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View Full Version : RAM or GPU: Which makes a bigger difference?



tohito
05-25-2006, 04:29 PM
I am about to buy a GeForce video card (or perhaps two), and I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice. Is it better to go with a lower-end GPU with more RAM, or a higher-end GPU with less RAM? I really cannot afford a 7900 GTX with 512 MB of RAM, but I might be able to afford the same card with only 256 MB. And I could definitely afford a 6800-based card with 512 MB. So, I guess my question is this: How much RAM do modern PC games need? I'm not much of a PC gamer right now, but I'd like to be able to play games like Star Wars: Empire at War or Age of Empires III at full (or pretty close) graphics settings. Is this going to require 512 MB of RAM, or will 256 MB suffice?

dgrmkrp
05-25-2006, 05:17 PM
well, you have to think first at what resulation you want to play: bigger ones require more VRAM(think bitmaps, the bigger the size<resolution>, the bigger the.. size<disk and RAM requirements> :) but with more compression.) and if you don't have a gpu capable of working with that much RAM (read/write, compute stuff and read/write again.. so that u get the best out of the gpu..).. u have a problem.. generally, u'll have to find a matched pair of these.. u'r choice.. but of course u could wait a lil longer so you could afford a 7900gtx/512mb :)

Cevinzol
05-26-2006, 01:41 AM
of the top of my head i'd say go with more RAM.
A faster GPU with less ram is like a stock car with a restrictor plate on the intake.

I agree with D.grm.krp. if this is some kind of stop gap then skip it, save your plat and get what you really want later.



did I just use plat in a sentance?
ok note to self: stop playing MMORPGs go outside.

d_stilgar
05-26-2006, 01:55 AM
I thought it was common knowledge that the biggest things holding fps down today was the fsb and the processor.