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    Vostro - Geforce 8400m GS takes up 767MB of System Memory

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by mxl180, Aug 2, 2007.

  1. mxl180

    mxl180 Notebook Consultant

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    Geforce 8400m GS takes up 767MB of System Memory...

    Considering I only have 2GB and vista is a memory hog anyway, is it possible to disable Shared memory?

    The video card has 128mb on it already, I dont play games, and with vista basic I don't need the extra Video memory it is stealing.
     

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    mxl180, Aug 2, 2007
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  2. Mark

    Mark Desktop Debugger

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    It will only use memory if it needs it from my understanding. If you aren't gaming, you won't have a huge need for it at most time, so it shouldn't be used up. If you are watching a DVD or photoshopping, perhaps it will tap into the shared memory a little bit. Look at your total commit charge in the task manager to see how much memory you are using for your daily tasks. Unless you are really close to 2GB of RAM usage, I wouldn't worry too much. I realize this wasn't the answer you were looking for, but I hope it helps! :)
     
    Mark, Aug 2, 2007
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  3. offbase

    offbase Notebook Evangelist

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    No, that 767 is only what is available to the card, IF IT NEEDS IT. It's showing that it's not using any. Relax.
     
    offbase, Aug 2, 2007
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  4. mxl180

    mxl180 Notebook Consultant

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    NO you relax! ;)
     
    mxl180, Aug 2, 2007
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  5. zfactor

    zfactor Mastershake

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    ^^^ exactly... only when its demanded of it will it increase ram usage
     
    zfactor, Aug 2, 2007
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  6. mxl180

    mxl180 Notebook Consultant

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    Vista's task manager doesn't have "commit charge" label like XP, but it does say 33MB free! Only thing i'm doing is browsing in firefox which is taking up 131mb
     

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    mxl180, Aug 2, 2007
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  7. liquidplasma6

    liquidplasma6 Notebook Evangelist

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    OUCH! Something must be hogging up memory. Check your processes tab and see what it is
     
    liquidplasma6, Aug 2, 2007
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  8. System64

    System64 Windows 7 x64

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    Superfetch is hogging up the available memory. Can't recall the reason why though, but it has something to do with using RAM effectively.
     
    System64, Aug 3, 2007
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  9. zfactor

    zfactor Mastershake

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    dont worry about it.. if you want to "see" more free ram go turn off superfetch.. otherwise dont worry about it.. it loads up the ram to be ready for use in a way... you should be fine if not grab a 1gb stick for 30$ on newegg and be done lol
     
    zfactor, Aug 3, 2007
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  10. Lizaveta

    Lizaveta Notebook Consultant

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    I'm having the same problem with my 1500. I have the GeForce 8600M GT video card and it's telling me in dxdiag that about 1gb of video memory is being used in total :eek:. With Vista hogging as well, I noly have about 700mb left. My bf and I tried going into the bios to bring the shared memory down, but found nothing there that could be used to do so. I do use it for gaming, but the games don't seem to be performing as well as they should be. Could this be because there simply isn't enough RAM with the video card and vista taking all of it?
     
    Lizaveta, Aug 5, 2007
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  11. DoubleBlack

    DoubleBlack Notebook Deity

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    No, it is not taking 700MB+ of RAM - first, that amount includes the 128MB of dedicated video RAM...which leaves about 512MB of shared memory it CAN use...not is ALWAYS using. Second, Vista is designed for this (as many distros of *nix) and it intended to better make use of the RAM. Here's what you do...

    Press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC to bring up the Windows Task Manager
    Note on bottom status bar, Physical Memory Percentage. I have 4GB of RAM and mine is at 33%
    Now go to the Performance tab, and look under physical memory
    I see total 3581MB (currently only have x86 installed) with 2592MB caches and 35MB free.

    It's only actually using about 1GB of RAM, but it has the other 2.5GB just sitting around with things Windows *thinks* I MAY use next. If that RAM is just sitting around, why not make use of it? If something that is not cached, and needs to be loaded - it'll gladly release as much RAM as necessary from the cached area for whatever needs to be active.

    This of course can be disabled, but is totally intended behavior and Windows IS NOT the only OS to do this either ;)
     
    DoubleBlack, Aug 6, 2007
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  12. Lizaveta

    Lizaveta Notebook Consultant

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    ohh ok, I understand now. Thanks :) So the video card has 256 dedicated and then takes more as needed.
     
    Lizaveta, Aug 6, 2007
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  13. darkday

    darkday Notebook Geek

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    So how do you figure out how much ram you are actually using to see if you need more ?
     
    darkday, Aug 6, 2007
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  14. ocellaris

    ocellaris Notebook Evangelist

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    Disable Superfetch and start tracking your RAM usage. Normally, you can tell just by the laptop's behavior. If the laptop seems to be constantly accessing the HD when opening and closing apps, along with disc thrashing during games, you likely need more RAM.
     
    ocellaris, Aug 6, 2007
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  15. darkday

    darkday Notebook Geek

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    Yeah I know you can sort of tell but I'm a bit anal and like to keep tabs on it once and awhile anyway.
     
    darkday, Aug 6, 2007
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  16. DoubleBlack

    DoubleBlack Notebook Deity

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    Press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC to bring up the Windows Task Manager
    Now go to the Performance tab, and look under physical memory
    Have all of your typical programs and everything up, and if your cached memory is under 512MB you definitely need more RAM. However I'd recommend if it's under 1024MB and you aren't pinched for cash that you update it as well :)
     
    DoubleBlack, Aug 7, 2007
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