# 512mb 4870 vs 1GB 4870



## Twist86 (Dec 7, 2008)

Now don't say "go for the X2" please...way out of my price range and I don't game at those resolutions 


I was looking at Newegg and I see both are damn near equal in price...is there something wrong with the 1GB 4870?

Prices seem awfully close in general for the 2 cards considering the 2GB version is 2x the price.

512mb
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161236

1GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801


Also I can't find a solid power requirement for either card know of a good site?

I don't think I will be able to power a 1GB version if its 2x512mb GPU.

http://extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine

says with my current set up I am running @ 653w with a single 512mb shows me @ 698w

This seem accurate?

Forgot to add I am using this PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006


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## Schonza (Dec 7, 2008)

Which one you should get depends on the size of your monitor. The amount of memory on a gfx basically determines how big the resolution you can run. The more memory, then larger the resolution. the 512mb should be fine for any monitor up to 19" anything bigger and you will need the 1gb.


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## Intel_man (Dec 7, 2008)

Schonza said:


> Which one you should get depends on the size of your monitor. The amount of memory on a gfx basically determines how big the resolution you can run. The more memory, then larger the resolution. the *512mb should be fine for any monitor up to 19"* anything bigger and you will need the 1gb.



Actually, I'm running a 22" with a 15" with a 512mb card. 1GB would just put less stress on the card.


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## Schonza (Dec 7, 2008)

Intel_man said:


> Actually, I'm running a 22" with a 15" with a 512mb card. 1GB would just put less stress on the card.



Ouch, that kind of makes my point invalid then. Ah well,I have been misinformed then.


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## Twist86 (Dec 7, 2008)

Well I am a light gamer really don't need max settings to enjoy the games BUT I am building my old man a rig for X-mas so figured id give him my 8800GT and upgrade to the next card.

btw I added my psu I use.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

I never been good at the whole amps thing...most the FAQ confuse the hell outta me.


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## Death By Bass (Dec 7, 2008)

the only difference between the two cards is more ram 

chances are the circuit board, and 90% of whats on the card is exactly the same, same labour costs to make it, just a few dollars more in parts, which is why the price is fairly similar.. (the 1gig is 20% more expensive, which is a fair bit)

you're also comparing different brands, which could use cheaper parts.


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## Jozeorules (Dec 10, 2008)

My 512mb 4670 Runs great Settings and Works fine on my 22" .. Although I would go for the 1 gig one.


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## smoothjk (Dec 10, 2008)

Funny that you ask. I actually went from a 512mb version to a 1gb version, and I'm glad I did.

People tend to look at benchmarks only, and they see that the average FPS doesn't really change, so they conclude that the 1gb is unnecessary. However, this is why I went with the more RAM:

- 1680x1050 runs fine with 512mb, but with the 1gb, you can turn AA/AF up with maxed details and notice smoother framerates
- there seems to be less stuttering and on-the-fly load times. This is especially true for games like Oblivion with high-res texture packs or Fallout 3 where backgrounds are being loaded as you move along. Oblivion with QTP3 actually has been shown to use close to the full 1gb of VRAM, so it's not out of the question that you'll need it, especially for future games.
- it'll be more future proof as games require more VRAM and have heavier texturing
- it's only a tad more expensive, why not??

BTW, I have that exact card, the Sapphire 1gb 4870. I love it. With the fan speed set to 40% in Rivatuner, it idles at around 42-45C, maxes at 70-72C during FurMark, and never goes higher than 58C during actual game playing.

It requires a quality 500W PSU or higher, so your Corsair TX750 is going to be overkill. =P That thing is beastly enough to run a second 4870 in Crossfire, if you choose to do that later.


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## Shane (Dec 10, 2008)

since playing GTA IV,i would reccomend anyone who can afford the 1Gb version of the latest cards out there to get it over the 512mb versions.

alot of newer games will use quite alot of video memory and i think by the next year or so 512mb cards wont be very good.


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## lovely? (Dec 10, 2008)

^ i agree. my 8800GT doesnt have nearly enough memory to run GTA IV at full settings.


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## Shane (Dec 10, 2008)

lovely? said:


> ^ i agree. my 8800GT doesnt have nearly enough memory to run GTA IV at full settings.



same here dude,it uses around 496mb on medium -and some high settings


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## smoothjk (Dec 10, 2008)

GTA 4 just has some ridiculous requirements, despite not being a gorgeous game. It's the only game I know of that doesn't run perfectly with a good dual core, but it needs a quad (or a heavily overclocked dual, I guess).

But yea, this game shows the direction the gaming industry is headed. More cores, more video card memory.


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## Shane (Dec 10, 2008)

thats why i was looking into getting a 4850 1gb so i could max it out but dunno yet.


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## shawnmh (Dec 11, 2008)

Nevakonaza said:


> since playing GTA IV,i would reccomend anyone who can afford the 1Gb version of the latest cards out there to get it over the 512mb versions.
> 
> alot of newer games will use quite alot of video memory and i think by the next year or so 512mb cards wont be very good.



I agree


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## smoothjk (Dec 12, 2008)

Seems like only yesterday people were saying "just get the 512mb version, there's NO difference!"

Shows how fast technology moves.


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## scooter (Dec 12, 2008)

I highly recommend to get two...maybe even three 4870 x2's ..lol

..


Seriously though, go for the 1GB version


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## lovely? (Dec 15, 2008)

smoothjk said:


> Seems like only yesterday people were saying "just get the 512mb version, there's NO difference!"
> 
> Shows how fast technology moves.



well those vid cards we were talking about at the time still wouldnt make a difference with the extra memory. i doubt my 8800gt could handle any more if it had the extra memory.


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## tlarkin (Dec 15, 2008)

I can put it in simplified terms.  More memory equals more bandwidth.  More bandwidth means more data can be processed at once.  The more data throughput you have, the more instruction sets can be calculated at any given time.  However, double memory does not equal double performance increase.  There is always over head and in some cases bottle necks.

As for it displaying on a larger screen that is partially true.  This also goes out to bandwidth.  Resolution bandwidth is quantified by Megahertz, Mhz.  The simple way to calculate how much video bandwidth goes from your video card to your display is actually a simple equation.

w * h * refreshrate.   So, if you run 1280 x 1024 @ 60hz you would need output of 1280*1024*60= 7,864,320hz.  I think the base line DVI cables can handle 128Mhz (mega is a prefix for 1million).  So, a 512MB card can output that easily at that resolution.

Then you add in AA, particle effects, shadows and lighting effects, texture quality, so on and so forth and that bandwidth gets smaller because some of the video memory is doing that as well, so you may not be able to run a higher resolution.

Of course this is a very dumbed down simple explanation and you can get way more technical than I did.  

The bottom line is, if the price bump is not that much to upgrade from 512 to 1gig of video memory then just do it.  If the price jump is a lot of money (say over $150 more) then maybe don't do it.


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## Dean11 (Dec 16, 2008)

get the 1gb version as with newer games the 512mb version hits a brick wall in framerate at some point because it needs more video ram with games like crysis, gta4 etc.. so the 1gb would be well worth the extra money


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## ada///M (Dec 24, 2008)

great thread, convinced me to spend the extra 35$  thanks


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## HumanMage (Dec 24, 2008)

I've always been told that if you are able to purchase a card with more memory and everything else was the same, why not step on up to the 1gb? It seems like a non issue to me on which to choose.


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