Those very very very special situations is perfectly illustrated in this old article where it's a 256 vs 512 mb showdown.
RAM on videocards are used for textures. If the textures are bigger than the available ram, then it starts to use the system ram (which is slower) 512 mb ram is enough for most games though. (If we're not talking highres textures)
And if we are talking high res texures then you might as well look for a 1gb card as 512 vs 640 is minimal. (Maybe the ATI 5850 Radeon 1GB?)
Remember in SLI or Crossfire for that matter is that 1+1 != 2. Why pay for 2 cards, when you don't get the performance of two cards. You might as well consider a card that can beat the performance of them both. Less power usage and noise polution for your ears as well that way.
Anyhow... I'm sure you can find a situation where the GTS would be faster due to the slightly more RAM, but if you need to run a resolution with that high quality textures, then think in the lines of a better card and not SLI. (THe price difference on 2x8800 GTS or GT and ATI 5850 Radeon 1GB... and you leave a smaller CO^2 footprint as you use less power )
Originally posted by NerosD No in general and yes in those very very very special situations.
The GTS is slower than the GT, but I guess you're wondering if that extra RAM will make it faster.
Wow, so I was gonna post some links of benches because the GTS usually outperforms the GT from what I've seen, but after I looked through them I noticed this: GTS 512MB > GT 512MB > GTS 640MB > GTS 320MB
I guess the 8800 GTS 512 MB version uses the G92 chip while the 8800 GTS 640MB uses the G80 chip. I'm not sure how much the 4 64-bit memory controller architecture in the 512MB compared to the 5 64-bit controllers in the 640MB effects things, maybe it's too much of a mess to be efficient.
So, the 8800GT 512MB SLI will be faster than the 8800GTS 640MB SLI setup, and nVidia still pisses me off with their terrible naming schemes and product recycling.
Comments
Yea, the 8800 GTS are faster.
The 8800GT 512 is faster than the 8800GTS 640MB.. I was thinking the 8800GTS 512MB, which actually is faster! goddamn nvidia..
No in general and yes in those very very very special situations.
The GTS is slower than the GT, but I guess you're wondering if that extra RAM will make it faster.
GTS 640mb vs. GT 512mb vs GTX 512mb
Those very very very special situations is perfectly illustrated in this old article where it's a 256 vs 512 mb showdown.
RAM on videocards are used for textures. If the textures are bigger than the available ram, then it starts to use the system ram (which is slower) 512 mb ram is enough for most games though. (If we're not talking highres textures)
And if we are talking high res texures then you might as well look for a 1gb card as 512 vs 640 is minimal. (Maybe the ATI 5850 Radeon 1GB?)
Remember in SLI or Crossfire for that matter is that 1+1 != 2. Why pay for 2 cards, when you don't get the performance of two cards. You might as well consider a card that can beat the performance of them both. Less power usage and noise polution for your ears as well that way.
Anyhow... I'm sure you can find a situation where the GTS would be faster due to the slightly more RAM, but if you need to run a resolution with that high quality textures, then think in the lines of a better card and not SLI. (THe price difference on 2x8800 GTS or GT and ATI 5850 Radeon 1GB... and you leave a smaller CO^2 footprint as you use less power
)
EDIT: THE QUICK ANSWER - NO WAY IN HELL!
Wow, so I was gonna post some links of benches because the GTS usually outperforms the GT from what I've seen, but after I looked through them I noticed this:
GTS 512MB > GT 512MB > GTS 640MB > GTS 320MB
I guess the 8800 GTS 512 MB version uses the G92 chip while the 8800 GTS 640MB uses the G80 chip. I'm not sure how much the 4 64-bit memory controller architecture in the 512MB compared to the 5 64-bit controllers in the 640MB effects things, maybe it's too much of a mess to be efficient.
Anyway, here's bench of the GT 512MB vs GTS 512MB.
http://xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/gainward-bliss8800gt-1024gs_7.html#sect0
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3175&p=4
And GT 512MB vs GTS 640MB
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3140&p=7
So, the 8800GT 512MB SLI will be faster than the 8800GTS 640MB SLI setup, and nVidia still pisses me off with their terrible naming schemes and product recycling.