Calculating video ram requirements

[oboe]

Is there a way to calculate how much memory will be needed on your vid card depending on the resolution you choose?   If I want to run 1680x1050 with the hi-res skin pack will a card with 512Mb on it be sufficient?

[BaldEagl]

Is there a way to calculate how much memory will be needed on your vid card depending on the resolution you choose?   If I want to run 1680x1050 with the hi-res skin pack will a card with 512Mb on it be sufficient?

Yes, that's exactly what I run with all the control panal and ingame settings maxed.

[AirFlyer]

Usually but not always, there is more to the video-card then the onboard RAM. The GPU itself also factors in more of just how fast the video-card will be and how well it will play the game. The best way I could think of for us to give you an accurate idea of what you will be able to run is to tell us the video-card your using or plan to use.

[oboe]

Right now, planning on running an EVGA 9800 GTX+ 512Mb card.   Haven't made the purchase yet however, so depending on result I could price in an upgrade.

[Anodizer]

Is there a way to calculate how much memory will be needed on your vid card depending on the resolution you choose?   If I want to run 1680x1050 with the hi-res skin pack will a card with 512Mb on it be sufficient?

While memory and fast it is is an important factor in a video card, you need to look at the GPU itself and it's capabilities..  Two different cards may have the same memory while one may be of lower rank in the scheme of video cards..  

A Geforce 8600GT may have 512 megs of RAM and Geforce 8800 GTS with 384 megs of ram while having different performance characteristics..  The 8800GTS with 384 megs of ram will run 1680X1050 a noticeable bit smoother than the 8600GT with 512 megs of ram..  Also, memory speed is important..  

If you get something like a Geforce 9800GT (or better) w/512, you'll be fine..  You can find those fairly cheap these days..  You could even go as low as a 9600GT, but you'll be struggling once you factor in Anti-Aliasing(helps remove the staggered look on lines and edges)...  

512 megs of ram on a video would be the minimum..  768 is nice, but you won't notice any kind of performance increase and it's mostly over-kill for today's games and applications..

[Anodizer]

Right now, planning on running an EVGA 9800 GTX+ 512Mb card.   Haven't made the purchase yet however, so depending on result I could price in an upgrade.

Great card from a great company..  Make sure you register it with them..
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/132  <-----Here's a chart that compares Nvidia as well as ATI video cards..

[AirFlyer]

I use an EVGA 8800GT 512mb and it runs the game great, same resolution that you plan on running the game and maxed.

[Fulmar]

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-cards-charts-2009-high-quality/Sum-of-FPS-Benchmarks-Totals,Marque_fbrandx876,1341.html

Sum FPS scores of Nvidia cards (newer).  This can help you determine which card will handle better.  You can also check out benchmarks across each individual benchmark/game and then compare certain cards.