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    64 bit Vista, task mgr shows 3.5 out of 4 gigs RAM

    Discussion in 'Dell XPS and Studio XPS' started by rhody, Sep 11, 2009.

  1. rhody

    rhody Notebook Guru

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    Running 64 bit Vista, in my computer's properties it says 4 gigs of RAM but task manager only shows 3.5 total. Is this because of the whole "4 gigs is not actually 4" due to the way manufacturers calculate it or does the 8600M GT need some dedicated system RAM?

    Am I doing something wrong?

    It is an XPS M1530, 8600M GT, 4 gigs RAM, Vista home premium 64 bit.


    PS. When I boot into windows 7 the system properties say "4 gigs (3.5 usable)"
     
    rhody, Sep 11, 2009
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  2. DemonicHawk

    DemonicHawk Notebook Consultant

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    That. I'm on a 9400M G, and it says 3.75 usable.
     
    DemonicHawk, Sep 11, 2009
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  3. Peon

    Peon Notebook Virtuoso

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    Wait, isn't the 8600M GT a discrete card with its own RAM? I thought only integrated cards took system memory.
     
    Peon, Sep 12, 2009
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  4. Viper786

    Viper786 Notebook Consultant

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    I'm wondering the same thing. I also thought that only integrated video cards shared RAM
     
    Viper786, Sep 12, 2009
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  5. rhody

    rhody Notebook Guru

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    well, after I posted this I looked around at my boot settings. I changed it to Normal Startup instead of selective startup, upon reboot I got an error and had to put my Vista disc and run a very quick repair on my startup process, after that it now shows all 4 gigs in task manager....weird!
     
    rhody, Sep 12, 2009
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  6. fred2028

    fred2028 Sexy member

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    Many laptop GPUs with discrete RAM share video memory. It's more of a marketing thing because the RAM rarely gets used. Like my 4670 has 1 GB dedicated but can take 1.8 GB from system RAM for a total of 2.8 GB, although performance from the extra 1.8 GB would suck.

    Most GeForce 9500m GSs I've come across come with 512 MB dedicated and 1.2 GB shared for a total of 1.8 GB.

    Dedicated "cards" are not cards, they're just GPUs with dedicated memory. It doesn't say anything about shared memory. Integrated "cards" are not cards, they're just GPUs with ONLY shared memory.
     
    fred2028, Sep 12, 2009
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  7. Peon

    Peon Notebook Virtuoso

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    Interesting, but if the card did start using system memory, wouldn't that hurt performance even more? I mean, if your video card is doing something that needs more than 1 GB of video memory, what are the chances that you can afford to spare a whopping 1.8 GB from main memory, which is likely also being heavily used by the same program?
     
    Peon, Sep 12, 2009
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  8. Samuel613

    Samuel613 Notebook Evangelist

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    The GPU can use up to whatever memory it claims it will, but does not necessarily do so. In a 64-bit OS, you should definitely see all 4 GB RAM if you have a discrete GPU installed, regardless of how much of your system RAM the GPU may or may not be borrowing.
     
    Samuel613, Sep 12, 2009
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