Which is better video card option?

zenheretic

zenheretic

Joined
Oct 29, 2005
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1GB NVIDIA GeForce 9800GT [2 DVI, HDMI and VGA adapters]

Graphics Processor: Dual 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 9800 GT

Or is it essentially the same on one card as 1 gb vs 2x512MB?
 
zenheretic said:
1GB NVIDIA GeForce 9800GT [2 DVI, HDMI and VGA adapters]

Graphics Processor: Dual 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 9800 GT

Or is it essentially the same on one card as 1 gb vs 2x512MB?
Click to expand...
As far as I understand it's the same idea as a dual-core CPU, so it's more like 2 cards in one slot.
 
So two dual video cards with half the memory is faster than one card with full memory, other things being equal? (just to absolutely clarify).

What if in the future I added a second video card 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 9800 GT to the 1GB NVIDIA card? would it be better overall vs the Dual 512MB or just equal to the dual cards (with a bit more memory)?

Online MMO games.
 
Each card has it's own 512 AND a GPU.

One card setup has one GPU and 1 Gig
Two card setup has TWO GPU and essentially a total of 1 Gig.

Will two processors accessing 1Gig of memory be faster than one processor accessing 1Gig of memory? Yes... 2 processors beats 1 processor.
 
zenheretic said:
So two dual video cards with half the memory is faster than one card with full memory, other things being equal? (just to absolutely clarify).

What if in the future I added a second video card 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 9800 GT to the 1GB NVIDIA card? would it be better overall vs the Dual 512MB or just equal to the dual cards (with a bit more memory)?

Online MMO games.
Click to expand...
You have entered my world Zen!!!
Anything you need to know about vid cards
I have the 9800 GTX myself
It plays BF2 FLAWLESSLY
My old PC has a Nvdia 7950 (256MB) and even that played BF2 very well

You should get this program called Riva Tuner
It lets you monitor and adjust fan speeds on your Nvdia

That Dual SLI stuff is a gimmick for gaming
Any new game will play fine with 512 MB
If you are rich and got money lying around===>
Sure, why not, buy the dual SLI

I figure that SLI stuff is one ore thing to "configure" as well

What games do you play???
 
timcsaw said:
Each card has it's own 512 AND a GPU.

One card setup has one GPU and 1 Gig
Two card setup has TWO GPU and essentially a total of 1 Gig.

Will two processors accessing 1Gig of memory be faster than one processor accessing 1Gig of memory? Yes... 2 processors beats 1 processor.
Click to expand...

TRUE Story... Though with all memory 1G isnt 1G its .9 something. Nothing is ever truly what it says it is. So maybe 512+512 is only .923 vs 1G being .952 total. I doubt it would be that noticeable I would still get the 2 card set up it SHOULD run much smoother.
 
the better video card option is the one better suited to your main board, and CPU. in general matching the chipsets on the board is a good idea, (NVIDEA or ATI) if you want to run dual cards, then in general AMD processors are set up for crossfire, and Intel for SLi, (although not always true) Also, the cost of the mainboard goes up when you talk SLi/ crossfire, and then your RAM has to be able to keep up. if you are upgrading, go for the cheaper one, if you are building from new, there is a lot of number crunching. besides, MMOs are easy on resources, compared to a lot of other things.

I just built a machine for $650 that would easily be 800-1000 from HP or Dell. Its all in knowing what parts to put together.
 
Well this is my second thread on computers so I apparently don't know diddly. :D

What I was doing was comparing a HP build to an Alienware build. Same motherboard, same 12GB ram, same GB Harddrive. So more or less the difference was the above video cards. (Alienware had liquidcooling, the new MMO ethernet with memory card, and about $400-500 more in price.)

For games, I was playing Lord of the Rings which was fine and run by a company that gave pretty flawless game play, just not my style to be running quests ad infinitum. The switched to Age of Conan, which help a lot of promise, and lots of promises and failed to deliver on most of them. Switched to WAR, which is "satisfying", but kinda waiting for something better. All these on about a 4 year old HP with only 1.5 gigs ram. If ya turn the video settings down to ultra dull you can play 'em. :p
 
to be honest, if I were to be buying a computer pre-built, I'd treat it like a car buy. Talk to the sales people, be a good guy, and help them want to help you. that way you'll end up with more personal service, and a brick and mortar store in case you have problems. most comps are built so the specs look sexy, and so they can mark them up, I'll put any comp I build against any HP or Dell, because the parts are matched, and not just added chrome. the guys at the computer store may be nerds, but they do it largely because they want to, and to prove how smart they are, it can be very helpful at times.
 
gadgetgeek said:
to be honest, if I were to be buying a computer pre-built
Click to expand...

Agreed!

Also, the nerds in the store may be parents or have a mortgage and will have a keener eye for price. There is a real price break in PC parts where you can get the top of the last generation, about 2 seconds ago, for significantly less than the price of the newest whiz bang components with nary a percievable difference in price.
 
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