Benefits of having a 256 mb Video card over a 128 mb?

[lokodezine]

Just curious does the amount of mb on a graphics card make a big difference? Whats the benefits?

[Hi Ho]

It used to be that 128MB was recommended over 256MB mainly because games at that time did not take advantage of the extra memory and the 256MB models usually had slower memory.

These days, however, 256MB isn't a bad idea. The current generation 256MB cards are just as fast as the 128MB models and games are using the extra memory. DoomIII actually recommends 512MB to run on the maximum settings though I don't believe there are any 512MB cards at this time.

[DonVito]

the amount of mb a card has is its V-RAM or video ram. this is where the textures of a level or map of a game are stored during loading. When the textures are lower quality the game doent look as good but they take up less room or less of the card available mb's. On most of todays games 128mb is enough to turn textures to high because the textures arn't detailed enough to fill up the 128mb's. but some games like battlefield 2 with big maps which means lots of textures, you have to set textures to medium so the game runs smoothly.


Quote-"DoomIII actually recommends 512MB to run on the maximum settings though I don't believe there are any 512MB cards at this time."

there are 512mb 6800ultras out there for like $600, and i think theres some x850xt's with that much but im not sure. A 256mb 7800 would be a much better investment though.

[rspassey]

there are 512mb video cards, they are just very costly, What are you looking for, do you have PCI-express slot/slots on your motherboard?

[systempat]

For all but the most high-end 3D games, the 128 mb video cards will do anything you need. Some of these choices end up being features used as marketing to help sell new product.

[palloco]

The problem is that many times this question is asked in budget cards, which do not fully need those 256mb. Furthermore in these cases the 256 mb cards have slower memory than the ones with 128, resulting in cards with the same cost with the only objective to have more sells.