Graphics Card Memory

[swalker]

I am about to buy a new notebook and in looking around I notice a big
difference in the amount of memory resident on the graphics card. All
I have looked at are well know brands and many have none, a few have
128mb and only 1 or 2 have 256mb.

How much is needed. I do not do gaming, but I see 125+ web pages a day
and often have 5 or 6 open at the same time, usually in tab mode. I
also do some photo editing.

How about DirectX compatibility? Will any good graphics card run
DirectX?

 

[Val]

It's a "you get what you pay for" world in laptop graphics. Any budget to
middle tier machine is likely to have video system that uses shared memory
(that is, it has no dedicated video RAM, it uses system RAM), and most of
those will top out at 128MB allowable. Some may go 256.

If you get a machine that has actual video RAM, then you will be looking at
pricier boxes, and more capable video systems.

For your stated needs, the integrated/shared memory version should work
fine. I have ATI 200M in my laptop, using 128MB of system RAM, and it runs
Aero features. Keep the shared memory in mind - a 1GB RAM equipped machine
will leave you 896MB for Windows. If you can get it equipped with 2GB from
the get go, you'll be happier.

Val


I am about to buy a new notebook and in looking around I notice a big
difference in the amount of memory resident on the graphics card. All
I have looked at are well know brands and many have none, a few have
128mb and only 1 or 2 have 256mb.

How much is needed. I do not do gaming, but I see 125+ web pages a day
and often have 5 or 6 open at the same time, usually in tab mode. I
also do some photo editing.

How about DirectX compatibility? Will any good graphics card run
DirectX?

 

[Lang Murphy]

I am about to buy a new notebook and in looking around I notice a big
difference in the amount of memory resident on the graphics card. All
I have looked at are well know brands and many have none, a few have
128mb and only 1 or 2 have 256mb.

How much is needed. I do not do gaming, but I see 125+ web pages a day
and often have 5 or 6 open at the same time, usually in tab mode. I
also do some photo editing.

How about DirectX compatibility? Will any good graphics card run
DirectX?

Get a laptop with 2GB RAM. Don't even think about getting a laptop with 1GB
RAM. If you're not a gamer, then 128MB vid RAM should suffice.

Lang

 

[xfile]

Hi,

My two cents,

For photo editing, I'd recommend at least 128MB dedicated memory (also
depending on what application(s)), and more is better. For system memory,
I'd suggest no less than 1GM, and I will do both for XP systems as well.

If you have a budget concern (who doesn't?), place a higher priority on VGA
card/memory at this time as system memory is easier to upgrade but also pay
attention to the max. system memory (some can be up to 4G or 2G).

Hope this helps and good luck.

 

[swalker]

Thanks for advice. I have found an HP machine that has both the 2GB
ram and 256MB video card memory. And at a price I am willing to pay.

The ram is NOT expandable.

How big a deal is that?

 

[xfile]

The ram is NOT expandable.

How big a deal is that?

Maybe not, just in case.

I started XP with 512MB and now each system has at least 1G and most have
2G, and it seems newer applications and multitasking all require more
memory.

For a new system, typical life cycle is 3-5 years, so who knows what will
happen in the next 3-5 years (e.g. new applications), and Vista is pretty
new, so I doubt if anyone knows its real memory usage under different
scenarios. So, I tend to use max. 4G systems, if I could.

But if you like the system, it's fine. We are living in a world with
constraints