Does anyone know if there would be an increase in performance if I bought a 512Mb video card compared to the 256Mb video card that I have? Currently, I have a geForce 7900 GS and was thinking about upgrading to an 8 series card. Would the investment be worth it, or would the framerate increase be neglible compared to the investment? Any insight provided is appreciated. ThanksShafter

Hello,It depends on the 8 series card. If it is an 8400 or an 8500, you want a version with GDDR3 memory. Most 8600s and all 8800s have GDDR3. It also depends on if the GPU can make full use of 512 MB of RAM. For example, if I have an nVidia 7600 GT with 256 MB of GDDR3 and another with 512 MB of DDR2, the 256 MB version will easily beat the DDR2 one because the GDDR3 RAM is faster, and the nVidia G73, the GPU which powers the 7600, cannot make full use of 512 MB of RAM. So...which 8 series card are you planning to get?If it's an 8400, 8500, or 8600, I recommend the new GeForce 9600 GT. In fact, you can get a 9600 GT SSC ("Super Superclocked" as I call it) for just about $210---the price of one 512 MB 8600 GTS. It has a 740 MHz clock, making it easily beat the G92 and some G80 chips.Let me know how I can help.BoeingGuy

Thanks Boeing Guy. I was actually looking to buy an 8800 GS as I read it was a pretty good card. Would I do better getting the new 9600 GT compared to an 8800 GS. What type of frame rate increase are we talking. Thanks for the help.Shafter

There will be at least a 5-10 FPS increase, if not more: http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=551&card2=557#If you overclock the 9600 GT to 740 Core and 975 Mem, which are the clock speeds of the SSC version, there is a BIG difference. More memory bandwidth means better performance with more advanced options checked, like anisotropic filtering and anti-aliasing.Here is a 3DMark06 graph showing two stock 8800 GS (384 MB) and the 9600 GT: http://img3.pconline.com.cn/pconline/0801/...ark06_thumb.jpgSo you can see it performs slightly better. If you come here to the main review: http://www.neowin.net/news/main/08/01/14/n...e-9600gt-review you can click on the other games at the bottom of the page to display other graphs of other well-known/played games. But remember, these are stock speed clocks. Even an XFX 8800 GS XXX does not come CLOSE to the 9600 GT SSC, that is, if you are planning on getting an SSC version.No problem, I am happy to help.Let me know how it works out,BoeingGuy