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Do you need 512MB VRAM or is 256MB enough? Test results.
- Thread starter barefeats
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Interesting results with X-Plane.
For some reason my GTX285 @ 2560x1600 suffers a bit when I turn it up yet the results show pretty good frame rates on the GT330M. Looks like I need to inspect my hardware.
I do wish to point out that the 15" i5 2.53GHz model you have listed in your charts only have 256MB VRAM; only the 15" i7 model has the 512MB VRAM configuration. (Copy and paste error?)
For some reason my GTX285 @ 2560x1600 suffers a bit when I turn it up yet the results show pretty good frame rates on the GT330M. Looks like I need to inspect my hardware.
I do wish to point out that the 15" i5 2.53GHz model you have listed in your charts only have 256MB VRAM; only the 15" i7 model has the 512MB VRAM configuration. (Copy and paste error?)
It's a 17" as listed in the legend.
LEGEND of GRAPHS (ORANGE bar means SLOWEST)
MBP i7 2.66 (512MV) = 15" MacBook Pro Core i7 2.66GHz with GeForce GT 330M (512MB VRAM)
MBP i5 2.53 (512MV) = 17" MacBook Pro Core i5 2.53GHz with GeForce GT 330M (512MB VRAM)
MBP i5 2.53 (256MV) = 15" MacBook Pro Core i5 2.53GHz with GeForce GT 330M (256MB VRAM)
I had a feeling this was the case.
I went with the i7 for the CPU increase. I don't think I'll ever use the extra 256 vram. I would have gladly paid $100 less for an i7/256 vram config. :\
I went with the i7 for the CPU increase. I don't think I'll ever use the extra 256 vram. I would have gladly paid $100 less for an i7/256 vram config. :\
Interesting; but keep in mind the games tested are decently old. Back when those games were launched, 256MB was pretty much high-end. Would be interesting to see you test 256 vs 512 on newer games under bootcamp to really give the 330M a workout (Bad Company 2 etc).
gaming would obviously benefit from more vram, but anyone know how it affects stuff like photoshop, final cut, etc? my initial guess is that adding more system RAM would be more beneficial. I couldn't find any clear-cut answers with benchmarks (or my googling must be off today).
+1. No offense, but no one plays Halo, especially on a Mac. We need Windows testing with modern games. BC2, SC2, Dirt etc.
If you were gonna test Mac games, could have at least tested The Sims 3. It's the most modern.
I can just say; thank you again!
I love your site, simple and easy to understand benchmarks!
I've noticed that most of the Barefeats benchmarks run with 4x AA turned on. It is good for eye candy, but I don't think most gamers would turn that on, unless they were running some better desktop-quality hardware.
I agree for the purpose of this test, finding the 256MB breaking point, it's definitely a good idea, but for his general gaming benchmarks I'm not a fan of doing it this way.
Don't get me wrong. I love the site, and I visit it daily
.Well he's not really finding the "breaking point" per se; he's testing using basically ancient games or games based off of ancient engine's.I agree for the purpose of this test, finding the 256MB breaking point, it's definitely a good idea, but for his general gaming benchmarks I'm not a fan of doing it this way.
Don't get me wrong. I love the site, and I visit it daily
I'll gladly use newer games for testing as long as there is a way to do "automatic" benchmarking that's repeatable and delivers average frame rate. All suggestions and guidance welcome.
What do you think of Bioshock and Starcraft II? Any auto-benchmarking or timedemo for those two?
I normally don't test with 4X AA at high resolutions (1920x1200 and 2560x1600), but it was the only way to "break" the 256MB VRAM model. Turn off AA and it matches the numbers of the 512MB models.
What do you think of Bioshock and Starcraft II? Any auto-benchmarking or timedemo for those two?
I normally don't test with 4X AA at high resolutions (1920x1200 and 2560x1600), but it was the only way to "break" the 256MB VRAM model. Turn off AA and it matches the numbers of the 512MB models.
BioShock's decently old to; but if you want to run it why not. Could you run some tests in Bootcamp? Can't speak for SC2, but I'm fairly certain that Bad Company 2 has a repeatable benchmark or a way to make your own.
Here's a list off the top of my head, feel free to add to it:
Bad Company 2
Starcraft 2
Fallout 3
Left 4 Dead 1 or 2
Yeah i'm really curious about 256 vs 512 on Starcraft 2 with the graphics settings on Ultra