[onedavester]

I want to purchase an ATI X1600 pro AGP 512mb video card.

My dilemma starts now because of some pros and cons and some unclear information regarding the differences in these cards.

First of all the Sapphire card has a 3 year warranty vs the 1 year warranty of ATI's

Second ATI states that it's card has a 256bit ring bus memory controller while Sapphire's states that it has a 128 bit 4 channel memory interface.

On E-Bay some vendors say not to buy Sapphire because it is 128bit,
some say not to buy ATI because of the 1 year warranty.

Some say to buy ATI because it has 256bit memory vs Sapphire's 128 bit

Can someone explain what a ring bus memory controller is vs a 128 bit 4 channel memory interface?

[Triple6]

Think of its as a pathway between the processor on the card and the memory - the wider the bus the more data it can move during the same time or speed.

[onedavester]

I need to know what the difference is between 128bit but 4 channel and 256 bit ring bus is. I know what a bus is but thanks anyway.

[Triple6]

Ring bus: http://www.beyond3d.com/reviews/ati/r520/index.php?p=05

[onedavester]

I have found an excellent article about ring buss architecture.

I know know for sure that the OEM ATI is a superior card.

anyone interested read this article:

http://www.beyond3d.com/reviews/ati/r520/index.php?p=05

[onedavester]

This is funny. You found the same article as me at the same time!! What a coincidence.

Thank you for your efforts.