Video Card... Is more Vram or stronger GPU better?

[nodoze]

Thanks for the information. I'm still going to have to spend more time looking at things before I fully understand it though.

Understood. I have been playing computer games & working with software & building machines for around 30 years & I always look for help & peer review... Don't feel bad as I don't claim to fully understand everything even after a formal Computer Science degree with a Management Information Systems (MIS) Masters & I work with large Enterprise Resource Planning systems with huge Blade/SANs 24x7 & game while waiting for issues to arise...

That is what focused reviewers with ratings are for...

There are plenty of good info out there on how given Graphic Cards perform for current "single box" games but what makes sense for the best Frames per Second for the current First Person Shooter flavor of the day doesn't necessarily help me...

Not that much info out there on maximizing systems for multi-boxing which is why dual-boxing & ISboxer is the place to be for these types of questions.

In the end, with the price breaks, I think I kinda got the best of both worlds (pretty close/equivalent GPU with double the RAM)...

[Ughmahedhurtz]

Keep in mind how the individual components affect the video card's price/performance ranges:

Model:

Base GPU = this is the "generation" if you will of the GPU; i.e.: 9xxx, 8xxx, GT2xx, GT4xx, etc.
VRAM size = how much

Variant:

GPU capabilities = how many shaders, etc. are enabled/supported on this variant of the base GPU
GPU clock = aka core clock; how fast the GPU runs
GPU<-->VRAM bus width = 64bit, 128bit, 256bit, etc.
VRAM clock = how fast the VRAM speed is set

The model of the video cards determines the base feature support. The variant determines what performance class the video card falls into.

So basically, find a card that supports the features you want (DX10? DX11?) and then look at the cheapest variant that does what you want for your application.

In my experience, the order of importance for determining performance within a given model's variants is roughly:

• GPU<-->VRAM bus width
• GPU clock
• TIE: GPU shaders/texelgens OR VRAM clock, depending on how "purty" your game is.
• VRAM size

Now, these things aren't linear and depending on your specific application, the order of the bottom 2/3 might change.

To give you an example, an 8800GT is still faster FPS in games than a 9600GT or a GT240, though it may not support certain advanced effects in some games if the game requires DX10/11 for those effects.

In the end, it's really up to you to do some intelligent research and find out what your primary needs are. If you can't figure it out, then you're going to either have to abuse store return policies to test them out and find the one that fits your games, or throw money at the highest-end card you can afford.