GeForce 8600 to have a 128-bit memory bus?

[Meithan]

I know info has already been posted about the upcoming 8600, but I wanna focus specifically on its 128-bit memory bus. Why is nVidia pairing their new GeForce 8s with such low bandwidth bus?

Nvidia's GeForce 8800-series graphics cards have generously wide memory buses, but their upcoming mainstream siblings may end up being a little more bandwidth-constrained. According to a report by VR-Zone, GeForce 8600 cards will have 128-bit-wide memory buses, just like their GeForce 7600- and GeForce 6600-series predecessors.

The site says Nvidia will introduce two GeForce 8600 models: a GeForce 8600 GT with a 650MHz core clock and 900MHz memory and a GeForce 8600 GS with 550MHz core and 700MHz memory clocks. Both models will have 64 stream processors, a 128-bit memory bus, and 256MB of GDDR3 RAM. Those specs contradict previous rumors, and they suggest the two cards will only have 28.8GB/s and 22.4GB/s of memory bandwidth—pretty low considering the GeForce 7900 GS has 42.2GB/s.

http://techreport.com/onearticle.x/11658

 

[maroon1]

Memory bandwidth is not so important, the 8600GT will be much better than 7900GS

 

[Meithan]

Yeah I'm not implying it will suck. With 64 stream processors, it will own any GeForce 7 or ATI X1000.

But still, I wonder why nVidia did this. Is it really that expensive to use a 256-bit memory bus?

 

[Deathawk]

Well, there needs to be some sort of middle range card. Why get an 8900gtx when an 8600gt can play everything at max, and ismuch cheaper.

 

[COD2_fanatic]

Well, there needs to be some sort of middle range card. Why get an 8900gtx when an 8600gt can play everything at max, and ismuch cheaper.

True they dont just sell their cards at low prices, the hardware has to be limited some how to sell it at a lower price

 

[Phantom118]

According to http://www.nordichardware.com/news,5442.html The 8600 Ultra and GT will have 256 bit, while the 8300's will only have 128.

Im patiencly waiting for the release of the 8600 Ultra before i upgrade. I would like to see how it compairs to the 8800 GTS 320mb.