Laptop "Shared Video"....

HoseB · SirTweaksabit Joined: 03 Oct 2003 Posts: 260

Specs claim, "RAM shared *up to* ________MB"... is there a way to manually limit the amount of RAM used for video in the registry, or other?

TIA

Hose

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ToggleHead · TWEAKGURU Joined: 03 Mar 2004 Posts: 4360 Location: Jersey

ive seen this go both ways....yes or no.
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fussnfeathers · Lord of the Tweak Joined: 14 Dec 2004 Posts: 2763

Depending on the laptop, there will probably be a BIOS option to specify how much RAM the vid card uses. I've seen it in both numbers (64mb, 128mb, etc) or in percentages (5% of available system RAM, etc).

Anymore, though, newer laptops don't give you an option, they just automatically allocate whatever RAM the vid card is designed to use, and there's not much you can do to change it.
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[TN] Nathan · ALMIGHTY PWNER! Joined: 14 Feb 2002 Posts: 7406

In the BIOS you should be able to change it if it is available.

If you are not using any 3D games, set it to the lowest possible size to free up as much ram for the system.
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HoseB · SirTweaksabit Joined: 03 Oct 2003 Posts: 260

Thanks guys... I'll try that

Xal · Posted: Wed Dec 13, 2006 7:29 pm Post subject:

What model laptop?
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HoseB · SirTweaksabit Joined: 03 Oct 2003 Posts: 260

I was going to get one with an Intel G950 chip, which apparently defaults to 224MB video ram use, but decided to go with the HP DV6119US... it has 1GB of system RAM + Nvidia 6150 Go chip which defaults to 128MB RAM.

I still may want to limit it if possible, but now that I'm working with 1GB system RAM, seem less necessary.

[TN] Nathan · ALMIGHTY PWNER! Joined: 14 Feb 2002 Posts: 7406

HoseB · SirTweaksabit Joined: 03 Oct 2003 Posts: 260

racing87stang · Posted: Thu Dec 14, 2006 1:17 am Post subject:

You must specify what exactly you wanted to know. All we knew is that you wanted to know what could be done with the memory aparature of the Video memory.

If this was a choice for a new Notebook, Thats a completely different question.
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HoseB · SirTweaksabit Joined: 03 Oct 2003 Posts: 260

Xal · Posted: Thu Dec 14, 2006 4:29 am Post subject:

No, memory aperature is a seperate setting. What you are looking for is a "shared memory" setting.
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4gb Corsair XMS2 DDR2 667 @ 800
1gb Powercolor Radeon HD 5850 @ Stock
X-fi Extreme Audio PCI E
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Nexus Fans
Custom case

HoseB · SirTweaksabit Joined: 03 Oct 2003 Posts: 260

Well...

I sort of went along with Nathan's suggestion that I might have chosen a laptop solely/primarily based upon "which onboard video chip commandeered how much RAM" (not quite sure how he got that idea...)... looking for a little humor.

I chose the HP 6119US for it's all-around capability for my wife. Its 2 weak areas in my view are the video and the fact that it has XP MCE.

I looked at lots of laptops' specs and found that they all had either some weakness or were pricey. It seems virtually every model except the ones high in the price range cheap-out on something.

It's too bad they can't build them to more themes better than they do... like, (a) "lowest cost, yet functional" for the budget minded, (b) "best battery life", (c) "all-around mid-range" [which is what I was looking for... Xmas present].

Can you believe there are dualcore models with 100-120G HD, but still 4200rpm? [Let's hope they're not "PIO only", also :>) ]

I found HP to be about the best at near-custom build options while still not high-end prices. You can choose OS [XP Pro a $29 option], RAM 512-2G, screen, media-reader or not, brite screen or not, high-end (for a laptop) video card, as well as HD size, etc.

You could have 15.4" widescreen, dualcore, XP Pro, 1G RAM, 256 Nvidia dedicated video card, Britescreen WXGA, 80G SATA, media card reader + 1 extra USB port for ~$900 + $50 rebate.... and about $90 less than a Dell equivalent.