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    ATI Mobility Radeon HD??

    Discussion in 'Gaming (Software and Graphics Cards)' started by fineiwill89, Jun 9, 2008.

  1. fineiwill89

    fineiwill89 Notebook Enthusiast

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    What is the difference between the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3470 with 256MB DDR2 and the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 with 512MB DDR2? I see the memory on the 3650 is twice as much but does it make much, if any, difference? Is the 3650 worth an extra $45? And would you recommend one of these or the NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT (either 256 MB or 512 MB of DDR3, most likely 256 MB though)?
     
    fineiwill89, Jun 9, 2008
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  2. HaloGod2007

    HaloGod2007 Notebook Virtuoso

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    the hd3650 should have 1GB of memory, like the one i have, unless they made a smaller one, and yes i would take 512 over 256. The 3650 has 120 unified pipelines versus only 40 in the 3470, the hd3650 and is much more capable in games.
     
    HaloGod2007, Jun 9, 2008
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  3. tianxia

    tianxia kitty!!!

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    the 3650 has a much more powerful gpu, which is what matters, not the amount of memory. Normally, more than 256mb of vram is sufficient with mid range cards.
    but yeah, it's well worth it.
     
    tianxia, Jun 9, 2008
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  4. TheGreatGrapeApe

    TheGreatGrapeApe Notebook Evangelist

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    Actually there are a few 256MB models out there, but most are GDDR3, so that it might be GDDR2 is dissapointing actually.

    IMO that's the deciding factor, as it's very similar to the HD2600 situation, where they are very memory dependant, and usual the GF8600MGT GDDR3 would beat the GDDR2 equipped models, but if the HD card were equipped with GDDR3 then it would be the equally equipped GF8600MGT, but fall just under the GF8700M

    f course it also depends on the apps alot, but that's the general situation I've seen. There's a slight long term advantage to DX10.1 on the HD3850, but I'd only ever use it as a tie breaker, not a reason to buy, and it won't matter for a year or so.
     
    TheGreatGrapeApe, Jun 9, 2008
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