Choosing a graphics card

[Gordon]

Hi,

I've narrowed my choice of graphic card I want down to 2:

(a) Sapphire Radeon X1650 PRO 256MB GDDR3 VGA TVO DVI-I AGP
(b) Sapphire RAdeon X1650 PRO 512MB DDR2 DVI HDCP TV Out AGP

There is not much in the price - (a) is £3 more expensive - but is
the extra 256mb DDR2 onboard memory better than the total of 256mb of
faster GDDR3 memory?

Are there any other factors I should take into account? My CPU is an
AMD Athlon 2.8ghz and I have 2mb RAM installed.

Grateful for any advice.

Gogs

 

[JAD]

Hi,

I've narrowed my choice of graphic card I want down to 2:

(a) Sapphire Radeon X1650 PRO 256MB GDDR3 VGA TVO DVI-I AGP
(b) Sapphire RAdeon X1650 PRO 512MB DDR2 DVI HDCP TV Out AGP

There is not much in the price - (a) is £3 more expensive - but is
the extra 256mb DDR2 onboard memory better than the total of 256mb of
faster GDDR3 memory?

Are there any other factors I should take into account? My CPU is an
AMD Athlon 2.8ghz and I have 2mb RAM installed.

Grateful for any advice.

Gogs
you need more ram.....;^)

get the 512, I would, simply because it does have hdtv, and the 512 will hold you over for
some time to come.

 

[John Weiss]

I've narrowed my choice of graphic card I want down to 2:
(a) Sapphire Radeon X1650 PRO 256MB GDDR3 VGA TVO DVI-I AGP
(b) Sapphire RAdeon X1650 PRO 512MB DDR2 DVI HDCP TV Out AGP

There is not much in the price - (a) is £3 more expensive - but is the
extra 256mb DDR2 onboard memory better than the total of 256mb of faster
GDDR3 memory?

How do you know the GDDR3 is faster? What are the core and memory clock
speeds? The similar cards I see at Newegg have 450 MHz core and 1300 MHz
memory clocks on the 256MB versions, and 590/1380 MHz clocks on the 512 MB
versions.

If those are what you're looking at, the 512 MB version is the better choice.

Are there any other factors I should take into account? My CPU is an AMD
Athlon 2.8ghz and I have 2mb RAM installed.

Power supply. Make sure yours is big enough (especially the 12V rail) to
support the card. I'm not sure about the 1650, but the X1950s pull around 75
watts at full tilt. A good PS of 300+ watts should be enough, though some
mfgrs recommend 400 or 450 (maybe to accommodate cheaper PSes).

 

[John Doe]

Hi,

I've narrowed my choice of graphic card I want down to 2:

(a) Sapphire Radeon X1650 PRO 256MB GDDR3 VGA TVO DVI-I AGP
(b) Sapphire RAdeon X1650 PRO 512MB DDR2 DVI HDCP TV Out AGP

There is not much in the price - (a) is £3 more expensive - but is
the extra 256mb DDR2 onboard memory better than the total of 256mb
of faster GDDR3 memory?

I would go with 256 MB and GDR3.

There are simple programs to measure video memory usage, one is called
MemStatus 2.50. I have only one program, a game called Supreme
Commander, that can use more than 256 MB of RAM.

By the way, there is an ATI videocard group. They probably can give
you more detail.

Good luck and have fun.

 

[Gogs]

Thanks for the advice guys.

My PSU is rated at 360w and I don't think it is a cheap component - I
believe ATI recommend 350w for the X1650. Pretty close, huh, but then
these things are all about maximums.

On balance, I think I'll go for the card with the extra RAM.

Thanks

Gogs

 

[John Doe]

Thanks for the advice guys.

My PSU is rated at 360w and I don't think it is a cheap component -
I believe ATI recommend 350w for the X1650. Pretty close, huh, but
then these things are all about maximums.

Power supply wattage alone can be meaningless or even misleading.
Depends on what you mean by not "a cheap component".

On balance, I think I'll go for the card with the extra RAM.

I would look at performance tests and/or consult the ATI videocard
group.