GTX 880M Memory Question

Hey forum,
I have a question for you all. I recently purchased the Alienware 17 R5 with a GTX 880M with 8GB of DDR5 VRAM. My question is why is only 4GB of the VRAM detected? Is it because the max resolution is 1920x1080 so it does not need more VRAM than that to support the frame buffering? Or is it an issue with the laptop I purchased itself? All of my drivers are up to date, and all of the benchmarks and hardware identification software say i have 4096MB of VRAM. I am slightly worried that Alienware might have messed up and put in a 4GB variant in my pc, but I don't think that is the issue because I do not see the 4GB variant available in the purchasing options. The hardware plate on my laptop also says it has 8GB of VRAM. So I am slightly confused. Any help on this matter would be amazing. I am a bit worried, but I am beginning to think it is just because more than 4GB of VRAM is not needed at the resolution I am running, which leads me to question why they would sell a laptop with a max resolution of 1920x1080 with an 8GB VRAM card when it is not needed. Oh well. Maybe it is reserved for the Mini Display port? So you can push the resolution higher and use more ram that way? Again, any help would be greatly appreciated! Also, I'va attached a picture of CPU-ID on the graphics tab.

Thanks,
Mac89Delta

 

Try using GPU-Z and see it that shows the proper amount of memory. Honestly you will never be able to utilize the 8GB of memory either way but if that is what your supposed to have then you should be seeing it. The mobile GPU's in their current state are not capable of pushing resolutions with the settings needed to eat up that much memory.

 

How funny, never noticed that.

CPU-Z doesn't show 8GB on my system either. GPU-Z will.

 

Hey MogRules,
Thanks for the quick reply! You're right, I took a second look at GPU-Z and it does in fact say 8GB of VRAM, but I am still curious as to why it only shows 4GB on benchamarks? Would you have any idea as to why? Also, the memory clock during the benchmarks is at 2500MHz, when the memory clock is showed at 5000MHz. Know the issue behind that? For help, I've used Uningine heaven, valley, 3dmark, and cinebench.

Thanks again,
Mac89Delta

 

Someone might be able to give you a more in depth answer as to why it is doing that but it isn't me haaha.....I did a quick Google search and it is a pretty common theme though. As for the memory again, i don't know the exact answer but my 780m does the same thing, it shows lower clocks on the memory then what is stated on the card specs, but again I don't know the reason behind that. Honestly I wouldn't worry about it to much. As long as your pushing numbers that are consistent with what other 880m's are pulling then your golden. Someone like Mr.Fox might be able to give you a better answer when he sees the thread, he is pretty knowledgeable with such things, in fact I am interested to know the answer as well haha. If I had to throw a guess out there I would guess that maybe the clocks go up depending on how much memory is actually being utilized? but I am pulling that out of left field, I am literally guessing.

 

Sounds good. Thank you for taking the time to look at my issue, and hopefully Mr Fox does take a look at this to answer my questions. I have heard alot about him and I am new to the forums. So his reputation must be well deserved.

 

Please see GDDR5 description:
Graphics Card - TechWiki

 

Makes alot of sense now, just like regular ram in a computer. I should have known better, but it has been quite a while since I have been up to date on computer components. Thank you for clarifying mariussx.

 

Does it matter if buy gtx 880m with 4gb or 8gb if I only gonna youse it for battlefield 4? Will I have more frames with 8gb?

 

Not really. 4GB is plenty. From what I've seen, the 4GB cards throttle less as well.

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