[TooNice]

Games that uses more detailed/larger textures will also benefit more memory, as would cranking up AA. That's why some (older) games will run at @1900x1200 or higher without being noticeably handicapped compared to the same card with 512MB, but others games may caused the 256MB card to severely choke even at 1680x1050. But I would say that resolution is one of the most important factor when determining graphic memory requirement. At the same resolution, it takes a pretty long time for games catch up with the memory available. That's probably why a good 512MB cards still cope so well. Personally, I suspect that most people would still get more for their money with the 512MB version of the 4870 than the 1GB for the useful life of the card.