What is the differance between a video card with 256 MB of memory and one with 512 MB?

I'm in the market for a new video card and I just need to know if the extra memory is worth the extra money. What exactly does that memory do?..



Any answer would be helpful|||First of all, there are many aspects to video card performance.



The biggest one is how "new" the chip is on it.



The best cards for the money right now are the ATi 3850 256mb/512mb, 3870 512mb and the Nvidia 8800GT 256mb/512mb and 8800GTS 512mb.



There is also different video memory. Cheap bottom line cards use GDDR2, while mid-to-high end card use fast GDDR3 memory. 256mb of GDDR3 is way better than 512mb of GDDR2.



And finally, to your question about the size, 256mb vs 512mb.

The more memory, the higher the resolution you can play at and more effects like AA and AF you can have turned on.

So, if your monitor has a resolution of only 1024x768 (786,000 pixels), you could get buy on a 256mb card. It it has a higher resolution like 1280x1024 (1,300,000 pixels) and you want the games to look great, then you must buy a card with 512mb GDDR3 memory. Simply put, the more pixels on the screen and high settings require more memory and a faster chip (newer car).|||You can run higher resolutions with the 512MB card and faster frame rates. Anyone who says you can run a game like Crysis with a 256MB video card just as well as you can with a 512MB card is full of it! A 512 card isn't gonna bog down like a 256 card when, for example , you have a bunch of those blue pests flying around.|||512mb will speed up the gpu, as it uses the memory for shaders and alsorts, if it is about £10-20 more then i recomend the 512mb.|||for people who play games at higher resolutions

like 1024x768+ and more data buffering.|||Antialiasing and textures use the video card's memory. If you plan to run highly graphics intensive games (Crysis), you will want to go with a 512MB graphics card.|||256 MB|||actually ignore what the two guys above me said, it depends on speed, you can run games like crysis, on full settings on a 256mb video card running DDr3, it depends on speed. 256mb's are cheaper, and if its ddr3 it can out perform a 512mb running ddr2. you can go for the 320mb cards, or 768mb. the required for crysis is a 768mb video, but a 256mb ddr3 can do about the same more efficent, and it also depends on system. PCi, PCi-E, or agp. PCI-E is the best.