Anyone else feel ripped off by ATi x1400s use of system memory?

Hey all:

I'm the recent purchaser of a 5672. I'm really liking everything about it except for the fact that the x1400 is stealing a huge amount of system memory. I'm not a gamer and 128MB of video memory is more than enough for my purposes. Has anyone figured out a way to stop the ATi from sharing memory?

Thanks,

sibelius

 

I'm not sure, but there should be something in BIOs for it.

If not, perhaps the Catalyst Controls, or the ATI tool trays does.

Browse and play around

 

Yes, you can change the amount of memory being shared. I understand that 128 out of 512 can be a lot, but dont you have 1 gb to spare? If you're not gaming, I would only shared half or the minimum if not needed.

 

Thanks for the suggestion coriolis but I've beem playing around for 2 weeks and haven't found anything. I actually find this BIOS to be the most limted I've ever seen in terms of features.

Catalyst controls seem to have nothing either. I'd love someone to prove me wrong though!

Hey madmike! Would you like to share your knowledge of how I can change the memory sharing? Pretty please?

sibelius

 

Actually, the 128 is dedicated. You can share 384 more to total up to 512mb. So if you're "lagging" with 128mb video, then I would try other means of speeding things up, such as a defrag or even switching to NTFS if need be.

 

i'm not sure if there is a way to set how much hypermemory is allocated, but my understanding is that it is done in real time, as the system needs it.
so when you don't need it for games, u have 1 GB of ram available. i've checked it out on the windows system page that shows you what kind of CPU is installed and the amount of ram. mine shows 1GB ram, which should mean non is used in hypermemory, since i'm just browsing.

i've seen in other hypermemory CPUs where there is NO dedicated ram that the system ram shown by windows is 385MB, (512-128).

so i'm pretty sure you aren't "ripped off" because hypermemory only comes on when you need it.

 

This system has 2 gigs of memory, if you're not gaming, why would you care if the video card is sharing it or not?

JD

 

Iam not sure how anyone could feel "ripped off" by this unless they didn't know this before deciding to purchase... But anyway... what is it you need them memory for that you don't want the hypermemory to use it? And then you would have to be doing something rather graphics intensive at the same time you are doing something else to be robbed of memory.. iam confusing myself... and really i don't understand this thread at all........

 

Sorry mates:

I wasn't trying to create a stink about the ATi. I was just wondering whether the memory usage is configurable. I guess the title of the thread is a little too provocative, but I did get you to look!

For the record, there are computer users who like having lots of system memory available. I use my computer as a digital audio workstation. I don't require much in the way of graphics but lots in the way of processing and memory. I chose the 5672 because it appeared to have a full 1GB of system memory available due to a graphic card with dedicated memory (according to the specs on the Acer site) so I do feel somewhat "ripped off". I need that memory and I want to make sure it's available for audio samples etc.

Thanks anyway for responding. I do appreciate it.

sibelius

 

Were you mislead by the specs when you decided to buy this unit?

 

you'll never use up to 128mb unless you're using hardware accelerated 3D graphics. two 1280x1024x32bpp displays only use up 10mb worth of framebuffer space.

 

k3l0: Feel free to correct me, but in Taskman I seem to only have approximately 600MB of available memory, even at boot up. Although the common belief in this thread is that "Hypermemory" is only allocated when required, that doesn't seem to be the case here.

SMP_Homer: I do feel somewhat mislead in that the specs on the Acer site made mention of an ATi x1400 with 128MB of RAM. When I opened up the notebook for the first time, a sticker on the wrist rest proclaimed 512MB of video memory and I thought, "Uh oh . . ," knowing that it was unlikely to have that much dedicated memory considering that most PCIe cards have 256MB at most.

That being said, I don't find my system lagging for everyday activities. I've done the switch to NTFS although I'm stuck with 512b clusters until I can use PM 8.0 or do a clean install. I've turned all non-essential services to manual or diabled them.

Cheers,

sibelius

 

hm..i dunno dude. my Taskmanager (alt+ctrl+del) is showing 1GB (Physical Memory - Total). and my System, in Control Panel is showing 1GB along with the T2300.

there has got to be some kind of option you've enabled. and i'm sure everybody else would like to know too!

 

did you try perhaps looking to see what processes are using so much ram? acer preloads a lot of memory-using applications. things are working fine for everyone else.

mine says 512MB HyperMemory, which is accurate. the video itself has dedicated 128mb of ram. up to 384mb of system memory could be used, but it isn't preallocated. it's only used once the dedicated 128mb is used. so, once again, unless you're using 3d acceleration and running an application that uses a lot of video memory, system memory won't be used. (with or without hypermemory, system memory would still be used to hold extra textures, etc.; hypermemory makes it a bit faster.)

in no way will this memory be pre-allocated unless a running application would actually use it.

why didn't you get the 2GB model / order 2GB of RAM?

 

I also wish there was some direct control over the memory usage. It irks me to know that the system could claim the memory at any time (and possibly the wrong time too). Honestly, it doesn't affect my usage or enjoyment of this laptop... it just want it, that's all.

Creosote.

 

What don't you realize about this? the video uses system memory ONLY if it needs it. What would the video card do if it didn't have HyperMemory? It'd still use system memory, just in a slower and more indirect way.

there is *no* benefit whatsoever to turning this off.

 

Hey, we're starting to move in a useful direction. Is anyone willing to post a list of the services running on their machine to show what should be running and what the memory usage is/could be? Or, can someone point us to a thread/site that would give us an idea of how to tweak services for Acer notebooks?

I turned a bunch of services to manual but discovered that the Launch Manager keys and media keys stopped working. Do you blokes just not worry about those extra features?

And in answer to k3l0, I didn't buy the 2GB version because things were starting to get a little pricey. I'll likely upgrade to 2GB at some point.

sibelius

 

No need to get testy. How do you absolutely for sure KNOW that the card isn't grabbing memory when you don't expect it? Under all conditions? Are you are an engineer for ATI or Intel? And even if you were, there's always the possibility of bugs.

You say that it would still use system memory, but I question that. Perhaps the application would use system memory, but not the card itself. So therefore, if the application isn't running, I know the memory isn't being used.

I encourage you to prove that. I would be grateful to know you are accurate.

Creosote.

 

sibelius: I reinstalled Windows a long time ago and memory usage has always been normal.

Creosote: the only proof I have is the doucmentation I've read on the internet. you seem predetermined to believe that the card uses extra memory no matter what, so even provided with evidence to the contrary i'm not sure you'd believe it.

 

Instead of trying to answer the original question about how to control it, you would rather make blanket statements about how it's not necessary to control. Fine, if you want to tell us what we should want, at least have references or other evidence to back up your claim. I am not "predetermined" as you say. If anything, this is more a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

Prove what you're saying! Otherwise, you're just noise in the thread.

Creosote.

 

Have you done any research at all?

http://www.hothardware.com/viewarticle.aspx?page=2&articleid=647&cid=2
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2413&p=2
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=HyperMemory

 

No, but then I wasn't the one making the claim. I will give those two articles a read.. I sure hope they actually substantiate what you are claiming. And thanks for linking Google for me. That's not insulting at all.

Creosote.

 

ok this thread is getting a little stupid. Hypermemory is used when it needs to be. when its not, then it doesnt use it.

Nvidia has the same thing but they call it turbomemory or something like that. so either way, you/we would be getting "ripped off".

how bout we just leave it at that, and stop the fighting.

 

gino_lee,

Maybe I'm just being belligerent, but I like such claims to be credibly backed up somehow.

But sure, I will stop asking.

I was sure that the original poster has already clarified his "ripped off" comment. It certainly has no bearing on my posts.

Back on topic... anybody know how to disable it?

Creosote.

 

no. there is no way to and no need to.

 

Hi Guys , funnily enough I am also interested in more control over my system.
I beleive that some options are disabled to prevent less experienced users accidentally turning something off, only to end up returning the laptop to the supplier.

I am interested in changing the HZ that my screen runs at, It is locked at 60 but I know from experience that these can handle 70khz

reason being on rare occasions some fonts on websites are completely unreadable (I think its when they use bold text) the screen is fine with absolutely everything else, but its almost as if its set to the wrong frequency.

And even though I trust the memory management, I can understand why some people would want to switch it off, especially if they have an issue with an application running out of memory and have to call for support, they have to be 100% certain that the memory available is what is required.

I will also stress as has been said before, kill all background appications you dont need, that will free up system ram.

Hope everyone is enjoying their 5672 as much as I am.
I can't wait for the warranty to run out so I can play for real

p.s. a quick search on the web suggests disabling powerplay in the catalyst driver or you could set performance to minium, which would no doubt prevent it using any extra memory!?