video card question - which of these specs is most important?

Hello everybody.

I'm looking at 8600 GT's at Newegg. There's more than 80 to choose
from. I need some help narrowing down my choices. The question is -
which has the biggest impact on performance

memory type
memory size
clock speed

All of the 512MB cards have a clock speed under 600mhz. I don't know
if I should go for a 512MB with a slower clock speed (most of the
512's have a clock speed of 540mhz) or 256MB with faster clock speed
(the highest clock speed amongst 256MB cards is 720mhz). Same kind of
question for memory type - is it worth it to go with DDR3 and slower
clock speed and/or 256MB memory instead of DDR2 with higher clock
speed /more memory? I mainly play fps games if that makes a
difference.

thanks for any help

"BrockLanders" <?@?.com> wrote in message
news:jdb8o3l8jjq8rl4m2b0qk34kdpovsd17iq@4ax.com...
> Hello everybody.
>
> I'm looking at 8600 GT's at Newegg. There's more than 80 to choose
> from. I need some help narrowing down my choices. The question is -
> which has the biggest impact on performance
>
> memory type
> memory size
> clock speed
>
> All of the 512MB cards have a clock speed under 600mhz. I don't know
> if I should go for a 512MB with a slower clock speed (most of the
> 512's have a clock speed of 540mhz) or 256MB with faster clock speed
> (the highest clock speed amongst 256MB cards is 720mhz). Same kind of
> question for memory type - is it worth it to go with DDR3 and slower
> clock speed and/or 256MB memory instead of DDR2 with higher clock
> speed /more memory? I mainly play fps games if that makes a
> difference.
>
> thanks for any help

Yes, that makes a difference. The most impact on performance will be clock
speed. Go for fastest clock speed with minimum of 256MB of RAM, get 512MB
of RAM at same clock speed if possible. -Dave

if you can, go up to the 8800 GT. The 8600 GT is not really meant for
gaming in mind. The 8800 GT is a good price and out performs many
cards twice its price.

Dont worry about how much memory the card has as more memory only
helps in very rare situations.

In fact , I believe the 8500 GT is a better gaming card. Trust me,
spend the little extra and get the 8800 .

On Jan 8, 10:53 pm, BrockLanders <?@?.com> wrote:
> Hello everybody.
>
> I'm looking at 8600 GT's at Newegg. There's more than 80 to choose
> from. I need some help narrowing down my choices. The question is -
> which has the biggest impact on performance
>
> memory type
> memory size
> clock speed
>
> All of the 512MB cards have a clock speed under 600mhz. I don't know
> if I should go for a 512MB with a slower clock speed (most of the
> 512's have a clock speed of 540mhz) or 256MB with faster clock speed
> (the highest clock speed amongst 256MB cards is 720mhz). Same kind of
> question for memory type - is it worth it to go with DDR3 and slower
> clock speed and/or 256MB memory instead of DDR2 with higher clock
> speed /more memory? I mainly play fps games if that makes a
> difference.
>
> thanks for any help

"BrockLanders" <?@?.com> wrote...
>
> I'm looking at 8600 GT's at Newegg. There's more than 80 to choose
> from. I need some help narrowing down my choices. The question is -
> which has the biggest impact on performance
>
> memory type
> memory size
> clock speed
>
> All of the 512MB cards have a clock speed under 600mhz. I don't know
> if I should go for a 512MB with a slower clock speed (most of the
> 512's have a clock speed of 540mhz) or 256MB with faster clock speed
> (the highest clock speed amongst 256MB cards is 720mhz). Same kind of
> question for memory type - is it worth it to go with DDR3 and slower
> clock speed and/or 256MB memory instead of DDR2 with higher clock
> speed /more memory? I mainly play fps games if that makes a
> difference.

For fast gaming you will want the 512 MB VRAM before you need 5 or 10% extra
clock speed or DDR3. You can get 2 out of 3, at reasonable cost, here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127319

> On Jan 8, 10:53 pm, BrockLanders <?@?.com> wrote:
>> Hello everybody.
>>
>> I'm looking at 8600 GT's at Newegg. There's more than 80 to choose
>> from. I need some help narrowing down my choices. The question is -
>> which has the biggest impact on performance
>>
>> memory type
>> memory size
>> clock speed
>>
>> All of the 512MB cards have a clock speed under 600mhz. I don't know
>> if I should go for a 512MB with a slower clock speed (most of the
>> 512's have a clock speed of 540mhz) or 256MB with faster clock speed
>> (the highest clock speed amongst 256MB cards is 720mhz). Same kind of
>> question for memory type - is it worth it to go with DDR3 and slower
>> clock speed and/or 256MB memory instead of DDR2 with higher clock
>> speed /more memory? I mainly play fps games if that makes a
>> difference.
>>
>> thanks for any help


<Matthew.Dalessandro@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:a54c4b0c-7ad7-4b50-b31c-8d5353f4c84f@s12g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
> if you can, go up to the 8800 GT. The 8600 GT is not really meant for
> gaming in mind. The 8800 GT is a good price and out performs many
> cards twice its price.
>
> Dont worry about how much memory the card has as more memory only
> helps in very rare situations.
>
> In fact , I believe the 8500 GT is a better gaming card. Trust me,
> spend the little extra and get the 8800 .


BrockLanders:
Matthew is absolutely correct re his suggestion to consider the nVidia
GeForce 8800 GT graphics card, at least based on our experience with
installing the XFX model (with 512 MB of DDR3 memory) in a number of
machines. I'm not a gamer myself but all the users of that card reported
that they were thrilled with its performance. I think the XFX model that
we've used is now selling in the $275 range (newegg & zipzoomfly) so if you
can possibly swing for that price, give it some serious consideration.
Anna

"BrockLanders" <?@?.com> wrote in message
news:jdb8o3l8jjq8rl4m2b0qk34kdpovsd17iq@4ax.com...
> Hello everybody.
>
> I'm looking at 8600 GT's at Newegg. There's more than 80 to choose
> from. I need some help narrowing down my choices. The question is -
> which has the biggest impact on performance
>
> memory type
> memory size
> clock speed
>
> All of the 512MB cards have a clock speed under 600mhz. I don't know
> if I should go for a 512MB with a slower clock speed (most of the
> 512's have a clock speed of 540mhz) or 256MB with faster clock speed
> (the highest clock speed amongst 256MB cards is 720mhz). Same kind of
> question for memory type - is it worth it to go with DDR3 and slower
> clock speed and/or 256MB memory instead of DDR2 with higher clock
> speed /more memory? I mainly play fps games if that makes a
> difference.
>
> thanks for any help

300$ for a video card, for a PC that is being left out of the gaming realm more and
more...Hmmm how much IS a playstation?

On Wed, 9 Jan 2008 07:04:26 -0800 (PST),
"Matthew.Dalessandro@gmail.com" <Matthew.Dalessandro@gmail.com> wrote:

>if you can, go up to the 8800 GT. The 8600 GT is not really meant for
>gaming in mind. The 8800 GT is a good price and out performs many
>cards twice its price.
>
>Dont worry about how much memory the card has as more memory only
>helps in very rare situations.
>
>In fact , I believe the 8500 GT is a better gaming card. Trust me,
>spend the little extra and get the 8800 .
>


$150-200 is a little? What would be a lot? Don't take that the wrong
way I appreciate the suggestion and all but I have a budget I'm
sticking to.

>Yes, that makes a difference. The most impact on performance will be clock speed.
> Go for fastest clock speed with minimum of 256MB of RAM, get 512MB of RAM at
>same clock speed if possible. -Dave

If that was possible I would but as I said in my original post, all
the 512MB cards have slower clock speeds, that's why I asked the
question.

On Wed, 9 Jan 2008 08:15:17 -0800, "John Weiss"
<jrweiss98155NOSPAM@NOSPAM.comcast.net> wrote:

>For fast gaming you will want the 512 MB VRAM before you need 5 or 10% extra
>clock speed or DDR3. You can get 2 out of 3, at reasonable cost, here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127319

I already have that bookmarked.


I'm getting some conflicting opinions. I guess I need to do some more
research. Thanks for the answers guys.

> I'm getting some conflicting opinions. I guess I need to do some more
> research. Thanks for the answers guys.

Well, more RAM will help if you are running your games at extreme
resolutions. Higher clock speed will help regardless. Best to have high
clock speed and more RAM. If you can't do both, go for higher clock speed.

Another good way to figure this out would be to read the box of whatever
games you run, and are planning to run. Most software has minimums and
"suggested" (higher than minimum requirements). Go with the suggested
hardware. -Dave

>> On Jan 8, 10:53 pm, BrockLanders <?@?.com> wrote:
>>> Hello everybody.
>>>
>>> I'm looking at 8600 GT's at Newegg. There's more than 80 to choose
>>> from. I need some help narrowing down my choices. The question is -
>>> which has the biggest impact on performance
>>>
>>> memory type
>>> memory size
>>> clock speed
>>>
>>> All of the 512MB cards have a clock speed under 600mhz. I don't know
>>> if I should go for a 512MB with a slower clock speed (most of the
>>> 512's have a clock speed of 540mhz) or 256MB with faster clock speed
>>> (the highest clock speed amongst 256MB cards is 720mhz). Same kind of
>>> question for memory type - is it worth it to go with DDR3 and slower
>>> clock speed and/or 256MB memory instead of DDR2 with higher clock
>>> speed /more memory? I mainly play fps games if that makes a
>>> difference.
>>>
>>> thanks for any help


> <Matthew.Dalessandro@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:a54c4b0c-7ad7-4b50-b31c-8d5353f4c84f@s12g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
>> if you can, go up to the 8800 GT. The 8600 GT is not really meant for
>> gaming in mind. The 8800 GT is a good price and out performs many
>> cards twice its price.
>>
>> Dont worry about how much memory the card has as more memory only
>> helps in very rare situations.
>>
>> In fact , I believe the 8500 GT is a better gaming card. Trust me,
>> spend the little extra and get the 8800 .
>
>
> BrockLanders:
> Matthew is absolutely correct re his suggestion to consider the nVidia
> GeForce 8800 GT graphics card, at least based on our experience with
> installing the XFX model (with 512 MB of DDR3 memory) in a number of
> machines. I'm not a gamer myself but all the users of that card reported
> that they were thrilled with its performance. I think the XFX model that
> we've used is now selling in the $275 range (newegg & zipzoomfly) so if
> you can possibly swing for that price, give it some serious consideration.
> Anna


BrockLanders:
Since you subsequently indicated that you have limited funds at your
disposal for a graphics/video card, consider this one...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150258

For $99.99 (after the $30 rebate) + about $6 shipping cost - this is a very
nice card at a very decent price.
Anna