Ti4200 w/ 64MB better than 128MB?

[AzraelDemitri]

I have read anandtech reviews stating that the 128MB Ti4200 is future proof because in future games the frame buffer will be larger and thus the 128MB cards would perform faster.

In the Ti4200 shootout article, they pointed out that in games like Commanche 4 and in the CodeCreatures benchmark, the Ti4200 128MB garnered a higher score than the 64MB.

In www.hardocp.com why the hell did the msi ti4200 64MB beat the hell out of a gainward ti4200 in all benchmarks in all resolutions even with anti aliasing on?

I took note that their benchmark system was based on the KT266A. Was it all a CPU bottleneck?

 

[BFG10K]

In most older games the 64 MB card is slightly faster than the 128 MB version. However in certain situations in newer games the 128 MB version is much faster than the 64 MB card because of games' increasing texture sizes and amounts, a trend that will continue into the future.

I'd advise getting the 128 MB card for better overall performance and more future "proofness".

 

[PliotronX]

The 128Meg Ti4200s usually come with the memory clocked at 444MHz instead of 500MHz for the 64Meg versions, and this is what accounts for the performance loss in current games. I've read of people easily overclocking their 128Meg cards to 500MHz+ and garner the same performance and in some cases Ti4400 performance (the Ti4400 only comes in 128Meg configs and clocked at 550MHz which is attainable for quite a few 128Meg Ti4200 cards). I'm not sure which brands are the best for overclocking the memory though.

 

[Woodchuck2000]

Can someone please write an FAQ on this...
This has got to be the 100th thread I've seen asking exactly the same question.

 

[Pocatello]

In Anand's preview of the ATI R300, quote from the article

And for those of you that are wondering whether a 128MB card will be necessary, Doom3 will use at least 80MB of textures.