256 or 512

[keybaud]

OCUK has the HIS and Sapphire 1950 Pro cards with only £20 extra for the 512MB versions. Is there any reason to go 512 or do I save the cash and get the 256?

I don't have a lot of cash, but can push myself for the extra £20, if it's worth it. It'll be on a rig with an AMD64 3000. I hope to upgrade that in the near future, but don't know if it'll be a CPU upgrade (MSI K8NGM2 at the mo) or a new board and Intel Core Duo....

I know some 512 cards were slower than the 256 equivalent, but I don't know a lot about either the HIS or the Sapphire cards.

Secondly, HIS or Sapphire?

Thanks

 

[thefishdude]

well for pci-e 1950pros i recomnd this one

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-065-HT

the his 256 its the great card for great price. the his version are very slightly faster than the sapphire ones and normally cost a few quid more but are on spiecal offer. its a great card for a great price

 

[Dark_Angel]

Welcome to the forums!

Well allow me to start out by saying you made a good choice with the card (x1950 pro),

I think the choice is really helped by the resolution you play, if its 1280x1024 (or 1400x900) then 256MB is perfectly fine! 1680x1050 (or 1600x1200) and 512MB may (just may) start to show a bit of an increase.

I would make SURE that you get the His X1950 Pro http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-070-HT (thats a link to a PCIE card) if you are intending to get a 512MB, because the clock speed is the same as 256MB on the other cards (and not lower, like some models).

How much difference I hear you cry? Possibly a few FPS here or there, really depending on what games are coming out. I know many are viewing the X1950's as a temp solution while the DX10 cards trickle in to mainstream norm... (say 6 months) so you could view it that saving £20 now will be another 20 in 6 months to put to the new R600 based cards (or nvidias 8800) based series if thats what you desire.

I will briefly touch on your mentioned plans to upgrade. I would highly recommend going for a Core 2 Duo (E6300's are VERY popular at the moment). With some motherboards you can also use your DDR1 ram with them too, So your upgrade will only cost about 150 (board and CPU).

As for the CPU you have currently, I would recommend overclocking it a little if you can (and haven't) to help your new GPU perform even better.

I hope this clears up some stuff for you, if not please post again and I (and I am sure others) will help to clarify the situation for you

 

[keybaud]

Thanks for the helpful replies. I have a 19" CRT that I run at 1280 x 1024, so it looks like a 256 card will be fine.

I've tried to overclock my current CPU, but I was given the PC by a friend and it's setup to run as quiet as possible. This means that even though it should overclock by a reasonable amount, it doesn't (I class myself as a competent, but not extreme, overclocker).

I am looking at the Core-duo E6300 and a DS3 as an upgrade path, but I don't have the cash at the moment as my wife has asked for (and got most of) a house extension!

I will own up to being a past member of these boards during the days of the BP6 and the Celeron 366. The account dissappeared some time ago, so I've just been lurking for about 6 years now.

I'll probably make up for lost time though...