16 Meg TNT2 Vs
32 Meg TNT2
Viper 770s at Stock
Speed
| Benchmark Type |
16 Meg |
32 Meg |
| Quake 2 Demo1 640x480 |
73.2 |
74.1 |
| Quake 2 Demo1 800x600 |
48.6 |
49.0 |
| Quake 2 Demo1 1024x768 |
38.1 |
42.0 |
| Quake 2 Crusher 640x480 |
47.0 |
47.3 |
| Quake 2 Crusher 800x600 |
42.8 |
42.9 |
| Quake 2 Crusher 1024x768 |
35.0 |
34.8 |
| Quake 3 Demo 1 |
32.8 |
33.0 |
| Quake 3 Demo 2 |
54.3 |
54.3 |
| 3D Mark 99 Max 800x600 |
5096 |
5093 |
As you can see, the scores are
pretty much a wash. The 16 meg Viper V770 is every bit as fast as the more expensive 32
meg version. But would this hold up when we overclock the two cards?
To overclock the Viper V770s I put a 50mm fan
on top of the heatsink and some PCI strips on the memory chips. Since both card are the
same except for memory, they should overclock to the same amount. It turns out that the 32
meg Viper can have its memory overclocked higher than the 16 meg Viper. The 16 meg Viper
can have its core overclocked higher than the 32 meg version.
Ready to rock!
I was able to get the 32 meg Viper running at
160Mhz core and 185Mhz memory. This was lower than the last 32 meg Viper V770 I had which
could run at 170/200. The 16 meg Viper was able to run its core at 170Mhz but its memory
can only do 175Mhz. This is most likely due to the production variances of each card and
should not be taken any other way. Just because my 16 meg Viper can run its core higher
than the 32 meg Viper doesn't mean all 16 meg Viper can do that.
Viper V770
Overclocked
| Benchmark Type |
16 Meg 170/175 |
32 Meg 160/185 |
| Quake 2 Demo1 640x480 |
73.5 |
75.8 |
| Quake 2 Demo1 800x600 |
70.3 |
68.1 |
| Quake 2 Demo1 1024x768 |
45.0 |
43.9 |
| Quake 2 Crusher 640x480 |
47.0 |
48.1 |
| Quake 2 Crusher 800x600 |
45.8 |
44.5 |
| Quake 2 Crusher 1024x768 |
39.0 |
42.6 |
| Quake 3 Demo 1 |
41.1 |
41.5 |
| Quake 3 Demo 2 |
60.9 |
61.1 |
| 3D Mark 99 Max 800x600 |
5113 |
5110 |
Again, there is no clear winner
here. Both cards posted nearly the same scores across the board. The benefits of the extra
16 megs of ram shows at higher resolution and higher textures. The 32 meg Viper was
slightly faster than the 16 meg Viper in high texture demos (Crusher and Quake 3) This
might be due to the fact that I manage to overclock the memory of the 32 meg card higher.
Given the results I got, I don't see a reason
to get a 32 meg Viper over a 16 meg one. The 16 meg Viper is every bit as fast as the 32
meg version when running today's games. While the 32 meg Viper has an advantage in higher
texture games, the difference isn't enough to make up for the savings. Besides, if the
game exceeds the memory requirements of the card, it can always texture out to AGP memory.
Also if you really care about future games, you would be getting a Viper V770 Ultra. :-)
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