Upgrading From A GT640 (ddr3 vs. ddr5)

[thekingfallsdown]

Just to clear things up a bit....OP it seems that you are believing fast RAM = better performance GPU. Not necessarily.

 

A GT 640 with...6GB of GDDR5 RAM will never outperform a GTX 780 with 3GB of GDDR5 RAM. Even if they some how rigged up a GTX 780 with GDDR3 RAM, the GTX 780 will still trample on the GT 640.

The VRAM found on graphics cards essentially functions as a temporary storage location, a buffer if you will, for all the data that the card needs to process before it is sent to you monitor / display for viewing.

 

You need to take account the other components and aspects that make up the graphics card, like:

• The GPU chip used (the brain and heart of the graphics card)
• The frequency (speed) of the Core, Shaders, VRAM, etc.
• The memory interface (128-bit / 256-bit / 384-bit / 512-bit, etc)

The type of VRAM and the amount is only a small part of it.

 

A GTX 650 with 4GB of GDDR5 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125509

Compared to a R9-290X with 4GB of GDDR5 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202110&cm_re=R9-290X-_-14-202-110-_-Product

The R9-290X is easily 3x - 4x faster!!

 

An analogy would be...comparing two cars by the number of seats it has.

A 7-seater mini-van will lose to a 4-seater Subaru WRX STi or 2-seater Porche 911 GT3 in a race.

 

That makes sense. 

 

Would this card

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=271557235593&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:en

Still be better then the one I have currently? And is it the best choice I could make for my setup? (I can't spend more then 180$)