graphics card memory

[northturton]

I recently bought a new PC that has an NVidia GT210 graphics card - 512mb memory.

I have a new 1920x1080 screen, and occasionally dual screen with a 15" in 1024x768 in portrait mode.

For general IT use, and the occasional game (like DIRT), is 512mb sufficient or would I receive any benefits from more memory?

[northturton]

correction, it's a G210 card

[killer205]

I recently bought a new PC that has an NVidia GT210 graphics card - 512mb memory.

I have a new 1920x1080 screen, and occasionally dual screen with a 15" in 1024x768 in portrait mode.

For general IT use, and the occasional game (like DIRT), is 512mb sufficient or would I receive any benefits from more memory?

to be honest you wont find much of a difference, if you played a variaty of games then maybe depending, what games you played but i would just stick to what you have for now, and save the money up for more memoy or CPU. you will notice a memory upgrade far more than you would a graphics upgrade.

[michaelkenward]

I recently bought a new PC that has an NVidia GT210 graphics card - 512mb memory.

I have a new 1920x1080 screen, and occasionally dual screen with a 15" in 1024x768 in portrait mode.

For general IT use, and the occasional game (like DIRT), is 512mb sufficient or would I receive any benefits from more memory?
My setup is much like yours, but with an even older NVidia card.

Same memory. Two monitors always running side by side.

The card feeds them just fine.

But I don't play games.

So, heed what the other response says. No need for an expensive go-fast card, even at Aria's prices!

[northturton]

My PC has 4gb - its maximum - and no idea if its DDR2 or 3, and its quad core 2.5ghz - so I don't think I'll be upgrading memory or CPU :-)

Does it matter that according to Win7, the graphics card utilises some of my RAM? i.e. it lists something like 2gb available for graphics - when I know it only has 512mb. Is there anyway to change this or is it inadvisable?

[LaurenceH]

My PC has 4gb - its maximum - and no idea if its DDR2 or 3, and its quad core 2.5ghz - so I don't think I'll be upgrading memory or CPU :-)

Does it matter that according to Win7, the graphics card utilises some of my RAM? i.e. it lists something like 2gb available for graphics - when I know it only has 512mb. Is there anyway to change this or is it inadvisable?

It will be DDR2 unless its an i7 system 90% of the time.

To be honest, I'm not too sure what you mean. You have 4GB of RAM, and your Graphics Card has 512mb of Vram. Generally if your card is an onboard one, it will use system RAM. But your's isn't so it shouldnt be.


Also, I game with 2 23" screens with 1GB of Vram. Have the game in one, and hardware monitoring in the other. 512 should be fine for screens of that size. If you want to test it, get the FPS when you only have 1 screen plugged in, then plug the other one in and open some windows in it, and get the FPS again. There shouldn't be too much diference.

[BeeP]

My 4850 did that too m8, it was a 512 meg card & the drivers said it was using system RAM too, I had a look into it & found that there wasn't much I could do about it (easily).

I think ATI call it hypermemory or something, don't know what the Nvidia equiv is.

I wouldn't worry about it.

[northturton]

thanks Beep

[Umar]

My 4850 did that too m8, it was a 512 meg card & the drivers said it was using system RAM too, I had a look into it & found that there wasn't much I could do about it (easily).

I think ATI call it hypermemory or something, don't know what the Nvidia equiv is.

I wouldn't worry about it.

That's interesting, I didn't know it would start to cut into system RAM.:confused:

[LaurenceH]

Yeah, I thought only onboard graphics did that ...

[BeeP]

Nope, have a look for Hypermemory, I think that is what ATI call it. Pretty sure it means the card can borrow RAM although I never looked that deeply into it.

I had 2gb in my rig with my 512mb 4850 & hypermemory came up in the ATI drivers saying the card had 1gig hypermemory, when I put 4gb in my rig it said the card had 2gb hypermemory.

Not all cards do it, only some. The ASUS 4850 I had deffinitely did, the 5770 I have now has no mention of it.

[BeeP]

From the Ati Site

ATI HyperMemory™

ATI has introduced a break-through technology called HyperMemory™ to take mainstream graphics performance to new levels of affordability and ensure that everyone can enjoy The Ultimate Visual Experience™.

Today's PC users expect new systems to provide a richer and more inspiring computing experience. They want to see their digital photos and videos in sharp, brilliant color, play the latest games with more realism and control, and increase their productivity when using the latest office applications. With an ATI graphics card in their PC, they can!
What is it?

ATI HyperMemory™ is ATI's innovative technology that enables a reduction in the amount of on-board memory on a graphics card without compromising its overall performance.
Its advanced memory management technology makes more efficient use of all the available memory in computers with PCI Express® technology. Graphics applications can share system memory and use fast on-board memory for real-time processing between the graphics card and the computer's memory. This ultimately increases the affordability of ATI's Radeon™ graphics technology.
The Perfect Upgrade

Upgrading a computer's graphics can enhance all computing activities and complements other peripherals. Larger, modern computer displays require increased graphics performance to look their best. Products with ATI HyperMemory improve overall system performance and image quality, especially in larger monitors, over standard integrated graphics processors.
Digital photo editing, internet browsing, 3D gaming (including DirectX 9.0), and office applications are enhanced with higher monitor resolutions, vibrant image quality, and higher performance. These benefits are added to the PC at a lower cost than ever before.
How do I get it?

ATI HyperMemory™ Technology is available in select ATI Radeon™ desktop graphics processors, ATI Mobility Radeon™ notebook graphics processors and ATI Radeon™ Xpress motherboard chipsets and may be enabled on certain ATI and ATI Partner products.

[marsey99]

yea, nvida call it hyper cache, same deal tho.

it just allows the gpu to pre load textures into the system memory before its needed so you dont have to wait on the hdd to load it.

i think most cards do this to some degree tho.

[BeeP]

I knew Nvidia did it too but I couldn't remember the name.

Cheers lol, I was starting to think I made it up :D

[LaurenceH]

Well I learnt something today.

Though I think only cards with low Vram use it. Otherwise you could have like a 4GB 5870

[marsey99]

my 8800 does it but it only has 512mb.

[northturton]

my works PC has an Nvidia Quadro, 256mb RAM installed, and it states
"total available graphics memory: 3840mb"
"shared system memory 3584mb"
of the 8gb RAM installed.

So similar details to my home PC, but I obviously have less memory and it reports over 2gb available to my Nvidia G210