Wow, can this be right about the 8800GTS?!

I just found some benchmarks on the two versions of the 8800GTS, and surprisingly, the 320MB version doesn't seem to be a sacrifice over the 640MB counterpart at all. As a matter of fact, I even saw one benchmark where the 320MB version actually outperformed the 640MB in BF2142. Makes me wonder if spending that extra $100 on the big 8800GTS is even worth it...

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=707&model2=857&chart=276

well its only extra ram, so if you don't need the ram then you don't need to spend the extra money. At the moment not many games really make much use of extra ram since most people still have 256mb or less. By the time you need 640mb I expect there will be cheaper faster cards avaliable anyway.

Next driver realese and the 640MB wont be slower

Makes me wonder if those benchmarks were from certain resolutions tho. I mean, if I'm hooking an 8800GTS into an HDTV (in this case a JVC 32" LCD), via a DVI-HDMI connection, and it comes up as a 1360x768 resolution, do you think that widescreen resolutions would be more significant in the 640MB direction at all?

What Evak said, although I'd check for corroboration, Tom Pabst isn't excatly noted for his integrity.

Darkheart

What? How can you question the validity of something you read on the Internet? It's as good as the Bible!

A computer that only needs 2GB of ram (let's say exactly only for point of example) isn't going to perform much better, if it all better, with 20GB of ram. The 18GB extra is just going to lie unused and it's the same with graphics cards, so I agree with Evak. The extra memory will come in handy if using a super-high resolution or lots of multiple monitors, but for most games not much difference.

I often see people get 512MB versions of 256MB cards thinking they are getting a good deal when they are not. Often it's worse, because the memory is of lower quality/speed to keep the price low.

My next upgrade is probably an 8800GTS 320MB. I didn't even consider the 640MB version because stuff looks pretty good already on my 256MB 7800GTX. The only real reason for 640MB is higher quality textures. I can live without that if it saves me £70.

I thought people knew that 320 vs 640 was nothing to do with speed? I mean, it's fairly common-sense obvious to me ;)

More RAM should also help if you like anti-aliasing or you plan to invest in a higher res monitor (or maybe a 1080p HDTV).

When I bought my video card just recently the guy at the store told me some people think that double the RAM means it's twice as fast.

Also the one difference might be that the 512mb card uses slower memory to sell the card cheaper.

LOL!! Best quote I heard all week.