128 vs 256

[ak_smallz]

hey, im back

i have been looking into a new video card, and i was recommended by one of you guys to grab a great deal and get the HighTech "Excaliber" Radeon 9800 pro 128mb (256 bit). On newegg.com, they sell it for around $240, but many reviews say they can overclock it to speeds above an XT because of the good fan. I also have come across a 256mb version of the card for $80 more. How much better is the performance going to be? Is it worth spending 80 bucks more for the 256mb version?
Thanks for any help in advance.

 

[ak_smallz]

oh, btw, here are links to the 2 cards:

128: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-161-109&depa=1

256: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-161-116&depa=1


Theres also another 256 mb card that looks pretty nice, the GAINWARD FX5900XT 256MB GOLDEN SAMPLE ($270)

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=14-128-184&depa=0

give me your thoughts, thanks

 

[Demalii]

No you'll find roughly an average of 1 framerate more with the extra 128mb, it's not at all a good idea to blow 80 bucks on that.

 

[didi]

If can, try to get ATI9800XT.

 

[AndrewtheGreat]

more memory is better for future games

 

[ak_smallz]

With the GAINWARD FX5900XT 256MB GOLDEN SAMPLE, i can get that 256 mb for only $20 more which it reasonable, but im not sure if it would be better than HighTech Radeon 9800 128 and it's superior cooling (256 hightech is not an option anymore, too much $$). So now i need to find which card is better, Radeon or the FX9800XT. I also have read that people can OC the Hightech to speeds about the XT.

Which would you buy if you had the money for either the Hightech or FX9800?

 

[zerozero]

Before you go and buy a video card because of its 256 M, check the specs. A lot of companies came out with super 256 MB cards that were just a load of crap. Although future games (starting with Far Cry) will take advantage of 256 M and 1 G of RAM, the quality of the memory is extremely important. 256 M of cheap RAM will be easily outperformed by 128 (hell even 64) M of good memory.

 

[Demalii]

Right so before you spend the extra money (for future games) which won't be using this extra ram for a few years, the best suggestion would be to save your money and upgrade later on, because the card you get now will run a game years from now, but not as well as you would like... Everything's coming around faster, so you'll want to upgrade more often, especially when something gets cheap.

Tomshardware.com has done reviews on the matter and found exactly that you gain nothing from the extra ram and that it indeed doesn't support the idea of spending extra money for what you gain. You really don't need it. Although there are some people that say having the extra ram does allow you to improve the looks of a game, but iono =/