DDR3 or DDR5 graphics card? What's the difference? - Hardware & Software

What games are you wanting to play? If all you do is casual gaming with a bit of team fortress 2 and some minecraft then a 5770 will be more than plenty so don't bother getting anything better, but if you do plan on playing some of the newer games which require more horsepower or are looking forward to some of the new games this year then I'd definitely recommend getting a 6870/6950/560/570 as others have mentioned, these cards are in the sweet spot right now for price:performance and you can't go wrong picking either of them. It's all about what you're going to use it for though, I've had friends buy $2,000 gaming rigs specifically for world of warcraft and counter-strike: source, it's as if they like wasting money. Oh and ignore the people rating you dumb, it's a knee jerk reaction for when people think they're smarter than someone else for knowing something they don't.

I am playing/going to play stuff that requires horsepower.

Definitely get one of the cards mentioned then, 5770 won't cut it for newer games on higher settings, you should be happy with one of the cards I mentioned, all of them scale well in SLI/Crossfire too so upgrading in the future will be reasonably easy and profitable. You can also get a 6870 for as low as 160 euros, that'll max every game on the market and practically every game coming this year (unsure on battlefield 3).

you might want to look into getting a car then

nevermind, ninja'd

[QUOTE=*Freezorg*;30792485]I am playing/going to play stuff that requires horsepower.[/QUOTE] then you should look in the cars section. a motors vibrations would ruin any HDD

[QUOTE=CubeManv2;30792531]you might want to look into getting a car then[/QUOTE] I'd oversteer into a ditch

Depends on the resolution you'll be playing at, 1gb will be fine for 1920x1200 or anything under, might want to get a 2gb if you're playing on multiple monitors though. The 2gb will also help with heavy textures in games and anti-aliasing. The 6950 2gb can also be "unlocked" into a 6970 with a (if I'm not mistaken) BIOS flash. I'd go with the 2gb

I'm playing at 1680x1050

You'll see no difference between the 1gb or 2gb versions then, although the 2gb still will help with anti-aliasing and games with heavy textures, plus it'll keep you future proof if you upgrade to a higher resolution.

[QUOTE=gman003-main;30788140]..Words..[/QUOTE] Instead of making long-winded posts that are partially wrong, put it in terms easier to understand: GDDR5 is more efficient than GDDR3. It can achieve the same and higher clock frequencies as GDDR3 at lower voltages and have more bandwidth. The reason budget cards use GDDR3 is because GDDR3 is cheaper per memory chip than GDDR5.

My experience is that faster memory(DDR2, DDR3, GDDR5) gets you more bandwidth, which means you won't lose framerate so quickly as you increase resolution when gaming. Another consideration, some videocards are designed with two or more configurations of memory. For instance, you can get a DDR2 version of the 5450 or a DDR3 version(the DDR3 version being the fastest). It's important to make sure you know which is the fastest memory the videocard you choose should have. You don't want to wind up buying the slower version by accident. The 6770 is the same card as the 5770, with the addition of having an HDMI 1.4 output. The card itself is no faster. I think for 1680x1050 an AMD 6790 or Nvidia 460, each in the 1gb version, should be fine. You could spend more for a faster card but I'm not sure you'd gain anything in most games. Really demanding games will always run better with the most expensive cards, that's no surprise.

[QUOTE=David Tennant;30792606]Depends on the resolution you'll be playing at, 1gb will be fine for 1920x1200 or anything under, might want to get a 2gb if you're playing on multiple monitors though. The 2gb will also help with heavy textures in games and anti-aliasing. The 6950 2gb can also be "unlocked" into a 6970 with a (if I'm not mistaken) BIOS flash. I'd go with the 2gb[/QUOTE] no, by the time he gets to 2gb his performance will be shit and for eyefinity he's going to need a minimum of two anyways. this far into production you will not get a bios flashable card either

[QUOTE=Armotekma;30793178]no, by the time he gets to 2gb his performance will be shit and for eyefinity he's going to need a minimum of two anyways. this far into production you will not get a bios flashable card either[/QUOTE] A friend has recently gotten an XFX 6950 and unlocked it with no problems, could've been a fluke.

[QUOTE=bohb;30792918]Instead of making long-winded posts that are partially wrong, put it in terms easier to understand: GDDR5 is more efficient than GDDR3. It can achieve the same and higher clock frequencies as GDDR3 at lower voltages and have more bandwidth. The reason budget cards use GDDR3 is because GDDR3 is cheaper per memory chip than GDDR5.[/QUOTE] also they don't really even need the extra memory bandwidth since they're not that powerful and the GPU will bottleneck it, right?

[QUOTE=Shadaez;30793419]also they don't really even need the extra memory bandwidth since they're not that powerful and the GPU will bottleneck it, right?[/QUOTE] Just because the GPU has fewer stream processors, doesn't mean they won't benefit from the extra bandwidth. Just like with general purpose CPUs, if you slow the memory down, everything will take longer to do that requires memory access. Also don't forget the lower power usage, which is what many people look for in HTPCs to reduce heat production, power consumption and noise from fans.

[QUOTE=LCD;30789750]Well I used to manufacture PCBs of all sizes, and there was waste galore. They purposely waste space all the time. I even had an engineer I talked to tell me they rather waste the space and space things out than to redesign it condensed. His statement wreaks of laziness.[/QUOTE] Engineer's usually are. [editline]30th June 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=LCD;30789491]Look at all that wasted PCB space... there could either be more chips there, or less PCB with things condensed.[/QUOTE] My guess is that is a prototype design, simple proving that DDR4 will work. Over time they tend to become more dense with chips. Given that it's said that we'll see DDR4 finally in 2014, I'd say they got some time to figure it out. [editline]30th June 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=David Tennant;30792606]The 6950 2gb can also be "unlocked" into a 6970 with a (if I'm not mistaken) BIOS flash. I'd go with the 2gb[/QUOTE] The flashing days are quickly dying. After a certain point, the partners begin making their own PCB's and bios's and eventually you can't do it anymore. SOME reference 2gb boards still exist, but not new stock is my guess, probably cards that simply haven't sold yet.

[QUOTE=bohb;30792918]Instead of making long-winded posts that are partially wrong, put it in terms easier to understand: GDDR5 is more efficient than GDDR3. It can achieve the same and higher clock frequencies as GDDR3 at lower voltages and have more bandwidth. The reason budget cards use GDDR3 is because GDDR3 is cheaper per memory chip than GDDR5.[/QUOTE] [b]GMAN003 IS NEVER WRONG.[/b] [sp]humor[/sp]

[QUOTE=LCD;30789750]Well I used to manufacture PCBs of all sizes, and there was waste galore. They purposely waste space all the time. I even had an engineer I talked to tell me they rather waste the space and space things out than to redesign it condensed. His statement wreaks of laziness.[/QUOTE] Then again, there's a difference between the engineer that can waste space, and the Chinese engineer who's going to starve to death because his boss fired him because it costs 0.00000037$ more per PCB because he wasted a tiny bit of space.

[QUOTE=nikomo;30809519]Then again, there's a difference between the engineer that can waste space, and the Chinese engineer who's going to starve to death because his boss fired him because it costs 0.00000037$ more per PCB because he wasted a tiny bit of space.[/QUOTE] It's probably cheaper having a simpler design, than wasting PCB.

I wonder if companies would actually end up spending more on PCB to have custom cuts rather than traditional stock sizes, too.

[QUOTE=GoDong-DK;30809811]It's probably cheaper having a simpler design, than wasting PCB.[/QUOTE] It usually ends up being that the manhours you need to put into redesigning the PCB end up costing more than just using a bit more space.

[QUOTE=nikomo;30810399]It usually ends up being that the manhours you need to put into redesigning the PCB end up costing more than just using a bit more space.[/QUOTE] It was what I meant, simply thought of it as implied in "simpler design".

[QUOTE=David Tennant;30792503]Definitely get one of the cards mentioned then, 5770 won't cut it for newer games on higher settings, you should be happy with one of the cards I mentioned, all of them scale well in SLI/Crossfire too so upgrading in the future will be reasonably easy and profitable. You can also get a 6870 for as low as 160 euros, [B]that'll max every game on the market[/B] and practically every game coming this year (unsure on battlefield 3).[/QUOTE] no it won't lol

[QUOTE=Odellus;30817316]no it won't lol[/QUOTE] yes it will lol [sp]nobody said anything about playable framerate![/sp]

[QUOTE=Armotekma;30817583]yes it will lol [sp]nobody said anything about playable framerate![/sp][/QUOTE] By that logic, a 8088 can max out Crysis (given a big enough hard drive). I mean, it's Turing-complete, right? Should be able to emulate it at at least 30fpw (frames per week).

Apart from not supporting Direct X and other such things that the game requires to start, of course.

So, if I was to get a 6950 2GB, would I have the power for it, with the other components I posted?

[QUOTE=gman003-main;30788375]Cool. Didn't see that. Last I heard, they'd made RAM at 40nm, the scale DDR4 is supposed to be made on, but they hadn't actually made DDR4 memory. [editline]29th June 2011[/editline] Depends. How much other stuff is on there drawing power?[/QUOTE] Isn't DDR4 supposed to be manufactured in 30-32nm?

[QUOTE=*Freezorg*;30846134]So, if I was to get a 6950 2GB, would I have the power for it, with the other components I posted?[/QUOTE] Get a 1GB if you can find them, but it will be fine.