Graphic Card memory?

[1hope]

First; should this tell the size of memory to the Graphic Card?
Display Properties-setting-advances-adapter-memory size __
The reason I ask is because my originalcomputer hardware is suppose to have 8mg to graphic memory but the memory size reads 4mgs. Would that indicate a problem? I'm trying to get this figured out because Sears, whom I have a Manteca Agreement doesn't seem to want to be a big help.
They are getting so sloppy about honoring repair agreements.
Any help would be greatly appreciated-Thanks

 

[1hope]

"Sears, whom I have aManteca doesn't seem to want to be a big help."


Uhh, that's suppos to be Maintenance Agreement, sorry. Another way the computer is acting up - it doesn't respond to the keyboard and mose properly at times.

 

[Durelen]

First; should this tell the size of memory to the Graphic Card?
Display Properties-setting-advances-adapter-memory size __
The reason I ask is because my originalcomputer hardware is suppose to have 8mg to graphic memory but the memory size reads 4mgs. Would that indicate a problem? I'm trying to get this figured out because Sears, whom I have a Manteca Agreement doesn't seem to want to be a big help.
They are getting so sloppy about honoring repair agreements.
Any help would be greatly appreciated-Thanks

Yes it should read 8 MB. Go to start-> run and type msinfo32 -> components-> display

It will look something like this (my laptop):

Name S3 Graphics Twister Gateway
PNP Device ID PCI\VEN_5333&DEV_8D01&SUBSYS_1200107B&REV_02\4&3680E6B&0&0008
Adapter Type S3 Twister, S3 Graphics, Inc. compatible
Adapter Description S3 Graphics Twister Gateway
Adapter RAM 8.00 MB (8,388,608 bytes)
Installed Drivers s3gnb.dll
Driver Version 6.13.10.1012-13.90.10
INF File oem26.inf (S3Twistr section)
Color Planes 1
Color Table Entries 65536
Resolution 1024 x 768 x 60 hertz
Bits/Pixel 16
Memory Address 0xE0000000-0xEFFFFFFF
Memory Address 0x90000000-0x9FFFFFFF
I/O Port 0x000003B0-0x000003BB
I/O Port 0x000003C0-0x000003DF
Memory Address 0xA0000-0xBFFFF
Driver c:\winnt\system32\drivers\s3gnbm.sys (6.13.10.1012-13.90.10, 111.63 KB (114,304 bytes), 10/18/2001 8:36 PM)

Also if you select hardware resources-> memory in system information it will give you resource check information.

You can grab yourself a diagnostic program that tests video memory. For windows systems I use PC Doctor. It will scan your video memory precisely.

Type dxdiag into run from your start button. Select the display tab and there are two tests you can run with this.

Do a virus scan because some viruses can mess up or destroy your system memory or video memory. Also make sure they did not dupe you with 4 MB memory in place of 8 MB of memory.

Lastly, You may want to go into your startup bios and check your video settings. You can access your BIOS at boot up (consult your computers documentation).

 

[SirKenin]

I would bet you my last donut that you have an integrated graphics card. If that's the case, if it's the motherboard I'm thinking of you can set the video card memory size in the BIOS on bootup. It would not surprise me at all if it's set wrong. Video card memory does not typically do what you are talking about (ie half goes bad and reports half the memory missing).

 

[1hope]

I would bet you my last donut that you have an integrated graphics card. If that's the case, if it's the motherboard I'm thinking of you can set the video card memory size in the BIOS on bootup. It would not surprise me at all if it's set wrong. Video card memory does not typically do what you are talking about (ie half goes bad and reports half the memory missing).

You get to keep your last donut! It's integrated! Now you say I can adjust the size of memory to the graphic card? Do you happen to know if there are any WebPages that tell you how to do this? I have 512MB. of RAM, so if I need to convert memory from RAM to Graphic -I'll do it!!

 

[Durelen]

Lastly, You may want to go into your startup bios and check your video settings. You can access your BIOS at boot up (consult your computers documentation).

Yeah the book that came with the computer should say how to check your BIOS. Shared video ram?? hmmm... that would be so incredibly slow, slow enough to drop kick.

 

[1hope]

Yeah the book that came with the computer should say how to check your BIOS. Shared video ram?? hmmm... that would be so incredibly slow, slow enough to drop kick.

OK, I had to dig the book out, I had it packed.
The reason I mentioned using the RAM was because I found a TWEAKING Page on the net that said you could do that, but I didn't bookmark that page when I had the chance. Now, I can't find it.
I have the 32 MB Erazor-3 card, but it gets hot real fast.
I really need to take some computer classes some day.........

 

[Durelen]

OK, I had to dig the book out, I had it packed.
The reason I mentioned using the RAM was because I found a TWEAKING Page on the net that said you could do that, but I didn't bookmark that page when I had the chance. Now, I can't find it.
I have the 32 MB Erazor-3 card, but it gets hot real fast.
I really need to take some computer classes some day.........

Hehe if it’s a 32mb card and it’s only showing 4mb there is some crazy problem with something. Can you run programs like games that require more than 4mb of memory? Could just be Windows reporting the information wrong.

Nah you don’t really need classes. If you just pick up one of those A+ computer books and read through it you will know more than most. Class is great if you want hands on learning though. You will get to use expensive equipment and often rip apart, diagnose problems, repair and slap the computers back together in the blink of an eye. I’ve been doing it since 1981 and it’s nearly second nature to me until everything becomes obsolete as it does every other day. I can whip out my soldering iron and weld your C64 back together for you though

 

[pgp_protector]

I can whip out my soldering iron and weld your C64 back together for you though

What about my V20 (Joking dont have that any more, but do still have my A4000)

 

[Durelen]

V20’s are getting hard to find since they were not very popular. Face it, we were all still trying to hack the Atari 2600 back then. I was just looking at C64’s this morning on ebay. Believe it or not, alot of people still use C64’s. Try a google search “C64+Ham”

 

[wgjones3]

I had a Vic20.... a long time ago....

As for the vid card, I wouldn't worry about it at all. As long as your computer is displaying proberly, it's al good. Most on-board chips share your regular RAM and allocate sections of it as video memory, so most likely what's happening is that it's allocating that RAM in 4 meg chuncks. Say, if you play a video game that requires more RAM, it'll allocate another 4 megs. If it's an on-board card, chances are it isn't a very advanced chip to begin with, so if you wanted to get into 3D games and such, you'll probably have to invest in an aftermarket card, such as an ATI Radeon or nVidia GeForce series. Other than gaming, you'll probably never notice the performance difference.

The keyboard/mouse issue is womething I'd worry about. It could be a driver conflict or bad hardware. I'd definately make Sears look at it if I paid good money for a service agreement.

 

[Durelen]

I had a Vic20.... a long time ago....

As for the vid card, I wouldn't worry about it at all. As long as your computer is displaying proberly, it's al good. Most on-board chips share your regular RAM and allocate sections of it as video memory, so most likely what's happening is that it's allocating that RAM in 4 meg chuncks. Say, if you play a video game that requires more RAM, it'll allocate another 4 megs. If it's an on-board card, chances are it isn't a very advanced chip to begin with, so if you wanted to get into 3D games and such, you'll probably have to invest in an aftermarket card, such as an ATI Radeon or nVidia GeForce series. Other than gaming, you'll probably never notice the performance difference.

The keyboard/mouse issue is womething I'd worry about. It could be a driver conflict or bad hardware. I'd definately make Sears look at it if I paid good money for a service agreement.

Yep that’s right, even high-end video cards have a setting to share system ram. Turn it off! Nothing worse than slow system ram slowing down your video card.

 

[SirKenin]

Yep that’s right, even high-end video cards have a setting to share system ram. Turn it off! Nothing worse than slow system ram slowing down your video card.

No, I'm sorry, but this is inherently misleading Durelen.. They aren't sharing system RAM in the same fashion. One is AGP Aperture, the other is actual shared memory. They are two different concepts, both are necessary evils in their respective applications.

The aperture is for when the AGP vid card runs out of graphics memory in texture intensive gaming. Shared memory is the onboard VGA using a portion of system RAM to provide their base memory requirements. A cheap, really gutless way of going about providing video. lol Often they are used strictly for business because they really don't play games worth a hoot. At least that's what I use them for.

 

[PennylessZ28]

No, I'm sorry, but this is inherently misleading Durelen.. They aren't sharing system RAM in the same fashion. One is AGP Aperture, the other is actual shared memory. They are two different concepts, both are necessary evils in their respective applications.

The aperture is for when the AGP vid card runs out of graphics memory in texture intensive gaming. Shared memory is the onboard VGA using a portion of system RAM to provide their base memory requirements. A cheap, really gutless way of going about providing video. lol Often they are used strictly for business because they really don't play games worth a hoot. At least that's what I use them for.

Bet me to the punch but ditto

 

[Durelen]

No, I'm sorry, but this is inherently misleading Durelen.. They aren't sharing system RAM in the same fashion. One is AGP Aperture, the other is actual shared memory. They are two different concepts, both are necessary evils in their respective applications.

The aperture is for when the AGP vid card runs out of graphics memory in texture intensive gaming. Shared memory is the onboard VGA using a portion of system RAM to provide their base memory requirements. A cheap, really gutless way of going about providing video. lol Often they are used strictly for business because they really don't play games worth a hoot. At least that's what I use them for.

hmm... strange but I recall my gforce card having a setting for using system ram. You could set it up to use as much memory as you wanted.

 

[Foofish]

Durelen, I think that was the aperture you are referring to. You can set that via GF's applet or via BIOS. Technically, it is different than those Intel integrated video that uses shared memory.

 

[Durelen]

Well yes, as far as your apeture setting, that is done from BIOS. Your system does not count shared system memory as part of the videocards memory. I'm just saying that if your card uses shared system memory, turn it off. I don't even think they make cards that do that any longer, or at least they shouldnt.

 

[1hope]

Uhg. OK, My computer books didn't give me a clue on setting the BIOS. I have found some info on the internet.though. I'll try that. When I had the old windows-95, I use to adjust the Bios all the time....but that was like 7 years ago anf I forgot everything!!

My 32MB. Erazor Card actually did well for me, except it got real hot real fast. I put a "personal fan" (one of those real tiny things) inside the computer directly on the card to help keep it cool. It sill gets hot though, so I took it out in hopes of straightening out the trouble with the integrated graphic card.

I'll keep on this till I get something figured out. I work on graphics more than anything so I need the graphic card to be reliable.

I did find a TWEAK that helped.

 

[Andre]

Why don't you spend $80 and get a video card that will be 1000x faster?
That's what I would do.
and it'll probably be easier to instal a new vidoe card than to find out if you can mess with them memory allocation in the BIOS.
If you plan to do that check out www.newegg.com or www.pricewatch.com you can get good deals there.

 

[1hope]

Well, let's just say when I can spare $80 -I'll get it.