[Review]8800GT, how much memory do you need?

◆ DX9: DiRT:Colin McRae off Road

In DiRT 1024MB is a wasting of money, no improvements. We can see a large performance drop when resolution and AA/AF settings raised.

Recommended: 512MB version

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48 Responses to “[Review]8800GT, how much memory do you need?”

  1. Ket Says:

    awesome info thanks!

  2. Davka Says:

    Really cool stuff! Thanks.

  3. [ExpRev]8800GT, how much memory do you need? - Overclock.net - Overclocking.net Says:

    [...] version, we flashed its BIOS, lower the frequency to 600/1800/1500MHz(Core/Memory/Shader). Source __________________ Please ignor my spelling and grama! FAQ:s I have a slow computer can i run [...]

  4. MyComputer » Comparatie intre versiunile de 256/512/1024 MB ale 8800GT Says:

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  5. Anon Says:

    I would say that there is room for argument that if you have a 1920×1200 or higher configuration, the 1GB card may be worth it to you.

  6. Anonymous Says:

    Ah but if you are running 1920×1200 for games you could also argue you would be wanting a faster card than a 8800GT

  7. Lux Says:

    Just wondering.. how did 1GB model get recommended in World in conflict, when 1920×1200 with FSAA/AF is hardly playable at 20fps average ? And in other modes it’s same as 512MB..

    I belive this is also answer to Anon post above.

  8. Anonymous Says:

    Did you adjust the timings on the memory when you lowered its speed? I imagine you did not :)
    I doubt it would make a big difference in the end but it could make faster then the 512mb in most situations instead of being slower because of looser timings.

  9. Crashmurdock Says:

    Why was Microsoft’s Flight Simulator FSX left out of the comparisons? FSX should benefit more than any game I can think of since it uses such large textures that are being swapped frequently. Quite an omission IMHO.

  10. How much video memory do you need? - TechEnclave Says:

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  13. NemesisSVK Says:

    Call of Juarez… Its an “AMD” game.. WTF?!?! most others are nVidia games, but no, of course you must find an excuse just because nVidia sucks on this one, so its an “AMD” game.. shame.. how much u got paid for that nice and useful review??!

  14. jeff Says:

    @NameSVK,
    we all know the other game is NV game, so there is need to address that out.

    finally someone call us NVfan… two weeks ago after our Crossfire VS. SLI comparison, everyone call us AMDfanboy

  15. jeff Says:

    @ anon,
    Thanks for your comment. yes, the higher resolution the bigger gap that is. but in some games G92 is not playable coz the fps is only 20+…
    @ Crashmurdock,
    we did not have that game, so…

  16. Ralph Says:

    I was really curious about this comparison…

    But I doubt that your test configuration can show the true potential of the 1024MB card.

    E.g. just looking at your crysis test result, you should have run the benchmark in the very high setting. Because only in the very high setting you need the extra memory in the higher resultion.

  17. Hoss Says:

    Hello,

    thank you for this big test. The Gainward of the Picture is a 8800 GT GS, have you reduce the takt fromm 650 to 600 Mhz to make a real compare ? Or is it only the false picture ?

    Greetz

  18. philip Says:

    To Hoss,3-cards setting to same frequency.

    Dont worry about it

  19. michael Says:

    sorry to say, but i think thats one of the worst reviews ive ever read.

  20. philip Says:

    to micheal:why?

  21. Highlander Says:

    I think that if the price of 8800GT 1Gb and 8800GTS(G92) will bу the same, I will buy 8800GTS(G92).

    But 1Gb of videomemory – It`s cool ).

    P/S Sorry for my English )

  22. Trash Says:

    The test is made on false ground imo.
    Mostly all of the DX10 games had enormously bad fps compared to the DX9 games in the higher resolutions.
    Many of the DX10 games are also given points, eventhough the fps were too low to actually play the game. Imo those “grades” should have been nullified in the test. If so, you might have noticed that the 1024 Mb card would have been recommended in NONE of the games.

  23. Spoonhead Says:

    @TRASH – dude its a test, to show how 1gb performs, not some propoganda trying to make you buy the card at all costs. So what if the frames are unplayable??? the results are JUST TO SHOW YOU THE EFFECT OF THE 1GB. If you wanna talk about false ground, the actual 1gb 8800gt wont actually perform as it did here seeing as it was underclocked. A 1gb card running at its normal frequency in effect hasnt been tested here, nor an overclocked one which is a shame because they have faster memory from a different manufacturer than 512mb gt’s. End of.

  24. Peter Says:

    Why didn’t you lower the 256 MB version from 1500MHz to 1400MHz, because it’s a factory Overclocked version too!

  25. Hoss Says:

    Hello a second time :-)

    i find the test very intresst, but i have second question to raise an issue. I am a voodoo dfx friend in former times, and my last grafik system was a MSI 7900 GTO SLI with 2 x 512 MB. Now, i am not realy sure wich next card worked in my system. More and more 22 or 24 inch tft monitors are in use. By the maximum PIXEL and Details in the Game ( Crysis an co.) for this, you need a strong CPU an GPU too. I have bougt a Q6600 ( i hope this CPU worked near 4 x 3 GHz ) , an ABIT IN9 32X-MAX Beast ( 680i), 4 GB DDR 800 4-4-4-12,… and the last what i need is, two new garfikcards (SLI) but wich ? Two with 512 MB or better two with 1024 MB mmmhhh? :

    Faster than the old 8800 GTs, a little bit slower as the new 8800 GTS. At the time has the 8800 GT the best power/price proportion.

    - a 8800 GT with 600 MHz GPU mith 512 MB … near 200 Euro ( Europe )
    - a 8800 GT with 650 up to 680 MHz with 512 … near 250.- Euro +…
    - a 8800 GT with 700 MHz lokk like gainwards GLH Version.

    else

    - a 8800 GT with 650 MHz GPU wit 1024 MB near 300 Euro +

    Come, go we a little step forward : What is with two cards in SLI, 2 x 320 MB, 2 * 512 MB last 2 * 1024 MB ! If you have to choose between a ( for example ) :

    - 2 cards Gainward 8800 GT GS with 2 x 512 MB = 1 GiByte ( Price 2 x 250.- Euro 500.- )
    - 2 cards Gainward 8800 GT GS with 2 x 1024 MiByte = 2 GiByte ( Price 2 x 310.- Euro = 620.- Euro )

    Anyone knows, in wich application ,… better in wich game this big memory from 2 GiByte bring my system more useful speed ? Or is the Memory from 1 Gibyte ( 2 x 512 MB in maximum resolution by 22 and 24 inch tft’s , today and for the next 2-3 years, more than enough ?

    Greetz Hoss

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  28. G Says:

    Well test those cards under FSX.. You will see the difference at 1600×1200.

    I’ve tested the 8800 GT 512 ( 92 ) vs the 1 GB 7950 GX2.. I can tell you that after many tests that the 1 GB GX2 kick the 8800 92 512 in the nuts.. So Yes the 1 GB in the 8800 is very important on flight sims due to extra load of textures..unlike Games which have a very limited map/area size ..

    Please test those cards with FSX Microsoft Flight Simulator SP2.

  29. mince Says:

    could it be that all the supposed ‘bad scripting’ of the dx10 games is just a need for more memory?

  30. G Says:

    “The data that cannot be stored locally in VRAM is transferred to system memory where you will incur large latency penalties across the board. Technically the only penalty incurred should be fps losses, but a typical symptom you’ll probably encounter is stuttering caused by texture swapping from the system RAM to the VRAM, generally known as cache thrashing. This takes place because textures needing to be displayed on screen obtain absolute priority, so if a texture needing to go on screen is currently being held in system RAM it will need to be moved to the video card ram before it can be displayed. Like I said, technically this should not happen, but inefficient memory management in many game engines guarantees the stuttering issue a common one.”

    The only cards that can run higher resolutions and smoothly for very demanding applications as simulators must have a good amount of Vram, Cards with 1 GB is a must or SLI..

  31. tr Says:

    Thanks so much for the benchmarks! Now I understand why the 256 GT struggles with AA and AF on at 1680 x 1050 and I will get a 3850 512 to swap it with asap.

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  34. Mars Says:

    To G : Did you test SLI 8800GT 512 vs 7950GX2 ? … considering the price of the 7950, we could buy more than 2 8800GT for the same price …

  35. Glenn Says:

    Why not clock the lesser cards up to make the test interesting. To have use of 1gb video one need as much power possible for sure

  36. jurek Says:

    great test, thats what i ve look for, thx greetings from p(r)oland

  37. winkosmosis Says:

    Some people have posted that flight sims can make use of the 1gb in an SLI setup.. But an SLI card with 2x512mb is effectively a 512mb card. Everything has to be duplicated in the memory of BOTH cards.

    This review was really well done, the best comparison I’ve found. It’s important to remember that the amount of VRAM isn’t a variable that affects performance in the way that clock speed does. It’s either a bottleneck for a given game, or it isn’t. Kudos to the reviewer for realizing this and subjecting the cards to a wide range of tests.

    I’ve decided to get a 1gb 8800GT to replace the 512 that I’m RMAing.It’s worth it for games to have the space for textures and other data IMO, rather than swapping to RAM. At 1920×1200, with 4xAA, even older games like BF2 and BF2142 swap textures. Even if benchmarks don’t show much difference for most games, if textures swap, you’ll get a slowdown for a short time, which is more noticeable than the small drop in avg framerate would indicate.

    I recommend running Rivatuner to find out how much VRAM is used by each game.

  38. Camm Says:

    Imo, you wont see much of a performance difference. However, simply being able to keep more of cache in VRAM instead of being swapped out into the RAM/HDD is a massive boon in my books, helping keep cache stuttering to an absolute minimum.

  39. TechMan Says:

    Hey now that i read this. i know that 8800GT 512 is still the best when it comes to midrange resolutions in terms of price to performance ratio. The extra 512MB of memory to the 8800GT will only benefit it by a small margin (high reso, high settings etc.), not to mention the huge price you be paying to fit that memory in. Its simply not worth it to get the 1024MB version because of the price you pay to get that boost.

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