Clock Speed Or Pixel Pipelines??

niceguyrichy · Feb 2, 2006, 03:39 PM

so hopefully soon I'll be able to replace my fried comp, which will include buying a new pci-e gf card.

I have my eye on a couple at the moment, one with 12 pixel pipelines and the other with 16.
here are the specs:

no.1)
- Powered by ATI Radeon X800 GTO VPU - 500MHz
- 256MB-256bit quad-channel GDDR3 memory - 1GHz
- 12 parallel pixel pipelines
- 6 vertex shader process engines
- PCI Express® x16 lane native support
- SMARTSHADER™ HD
- SMOOTHVISION™ HD
- TRUFORM™2.0
- 3Dc™
- HYPER Z™ HD
- VIDEOSHADER™HD
- FULLSTREAM™

no.2)
- 400MHz GPU Clock Speed
- 256MB 980MHz GDDR3 memory accelerates the latest cutting edge 3D applications
- 256-bit quad-channel GDDR3 memory interface
- Sixteen pixel pipelines
- Six programmable vertex shader pipelines

my question is, how much do I lose out on the whole pipeline front as opposed to the clock speeds??
is it better to have a 500mhz clock and only 12 pipes, or a 400mhz clock with 16 pipes?

any overall advice on the subject gratefully recieved

e!i · Feb 2, 2006, 03:45 PM

Oh Danny boy, the pipes the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the moutain side...
http://www.ireland-information.com/d...i/dannyboy.mid

CDsDontBurn · Feb 2, 2006, 05:26 PM

pipelines > clock speeds brutha!

.

think of it as pumping water. w/the higher clocked card, you have 12 pipes pumping out 20 gals./sec, so you get a total of 240 gals./sec total output of water between all 8 pipes. now, with the slower card you have 16 pipes pumping out 16 gals./sec of water, so you get a total of 256 gals./sec total output of water between all 16 pipes.

so although the card is slower by clock speeds, having the pipelines does have a significant improvement on performance.

e!i · Feb 2, 2006, 05:48 PM

so whats your opinion of nvidia going with the pipe's and ati not?

CDsDontBurn · Feb 2, 2006, 05:49 PM

what are you talking about? both NV and ATI have pixel pipelines

Vikingod · Feb 2, 2006, 06:04 PM

I think he means ATI stance with eh r520 chips going more toward clock speeds than pipes (the x1800 has less pipes than the 7800).

Really in that case, they are different architechture, and work it different ways, so its not really comparable. There is tons of reading and reviews that compare the two, do a search of the news section if anyone has questions on that. I think you will see the 7800 holds up over time a bit better, but they are both good cards. Things will change with the R600 and the G80 though, I think they will both that the same, or similar pipes.

As for the question in this thread, I would go with the pipes over the core speeds.

riles9262 · Feb 2, 2006, 09:04 PM

You need a lot of clock speed to over come the pipeline deficit... Of course if you're going gto, depending on the brand you can get the other 4 pipelines unlocked (sapphire gto2 is the best). I'd go for the 16 pipe card if both are left at stock.

Necrosis · Feb 3, 2006, 12:33 AM

16 then overclock it close to 500.

niceguyrichy · Feb 3, 2006, 12:35 AM

so general consensus is that I should look at number of pipelines first and worry about clock speed later.

that's good to know guy's thanks.

cpu question to follow...

e!i · Feb 3, 2006, 02:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CDsDontBurn

what are you talking about? both NV and ATI have pixel pipelines

i was asking future poster's what they thought of nvidia'a and ati's arcitecture

Sandok · Feb 3, 2006, 06:01 AM

Well I am all for pipelines and severe programs like 3Dmark show that's quite usefull... But who cares as long as you get the wanted results?

CDsDontBurn · Feb 3, 2006, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by niceguyrichy

so general consensus is that I should look at number of pipelines first and worry about clock speed later.

that's good to know guy's thanks.

cpu question to follow...

so what's the question? or are you just going to leave us hanging like that???

niceguyrichy · Feb 3, 2006, 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CDsDontBurn

so what's the question? or are you just going to leave us hanging like that???

might not need to ask, as I'm quite seriously considering purchasing a 3.6G lga775 pentium

I can get one cheap right now, but I'm not supposed to buy anything til I sell one of my cars (the little lady has my balls in a vice, no mistake), so I'm a little bit torn....

sucks to have no money

CDsDontBurn · Feb 4, 2006, 04:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by niceguyrichy

sucks to have no money

true, but it's worse when you have no job

.

Feb 2, 2006, 05:26 PM	#3
CDsDontBurn Lurking DriverHeaven Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 22,779 Rep Power: 235 System Specs	pipelines > clock speeds brutha! . think of it as pumping water. w/the higher clocked card, you have 12 pipes pumping out 20 gals./sec, so you get a total of 240 gals./sec total output of water between all 8 pipes. now, with the slower card you have 16 pipes pumping out 16 gals./sec of water, so you get a total of 256 gals./sec total output of water between all 16 pipes. so although the card is slower by clock speeds, having the pipelines does have a significant improvement on performance. __________________ Her First Day \| A year later

Feb 2, 2006, 05:49 PM	#5
CDsDontBurn Lurking DriverHeaven Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 22,779 Rep Power: 235 System Specs	what are you talking about? both NV and ATI have pixel pipelines __________________ Her First Day \| A year later

Feb 2, 2006, 09:04 PM	#7
riles9262 Driverheaven brewmaster Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: British Columbia, Canada Posts: 4,842 Rep Power: 72 System Specs	You need a lot of clock speed to over come the pipeline deficit... Of course if you're going gto, depending on the brand you can get the other 4 pipelines unlocked (sapphire gto2 is the best). I'd go for the 16 pipe card if both are left at stock. __________________ A beer a day keeps the doctor away.

Feb 2, 2006, 03:45 PM	#2
e!i DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: London Posts: 138 Rep Power: 0	Oh Danny boy, the pipes the pipes are calling From glen to glen, and down the moutain side... http://www.ireland-information.com/d...i/dannyboy.mid

Feb 2, 2006, 05:48 PM	#4
e!i DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: London Posts: 138 Rep Power: 0	so whats your opinion of nvidia going with the pipe's and ati not?

Feb 2, 2006, 06:04 PM	#6
Vikingod Int'l Fish Liaison Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: By the light of lamp I sit and type... Posts: 16,197 Rep Power: 112 System Specs	I think he means ATI stance with eh r520 chips going more toward clock speeds than pipes (the x1800 has less pipes than the 7800). Really in that case, they are different architechture, and work it different ways, so its not really comparable. There is tons of reading and reviews that compare the two, do a search of the news section if anyone has questions on that. I think you will see the 7800 holds up over time a bit better, but they are both good cards. Things will change with the R600 and the G80 though, I think they will both that the same, or similar pipes. As for the question in this thread, I would go with the pipes over the core speeds.

Feb 3, 2006, 12:33 AM	#8
Necrosis HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Ohio Posts: 8,838 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	16 then overclock it close to 500.

Feb 3, 2006, 06:01 AM	#11
Sandok DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 9,472 Rep Power: 0	Well I am all for pipelines and severe programs like 3Dmark show that's quite usefull... But who cares as long as you get the wanted results?