ATI RADEON X1600 256 MB

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pink_snow Author

Level 1

45 points

ATI RADEON X1600 256 MB

Hi!
Can someone give an example of when 256 MB VRAM is much better than 128 MB?

iMac 20" 2GHz Intel Core Duo, Mac OS X (10.4.9), 2 GB RAM 256 MB ATI RADEON X1600

Posted on May 3, 2007 9:54 AM

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Answer 1

Matteo S.

Level 1

110 points

May 3, 2007 10:28 AM in response to pink_snow

to my knowledge... only games and 3d applications for real-time preview

I bet aqua (GUI, opengl, maybe quicktime) takes advantage of vram, but I doubt that it uses more than 128mb 😉

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Answer 2

pink_snow Author

Level 1

45 points

May 3, 2007 10:34 AM in response to Matteo S.

Is it useful when adding a second display?

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Answer 3

Matteo S.

Level 1

110 points

May 3, 2007 11:10 AM in response to pink_snow

I read dozens articles about the impact of vram on real life tasks on mac, and usually they suggest to get more vram for video editing and 3d applications.

Surely if you use an external display the vram is split between the two heads, but 64mb is plenty of space for the average use.

Here http://www.barefeats.com/pb12.html I found a benchmark that shows that doubling the vram does not have a great impact on performance even on games. I would invest in more ram rather than vram.

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