256 or 128bit?

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How big a difference would there be between a 256 and 128bit graphics card, I currently have an ATI HD 4850 and I was looking at upgrading to an ATI HD 5770. The only things is that it seems the 5770 only comes in 128bit versions.
 
It makes a big difference at higher resolutions. 128bit is considered old school/entry level.
EDIT: its the "size" of the memory bus, so it has a direct impact on the memory throughput...very important!

Head on to www.tomshardware.com and have a look at their graphics card benchmarks before you buy something.
 
CrAzYLeGs69 said:
How big a difference would there be between a 256 and 128bit graphics card, I currently have an ATI HD 4850 and I was looking at upgrading to an ATI HD 5770. The only things is that it seems the 5770 only comes in 128bit versions.
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The 5770 runs on DDR5 which means it still gives better memory bandwidth than your 4850. It will still be an upgrade.

For a couple hundered more though you can get a gtx460 1gig from prophecy...
 
The 5770 has more memory bandwidth, It has 128bit bus but DDR5 memory . the 4850 has 256 bit bus but only DDR3 Memory. The 5770 works out to have about 10G/s more bandwidth.
 
I recently bought myself a 5770 and I am FULLY enjoying it, if you want excellent bang for buck XD
 
The 5770 wont be much of an upgrade from your 4850. The GTX460 is also similar in performance to the old 4890. Slighty more of an upgrade but if you want to see a real difference and be set for a good while, go for a 5850/GTX470.
 
SaiyanZ said:
The 5770 wont be much of an upgrade from your 4850. The GTX460 is also similar in performance to the old 4890. Slighty more of an upgrade but if you want to see a real difference and be set for a good while, go for a 5850/GTX470.
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Exactly. If you read some reviews of the 5770 you'll see. I say you should wait a while.
 
Ya wait a while until the 6 series comes out.. the 5770 is a marginal improvement over the 4850.. I had a 4850 and well next step was a 5850.. couldn't settle for a 5770..
 
Mr.Jax said:
It makes a big difference at higher resolutions. 128bit is considered old school/entry level.
EDIT: its the "size" of the memory bus, so it has a direct impact on the memory throughput...very important!
Click to expand...

That's not always true. e.g. A 256bit 3870 is slower than a 128bit 5770, same goes with the 320bit 8800GTS :rolleyes:
 
CrAzYLeGs69 said:
yeah I think ima wait till the 6000 series comes out and see what it has to offer.

But can anyone please tell me why Club 3D cards are so damn cheap? Here is an HD 5850 going for R2700 (in my price range).

http://www.zapsonline.com/atilatest...mhz-memory-graphics-card-focgax-58524idp.html

Like how good will the card fare when OC and so on.
Click to expand...

Here we go again... Basically they dont bundle anything with their cards. But reference design is reference design, so as far as the actual GPU is concerned they are all the same. Non reference design is another matter entirely since better components are used. And reference designs rarely allow for much OC unless you are willing to flash the bios and void your warranty.
 
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You can still OC it, doubt it will do as well as my card due to voltage tweak but they save money by not bundling a whole lot of things with the card.

Edit archer beat me to it :(
 
Bits have to do with the available bandwidth a card has at its disposal. Insufficient bandwidth will throttle a card's potential output. It's like rush hour in a 2-lane highway - 256bits just allows the GPU/ROPs to output the most possible. But with the 5770 it compensates by having very fast gddr5 memory which effectively does the same as 256 bits.

But really you just want to look at the benchmarks to see how it actually impacts the card's performance.
 
I'm now really wondering how well this Club 3D HD 5850 1GB (CGAX-58524FDP) * performs, since it has a non-reference cooler and possibly a non-reference PCB AND its going for only R2600! *
Its product page is here: http://www.club-3d.com/products/products_ending_page_7_with_id.cfm?product_id=248
I can't find any benchmarks/reviews for this specific card. I would really love to see how it performs both in single & CrossFire configurations :(

Update:
* I found the same model at iKonic IT, although its picture is incorrect on their website...
 
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Worst case scenario it will be the same as another ref design 5850. So just get it :D But that link from ikonit shows a reference cooler :confused: Model numbers match though so you should be good
 
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