GeForce 3-TI 200 128 mg Memory Q Driving Me Nuts !!

gapman · 02-01-2002, 01:58 AM

I am very appreciative of all the posts regarding the Gainward GF3-TI200 128 Mg.
memory issue, but I still have one giant question thats haunting me ::

Why would it not make sense to buy a card with 128 mg. of memory instead of 64 mg. for almost the same price ? I can't believe the extra memory would not make a difference in performance someday with games that will use over 64 mgs. of memeory. If more RAM is good, why is not more video card memory also
better ? We are only talking $ 38 more for the fastest GF3-TI200 card available(as evaluated by all the reviews I have read)! I want to order this card, but I keep reading posts saying it is not worth it and the 64 mg. card is enough. any other thoughts ?

02-01-2002, 04:18 AM

well I do not know about the memory issue, and perhaps some current games just are not compatible with a card with that much memory. Why I dont know.

But what I do know is the GForce 4s will be out soon. And the GForce ti 500s will be dropping in price.

So why not wait another three weeks and see if they drop down and get a 500 instead of a 200?

Stinky Pooh · 02-01-2002, 05:15 AM

Geforce 4 will come standard with 128 MB DDR. Must be useful, or they wouldn't do it. May not notice it today, but games will be written to use it in the future for sure.

BlueWeasel · 02-01-2002, 05:57 AM

It simply comes down to this:

(1)If you are one of those who upgrade pretty frequently, then getting a 128mb card a waste of time. You will have upgraded already by the time games can use that extra memory.

(2)If you plan on using the card for a while, then I might could see the extra VRAM. Otherwise, you are better off saving your cash for later.

Here are a few links to help your decision:

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=31&threadid=692845&highli ght_key=y&keyword1=128mb

http://forums.anandtech.com/messagev...keyword1=128mb

http://www.digit-life.com/articles/1...rds/index.html
(Good article with benchmarks)

Alot of people have the same outlook as you: "It's only $35, why not get for the future." And I agree....But....all that RAM does you no good certainly now, and the core speed of this card could be behind by the time games can use the RAM.

Example: Think of a V3 with 128mb trying to play MOH - all the RAM does you no good if the core is slow. If you are thinking that this card will play games in 2 years ultra fast because of the RAM, then you are mistaken. Yeah, sure..the games in 2 years will probably be able to use all of the 128mb of onboard RAM, but the card itself will be sooooooo slow.

I would have gotten the 128mb version too, but then I found out that it appears to not be able to O/C as much as the 64mb card.

[This message has been edited by BlueWeasel (edited February 01, 2002).]

[HOLY]Moses · 02-01-2002, 07:02 AM

By now you've probably already made your decision, but I have to agree with what these fellas have said. If you upgrade every couple months then it's definitely not worth the extra money. It works the same as buying a pc driven by a pentium III 900 with 2 gig's of ram. Sure its alot of ram, but a year from now, although every PC owner will most likely have (or want) 2 gigs of ram, a 900 mhz will be "soooooooo slow"!! Save your money, wait until the Geforce 4's come out and buy a ti500!!!!