Final thought
From the 279 test item data, it is easy to find out 512MB version 8800GT is recommended. It fully unleash the power of the G92. In all these items 512MB version lead 256MB about 76.22%.
Compare 1024MB and 512MB, it is actually no gap between them if we ignore some sick games like PT Boats. You may notice there is average 10.47% boost in our test. But without PT Boat it only lead 5.5%.
So the game engine is the most important thing. It seems nowadays mainstream is 512MB. If you love those sick games you can choose 1024MB version but if you only want to play mainstream game, 512MB version is your best choice.
Some rumors said NVIDIA will optimize the usage of graphic memory in the new ForceWare. When the driver comes out, it may benefit those 256MB 8800GT users. But for now, 512MB 8800GT is the best 8800GT among all these versions.
Originally posted by: angry hampster
Thanks for this thread. I've been curious of that ever since I bought my BFG earlier this month. That gainward is a gorgeous card.
Far from it as games will continue to push the envelope.End of the framebuffer case?
Originally posted by: BFG10K
Far from it as games will continue to push the envelope.
Also 1 GB had some substantial leads over 512 MB in that article like in Crysis, which we know eats 512 MB cards alive when running AA.
Originally posted by: Cheex
Let me ask a question right now to clear up a few misconceptions people reading this thread might have.
Is it correct to say that VRAM is only used for holding textures and other graphical information pertaining to the game, and RAM is used for everything else (loading levels, more objects on screen, heavy scenes, etc)...??????
Originally posted by: Cheex
Let me ask a question right now to clear up a few misconceptions people reading this thread might have.
Is it correct to say that VRAM is only used for holding textures and other graphical information pertaining to the game, and RAM is used for everything else (loading levels, more objects on screen, heavy scenes, etc)...??????
Modern GPUs use most of their transistors to do calculations related to 3D computer graphics. They were initially used to accelerate the memory-intensive work of texture mapping and rendering polygons, later adding units to accelerate geometric calculations such as translating vertices into different coordinate systems. Recent developments in GPUs include support for programmable shaders which can manipulate vertices and textures with many of the same operations supported by CPUs, oversampling and interpolation techniques to reduce aliasing, and very high-precision color spaces. Because most of these computations involve matrix and vector operations, engineers and scientists have increasingly studied the use of GPUs for non-graphical calculations.
In addition to the 3D hardware, today's GPUs include basic 2D acceleration and frame buffer capabilities (usually with a VGA compatibility mode). In addition, most GPUs made since 1995 support the YUV color space and hardware overlays (important for digital video playback), and many GPUs made since 2000 support MPEG primitives such as motion compensation and iDCT. Recent graphics cards even decode high-definition video on the card, taking some load off the central processing unit.
Definitions
Frame: In this case it is the surface of the screen or window. (Yes I know. In a normal world a frame is supposed to surround a window)
Buffer: A section of RAM reserved for temporary storage of data waiting to be directed to a device.
Quick/Dirty overview
The frame buffer is a "man in the middle" between the graphic operations and the video output. It can use the video cards own framebuffer memory or map directly to the CPU memory to manipulate graphics. The size of the assigned memory will determine the maximum resolution and colour depth. ...