Video card specs... What really matters?

[Igetshockedalot]

Cyber pimps,
I am considering upgrading my vid card (as you can see from my specs I need to!) and I am wondering what specs I should really be concerned with. Pls advise. Is Core clock the most important? Memory clock? Below is a spec breakdown from Newegg. Thanks!!

Core clock: 490MHZ overclocked
DirectX: DirectX 9
DVI: 2
Memory Clock: 1300MHz
Memory Interface: 256-bit
OpenGL: OpenGL 2.0
PixelPipelines: 24
TV Tuner: No
TV-Out: HDTV/S-Video/Composite Out
VIVO: Yes

 

[TheHeadFL]

I think the most prudent thing to do would be to find a "l337 Grafix Card Roundup" at a hardware review site, find the best performer that you can afford, and buy that exact one.

 

[SHAWN]

Its mainly pixel pipelines followed by the core/memory. Go with a 6800GT and you will be very happy.

 

[003]

The specs you're looking at look like those of the BFG 7800GTX. It's a waste if you ask me. The R520 is going to own the 7800GTX. I say get a cheap card to tide you over until the r520 comes out.

 

[LoTeX]

I say get a cheap card to tide you over until the r520 comes out.

or try to cope with that 9600xt...it ain't that bad, im still using my old GF4 Ti4200 and i've decied to wait for awhile.

 

[DJ-CHRIS]

The specs you're looking at look like those of the BFG 7800GTX. It's a waste if you ask me. The R520 is going to own the 7800GTX. I say get a cheap card to tide you over until the r520 comes out.

Just remeber that ATI cannot get all of their pipelines working

 

[RicoDirenzo]

Since I bought my 6800gt I have lived in video heaven.!!!!!!! Totaly amazing GPU!

 

[Elbatrop1]

Dont really put too much emphasis on the clock speeds. Have a look at benchmarks. Benchmarks will show you what card 'walks the walk.' Instead of getting burdened with numbers that dont mean that much to the average person. Benchmarks are our friend.

Some good sites to look up benchmarks:
www.tomshardware.com
www.anandtech.com
www.xbitlabs.com

 

[Nubius]

Dont really put too much emphasis on the clock speeds. Have a look at benchmarks.

Finally, someone comes to an intelligent conclusion.....time and time again I keep seeing people comparing clock speeds, "BUT BUT THE 6600GT HAS 500MHz, WHY DOES THE 6800GT SUCK AND ONLY HAVE 350Mhz!?"

Just like CPU's...clock speed doesn't mean everything...depends on what each clock is capable of as well as many other factors.

Tomshardware, however, IMO sucks in a lot of benchmarks...I see them use outdated drivers too much of the time....but in general use benchmarks only as a 'guide' of somewhat to aid in your purchase...don't heavily rely on it and think that those results are set in stone

 

[Elbatrop1]

Tomshardware, however, IMO sucks in a lot of benchmarks...I see them use outdated drivers too much of the time....but in general use benchmarks only as a 'guide' of somewhat to aid in your purchase...don't heavily rely on it and think that those results are set in stone

The only thing that I really like about Tom's benchmarks is the VGA/CPU Charts that lay everything out really nicely.