Graphics best card if your running 512mb for now??

hey what is the best videocard to get so it can run any game at atleast 75-80% GFX without lag....i heard the 6600GTs dont do well unless tehy have a GB of ram...this computer is for a customer so i do not want it to lag at all....will a 6600 still be fine without a GB of ram...also it will be paired with a 2.6C and Abit motherboard

THNX
Duggy

 

512MB system RAM is fine for most games, it's just an ideal to have 768MB or 1GB. The main reason you hear about 1GB for a system with 6600GT is because they only really come with 128MB gfx RAM and it's at this speed that 256MB begins to be of some benefit (given capable res, details & AA+AF). If your gfx card needs more gfx RAM it can utilise system RAM if there's some free and with 512MB you may find the gfx card won't get the extra RAM it needs (or possibly will have to hit the HD pagefile). Going by AGP there is a pretty decent perf hit by using the Aperture (to assign system RAM to gfx) and it's also inefficient with the system RAM (only half of the RAM allocated is used). It is only marginal and only in a few games so I wouldn't worry. See if you can make 768MB of system RAM or else go for a similar spec card but with 256MB gfx RAM (eg X700Pro, 9800Pro, 6800LE, 6800 or X800). 6600GT is still a very fine card and 512MB is enough if the budget is very tight.

 

If you want this computer not to lag, give it a gig of RAM. That's the bottom line IMO, there are more and more applications/games where 512MB really hurts.

 

QFT.

I've been experimenting with memory for a while now, and it's so goddam cheap at the moment, that there's no excuse not to have 1GB IMHO

The 512MB -> 1GB upgrade is well worth looking at, because the majority of games out now use AT LEAST 400MB, and would love to use more. I remember when I used to play Unreal Tournament in full flight back around 2000/2001 and I found a massive need to upgrade from 256MB to 512MB, because UT wanted to use over 200MB of RAM, and was happier when using 300MB or so.

You can play games on 512MB of RAM, but it is more than likely to be laggy, because the majority of games are happier using 500+MB of RAM.

 

1GB RAM will increase performance overall anyway, and as bigz said, it's cheep right now. Get yourself a nice 6600GT and save up for an extra stick of 512 for another nice treat

 

Look for 'Elixer' memory (Scan and Aria sell it), it's barely £55 for a gig inc p&p

 

Yeah, 1GB for sure.

My old AthlonXP, 1gb, 9800PRO system gamed alot better then my Friends P4C, 512mb, 6600GT rig. It was down to the gig of ram. Both cards being 128mb started to struggle with the graphics turned up, and the 1gb just gave it that edge.

If you were going for a new card, i'd surgest a 6800NU rather then a 6600GT.

 

Agreed, ram is cheap right now, and will only get cheaper. Even still, I'd say go for a 6600GT or as TMM mentioned the 6800. I found some Corsair value select cas2.5 pc3200 at newegg, like $78 for a dual channel 1gb kit.

 

get a 9800pro... they are as cheap as chips... they can be had (second hand 9800pro) along with a gb of ram for the same price as a new 6600GT

 

even so, the 9800 is getting out of date. A 6600GT will last you longer than a R9800pro. My 2800+ 6600GT rig outdoes my mate's 3200+ 9800pro rig. (both s754 AMD64 + 1GB RAM)

 

It depends upon what the saving is, outside of Doom III the 6600GT is generally < 5% faster than the 9800Pro (or X700Pro). The 6600GT does sport SM3.0 and being newer is more likely to have more perf to give via driver optimisations but if you're saving more than 10% the 9800Pro may well be worth going for.

 

Guess so, but I'd pay the 10% and go for the 6600GT. Unless you're an ATI fanboy

 

go for a 6600gt unless you want to save money as recently they have gone download loads... like £70 new although they are old generation....

6600GT's your best bet