I'm confused about how graphics memory is reported.

[D. Rogers]

Does Vista allocate extra system resources to graphics or something? I have
an ATI Radeon Xpress 200M card in my laptop and it has 128MB of dedicated
memory. I have the option of turning on an additional 128MB of shared
memory from my Bios setup screen which I have done. I should only have a
total of 256MB available graphics memory. The driver is the default that
Vista installed.

Vista reports:
Total available graphics memory - 447MB
Dedicated graphics memory - 256MB
Dedicated system memory - 0MB
Shared system memory - 191MB
Display adapter driver version - 7.15.11.0
Primary monitor resolution - 1280x800
DirectX version - DirectX 9.0 or better

What is the extra 191MB of "shared system memory?" Perhaps I should
download the reference drivers from the ATI site and see if this changes.

 

[wgd]

Does Vista allocate extra system resources to graphics or something? I have
an ATI Radeon Xpress 200M card in my laptop and it has 128MB of dedicated
memory. I have the option of turning on an additional 128MB of shared
memory from my Bios setup screen which I have done. I should only have a
total of 256MB available graphics memory. The driver is the default that
Vista installed.

Vista reports:
Total available graphics memory - 447MB
Dedicated graphics memory - 256MB
Dedicated system memory - 0MB
Shared system memory - 191MB
Display adapter driver version - 7.15.11.0
Primary monitor resolution - 1280x800
DirectX version - DirectX 9.0 or better

What is the extra 191MB of "shared system memory?" Perhaps I should
download the reference drivers from the ATI site and see if this changes.

I think what you are seeing is normal. I just installed the pre-RC1 5536
build and see something similar. My video card is an Nvidia 7600GS with
256MB of graphics memory on the card. But my total available graphics
memory is 504MB with 255MB of shared system memory.

 

[Guest]

Hi wgd,

I have an nVidia 6600GT with 256MB. I'm curious which drivers you are using
with Pre-RC1 Build 5536. The default driver that Vista uses is useless for
3D gaming. (I can't play City of Villains.)

The lastest nVidia beta drivers didn't work either. System would boot up
normally (hearing all the usual sounds) but just a black screen. On their
site nVidia says the drivers are for Vista Beta 2 only and won't work with
any other versions.

Are the drivers you are using for your 7800GS giving you good 3D gaming
performance? Where did you get them? Please be specific as to driver
version and website.

Thanks,
Joe

 

[wgd]

Hi wgd,

I have an nVidia 6600GT with 256MB. I'm curious which drivers you are using
with Pre-RC1 Build 5536. The default driver that Vista uses is useless for
3D gaming. (I can't play City of Villains.)

The lastest nVidia beta drivers didn't work either. System would boot up
normally (hearing all the usual sounds) but just a black screen. On their
site nVidia says the drivers are for Vista Beta 2 only and won't work with
any other versions.

Are the drivers you are using for your 7800GS giving you good 3D gaming
performance? Where did you get them? Please be specific as to driver
version and website.

I'm using the drivers that were automatically installed by Vista 5536.
According to the driver info the driver provider was Nvidia, dated
8/1/2006, version 6.14.10.9564.

I think the last four numbers are the Nvidia driver version (95.64 vs
88.61 for the Beta 2 drivers on the Nvidia web site).

I haven't yet had a chance to install and test any 3D games. I'm hoping
the drivers will at least support Direct3D games, if not OpenGL. If they
don't then I'll be stuck will no 3D gaming until Nvidia provides a Vista
driver update (maybe after RC1 is released?).