Does 128mb video ram help?

[JustinCase 0]

I'm going to buy a Geforce4200, but I'm not sure if I should take a 128Mb or a 64Mb version. I know about the difference in speed between the two, but if ofp:r uses more than the 64Mb at times, then the performance advantage would be zero or even negative because of the transfering of textures between main slow ram and video ram.

Has anybody benchmarked these? Or could BIS give some info on this?

[bl00k 0]

If you can afford the 128mb version then go for it. I don't see why it would cause any problems. Besides in the long run I think you would rather have the extra ram.

[dayglow 2]

Nothing really uses 128mb right now, but if AA is your bag then get it because AA will use more memory, esp. at higher resolutions. Some games are starting to use really high texture formats that choke 64mb cards. SOFII is one, but I don't see any preseaved difference between the 'very high' and 'high' textures and it takes an extra minute to load the 'very high' so I stuck with the 'high', but people complained with 64mb the 'very high' stutters.

COLINMAN

[Kep Kelagin 1]

I recently upgraded from an Asus GeForce 2 32MB to an Asus GeForce 4 128 MB Ram , and that was a big improvement I think the more memory the better..

[Placebo 29]

Moving to OT

[Jester983 0]

Like blook said. If u have the money go for it. Cause if u have 128 mb graphics card u wont have to upgrade for quite some time. I use a Geforce 2 with 64mb and it works just fine. I havent found one laggy game with it and i hope not too. But im sure i will sometime.

[Tex -USMC- 0]

OFP would benefit more from an extra stick of 128 mb RAM in your system than a 128 mb video card

[EveronVetsAgainstTheWar 1]

I would look at benchmark tests. You see, the GF4 Ti4200 with 128mb of ram actually has a LOWER clock speed than the version with 64mb of ram. This can limit the performance. So, this is just speculation, but the 128mb version might actually be a SLOWER card...

[Albert Schweitzer 10]

It might be that I am talking bullshit now because I am not really a Bit&Byte freak but I have the impression that the Videocard nowadays is more important than the performance of the processor. I made this experience, whether it is the Mb capacity or just the rest of the improving cards I really dont know!

But one thing is for certain, OFP cries for RAM. RAM is the major factor improving the performance. Even my 128 of the fastest RAM werent sufficient so I added 256MB and it changed a lot!

[EveronVetsAgainstTheWar 1]

Actually I was under the impression that for OFP your CPU mattered most. Better CPU = More objects can be rendered faster.

Am I right?

[Tex -USMC- 0]

CPU is important, but its way easier to get more RAM than to get a new processor

[Sadico 1]

I've tried, and the graphics card is more important. My best friend has a PIII 833, 128mb of ram and a GF3 with 64mb. I've got a P4 1400, 256mb and a (shitty) TNT2 with 32mb, and he gets a better framerate than me in OFP (using the same resolution and detail options).

I'm working now (i've finaly decided to work and study at the same time) and i earn 700 € a month, so i'm gonna buy a GF4 as soon as i get my pay. Then i'll buy another computer (now i use my sister's comp) and another GF4.

[SKULLS_Viper 0]

I have a Geforce 2 Ultra at 64MB that is on a 4x AGP port, and all the other good features, but i am able to run all the games i have at highest settings, with out any lag.Inculding AA, and sofII.

[USSoldier11B 0]

Hmmm, this is puzzling.

Home: 800 mhz PIII, 256 mb ram, Matrox G200 = Great perfomance for OFP, but fair/poor for almost every other game that I own. (Ugh, RTCW looks like shit)

Work: 1.5 ghz PIII, 368 mb ram, ATI Radeon SDR = shitty OFP performance. Is very foggy and lags with alot of units. Plays other games quite well.

?? I'm confused.

[Placebo 29]

Shite (dodgy) radeon drivers? Try swapping cards, see what happens?

[EveronVetsAgainstTheWar 1]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (USSoldier11B @ July 09 2002,21:08)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">ATI Radeon SDR<span id='postcolor'>

BOOOO BOOOO HISSSSS

[JustinCase 0]

thanks for all the replies. I don't think the rest of my config should be a problem: Athlon1700 & 512 Mb SDRam.

I'm currently using an ATI rage fury card with 32Mb ram on it and I can play ofp pretty well. CPU is probably the most important factor. I really noticed this when I upgraded my cpu (and mobo) from a celeron 850 to my current Athlon1700 :-)

The reason why i asked is because of Resistance. Resistance seems to push the graphics card a lot more especially when you go into high detail and I was wondering if it's using more than 64Mb of video ram?

[Albert Schweitzer 10]

Ah shit I forgot what I wanted to say . wait.,no I got it, Actually that is so damm funny what you are telling me about RTCW, cause this game works with my Comp without any constraints. But OFP is pretty weak with mine (at 1024x800) and I am surprised about that. Any other game does not cause me any problems too and I have tried a lot (except Pong).

Now what shall I do? I got a PIV 1.3. with an old socket. So if I want to upgrade my processor I need a new motherboard. But PIV processors are really really expensive so why dont I buy Athlon? Because I got expensive RimmRamm, and I wouldnt be able to use them with an Athlon.

Either

New motherboard

+ terrible expensive PIV 2.0

Or

New motherboards

+cheap Athlon 2.2

+ new RAM

(and throw the old away?)

[Guest]

Go for the Athlon + Memory, I would say. Yesterday I installed a new system at my parent's house. It is a 2,4 GHz P4 with 512 Mb memory and a GF4 4200 card.

Resistance ran smooth at 1600x1200 with maximum detail and a viewdistance of about 1500. I get the same performance on my own computer which is a 1,3 GHz Athlon with 512 Mb memory and a GF3 card...

... so I'm not overly impressed with the power of the P4.

[Tex -USMC- 0]

I only like the P4 cuz you can go for the PC800 RDRAM, which is, truly, the best ram Ive ever used.

[Albert Schweitzer 10]

I got also a PC-800 board with 3x128MB RDRamm, that is the only reason why I didnt switch to Athlon yet, but I dont really see the advantage of this hyper-expensive stuff.

I have to admit thought that OFP is the only game that challenges my PC, every other game is runing smooth as baby-oil on a sweet chocolate coloured, Samba dancing xxx with long legs and...

[Badgerboy 0]

Bugger it, buy a new case and sling all your old PC parts into it. Tada, a brand new server. I use my old dual PIII for a file server, sharing my Cable modem out across the house, and running as a dedicated server for myself and friends.

My new Athlon XP 2100 runs very nicely. I also got a ABIT AT7 legacy free motherboard. Bloody fast, plus 8 USB, 4 USB 2.0, and 2 Firewire ports. Plus 8 EIDE sockets on the board!

Also I can recommend the Zalman Flower Cooler for everyone.

Its really quiet, and I can run my XP2100 full tilt at 42c.

(BTW. Its now possible to buy P4 boards with DDR support, so the price comes down quite alot.

[Tex -USMC- 0]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Albert Schweizer @ July 10 2002,13:32)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I have to admit thought that OFP is the only game that challenges my PC, every other game is runing smooth as baby-oil on a sweet chocolate coloured, Samba dancing xxx with long legs and...  <span id='postcolor'>

Same here. The only other game that I cant basically max out is Il2, and everybody has seen screens of that game in action. Well guess what, my computer does that lol

Edit: I have 640 Mbs of the stuff take that you Germaniac

[Albert Schweitzer 10]

640 MB of RDRAM, that is spoiled! Yes, you are spoiled person! That stuff is damm expensive here and I really dont know why! For which reasons are all computer parts so much cheaper in the US than in Europe? Are they taxed? Shipping costs (yeah 0.000002% of the selling price)?

Oh and Badgerboy, I havent understood a single word you were saying!

[Tex -USMC- 0]

It was fairly expensive, but not as bad as it is over there, probably. I had to save for a few months, but that is one of the blessings of OFP- I had no desire to spend any money on other games, so I had nothing draining my funds.

My machine started off with 128 mbs in it, but pretty soon I realised that I couldnt run OFP the way I really wanted to with that much. So I just scrimped and saved for a while, caught a few lucky breaks, and then ordered through Dell (because I have a Dell machine, and their Ram is always high quality). The rest is history, and with my GeForce 3, its a challenge to find something that will make my PC stretch (I can play Longbow 2 or Steel Beasts in the background while I wait for an OFP multiplayer game to finish up )