256MB vs. 512MB?

[brett]

What is the benefit of a 512MB video card over one that has 256MB?
I'll be running Vista, designing graphics and have a many applications
open at once. However, there won't be any large amount of animations or
gaming.

Thanks,
Brett

 

[RAID!!!]

What is the benefit of a 512MB video card over one that has 256MB?
I'll be running Vista, designing graphics and have a many applications
open at once. However, there won't be any large amount of animations or
gaming.

Thanks,
Brett

Not a lot of difference. The only real benefit is in games that use very
large textures, more memory means less stuttering and a bit higher frame
rate when large textures are loaded. I do a lot of gaming and my 7900GT has
256mb and the performannce is good but my next card will have 512mb but for
you I doubt it is important.

 

[Mike Ruskai]

What is the benefit of a 512MB video card over one that has 256MB?
I'll be running Vista, designing graphics and have a many applications
open at once. However, there won't be any large amount of animations or
gaming.

If you aren't using any 3D applications (i.e. applications which
require texture memory), then you need only a sufficient frame buffer
to store one frame at your chosen resolution, which will be less than
16MB.

If you're using that 3D-ified interface of Vista, you'll need some
texture memory, but certainly a very small amount (less than 32MB is a
fair bet).

In any case, 256MB vs 512MB is irrelevant for your usage.