256 or 512mb video memory

[Evolution1340]

Hi all
Can someone tell me a good rule of thumb for figuring out video ram? The way I have been doing it is I add up all the required memory of my games, and then double it. Do you think that is a correct method? The game's I currently play total 132mb doubled 264.

Thank you all,
Evolution1340

 

[Lexluethar]

No i don't. Do you mean the most ram possible for one game? Because unless you have some mad multitasking skills, you won't be playing all of your games at one time, therefore not tapping into the video ram as much as you think you are.

It also isn't all about ram, GPU's also play a huge role in how good a video card is. You also won't find a card that runs 264 or 132 mb of ram, as everything in the IT world needs to be in incriments of 32 - doubling as you get higher.

I feel you need to take the system into consideration and the individual game before 'guessing' how much ram is needed.

 

[CalcProgrammer1]

It's more about the GPU. I have a 512MB 8600M GS, it's better than a 128MB 8400M GS. The reason isn't necessarily because it has more RAM, it's because the 8600M chip is faster than the 8400M chip and has more stream processors and such. Look for chip model. In the same fashion, my laptop's 8600M GS with 512MB RAM is a lot better than my desktop's ATi Radeon X1600Pro 512MB. They both have 512MB, but the 8600M chip is newer and faster than the X1600Pro.

However, things aren't necessarily increments of 32, it's powers of 2 and additions of such powers.
2^1 = 2
2^2 = 4
2^3 = 8
2^4 = 16
2^5 = 32
2^6 = 64
2^7 = 128
2^8 = 256
2^9 = 512
2^10 = 1024 (often referred to as 1GB, where GB is 1024 instead of 1000)

However, combinations of such numbers can exist. You can get graphics cards with 768MB, this is because it has 512+256MB, which is 768 (though usually the memory number is made up of multiple smaller RAM chips anyways, so 6*128MB chips = 768MB, 12*64MB chips = 768MB, 8*64MB = 512MB, etc).