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    8600M GT (2 GPU) SLI with 512MB but show only 256MB

    Discussion in 'Gaming (Software and Graphics Cards)' started by emperor1412, Feb 3, 2009.

  1. emperor1412

    emperor1412 Newbie

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    I've read a lot thread in this forum ( may be not much enough ) and I can't find if someone has the same problem with me . My laptop is Toshiba Satellite X205-SLI 2 with
    cpu : T8100 2.1GHZ *2
    ram : 2GB
    HDD : 320GB
    VGA : two 8600M GT run in SLI mode with 512 MB GDDR3 in total, each card has 256MB GDDR3

    The problem is the 512 MB ram of two 8600M GT cards. In window and games, it just shows that there is 256 dedicated memory , 767 MB shared of ram ,so when I play GTA 4 , there is just 238MB of VGA for the games , why is it not 512MB ?

    Can someone tell me how to help window and games recognize all 512MB of 2 graphic cards , for example GTA 4 so that the games can take full advantage of that all 512MB from 2 cards.
     
    emperor1412, Feb 3, 2009
    #1
  2. 660hpv12

    660hpv12 Notebook Deity

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    SLi does not combine memory, each card still have individual acess to 256mb. All SLi does is rendering alternate frames with each card and combine them, it does not combine 2 cards and make a uber card with 2x the performance. though in theory you do get 2x the performance with alternate frame rendering
     
    660hpv12, Feb 3, 2009
    #2
  3. JosePerez

    JosePerez Notebook Evangelist

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    Just like 660hpv12 said... Sli does not SUM the vram... So it's ok to see 256 mb vram... Even so, all the games are taking advantage of both card's 256 mb, so don't worry... That "512 MB VRAM" is just a marketing gimmick...
     
    JosePerez, Feb 3, 2009
    #3
  4. gary_hendricks

    gary_hendricks Notebook Evangelist

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    I hope Lucid changes this fact :)
     
    gary_hendricks, Feb 3, 2009
    #4