GDDR2 and GDDR3

I'm sort of a newbie when it comes to the specific's computer specs and was wondering how GDDR3 will differ to GDDR2. Is there a big difference, and is it worth thinking about this when buying a notebook for considerable amounts of gaming?

 

Yes it is... Comparing with the Nvidia 8600M GT, one with 512mb DDR2 and another 256mb GDDR3.
Due to the capability of higher clocks of the GDDR3, it beats the 512mb version.

 

Thats quite a lot actually. Thanks. Could you sort of convert your words to a 3dmark score. That would give me a much better perspective.

 

about 400 difference at 1280 x 1024, 3200 vs 3600

 

Thanks. Are there any other benefits in having GDDR3 other than gameplay?

 

Your video card VRAM will only affect very demanding 3D rendering, so that's the only place where it would give a benefit.

 

Or anywhere there are textures. For a card already starved for memory bandwidth, the lower clocked DDR2 is a pain.

 

All 8600m GT's have GDDR3. The 512MB version has a much lower clock speed than the 256 (400 vs. 700) that's the only difference besides the memory size.

 

True, I guess my point is to answer the question and say: no, you're not going to see any benefit outside of gaming or professional graphics usage from GDDR3 over GDDR2.

 

http://web.hoh.de/hoh/(S(lpgagk555u2ia045gvamm3rk))/default.aspx?TY=item&ST=1&IT=28582&CT=3025

Took me a long time to find it... If the link doesn't work, try searching for Acer 5920. The ones with 512mb VRAM has GDDR 2, while the 256mb ones have 3s. You can't say ALL GTs have GDDR3 by this then. I believe the Asus C90 with 512mb also have DDR2s, check the forum, u ll find ppl who know this.

U notice that the 256mb have higher clocks becoz they are gddr3, it is capable of higher clocks. The 512mb version is ddr2, hence if you clock it over 500 constantly, it most probably go boom in some while.

 

I'm fairly sure GDDR3 (DDR2 based) uses lower voltage than GDDR2 (DDR based) so yes there is a benefit outside of gameplay because you would get longer battery life from GDDR3. Of course, I doubt it's a huge difference, probably a few minutes at most. And 512MB of GDDR3 probably uses more power than 256MB of GDDR2 anyways (at the same clock speeds).

 

Thanks for the input people, much appreciated.
A video card with GDDR2 will be good enough for me I think - I'm not that much of a gamer. However, I can safely say, that all 8600 GT's are not GDDR3. The Acer Aspire 5920's 8600 is GDDR2.