How much graphics card memory is enough?

SUBMAN1 · 12-31-07, 03:47 PM

This question comes up from time to time, so to put the feet to the fire, here is the same GPU testing with 256 MB, 512 MB, and 1 GB worth of memory to see how it affects performance. 512 MB is still the sweet spot after all this time. 1 GB gives you very little unless you plan to run at 1920x resolution - and most games would perform poorly at such high res anyway on a single card that it is almost worthless. 256 MB doesn't really cut it anymore either, even at low resolutions since games like to fling large textures these days.

ANyway, here are the goods:

http://en.expreview.com/?p=159

-S

PS. Here is the 3dmark graph:

CCIP · 12-31-07, 05:51 PM

Yup. This was true 7 years ago when I bought my first "real" vid card and this is still true today. The load of RAM is only useful to a point. I would say that 256mb is certainly adequate for most things, and unless you're really keen on maximum gain regardless of what it costs you... getting more is probably not a terribly wise choice :p

Mind you, my next card will probably be a 512... but that won't happen for at least 1.5 years from now.

Konovalov · 12-31-07, 07:46 PM

512mb 8800GT will probably be my next card. Not a 256mb variant.

12-31-07, 03:47 PM	#1
SUBMAN1 Rear Admiral Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 11,866 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	How much graphics card memory is enough? This question comes up from time to time, so to put the feet to the fire, here is the same GPU testing with 256 MB, 512 MB, and 1 GB worth of memory to see how it affects performance. 512 MB is still the sweet spot after all this time. 1 GB gives you very little unless you plan to run at 1920x resolution - and most games would perform poorly at such high res anyway on a single card that it is almost worthless. 256 MB doesn't really cut it anymore either, even at low resolutions since games like to fling large textures these days. ANyway, here are the goods: http://en.expreview.com/?p=159 -S PS. Here is the 3dmark graph: __________________

12-31-07, 05:51 PM	#2
CCIP Navy Seal Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Waterloo, Canada Posts: 8,700 Downloads: 29 Uploads: 2	Yup. This was true 7 years ago when I bought my first "real" vid card and this is still true today. The load of RAM is only useful to a point. I would say that 256mb is certainly adequate for most things, and unless you're really keen on maximum gain regardless of what it costs you... getting more is probably not a terribly wise choice :p Mind you, my next card will probably be a 512... but that won't happen for at least 1.5 years from now. __________________ There are only forty people in the world and five of them are hamburgers. -Don Van Vliet (aka Captain Beefheart)

12-31-07, 07:46 PM	#3
Konovalov Ocean Warrior Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: High Wycombe, Bucks, UK Posts: 2,811 Downloads: 9 Uploads: 0	512mb 8800GT will probably be my next card. Not a 256mb variant. __________________ "In a Christian context, sexuality is traditionally seen as a consequence of the Fall, but for Muslims, it is an anticipation of paradise. So I can say, I think, that I was validly converted to Islam by a teenage French Jewish nudist." Sheikh Abdul-Hakim Murad (Timothy Winter)