512 vs 1gb vram

[computeruler]

this weekend newegg has some gooooddd deals on some graphics cards (4870 is what im looking at) and i will be gaming at 1920x1080 res
i was wondering if its really worth the extra $ to get the 1gb over the 512? i was looking at some benchmarks and saw that there was like no more than 4 fps difference
ok so they have these 4870 512 mb
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048%201069633099%20106792627%201067940678&bop=And&CompareItemList=N82E16814102810%2CN82E16814161236
they also have an asus darknight edition 512mb for $ 235. BUT look at this deal on the 4870 1gb
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801
do you think the 4 fps is worth the $40? will it help in games in the future?
thanks

[Calum]

1GB of VRAM helps more than you'd think.  Most reviews show just the average FPS - reviews from places like [H]ard OCP will give the minimum and maximum too.  Extra VRAM helps prevent stuttering and low minimum FPS - these are not shown in most of the reviews out there, but can seriously affect your gameplay.
For high resolution gaming like that, 1GB of VRAM may be helpful.  As for whether it's worth the extra $40, that's your decision.  I'd recommend gathering more information about the performance impact on the games you play at the resolution you'll be running them at.

[computeruler]

hmm well the 1gb saphire is a good deal i think ill go for it

[BC_Programmer]

I think that 1GB of VRAM would reduce the total addressable RAM for 32-bit systems, or so I've heard.


Never really thought 1GB would help myself- it obviously would depend on how much VRAM a game could consume; Once the VRAM is exhausted, textures and so forth have to be stored in System memory, which causes a lot of slowdown.

It would definitely help in the future, since I have a feeling they will soon be a requirement for the higher settings on some games.

You'll probably find a lot more performance improvement then 4fps; that's just an average, and you'd be surprised what a difference it makes.

[computeruler]

ok im getting it for shure

[Calum]

I think that 1GB of VRAM would reduce the total addressable RAM for 32-bit systems, or so I've heard.

The more VRAM you have, the less addressable memory is available, so it would reduce the absolute maximum to 3GB.  I'd expect a 32 bit system with a 1GB video card to be able to see about 2-2.5Gb of RAM, of course it depends on the other hardware.

A lot of people will say extra VRAM is useless, but as I said, a lot of reviews don't show sudden framerate drops (stutters) and the minimum framerate plays an important role in smooth gameplay.  Also, a trick that's often played is a lower end card like an 8600GT with 1GB of VRAM, trying to make people think it's better.  The card needs to be pwoerful enough to actually properly use the extra VRAM - on an 8600GT, anything above 256MB isn't really worth it because the card just isn't that powerful.  Plus, often the cards with extra VRAM use DDR2 rather than the faster GDDR3/4/5.
Here's a real life example for you - my system can handle Crysis on all high settings, minus AA/AF.  However, because I have "only" 512MB VRAM, if I play on all high I get a massive stutter every few minutes as the VRAM fills up, and the game is unplayable for 5-10 seconds.  That ruins the experience really, so I had to drop just one setting down a notch, and it's all good now.  If I'd got a 1GB 8800GT, I wouldn't need to drop any settings.

Anyway, hope this helps clear things up a little.

[computeruler]

like the 4850 with 2gb vram?
anyways i bought it woot!