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Graphics card video RAM query

CurlyWhirly

CurlyWhirly

CurlyWhirly

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24 May 2003
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I am currently running the 64-bit version of Vista Home Premium but am limited to just 4 GB of RAM as that is all my motherboard supports :( (I should have checked this out before buying this PC model :o )

I only have just over 2.5 GB free as I lose around 512 MB due to the O/S assigning this part of the RAM to hardware memory address space (below):

2mdns60.jpg




Although I only have a graphics card with 512 MB of dedicated video RAM, Vista (or the BIOS, I'm not sure which) automatically assigns 1 GB of system RAM to my 9800 GTX+ (see below):

348gl7s.jpg



Does this mean that if I were to upgrade my graphics card to either a 1 GB or 2 GB model then I wouldn't have enough system memory to run Vista :confused:

I intend upgrading to Windows 7 in the near future and am hoping that Windows 7 doesn't have these limitations!
 
What I mean by my query is only 1 GB taken from system memory (i.e. shared) or does this allocation increase if you upgrade your graphics card to one with more dedicated video RAM :confused:

If this figure stays the same then I would be no worse off than I am now but say if this increased to 1.5 GB or 2 GB then I would only have 1 GB or 512 MB for Vista to utilise :eek:
 
My RADEON HD 5850 is 1GB, and it shows 3067MB shared memory, which means the system will assign upto 3GB of system memory with Graphics when needed. At the moment, my system is using 2.5gb of memory out of 8GB, which means that 3GB will be utilised only if needed.

Your total system memory is 2.5GB, and you have only a little left. This isn't taken by the graphics card, but by caching apps to memory. You can disable superfetch from right clicking my comp>manage>services to have more system memory available.
 
Fahim said:
My RADEON HD 5850 is 1GB, and it shows 3067MB shared memory, which means the system will assign upto 3GB of system memory with Graphics when needed. At the moment, my system is using 2.5gb of memory out of 8GB, which means that 3GB will be utilised only if needed.

Your total system memory is 2.5GB, and you have only a little left. This isn't taken by the graphics card, but by caching apps to memory. You can disable superfetch from right clicking my comp>manage>services to have more system memory available.
Click to expand...
I mean that I lose 1 GB of the 4 GB because it supposedly 'shared' with the graphics card (but I have never been able to force Vista to use this shared memory by opening up a lot of programs simultaneously :confused: ) and the other missing 512 MB is subtracted from the 4 GB total and assigned to hardware address space because of the motherboards 4 GB RAM limit.

This 2557 limit is the same whether I have superfetch on or off.
 
gurusan said:
It will use your system memory when needed.....and don't disable superfetch.
Click to expand...
I have never been able to get it to work :(

I am planning on upgrading my graphics card in a few months time to a DirectX 11 card but I'm afraid to buy one in case too much RAM gets allocated and can't be used by the O/S :confused:
 
Fahim said:
My RADEON HD 5850 is 1GB, and it shows 3067MB shared memory, which means the system will assign upto 3GB of system memory with Graphics when needed. At the moment, my system is using 2.5gb of memory out of 8GB, which means that 3GB will be utilised only if needed.
Click to expand...
That's my problem you see, I can only have a maximum of 4 GB fitted in my mobo.

If I had a maximum of 8 GB then I wouldn't worry about it :p
 
Pretty sure it's the same with all GPUs and with Win7 as it says I have only 2340 available. I am running Win7 and a 9800GTX+ as well.

capturekc.png
 
gurusan said:
Pretty sure it's the same with all GPUs and with Win7 as it says I have only 2340 available. I am running Win7 and a 9800GTX+ as well.
Click to expand...
Thanks for that.

It's just that from what I can see, the new DirectX 11 cards come with at least 1 GB of video RAM and the higher end 2 GB and I don't really want less than the 2.5 GB of RAM for the O/S whether it be Vista or Windows 7.

I am still none the wiser though and will have to research this topic a bit nearer the time to when I am planning to upgrade.
 
gurusan said:
Pretty sure it's the same with all GPUs and with Win7 as it says I have only 2340 available. I am running Win7 and a 9800GTX+ as well.

capturekc.png
Click to expand...
I just thought, assuming you have 4 GB of RAM installed, it is showing 4 GB in Windows Task Manager.
You also have over 2 GB available where as if you check out my WTM screenshot, I don't!

On my PC only 2557 is shown :confused:
 
Erm...I was going to say that you don't need Win7 to use all your memory you just need a 64bit OS, but you already have a 64bit OS from the information in that screenshot.

If you've got 64 bit OS installed and you're only seeing 2.5Gb of RAM you need to enter the bios setup when you reboot your computer and find a feature called "Memory remapping" somewhere usualy under the chipset settings, set it to enabled.

Some motherboards call it different things, you might to consult your manaual to find it.
 
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