8800GTS 640 vs 320

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dan_foster11

New Member
I want to get a new card, and Im mainly looking at these two cards. Basically Im wondering what the performance difference is between them, and if anyone would recommend one or the other.

Thanks
Dan
 
The only difference is the 640mb one will perform better at higher resolutions. They are basically the same at 1280x1024 and below, so if you dont game at high resolutions like 1600x1900 or whatever then the 320mb would be better. But me, i got the 320mb since my montior only supports up to 1280x1024 anyway. So i dont need the extra memory.

Also, you could just keep the low resolution and crank up the AA to 8x or whatever it goes up to, and the card should still do fine. I think they are equal at lower resolutions like 1280x1024.
 
from the benchmarks and from what i have heard, the performace differances are slim to none, i guess i all depends on your budget

Edit: the guy above me said it all.... :P
 
Wow, thanks for the quick reply! I only run at 1200x1024, so Ill go with the 320, but I was gonna go for the 640, thanks for saving me the extra cash!
 
Just recieved my 8800GTS 320mb, you wont regret it. Its blazing fast at 1280x1024 even with 8xAA! This card is truly amazing.
 
dan_foster11 said:
so truly the only difference is the 640 runs better at high resolutions? At 1280x1024 theyd be identical in performance?
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Hell, i was runnin 1600x1000 (my montior freaked out at 1600x1200) and it still kept playable fps above 30! This card is truly something.

Thats Lost Planet, max settings, 8xAA, 16xAF, 1600x1000 at 30fps and above. Actually my lowest was 27fps. Still very playable, and very sexy.
 
Im not really questioning the 320 card, because I hear the 8800 is pretty bad ass at both the 320 and 640, I just want to make sure that I wont be losing performance by going with the 320 card
 
Dual_Corex2 said:
The only difference is the 640mb one will perform better at higher resolutions. They are basically the same at 1280x1024 and below, so if you dont game at high resolutions like 1600x1900 or whatever then the 320mb would be better. But me, i got the 320mb since my montior only supports up to 1280x1024 anyway. So i dont need the extra memory.

Also, you could just keep the low resolution and crank up the AA to 8x or whatever it goes up to, and the card should still do fine. I think they are equal at lower resolutions like 1280x1024.
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HOLD UP! DEFINATALLY NOT TRUE! Not just that, BUT! new games, Lost Planet for example, can utilize up to 512MB of V RAM, on tha card! New games will follow like that! not longer will it just be for resolution, but with DX10, more and more visual data for the environment will need tons more memory, this is where the 320MB version will fall flat on its face.
 
ADE said:
HOLD UP! DEFINATALLY NOT TRUE! Not just that, BUT! new games, Lost Planet for example, can utilize up to 512MB of V RAM, on tha card! New games will follow like that! not longer will it just be for resolution, but with DX10, more and more visual data for the environment will need tons more memory, this is where the 320MB version will fall flat on its face.
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How do you figure that? This is what system memory is for. System memory can also be used as video memory, you can set it in the BIOS to dedicate a specific amount. It wouldnt be AS fast as memory on the card itself, but it certainly wont be slow. The 320mb will be plenty. And if you believe what your saying, then that means the 640mb will be nothing.

I believe that if 320mb is enough to play Lost Planet maxed with 8xAA @ 1600x1000 then it is plenty for future games.
 
As others have said, with the current games that are you, the only time you will see a major difference is if you run high resolutions on max or ultra settings, otherwise it's just wasted money.
 
I do not mean the DX9 version, the DX10 version of the game. But I am sure the next gen games will be sure to follow in these foot steps.
 
ADE said:
I do not mean the DX9 version, the DX10 version of the game. But I am sure the next gen games will be sure to follow in these foot steps.
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So then you can pay another $50-$100 for the 640mb version. And you wouldnt see no difference. And none of the 8 series is good at DX10 right now, the drivers need alot of work.
 
IMO by the time you will truly see the difference between having 320MB and 640MB of video RAM, the 8800GTS wont be able to play the games at an acceptable framerate. From the DX10 benchmarks i've seen, even dual 8800GTX's top out at around 50fps on medium settings. @ 1280x1024.
 
nVidia's drivers are already pretty good, don't expect them to get much better. However ATI's drivers seriously need work, and from benchmarks you can see that the next driver release will improve framerates quite a bit. Just dont expect anything amazing for the 8800 series in terms of a performance boost.
 
[-0MEGA-];666659 said:
nVidia's drivers are already pretty good, don't expect them to get much better. However ATI's drivers seriously need work, and from benchmarks you can see that the next driver release will improve framerates quite a bit. Just dont expect anything amazing for the 8800 series in terms of a performance boost.
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Which would mean you could have 1gb on these cards and it wont help lol.

Whats the DX10 performance? I saw one test they were at like 20-30fps. Berely playable?
 
Dual_Corex2 said:
Which would mean you could have 1gb on these cards and it wont help lol.

Whats the DX10 performance? I saw one test they were at like 20-30fps. Berely playable?
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Ya, thats probably the same chart I saw. I believe it was dual 8800's, but it could have been a single. Either way, having an 8800GTX and only getting 30fps is horrible, especially when the game isnt even on high/maxed settings!
 
[-0MEGA-];666679 said:
Ya, thats probably the same chart I saw. I believe it was dual 8800's, but it could have been a single. Either way, having an 8800GTX and only getting 30fps is horrible, especially when the game isnt even on high/maxed settings!
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Exactly! Thats why im hoping its just the drivers, and that better drivers will make it faster.

Or, maybe they need to re-design DX10?


http://www.legitreviews.com/article/504/3/

After looking at that, the ATi card looks pretty fast :D
 
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