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Increase onboard video memory

kumarkumar

By kumarkumar
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kumarkumar

kumarkumar

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I have onboard video (NVIDIA) in my desktop with Win XP Pro SP3. Under "Control Panel --> Display --> Settings (tab) --> Advanced --> Adapter (tab)" OR in "dxdiag --> Display (tab)" it mentions "Memory Size" as 512MB. What does it mean? Does it mean that I can set a maximum of 512MB memory to it?

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I have 1GB of DDR2 RAM.

In the BIOS under "Frame Buffer Size" the options are "Auto, 16MB, 32MB, 64MB, 128MB, 256MB, Disabled". Currently it is set to "Auto".

If I look at "My Computer --> Properties --> General (tab)" OR in "dxdiag --> System (tab)", I see it mentioned as 768MB of RAM, which means that 256MB of memory is allocated to the onboard video.

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How do I increase the onboard memory to 512MB, since the max value under "Frame Buffer Size" is 256MB?

I currently get jerking with HD videos. If increasing the onboard memory is possible somehow, will it help with the jerking. (I do not wish to get a graphics card right now).

Somewhere I read that selecting "Auto" option for "Frame Buffer Size" means that the system allocates the onboard video memory automatically according to RAM in the machine. Which means if I increase the RAM in my machine, the system will increase the onboard video memory to a max limit of 512MB.............is that right?

Edited by kumarkumar
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CoffeeFiend

CoffeeFiend

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I have onboard video (NVIDIA) in my desktop. Under "Adapter" it mentions "Memory Size" as 512MB. What does it mean? Does it mean that I can set a maximum of 512MB memory to it?

Under "Adapter" where? In what particular utility?

will it help with the jerking

Definitely NOT. Decoding HD video is very much CPU bound. Video memory does absolutely NOTHING for it. If anything, I'd lower it seeing T180's ship with XP. XP can do with very little (I remember setting Intel GMA to like 8MB back then -- worked just fine), this way you have more for your apps, which will make things somewhat faster (but not fix your video problem). Unless you happen to play some games that need this much video RAM (yet are OK with such a REALLY slow onboard GPU) then don't bother. Setting it higher will only accomplish one thing: starve your OS & apps of useful memory, hence making them slower. The other solution is a video card which would help (new video cards are great for this) but you don't want to get one so...

The one thing you can do right now is making sure you have codecs and/or a player that's reasonably "efficient" at playing HD video. MPC works great for this IMO. It would be helpful to know what CPU you have as well.

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kumarkumar

kumarkumar

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Under "Adapter" where? In what particular utility?

Sorry about that.

I have XP Pro SP3. I have added some more information and pictures for clarification in my original post.

Definitely NOT. Decoding HD video is very much CPU bound. Video memory does absolutely NOTHING for it. If anything, I'd lower it seeing T180's ship with XP. XP can do with very little (I remember setting Intel GMA to like 8MB back then -- worked just fine), this way you have more for your apps, which will make things somewhat faster (but not fix your video problem). Unless you happen to play some games that need this much video RAM (yet are OK with such a REALLY slow onboard GPU) then don't bother. Setting it higher will only accomplish one thing: starve your OS & apps of useful memory, hence making them slower. The other solution is a video card which would help (new video cards are great for this) but you don't want to get one so...

Got that. But is there a way to increase the onboard video memory? I want to do just for the heck of it.

The one thing you can do right now is making sure you have codecs and/or a player that's reasonably "efficient" at playing HD video. MPC works great for this IMO.

Tried all sorts of software players including MPC. They all fail except BS Player Free v2.57 Build 1051 with Haali media splitter v1.10.262.12. However other functionalities of it not good, hence couldn't use that as well.

It would be helpful to know what CPU you have as well.

I have an Acer Aspire T180. Full specs are here Acer Aspire T180

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CoffeeFiend

CoffeeFiend

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I want to do just for the heck of it.

So you can have a far slower computer overall and have more completely pointless and wasted video memory (you don't seem to understand what it's used for at all)? Sure, it's not my computer... The settings are in the BIOS.

I have an Acer Aspire T180. Full specs are here Acer Aspire T180

I knew it was a T180, and I knew where to find that page, but the page is extremely vague:

Processor AMD AM2 Athlon 64 x 2 or Athlon 64 or Sempron (940 pin)

Basically, it could be any processor from 3 different lines of CPUs (assuming this even covers all the options they actually shipped with), of wildly varying speeds and different number of cores. That's like a hundred different models total.

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puntoMX

puntoMX

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Got that. But is there a way to increase the onboard video memory? I want to do just for the heck of it.

The 512MB is the max you will get out of that chipset, it will slow your system down if you do so. Have it set at max 128MB and for that chipset 64MB would be more than enough; older games will still run like HL2, Farcry, NFSU and some more.

Updating your video codecs and chipset drivers could help, alo check what is running in the background (didn't Coffeefiend say that?... must be :P). Upgrading to a modern series 5 ATI video card will do wonders ;).

Coffee, it's a X2 4000 Socket AM/939:

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kumarkumar

kumarkumar

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So you can have a far slower computer overall and have more completely pointless and wasted video memory (you don't seem to understand what it's used for at all)? Sure, it's not my computer... The settings are in the BIOS.

I did understand completely whats that for and eventually I am going to reduce it to a much lower value. I just want to make sure that what I asked in my first post CAN be done.

How do I increase the onboard memory to 512MB, since the max value under "Frame Buffer Size" is 256MB?

I couldn't find any place in the BIOS to increase it beyond 256MB.

I knew it was a T180, and I knew where to find that page, but the page is extremely vague:

Processor AMD AM2 Athlon 64 x 2 or Athlon 64 or Sempron (940 pin)

Basically, it could be any processor from 3 different lines of CPUs (assuming this even covers all the options they actually shipped with), of wildly varying speeds and different number of cores. That's like a hundred different models total.

Are you suggesting or asking?

If you are asking, then its quite evident from the last two images that my computer has AMD Athlon X2 Dual Core Processor 4000+.

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CoffeeFiend

CoffeeFiend

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Coffee, it's a X2 4000 Socket AM/939:

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Are you suggesting or asking?

If you are asking, then its quite evident from the last two images that my computer has AMD Athlon X2 Dual Core Processor 4000+.

I hadn't seen that picture, or it hadn't loaded, or he edited his post, or I wasn't awake or something...

A x2 4000+ is a bit borderline for HD video (at least when not helped by a video card). *Some* 720p content would probably play fine with the right software and settings but that's about it. I don't really see a way around buying a new video card if you want to watch HD contents.

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kumarkumar

kumarkumar

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To confirm myself if the statement below as mentioned in my first post is correct, I inserted two 1GB sticks, making the total RAM to 3GB.

Somewhere I read that selecting "Auto" option for "Frame Buffer Size" means that the system allocates the onboard video memory automatically according to RAM in the machine. Which means if I increase the RAM in my machine, the system will increase the onboard video memory to a max limit of 512MB.............is that right?

With the "Frame Buffer Size" setting left at "Auto", the onboard video memory still stood at 256MB. Which implies "Auto" has a different meaning than what I had thought, or the max it could be set with the current BIOS version is 256MB. I will try out by taking out a few sticks and reduce the total RAM to 512MB and see if the onboad video memory reduces from 256MB with the "Auto" option enabled.

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kumarkumar

kumarkumar

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Update:

I reduced the RAM to 512MB. The "Frame Buffer Size" still set to "Auto". This time the onboard video memory reduced to 64MB. :)

Hence "Auto" means what I thought.

Surprisingly now the adapter memory also shows as reduced to 256MB from the previous value of 512MB. I don't understand why that value reduced.

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