RAM quantiity displayed

[Akaid Diaz]

Hello Everyone,

I was involved in a discussion with some "tech willing people" and we
disagreed on an issue about the displayed amount of RAM under system's
property when shared with video. Basically they stated that if a computer is
sharing RAM for video, the amount displayed in system properties is the
amount subtracted from the video. I stated that the amount displayed is the
total "physical" RAM installed on the system. I was wondering if anyone
could provide good documentation or an informed opinion.

e.g. They say 64MB physically installed 4MB shared with video. System
Property displays 60MB in the general tab.

I say 64MB physically installed 4MB shared with video. System Property
displays 64 MB in the general tab.

I have no access to systems with shared video so I can not test this.

Regards.

 

[Rick]

Hello Everyone,

I was involved in a discussion with some "tech willing people" and we
disagreed on an issue about the displayed amount of RAM under system's
property when shared with video. Basically they stated that if a computer is
sharing RAM for video, the amount displayed in system properties is the
amount subtracted from the video. I stated that the amount displayed is the
total "physical" RAM installed on the system. I was wondering if anyone
could provide good documentation or an informed opinion.

e.g. They say 64MB physically installed 4MB shared with video. System
Property displays 60MB in the general tab.

I say 64MB physically installed 4MB shared with video. System Property
displays 64 MB in the general tab.

I have no access to systems with shared video so I can not test this.

Regards.

It depends on the hardware. Some video controllers exclusively
reserve memory for themselves which Windows subtracts from
the total installed RAM. Other video controllers also share system
RAM but do not reserve the memory for exclusive use, in which
case Windows does not subtract it from the total installed RAM.

Rick

 

[Guest]

Depending on hardware and settings in bios. Bios setting on motherboard states how much system ram the video will take over. In some setups using i740 video which may fixed amounts of ram but the video bios allows for the video to commandeer up to 32 mgs. Run mem at dos prompt and it will tell total and the amount available.

 

[philo]

Hello Everyone,

I was involved in a discussion with some "tech willing people" and we
disagreed on an issue about the displayed amount of RAM under system's
property when shared with video. Basically they stated that if a computer is
sharing RAM for video, the amount displayed in system properties is the
amount subtracted from the video. I stated that the amount displayed is the
total "physical" RAM installed on the system. I was wondering if anyone
could provide good documentation or an informed opinion.

e.g. They say 64MB physically installed 4MB shared with video. System
Property displays 60MB in the general tab.

I say 64MB physically installed 4MB shared with video. System Property
displays 64 MB in the general tab.

I have no access to systems with shared video so I can not test this.

Although I'm sure ther could be exceptions...
any machine I;ve ever worked on has had the amount reserved
for video *subtracted* from the amount shown in system properties

 

[Akaid Diaz]

Hi,

Thanks for the input. We were specifically discusing physicall installed RAM
with shared with video and how how it displays on the system's properties. I
would have to agree with Rick about this, but documantation would be nice...
or at least some screen captures of some examples.

Cheers.

Depending on hardware and settings in bios. Bios setting on motherboard

states how much system ram the video will take over. In some setups using
i740 video which may fixed amounts of ram but the video bios allows for the
video to commandeer up to 32 mgs. Run mem at dos prompt and it will tell
total and the amount available.

 

[Rick]

Hi,

Thanks for the input. We were specifically discusing physicall installed RAM
with shared with video and how how it displays on the system's properties. I
would have to agree with Rick about this, but documantation would be nice...

Documentation from whom? That's the problem. Every hardware
manufacturer has their own way of doing things.. Hardware config,
chipset/mainboard etc, system bios, video bios, drivers etc etc.

or at least some screen captures of some examples.

Any decent manufacturer will document this in their system manuals.

Rick

 

[Colon Terminus]

I just took the time to walk around and inspect 28 machines with various
motherboards, all based on Intel chipsets and all with onboard video. Every
one of them displays the memory count with the video memory subtracted. Not
one of them displays the total installed memory.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

You're incorrect, I'm afraid, and your friends are correct. On
every system with shared video RAM that I've ever seen, the amount of
RAM displayed on the System General Properties tab is the physical RAM
minus the amount of RAM dedicated to the video adapter.

Bruce Chambers

--
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having both at once. -- RAH

 

[Rick]

I just checked on a Compaq 5000T (Intel 810 chipset), and while
the embedded video shares up to 32MB with system RAM, this
amount is _not_ subtracted in System Properties.

Rick