1Gb memory in 7900GTX

[Sumanji]

Well if you look back, the top-end graphics cards have always had about a quarter of the memory capacity of the RAM in a high-end system, for example:

128MB Ti4x00/9700Pro with 512MB RAM
256MB 6800/X800 with 1024MB RAM
512MB 7800/X1800 with 2048MB of RAM

When the new DDR2 Athlon64 comes out in June with better support for 2Gb sticks and 4 DIMMS, I think 4Gb will be a given for a lot of users building new systems (I predict Vista will a) hog lots of memory with its bloat, and b) be better equipped to work with 2GB+ memory in 64-bit mode). Following my rule of thumb it would only be natural to see 1Gb cards as standard for high-end by 2007...

Suman

 

[kdd]

At super hi-res with aa and af the more memory the better.

 

[Legless]

Well if you look back, the top-end graphics cards have always had about a quarter of the memory capacity of the RAM in a high-end system, for example:

128MB Ti4x00/9700Pro with 512MB RAM
256MB 6800/X800 with 1024MB RAM
512MB 7800/X1800 with 2048MB of RAM

When the new DDR2 Athlon64 comes out in June with better support for 2Gb sticks and 4 DIMMS, I think 4Gb will be a given for a lot of users building new systems (I predict Vista will a) hog lots of memory with its bloat, and b) be better equipped to work with 2GB+ memory in 64-bit mode). Following my rule of thumb it would only be natural to see 1Gb cards as standard for high-end by 2007...

Suman

Those calculations sound about right, but i'd dread to think of the cost of a 1Gb gfx card...

 

[Goksly]

well if you look at the cost difference between the X1800XT 256mb/512mb you can say 256mb seems to cost about £50.... so the cost over a 512mb card will be ~£100 assuming they use the same chips and just wack them on the back of the card.

 

[the.m]

Is it me or are new cards coming out at a ridiculous rate now.

 

[Goksly]

a revamped product every 6 months.... driving the industry forward at a fast rate isnt anything negative imo.

 

[locutus12]

a revamped product every 6 months.... driving the industry forward at a fast rate isnt anything negative imo.

yes there is, they are going for quantity over quality these days, instead of taking the time to really make a card that will bollock the last generation, (for example the jump from Gforce 3 to GF4) the jumps in performance were huge, in some cases over 100% but since the start of the Nvidia 6XXX range and the ATI X3/6/7/8 range, the jumps for the following generations have been less, but the speed with which the next model comes out has exploded.


it sucks,

 

[Goksly]

just buy when its worth it then? just cos a new card comes out every 6 months doesnt mean you have to buy it. if the quality jump doesnt meet your high standards... wait for the next card

 

[MoNkeE]

just buy when its worth it then? just cos a new card comes out every 6 months doesnt mean you have to buy it. if the quality jump doesnt meet your high standards... wait for the next card

Also, I would've thought nVidia will have different teams working on different projects - IE one team may be working on a speed-bumped X2500-XTX-XXPE-Super-Edition, and the other team is working on a X3000 with PS6 and a bazillion pixel pipelines.

-RaZ

 

[smids]

TBH, I would rather get a smaller memory card (512MB over 1GB) and spend the rest on a physics card, but hey, that's just common sense and we all know he isn't welcome in the graphics boards .

 

[Kyo]

At super hi-res with aa and af the more memory the better.

Hit the nail right on the head.

 

[neologan]

just buy when its worth it then? just cos a new card comes out every 6 months doesnt mean you have to buy it. if the quality jump doesnt meet your high standards... wait for the next card

i second that