Question about video card memory

This may seem stupid, and I should probably know this, but what exactly does the memory on a video card do? If a card has 1gb vs. 512mb, and all other specs are the same on the 2 cards, how much difference will the 1gb card make? A friend says that more memory means a better and more expansive color pallette, I say it simply allows the GPU to access more data more quickly, and takes some load off the system RAM. So, again, what EXACTLY does more memory on a video card do for you??

 

:confused Anyone? :confused

 

It's ram for video things on your computer, it runs/helps run movies and games and things like that on your computer, Now on the other hand say you get a card that's 128bit and 512mb ram, I'm guessin the Bit's have to do with quality and the ram, well like i said above.

 

It works the same as any other memory.

Generally a processor has some small amount of memory directly attached to it, that it can use very quickly, and the time it takes to access memory gets longer the farther it is from the processor. As far as GPU memory goes, a larger amount of memory means that more data can be stored on the GPU itself at any given time. Whether or not you see a performance increase will depend on the software that is generating the graphics.

Think about it like RAM in a computer. You can double the RAM in your computer, and you'll see an improvement in some places, and no change in others. Before the computer can really do anything with a program, it needs to load the data into RAM so that it has access to it. If a program has more data than can fit into your available RAM, is saves some of it into a Paging file on the hard drive, which it can access in a similar way (albeit much slower). With your GPU, doubling the memory means it has twice as much room to store data. If in the 512mb card you could not store all of the data it needs on the memory in the GPU, some of it would have to be stored in the RAM of the computer, which takes much longer to get in/out for the GPU.


So, to answer your question, you're both somewhat right. You're right in that you can store more data directly on the card, which it can then access faster than if it had to be stored in RAM. Your friend, on the other hand, is right in that it could, potentially, allow you to use higher settings in a game/movie, which would allow you to see a better picture. As far as it matters though, you're more right than he is.

 

agreed. I guess I'll throw in my 2 cents here, since I have done a lot of upgrading and messing with vid cards. I've got to say, as far as how much difference it will make, I think that will depend on what your doing or what game, perhaps, you're trying to run. For example, since I've upgraded mine recently, I've noticed a dramatic improvement in performance and being able to handle higher graphics settings, which is nice! However, for some reason, when I run C&C Generals, I still get a lot of lag and poor performance; perhaps because C&C relies more on system Ram, not really sure. Point is, if you're considering upgrading, I would highly recommend getting the 1 gb, only because in most cases it will be considerably better... and before long, that will be obsolete too.

I'm not sure what EXACTLY your friend is saying, but... the card never determines graphics, it only helps determine what you're able to run on your system or what you're able to set your graphics settings to by supplying more memory. I guess if you look at it that way, then your friend is correct.

Incidentally, I hear that more and more pc games are starting to lean away from system RAM and are becoming more reliant upon graphics card memory now...

 

This is a good explanation.

The video card (VC) RAM will be the same as system RAM, volatile and storing information to be processed by the GPU (or CPU).

The more RAM onboard means the more DATA stored and the quicker the GPU can "access and process it" (directly).

By having more VC RAM DATA can be stored here and eliminating the need for DATA to be read from the HDD processed and stored by CPU/RAM and then "transferred" to the VC via the MCH (aka FSB for most mobo's) and memory controller interface (how many Bits=how much DATA per cycle).

By having the greater RAM you can eliminate many steps from the memory/data pathway but it will be highly application dependant (you can have 12GB of RAM but if the applications can't utilise it 2GB will be just as fast).

It should have very little impact on the actual "quality" of the output apart from transfer speeds as the GPU will be the primary dictator of "quality".

It would be most noticeable during:
-Burning and processing Video DATA,
-Certain Games were you may back track back and forth often (minimising or shortening the load times),
-CAD and rendering applications.

I think you will find very similar benchmark scores on the same 512MB and 1GB Video Cards (all other parameters being equal) unless you are using a "memory intensive" application (e.g. CAD, Rendering, burning, etc). The processing potential should be the same.

 

Thanks for the input everyone. My thinking appears to be a bit more "accurate". I remember when I had an ATI x1950 256mb AGP video card (it was high-end when I had it 4 years ago), it had a beautiful picture and the color palette was excellent, and most games ran fine (sometimes on lower settings). I was making mental comparisons of picture quality, comparing that card to my current 896mb NVidia GTX260, and basing the comparison strictly on the quality of the visual image, they are more-or-less identical at resolutions at/below 1280x800. Of course, the GTX260 completely destroys that elderly x1950 when it comes to performance, but as far as simple picture projection they were equal. That's why I think my friend was wrong in saying that more mb means more/better color rendition. Thanks again everyone!

Happy holidays! :-D