regards
Matt

[dilnalomo]

thanks for the info guys!
now i have another question, i have a 350w PSU, and the 512 mb version recommands a 450w plus one, (the 256mb one recommands 350w) is it neccessary to use a 450w PSU for the 512mb one?

i really dont want to change the power suplly if i dont have to.

[adurbe]

there is only about 5/6% speed difference in the higher ram

I investigated this at great legnth b4 I bought my card.  But saying that, 512 is more -future proof- what kind of price difference are we talking?

Power required my the card is price specific, check on the specs listings of the card (almost certainly available on their website)  at a guess 450w sounds enough though

[MaFL]

@adurbe... did you investigate this in special for the x1800? The 256mb version is slower than it should. Some suspect slower ram timings, but it´s unclear.

For the power... What brand? 350w noname?
If I remember correctly there should be a diff of about 10w between the cards 12v... So lets say...  additional 100w/90w... 8,5/7,5A needed @12v.
How much ampere delivers your psu @the 12v line? You have to look at those numbers to decide it. It´s important how the power is splitted between the lines.

[U.C.]

A higher PSU is always good to have. A 350W will be bare minimum for todays systems and may fail in case you OC or put it to heavy use. A 350 W is usually sufficent for 1 HDD, 1 DVD/CD, 1-2 Extra PCI cards and Graphic Card. But a x1800t is a high end gaming card. I would definately go for a 430W Antec or 500W Antec, irrespective of 256/512MB Card.

Also if the price diff is not much, go for the 512MB. Atleast all the upcoming games for the next 3-4 Yrs will run fine on this.

[bwhsh8r]

You can buy the slower clocked one (the xt i think) and then download the bios for the xtx and reflash it to the xtx, as the bios are the  only diference   but remember to make a dump of the originals first so that you may reflash to original if you need a waranty replacement or something of the like.


max