2GB RAM Shows as 1.5GB..

[Scott274]

Yesterday I brought this motherboard, processor & RAM..

Digilite A76ML-K 3.0 (AMD 760G Series)
AMD Athlon II X2 250 Processor (3.0GHz, MMX, 3DNow 2 CPUs)
2 GB DDR3 RAM (one stick)

In XP, run > dxdiag, it shows..
Memory: 1536 MB RAM (1.5 GB in right-click "My Computer" > Properties > General)
Chip Type: ATI Radeon 3000 Graphics (0x9616)
DAC Type: Internal DAC (400 MHz)
Approx. Total Memory: 700 MB

Now I have heard that the onboard graphics take/share memory from RAM (or something like that) which is why 2GB shows as just 1.5GB RAM.
My question is, is it OK to leave this setting as it is or should I attempt to change it somehow. Can the system access this taken/shared memory if it needs it or is it strictly only accessible to the onboard graphics.
How much is my actual onboard graphics memory.. 700-500=200..

 

[saswat23]

Yes, your onboard graphics is using the remaining amount of RAM. Thats fine, you need not worry.

 

[aroraanant]

There is nothing to worry about, you don't need to do anything just leave the settings as it is.
For more just google it, you will get a lot of info regarding the same.

 

[Minion]

go to bios change shared memory to 128MB,allocating 512MB to IGP donot provide any perfomance gain.

 

[coderunknown]

^^yes, 256Mb is enough for HD3000.

 

[Scott274]

So I have 128MB onboard memory and I should set 128MB from RAM as shared memory (total 256MB) in Bios instead of my current setting of 512MB (total ~700MB), is this correct.

Bit confused here, 256Mb is enough for HD3000.. but what if it needs more at some point. Is this memory consumption settings restrictive, ie graphics cannot use more memory than the set value even if needed or system cannot use the allotted RAM memory for graphics. Some members here advised to keep it as it is..

 

[d6bmg]

IGP have no memory. It consumes part of predefined RAM memory which is why you can see 1.5GB of RAM in your system.

 

[saswat23]

Currently your system IGP occupies 0.5GB of RAM. Reducing it to 128MB will increase your system RAM by 384MB.

 

[coderunknown]

AFAIK, 760G doesn't support sideport memory. only 780G & above supports it. So how is system info showing 700Mb memory?

Bit confused here, 256Mb is enough for HD3000.. but what if it needs more at some point. Is this memory consumption settings restrictive, ie graphics cannot use more memory than the set value even if needed or system cannot use the allotted RAM memory for graphics. Some members here advised to keep it as it is..

yes. 256Mb is enough. HD3000 is slow. so even if you assign it 1Gb of ram, performance will be same. it can't use so much memory.

your system needs more memory, not the IGP. If ever you want to increase the graphics memory, open bios and simply assign 384-512Mb whatever is there.

 

[Scott274]

AFAIK, 760G doesn't support sideport memory. only 780G & above supports it. So how is system info showing 700Mb memory?

Dunno..
*i2.lulzimg.com/88fd6b1425.jpg
*i2.lulzimg.com/f88e62c537.jpg

Edit: Just looked into Bios..
> Advanced Chipset Feature
>> Primary Video Controller - [PCI-GFXO-IGFX]
Options: GFXO-IGFX-PCI, PCI-GFXO-IGFX, IGFX-GFXO-PCI
>> UMA Frame Buffer Size - [512 MB]
Options: Auto, 64MB, 128MB, 256MB, 512MB, 1024MB
This is it right? I should set it to 256 MB (What is Auto?).

 

[coderunknown]

i missed it. directX diagnose tool shows total memory available to the GPU i.e. memory you have allocated + shared memory. so memory you have allocated remains same. there is no sideport memory as i have said earlier.

 

[Scott274]

OK I will change the UMA Frame Buffer Size to 256MB in Bios later, there is no problem now as such.
Didn't buy these upgrades with the intention of playing games, I am always been a casual gamer till now. Games released up to 2007-2008 should work fine I guess.

Thanks for your help friends, just one leaving question, what would be a good graphics card for me, economic yet with good performance. Will I have to disable IGP to install it.

 

[coderunknown]

budget? if you are a casual gamer, HD5670 @ 4k or HD6450 @ 2.5k