Video Card choices for gaming ?

[Noahtuck]

My son is building a new PC this week & i am wondering what would be a better choice for a video card.

Would a 512mb DDR3 video card be better for gaming then a 1gb DDR2 video card ?
It will be a PCI-e card.

He will have a 2.8ghz dual core cpu with 4gb of dual channel ramm, the mobo actually supports up to 16gb of ramm.

I just upgraded from using AGP cards so i am not really up on all the new PCI-e cards with all the new ramm.

He plays WOW online and he wants something that is going to play it all the way with no hiccups as he has some issues keeping up with his 256mb AGP card.

Someone told him just adding more ramm to his current PC would help a lot, he has 1.5gbs of DDR now, but seeing as he is building a new PC he wants to get what might be better.

[ocgw]

My son is building a new PC this week & i am wondering what would be a better choice for a video card.

Would a 512mb DDR3 video card be better for gaming then a 1gb DDR2 video card ?
It will be a PCI-e card.

He will have a 2.8ghz dual core cpu with 4gb of dual channel ramm, the mobo actually supports up to 16gb of ramm.

I just upgraded from using AGP cards so i am not really up on all the new PCI-e cards with all the new ramm.

He plays WOW online and he wants something that is going to play it all the way with no hiccups as he has some issues keeping up with his 256mb AGP card.

Someone told him just adding more ramm to his current PC would help a lot, he has 1.5gbs of DDR now, but seeing as he is building a new PC he wants to get what might be better.

The gpu has a greater impact on gaming performance than the amount of memory

ocgw

peace

[Noahtuck]

My son is building a new PC this week & i am wondering what would be a better choice for a video card.

Would a 512mb DDR3 video card be better for gaming then a 1gb DDR2 video card ?
It will be a PCI-e card.

He will have a 2.8ghz dual core cpu with 4gb of dual channel ramm, the mobo actually supports up to 16gb of ramm.

I just upgraded from using AGP cards so i am not really up on all the new PCI-e cards with all the new ramm.

He plays WOW online and he wants something that is going to play it all the way with no hiccups as he has some issues keeping up with his 256mb AGP card.

Someone told him just adding more ramm to his current PC would help a lot, he has 1.5gbs of DDR now, but seeing as he is building a new PC he wants to get what might be better.

The gpu has a greater impact on gaming performance than the amount of memory

ocgw

peace

Well it's not the amount of memory i was asking about but rather the type.

Is DDR3 that much better then DDR2 ?

To the point that a 512mb DDR3 would be better then a 1gb DDR2 ?
Considering everything else was basically equal.

[rallynavvie]

Which GPU core is it?

My guess is the DDR3 platform is going to be faster overall for most games than the DDR2. Having a lot of VMEM is handy in some games but I think most (read: new) would prefer the faster access of DDR3. Old BF1942 was a monster VMEM hog.

[Nelson37]

As usual, the answer is "it depends". I have seen reviews of particular cards wherein a card using DDR2 was in fact faster than a card using DDR3. Too many other variables.

More memory will allow the use of higher-res textures. 1Gb is better than 512, doesn't matter what type.

The actual processor on the card is far more important than the memory type used.

SFAIK, WoW is not a very graphics-intensive game, compared to something like Crysis.

Now if I'm looking at two identical cards, with the only difference being DDR2 or DDR3, I'd take the ddr3. But if it was one GB of DDR2 and 512 of ddr3, I'd take the one gig card, because I have games that will utilize the full gigabyte. I don't think Warcraft does.

You are basically looking at two or three cards each from Nvidea and ATI. Limited selection, the type of RAM used is not a factor I would be concerned with.

Also I would not recommend spending huge money on a gaming card. You can get an 8800Gt for well under a hundred bucks that will handle anything you are currently using. In a year or two, the current champion $300.00 card will be available for about the same price.

[greymalkin]

The good news is WOW is not really a demanding game when compared to the latest and greatest out there.

The ATI 4850 series cards can be had for around 120.

This ones a 1gb ddr3 256-bit card and looking over the reviews it plays WoW on highest settings (Of course your overall computer will have some to do with this as well)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150351

From the reviews: Other Thoughts: I don't play games as often like I used to, and when I do play, its World of Warcraft. I can run WoW at highest graphic settings beautifully and smoothly. I know that's not the biggest accomplishment but it does what I want so I'm happy. Also, I used the plain, bulky design of the video card in my favor by sticking a case badge on the edge facing my computer case's window to give it that personal touch. Overall, I am very happy.

[Noahtuck]

Yeah i think the same way, go for the larger amount of ram over the DDR2 vs DDR3.

He say's when he runs WoW online at times it will start to lag (the video), the sound still rolls along fine.
I never looked at it while he was playing so i really don't know for sure.

He is running a 1.8gbz athlon with a BFG 256mb AGP card but he is upgrading to a 2.8ghz dual core with 4gb's of dual channel ramm & a 1tb sata hdd, so i'm guessing any video card he decides on will be fine compared to what he has
He will be using the onboard video for a couple of weeks until his next paycheck when he can blow some more for the video card.

I bought a brand new BFG GeForce 9400 GT 1gb DDR2 for $50.00
I know it's not the latest and greatest but it was 50 bucks with a gig of DDR2 ram so what the hell 8)

I already tested deadspace, COD WaW & am currently playing Far Cry 2 & Crysis & they chug right along fine.
I have been playing FC2 with all the settings on high.

I do notice some slight laggyness with Crysis if i max everything out so i run that one at the 2nd to the highest settings.
So for $50.00 i'm plenty happy 8)

Now he is debating between these two,
BFG GeForce 9500 GT Video Card - 1GB DDR2
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4115417&Sku=B52-9500

BFG GeForce 9800 GT - 1GB DDR3
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4644390&Sku=B52-9826
(If he can afford it)

He just wondered if it would be better to get a 512mb DDR3 card for the same amount as he can get a 1gb DDR2 because of the newer ram, but i also said i'd go for the 1gb card.

[rallynavvie]

As has been said in this thread a few times the GPU version is also going to make a big difference. If offered the choice between a 9800GTX with 512MB DDR3 and a 9500GT with 1GB DDR2 I would choose the 9800GTX.

I have to admit I'm a little confused by the additional VMEM on the mid-level GPU chipsets. Are they marketing them easier since the memory chips are cheap additions? It can't hurt I guess.

[jagabo]

Toms Hardware happened to review a few ATI AGP cards yesterday:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-4650-agp,2383.html

<edit> Oops, I had this thread confused with another where someone was looking for an AGP card </edit>

[fitch.j]

That 9800GT is a very good card, i've got that exact card in my second machine, and it runs all the games i play no problem, and i play a lot of high spec FPS's (Crysis, Farcry2 etc.)

As for memory i agree with everyone else. If theres a choice between amounts of memory, say 512 vs 1gb, always go with the higher, the difference in DDR2 and DDR3 won't be enough to justify getting less of it. You'll have less performance despite it being newer memory.

[johns0]

Geforce 260gtx 216 is a great video card for under $200,better than the 9800gt.A 9500gt with 1 gb ram is a very weak video card for the newest games,a 8800gt with 512mb of ram is much better than the 9500gt with 1 gb ram.Doesnt matter if a video card has 1gb ddr3 memory or 512 mb dd3,what counts is the architecture such as bandwith,interface-256bit and higher,cores etc.

A good video card such as a geforce 295gtx at 2gb of ram will be able to play games at higher resolutions then a geforce 295gtx with 1 gb of ram but having more ram wont make it faster,just able to handle more video texture at higher resolutions due to the extra gig of ram.

check here for video card comparisons.
http://users.erols.com/chare/video.htm

[rhegedus]

For what it's worth, I have a EVGA GTX260 and used to play COD4 1920x1200 at 60fps on max settings.

Even Flight Simulator X gose at 25fps+ on max settings and res.

One worrd of caution with the EVGA cards though - they haven't yet sorted out the monitor power off issue.