128 or 256 bit video card???

[widget2003]

hi im looking at these 2 cards:

ATI 9600 Pro Extreme 128Mb DDR, 128 Bit, 8x AGP, TV & DVI Out, 400/700MHz $309.00 Inc GST

ATI 9600 Pro VIVO 128Mb DDR, 256 Bit, 8x AGP, TV & DVI Out, 400/600MHz, Video in/Video out

they both are almost the same except the top one is 128 bit with faster memory (700mhz) and the bottom is 256 bit with 600 mhz memory. They are both pretty much the same $$$ so no dilemas there so if anyone can explain what advantages the 256 bit card would have over the 128 bit card thanx :t

[cyber_gubat]

the one with the 256 bit BUS if faster coz it has a larger bandwidth.

[bob05]

Are we talking about memory bus here? You (or the store) might be confusing the 256-bit architechure with a 128-bit memory bus.

Case in point, here are specs for a Geforce FX 5200 PCI:

CHAINTECH Geforce FX 5200 128MB PCI VGA/TV-Out/DVI Model P-FX20 - RETAIL
Specifications:
Chipset:Nvidia GeforceFX 5200
Memory: 128MB SDRAM
Bus: PCI
350 MHz internal RAMDAC
63 Million vertices/ sec
16 texels per pixel with 8 textures applied per clock
256-bit graphics architecture
Full OpenGL 1.4 and lower support

Now that doesn't mean the memory bus is 256 bit (in this case it has a 64-bit memory bus according to Chaintech.). As long as you are sure that they are talking about the memory bus, you'll be just fine.:t