256mb of shared video memory...

Up to what quality of games can a computer with 256mb of shared video memory with 2GB of RAM handle? I don't know if I should shell out more money for a computer with dedicated 128mb of video memory or not.

 

if shared memory as in integrated video card, you can only play old games (at least 2 years old at high or med, depending on what integrated card you get)

most new games will lag like hell even at low

 

Video RAM is less important than the graphics card itself. 256 MB is good, 512 MB is great. 128 MB will pass.

But once again, its the graphics card that's more important. For example a 256 MB NVIDIA GeForce 7300 isn't as powerful as a 128 MB ATI Radeon X1600.

 

What video card are you looking at in particular. It is very hard to say without that information

 

Yes

This is a very common misconception. Higher video memory does not mean better performance unless same or equivalent GPUs (Graphics Processing Unit) are compared. System memory also helps in games but a crappy GPU + loads of memory wont do any good. GPU is the most important factor.

 

do any of you realized that you have in fact not answered his question but proceeded to explain this and that.

Thus you are implying that he is your common noob who just goes and buys vid cards according to how much memory they have. you have probably missed/not read the point where he says he doesn't know if he should spend more money on LESS discrete vram rather then spend less money on MORE shared vram (indicating knowledge that he knows discrete = better). worst of all. i bet you're patting yourself on the back thinking you did a good job. DISGUSTING.

i hate it when peeps don't bother reading and answering my specific question.

i'm pretty sure he knows that dedicated memory, which is only found on dedicated cards (with minor exceptions such as the radeons and nvida) generally perform better then vid cards that use all shared memory as they are integrated cards as he specifically said he does not know if he should spend more money of dedicated stuff.


The lowest dedicated gpu is the nvidia 7200 from nvidia and x1300 from the radeon. these will generally run old games such as fable and HL2 and doom quite well on low-med settings depending on resolution. games such as oblivion will be very laggy.

an integrated card with all shared memory such as the gma 950 will handle WoW, wolfinstein, warcraft 3:ft, starcraft, and at least 2 year old games but don't expect stable frame rates or to turn all settings up. the integrated solutions from nvidia such as the 6150 or the radeon x1150 will usually handle games much better then the gma allowing for more stable frame rates and more settings to be turned on, and games like HL2, battlefield 1942, CSS, etc.. though it is still far below the performance level of even the nvidia 7200 go.

so basically, stay away from gma 950 if you plan on fps games, radeon and nvidia make respectable integrated solutions that can handle old fps.

for dedicated cards with 128 discrete memory such as the x1400 or 7400 go (not the one in the dell m1210, that one only has 64 mb discrete vram), they can (so far) handle all new games at usually med settings quite well. there are also pricier 128mb 7600 go that perform even better then the x1400 and 7400.

 

Shared memories don't really mean much. Not even on the latest cards. It's not really that big of a deal.

 

I'm not really sure what that rant was about, but the point is still pretty accurate.

The bottom line is that we still need to know what card/s you're looking at. As stated, a 128MB x1600 will outperform an x1400 with 256MB shared. It mostly comes down to the GPU, but for now, a 128MB card will still be a viable gaming card, though 256 is quickly becoming the standard.