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    ATI Radeon 200m: Why can I get 256mb when it's advertised at 128mb?

    Discussion in 'Acer' started by Mattkaz629, Dec 13, 2006.

  1. Mattkaz629

    Mattkaz629 Notebook Guru

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    Okay, now I'm definately not complaining but I am curious:

    How is it that my ATI Radeon 200m on-board graphics can get up to 256mb of allocated RAM when it's advertised at 128mb? From what I understand there is nothing different between my system specs and those of other machines (i.e., the most important being that they too have 1gig of RAM).

    :confused:
     
    Mattkaz629, Dec 13, 2006
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  2. coriolis

    coriolis Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    The system allocated more system RAM to emulate video RAM, so your total ram should be at 744mb RAM right now.
     
    coriolis, Dec 13, 2006
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  3. Mattkaz629

    Mattkaz629 Notebook Guru

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    Hmmm, I understand that. But, why would they (sales people) say that the system can only acheive 128mb of graphics when it can clearly go up to 256mb (at least in my case). Is this an anomaly or are they purposely selling themselves short?
     
    Mattkaz629, Dec 13, 2006
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  4. vespoli

    vespoli 402 NBR Reviewer

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    I don't know about your specific notebook, but it is possible that the 200m can have up to 128 MB of DEDICATED VRAM:

    IGPs have no memory of their own – they borrow it from the main system memory. Some IGPs, such as the Radeon X200M/X1150 can have some dedicated memory (64-128MB max.), but that is not common.
    - GPU guide

    In that case perhaps an additional 128 (or more) is stolen from system RAM. There should be an option in the BIOS to adjust how much system memory is shared.
     
    vespoli, Dec 13, 2006
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