Shared memory killing G1S performance

I recently got a G1S-A1 with 4GB of total memory. Vista Premium itself only recognizes 3GB of that memory. However, it is the the amount of SHARED memory that the 8600M GT is using that concerns me. Initially, it was using 1256 MB of SHARED MEMORY. (Wasn't it's Turbocache only rated for 512MB?!)

When I went to benchmark, the system scored significantly lower than expected. After some consulting, it seems that huge amount of slower shared memory Turbocache uses is the problem. So, I tried to disable it with Rivatuner. ... Unfortunately, it still uses 767 MB of SHARED MEMORY.

So once again I need some consulting -- that why I'm turning to you great tech-savvy people. Any help/ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

I think you'd have better luck in the gaming forum.

 

Turbocache scales with available system memory. You could try to enable PAE mode in Vista 32bit and try to get it to see all the 4GB, but do so at your own risk. I believe there is a guide on the forums somewhere. Do a search for PAE.

Also, there was a guide to disabling turbocache altogether, but that hinders gaming performance.

 

Tried doing PAE on cmd. Unfortunately, access to the data store was denied. I've already 'disabled' Turbocache using Rivatuner but for some reason there's still 767MB that's shared... Any other ideas?

 

Did you try to enable PAE using elevated access? You might need to run cmd as administrator by right clicking and selecting run as administrator.

 

Yup, PAE is now active. Only problem is Windows Vista (Premium) still only sees 3GB of memory.

 

Pretty late right now. I'll get back to you in 10 hours. I'll find a solution!

 

Rivatuner doesn't disable turbocache in vista from what i have seen/experianced thus far... so no idea yet.

 

It will play with available memory, and the maximum memory goes with your RAM.

I doubt that's the problme, because even having 2.2GB of RAM rather than 3 won't make a big difference.

And you can't use 4GB in 32bit OS since it's the maximum and that includes page file so it's almost impossible to have 4GB of ram

What is your score and what did you expect?


Oh and by the way, signifing your card is TC in your sig is useless because all cards are turbocache/hypermemory (GF6-7-8, Radeon X,X1K, HD2K) under windows vista, and that's a DX10 function

 

Not all cards are Turbocache under Windows Vista. Turbocache allows for the graphics card to treat system memory as though it were its own memory. TC get rid of some of the bottlenecks such as going through the CPU to access the memory.

However, there is something called Graphics Arperture Size that is found in some Bios. This allows one to set how much system memory will be allocated for the graphics card. Unfortunately, with this, as soon as the graphics card runs out of available onboard memory, it starts using system memory. Then, let's say you set the GAS to 256MB, even if the card only need 50MB to store textures and othe information, the system will allocated all the 256MB. This is done by the OS as per the parameters set in the bios. This also uses CPU cycles to write and read from the system memory. Now, there are 3 jumps from the graphics card to the system memory just to write and 6 jumps just to read. (graphics card to south bridge to cpu to ram for write and graphics card to south bridge to cpu to ram to cpu to south bridge to graphics card to read)

TC overcomes the hurdles with hardware and software support.

 

I'm sorry but all GF 6-7-8 and the Radeon HD2K (not too sure abouit the X and X1kK though) like I said, ARE turbo cache on vista.

Just read the drivers release note, it's even written in it

 

I'm curious.. Why do you have a problem with Turbocache being used on your G1S? Without it your game performance (or other graphics card related tasks) will be much slower. The onboard 256mb GDDR3 is great and all, but with a screen resolution of 1680x1050 you need as much memory as you can get.

I'm no expert on 4GB, but I have heard of many people experiencing problems with that memory size. Have you made sure that isn't contributing to your problems? 3GB seems to be the sweet spot right now.

 

Even if it says turbocache in the drivers, it doesn't mean that turbocache is used. The graphics card must have the hardware to support it. Remember, the Forceware drivers are universal meaning that the same drivers work for different model cards.

 

I think that Rivatuner did have an effect as the amount of shared video memory used by the card decreased from 1256 MB to 767 MB. The card itself is rated for 512MB of shared memory using TurboCache which was the actual decrease. What I'm concerned about is the amount of shared memory still being diverted to the card regardless. Also, 767MB exceeds what the TurboCache on the card apparently supports. I think that that may be the main problem.

 

turbocache by design is supposed to use more system memory the more there is, i believe the 512mb comes from something around 2gb. Though mine right now says the total memory for the card is 1004mb (yes in a game right now). I tried doing the rivatuner thing myself and saw no decrease in the amount of system memory used. Not like this "issue" bothers me much, this laptop outperforms my old desktop I used to have in games... even though that desktop did get a score of 10105 in 3dmark06. Goes to show that 3dmark scores mean exactly nothing.

 

so, is there a way to reduce the memory shared by the video card? :/ I am having problems with a couple of games I installed and I am almost certain that the video card consumes too much memory and not much ram left for the games.

 

I honestly can't imagine what games are giving you issue like this. I make it a point to check Triple Buffering in every title I play now because I have so much extra memory at my disposal.

Even playing EQ2/LOTRO/WoW/NWN2 etc etc, all memory intensive projects, my total memory used never went above about 80% with 2 gigs on Vista as the games themselves only use 4-800mb of ram.

My performance in fact has gone through the roof since getting a Turbocache enabled card as opposed to the old 7900GS Go my Toshiba had because I can enable triple buffering and not have to worry about slowdown.

 

I have a g1s wit vista ultimate 64b and 4gb of ram... and the 8600 have 256 ddr3 + 1744!!!! shared ddr2.= 2gb...

I go to try if I can change this value with rivatuner to 746..