I was looking at Tiger Direct and I am seeing all these older video cards with up to 256MB of ram now straped to them. They are not super $$$ but I was wondering does this dare compair to the newest chipset with lesser ram. I know with DX9 and other new options that the older chipset will fall short, but will this extra mass of ram hold that off for a longer time, or is this just a way to market an older product like it can run with the latest and greatest?

I believe that extra ram will only allow higher resolution and graphic quality, not game play. For <b>example</b> if you have a FX5200 with 128mb and you have a fps of 30 when playing Rise of Nations where as a R9700Pro 128mb will have 60-70fps. Now if you take out the old FX and add in the new FX5200 with 256mb, the fps that you're getting won't change but you will be able to play at 2040x3200 (I think):rolleyes: and the graphics will look a little better.

Well that's what I think and I'm 50% sure it's correct:D

So if one has a bigger monitor (19in) then what is a good amount of ram / proper setting to run a game at?

I am pretty sure the monitor sets the upper limit on what resolution can be used at what refresh rate. Video RAM may allow you to more easily use the upper limit, but not to exceed it. Wait for the experts in this area to be sure...

Deagle and Budfred are correct in their statements.

Normally, a higher amount of video RAM increases a video card's ability to display higher resolutions and refresh rates, while the speed of the card's chipset(along with the system CPU) generally determines how fast a game will perform.
However, there are some games on the market that are actually more dependent on the amount and the speed of the video RAM for performance.

And your monitor's specs will determine the max resolution it can display, and the max refresh rates that can be used with each of its specified resolutions.
However, any of the current cards can easily exceed most monitors' max resolution and/or refresh rate at the max resolution and possibly damage the monitor, unless the monitor's exact make and model are specified in Display properties.
With your 19" monitor, you should be able to use a 1280x1024 resolution, or even 1600x1200, during gameplay, and be able to view things comfortably. But if the max refresh rate that can be used with the desired resolution is only 60 Hz, then you may want to decrease the resolution to one that can use a higher refresh rate(75 Hz min. recommended), because 60 Hz will cause the display to flicker.

Another thing to consider when selecting a resolution for gameplay is a video card has to work harder at higher resolutions because it has to process a greater number of screen pixels, and subsequently the frame rates will be lower than at lower resolutions.
The same thing applies to the color depth selection(16 bit vs. 32 bit).