I am shopping for a new graphics card and I am a little confused to what memory in a graphics card does. Is it really worth the extra $60 go get 512mb as opposed to 256mb cards? Can someone please educate me.
This has been asked a few times now. It depends on the card, for instance if you are comparing the 8800GT with 256MB and 512MB, then yes it's worth it especially if you play at high resolutions. However if you are asking about an 8600GTS for instance, then no it's not worth it.
I figured since the price difference between the two 8800GT's is about $60.
Just to "refine" my original post a bit, the 8800GT 256MB will still play games on very high settings at decent resolutions (such as 1280x1024), but when you get into the 1600x1200 and higher range, the lack of memory will catch up with you.
For the price however, the 8800GT 256MB certainly does look appealing.