Does anyone know why?

Y

yellowcardlive

New Member
Why do some people say the Apollo FX5700Le PCI version is better than the FX5500 PCI version and some say the FX5500 is better than the FX5700LE. Does anyone know which one is really the best.
 
Well, if I'm remembering my specs correctly, the 5500 can come with a 256mb on-board memory which will help with on-board processing on the video data. The 5700LE has a more powerful processor usually only comes with 128mb, which requires more work be done by the CPU. In most tests, the results come out the be about the same with games and benchmarks and such... So, if you have a good amount of RAM and processor speed, then go with the 5700LE, if not, go with the 5500. Does that help?

Oh, and here's a link to an awesome site that lists most of these benchmarks:
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20041004/vga_charts-08.html

P.S. There might be a new chart out by now, it's an old link I have saved in IE :)
 
Why do some people say the Apollo FX5700Le PCI version is better than the FX5500 PCI version and some say the FX5500 is better than the FX5700LE. Does anyone know which one is really the best.
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5700 is always better than 5500 regardless. It has twice the pipelines :)
 
I see that the only problem with that is the fact that there is less RAM on the 5700LE than the 5500, I would agree that in most cases the 5700LE would still be better. But if you don't have very much RAM, say 256 or anything less than 512, you should get a card with more than 128 megs of RAM.
 
I see that the only problem with that is the fact that there is less RAM on the 5700LE than the 5500
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Except RAM means next to nothing for performance. For example here is a 256MB GeForce 6200 http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...E145-5120&SRCCODE=SHOPPINGDF&CMP=OTC-SHOPPING now compare this to any GeForce 6600 (128MB) model regardless of how much system RAM you have. Video RAM (called the frame buffer) is used to store frames which are read by the RAMDAC and sent to the monitor to be displayed.
 
Although, usually like I said before the 5700LE performs a few frames higher than the 5500. And true, the 5700 chip is better than the 5500 chip, but if you don't have enough RAM and/or processing power to deal with the information coming out of the higher chip, than what's the point of buying something that won't be used to its full potential? It's similar to have a 3.0 GHz chip with 256mb of RAM, the processor will never be fully used because there isn't enough RAM to transfer the data.
 
well yes and no. I know where you're coming from, I just wanted to point out that a 128MB card isn't necessicarily worse (or better for that matter) than a 256MB card, sort of a 'don't buy more than you need' situation
 
Very true, I had the same dilemma when I was looking into a new card for my compy. I have a 1.6 GHz P4 chip with 768mb of PC2700 RAM. I ended up getting a 6600 purely because when I build my new compy (hopefully soon), I wanted to be able to take that card and use it in the new one. So, I had to find something that would work with my current set-up, but also work a few years down the road. I actually was about to get a 5700, until I found a 6600 on newegg for $150!!! I was so excited, I'm still a little giddy ;)
 
I see that the only problem with that is the fact that there is less RAM on the 5700LE than the 5500, I would agree that in most cases the 5700LE would still be better. But if you don't have very much RAM, say 256 or anything less than 512, you should get a card with more than 128 megs of RAM.
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Actually ALL cases, it will be better. There's not really much of a point in having 256MB of memory on a low end videocard since the memory bandwidth is going to be seriously bottlenecked. Furthermore, having twice the pipe structures, the 5700 will pull ahead. (or at least has the capacity to do so)

True, but go to this site http://graphics.tomshardware.com/gr..._charts-08.html and you'll see that the 5500 and the 5700LE are almost identical in performance for gaming.
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Unless im missing something, neither the 5500 or 5700LE are featured on those two charts

Although, usually like I said before the 5700LE performs a few frames higher than the 5500. And true, the 5700 chip is better than the 5500 chip, but if you don't have enough RAM and/or processing power to deal with the information coming out of the higher chip, than what's the point of buying something that won't be used to its full potential? It's similar to have a 3.0 GHz chip with 256mb of RAM, the processor will never be fully used because there isn't enough RAM to transfer the data.
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5500 = 2x1 @ 270/200
5700LE = 4x2 @ 250/200
As we see here, the memory clock speed is the same so out goes the memory bandwidth argument. A 20Mhz difference on the core is (a) not really noticeable and (b) more than accounted for by twice the pipes
 
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