shared system video memory in vista

[cochdu21]

hello, first i'd like you to excuse my english because i'm french.

so i wanted to know what is "shared system video memory" and how to remove it?
I learned it was RAM that was used to help the graphic card that is new with
windows vista, but am I loosing this ram in the games or is it not important?

i have an asus F3JM AK022H with geforcego7600 (512mo dedicated memory) and
2go RAM.

In my graphic card properties it's noticed that i have 512mo dedicated video
memory, 0mo system memory, 767mo shared system video memory and 1279mo total
graphic memory (the 512 of my GC and the 767 "shared system video memory")

So my question is : do I loose those 767mo of RAM during my games? (i don't
think my CG needs more memory since it already has 512mo dedicated), and I
have only 2go RAM so if I loose 767mo i don't have much RAM left.
And can I change this setting or disable it?

Thank you for the help you could bring me!

 

[Mark L. Ferguson]

During gaming, the best possible use for your Ram is to help your video.

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[cochdu21]

yes I know ram is used to help video, but it's not the same kind as graphic
card memory.
so i wanted to know if my ram considered as "shared system video memory" was
really usefull and what is the difference between that ram and the rest of my
ram (i have 2go and 767mo are considered shared)
so will my computer be more fast if all my ram was used as normal ram and
not as memory to ease my graphic card?

 

[Mark L. Ferguson]

You did not ask if the 'system' would go faster, you asked if the game would
do better. Games do better with more video ram. As I told you before, the
best use of the ram you have is for video, as far as games go. If you were
talking about working a spreadsheet calculation, the opposite would be true.
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[cochdu21]

ok thank you for your fast answers.
and can you tell me how i can change this setting to increase/decrease the
shared system video memory to look how it is in game (because if the higher
the better, why is it set only at 767mo instead i have 2go? what about the
ram left when I play?)
I already tried to look for something in my bios but there is no option for
it.

 

[Charlie Tame]

You did not ask if the 'system' would go faster, you asked if the game
would do better. Games do better with more video ram. As I told you
before, the best use of the ram you have is for video, as far as games
go. If you were talking about working a spreadsheet calculation, the
opposite would be true.

There is not much info on the NVidia FAQ about this that I could see,
buy I suspect that either the card driver or Vista can change this
allocation dynamically. I have not seen a way for the user to set it.


I suspect that "Shared" is intended to mean "Shared", not "Stolen".

Google did find this post in a forum at techarena

 

[Mark L. Ferguson]

There is no setting for it. Vista allocates a percentage, based on what you
have, and what is available. Adding Ram is never bad. Probably the cheapest
way to speed it up is to add a Flash ram thumb drive, and use "readyBoost"
for Virtual Memory.

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[Jim Moriarty]

Well, it might not be a bad thing if you have plenty of RAM and don't
know what to do with it. I'm tired of reading everywhere "it's shared so
it won't harm you".
Well, maybe I'm not as skilled as others, but *it does harm me*. For
example, I really do an extended use of *Photoshop*, and one of the main
reasons why I upgraded my PC is because I wanted to simultaneous open as
many photos as I wanted without running out of RAM.
Together with the new PC, I decided to give Vista a try, and now I'm
facing this "video-sharing" problem. Indeed, I have to tell Photoshop
how much of the video memory it can take for itself, and that number is
limited by the video system that Windows show it as "available". In case
Vista would suddenly give him some more if needed, I've just tried to
use it all, and I do run out of memory (as much as Photoshop is
concerned, but I don't care about other apps) when I reach the maximum
memory I gave it.

So, at least me, *I would like to be able to tell Vista*: "I bought 2
extra GB of RAM, but it doesn't mean you can share more of my RAM".

I would appreciated if either Microsoft of NVIDIA provided *a solution
for customers* instead of looking for excuses. If Vista can allocate
"shared memory" depending on the total RAM, it can also let you allocate
what you want in the first place. If they are concerned about Aero
running out of juice, they can simply provide two settings:

- *default* : Vista automatically determines shared video for you
(recommended)"
- advanced : Set share-video memory manually (min: XXX MB)


My PC

- Mainboard: GA-E7AUM-DS2H (Nvidia730i)
- Proc : Intel Q9450
- Graphics : Integrated Geforce 9400
- Memory: 4GB PC2-6400 (DDR2 800)


My Vista-Memory Profile:

- Physical Memory = 2.557 MB
- Video System Memory = 64 MB
- Video Dedicated Memory = 256 MB (I set this one myself in the
BIOS)
- Video Shared Memory = 959 MB
- Total Video Memory = 1279 MB
- Graphics Drivers version : 180.48

Get a REAL video card that has a ton of RAM and disable your onboard
video.

THEN cry about your RAM.

I'm running Photoshop CS3 here on a machine that has 3GB of RAM and a
video card that only has 256k of its own RAM - NO RAM complaints at
all.

 

[critic]

I've got 64bit Vista here are the video stats
Display adapter type NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX
Total available graphics memory 2558 MB
Dedicated graphics memory 512 MB
Dedicated system memory 0 MB
Shared system memory 2046 MB
Display adapter driver version 7.15.11.8048
Primary monitor resolution 1280x1024
DirectX version DirectX 10

and memory
Total amount of system memory 6.00 GB RAM

I can still fill all 6 GB of memory with data or a bit more than 4 GB since
vista needs one and a bit for it to work. So it would seem that you need to
speak to the Photoshop people about memory detection. A downside is that even
with all that memory GTA IV only sees the 512 MB that sits on the card not
the extra 2 GB, which would be nice. It would seem that the shared memory is
there for aero to work with cards that don't have enough memory but offer the
functions needed to run it.