Video Cards - 256 MB vs. 256-bit

[phantomdesign]

256 MB vs. 256-bit
I noticed on newegg.com two 800 Pro video cards for $205; one has 256 mb of ram while the other says something about being 256-bit. What I'd like to know is what is the advantage of 256-bit?





What I plan on doing...
For my personal use, I am a 3D modeler and the 3D models I make are very high in polygons, and any textured or normal mapped 3D model would likely have high resolution textures.

I'm looking at the possibility of using the HL2 to render real-time (or near real-time) 3D videos of high-end sports cars. Chances are I'd run it at 1024x768 & 4xAA & 4xAF.

I'm guessing I'm better off with 256 MB of ram, but I'd like to know the advantages of 256 bit before making a decision.

 

[poseyjmac]

faster

 

[Asus]

256Bit the road to video memory from the GPU is twice as wide which is a very big help.
256MB video memory is not as big of a deal as 256Bit.

If you have to choose between the two get the 256Bit. If you can have both that's great too.

 

[X|Rolando]

I might be wrong here... but dont all x800 pro cards have 256mb ram (and are 256bit? )

 

[Kazuki_Fuse]

Yeah, that's what I thought. I'm pretty sure the 6800's are the same too yeah?

 

[Someone]

I'm assuming he's talking 9800pro's....don't think there are any x800sfor $200 (cheapest at newegg is $340).

 

[SidewinderX]

yeah, he must be talking about 9800s.

actually, if you're really concenred with modeling, I'd personally suggest a nvidia 6800 class card (if you have the money) You can softmod it to perform like a Quadro FX- class card, which will be best for modeling.

 

[phantomdesign]

Oops, I for some reason the 9 is missing from the 9800 (sorry).

Thanks for the suggestions / help. It appears that I'm best off to get the 256 bit version.

If I could find any AMD motherboards with PCI express, I would get the 6800 GT. What's the performance difference between the different 6800's? Generally I prefer Nvidia because as time goes on their driver support tends to greatly increase performance.

 

[Asus]

Are you building the system right now?
If you wait a few weeks, Nvidia will have their nForce 4 SLI (PCI-Express) boards out for A64.

What programs do you use for modeling?

 

[[Matt]]

As far as i am aware all 256mb 9800 pro cards are 256bit anyhow...

 

[phantomdesign]

Current System Specifications…
+ AMD XP 2600+ (2.08 GHZ)
+ 1 GB DDR
+ NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4800 SE (128 MB)
+ ASUS A7N8X-X Motherboard (Nforce2 chip)
+120 GB Harddrive
(none overclocked)

3D Software…
+ 3DS Max 6.0 (scene preparation & rendering)
+ Rhinoceros 3.0 (NURBS modeling)

I'm not really building a system right now, but I usually upgrade half my system every 6 months. It’s been well over 6 months from my last upgrade and I haven’t been keeping up with hardware over the last year. If I do upgrade, the max I’m willing to spend is $500. Right now, I don’t really need an upgrade for modeling, gaming, or other uses….except DX 9 features for Half Life 2.

What I’d like to do with the video card is use it to render real-time (or near real-time) videos in a MOD for Half Life 2, full detail settings, 8xAA/AF, 1024x768. The videos (1 to 15 minutes each) will be of normal-mapped (from NURBS models) exotic sports cars in high-quality environments.

As far as i am aware all 256mb 9800 pro cards are 256bit anyhow...

I'll have to look into that - it could be a typo on NewEgg.com.

 

[Asus]

There are a few 9800 cards out there with 256MB but 128Bit bus.

 

[OrphanBoy]

Weren't the 128-bit cards made by Sapphire? I'm sure they had 128 megs of RAM too...
Can't rem the link, but I read an article about all the variants of the 9800 cards, which had which chip/bus/RAM etc with regards to flashing it to an XT. Was it on xbitlabs.com? Can't remember...