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128 v 256 ram video card

mwp98223

mwp98223

macrumors 6502
Original poster
How much difference in performance is there between the two offered video cards for the 20" iMac? If you are not gaming, but would be working with photos, slides shows, buring to iDVD (not heavy video editting) would there be much boost in performance? The cost is not that much different, but going to 256 forcings ordering from Apple on-line limits possible savings elsewhere.
 
For what you describe, having the extra ram won't actually do very much for you. Of course, it won't hurt to have the extra space - but to be honest, the GPU's themselves aren't powerfull enough to warrant a 256mb buffer in the first place.

Edit - I'm sure there are hundreds of threads like this on here, do a search.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/278978/
 
I agree - for your needs, the 128MB should be adequate. Always keep in mind what your future needs might be as well though...
 
MagicWok said:
For what you describe, having the extra ram won't actually do very much for you. Of course, it won't hurt to have the extra space - but to be honest, the GPU's themselves aren't powerfull enough to warrant a 256mb buffer in the first place.

Edit - I'm sure there are hundreds of threads like this on here, do a search.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/278978/
Click to expand...

Thank you. This link was very helpful b/c he was looking at exactly the same cost issue as I'm looking at. Paying tax at Apple v. no tax and rebates elsewhere (but no customized configurations) makes a big difference in price beyond the upgrade cost of the card.
 
The 20" iMac with the 128MB version of the ATI Radeon X1600 should be fine for you mwp98223. 🙂
 
On the other hand this does help future proof the machine. For example my brothers machine his imac 600mhz the biggest problem for usability is the video card can't keep up. It can't play youtube without skipping frames etc. So if you can afford it, it may be worth the upgrade depends how long you want to keep the machine. For the moment the 128 would be fine, now 5 years down the road if you still have the machine it might not cut it.
 
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