8600M GT 256MB DDR3 Shared memory

I got an asus G1S with a 8600M GT 256MB dedicated ram DDR3
This card can use up to 768MB shared memory.... (that makes a total of 1024 MB)
Now is my question: where can I see how much shared memory my 8600M GT is using??
And an even better question: how can I tell my laptop to use ALL that 768MB ??



Thanks

 

Right Click->Display Properties-Advanced Settings->Adapter

 

It will automatically allocate the extra memory IF needed. Trust me, you don't want it to have to use the extra memory since it's not nearly as fast and will degrade game performance. Plus, there is no way to control how much memory your system decides to use and when.

 

So like in Crysis my 8600M GT will automatically use shared memory if he needs it...?
And if i upgrade to 3GB ram my fps will stay the same as with 2GB?

I REALLY WANT TO KNOW: WILL I GET AN FPS BOOST WITH 3GB RAM??
Please answer this question, I got 1 chance to upgrade my G1S to 3GB and that is in 1 day...
I'm not gone spend that much money (for 2GB ram) for nothing....

thanks....

 

probably not. The graphics GPU is the bottleneck not the RAM

 

No you don't need the 3GB RAM unless you are running vista with a lot of background apps while gaming.

Personally I close out of everything I'm not using when i'm playing a game like winamp, AIM, any firefox browsers, and such. I haven't gotten close to using 2gb of ram in XP with my destop..... I don't even think any game has brought RAM usage up to 1.5GB while i idle at around 300mb.

 

And what about the thread on this forum:
G1S 2GB vs 3GB
(see: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=131467 )
There are screenshots of F.E.A.R. ingame with the fps... and with 3GB there was 10-20fps increase... :s

So how does it come that there is a fps increase??

 

that topic really made me curious becase it makes no sence to me ! well 1 or 2 or even 3fps + and i would have said never mind, now, 10 + ?? My 2gb sodimm arrives soon, so i will post my review later.

 

When I go there it just says "Memory Size: 512MB"... does this mean I have 512MB on-board? Or is that the current total (on-board + from RAM) memory size or what?

(Possibly see also: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=183074)

 

It should give you the total next to "Total Available Graphics Media" - This is the total video memory including turbo cache.

"Dedicated Video Memory" is what your video card actually has.
"Shared System Memory" is what Turbocache uses.

If you add Dedicated and Shared, it should sum up to "Total Available.."

 

Now, does anybody know how it comes that there is a 10-20 fps increase ingame with 3GB ram !!??
(Check: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=131467 )

It has something to do with turbocache or something, can you tell me what does turbocache exactly do ?

Thank you

 

The amount of ram that it will shared (dubbed turbo cache) will depend on the amount of ram installed in your system actully.

If you have less ram it wont share as much, if you have more it takes more. Its a simple as that.

In XP it can be turned off however its a core part of Vista and its engine so there is no way to turn it off.

 

Vista takes about 600MB of my 2GB ram
And ingame i saw that crysis took up to 1GB ram
So i only got 400MB ram that isn't in use

And i got 512MB turbocache ....
So he can't use all that 512MB turbocache ram...
So if I have 3GB ram that is what is giving the 10-20 fps increase, right??

Now: is it ABSOLUTELY SURE that i will get an fps boost with 3 GB ram?

 

Nope, there was alot of sceptisism about that thread linked ealier because people saw mixed performance boost.

It will depend on the game alot and your settings if the extra ram will help.

If you on high settings that can take up close to 2gb of ram with textures and things it for sure will help. Even if FPS doesnt go up it will eliminate page filing wich is a horrible thing to have happen in a game.

If you have the money, get 3gb of ram there is no way you can go wrong with it as your system in a whole will perform better.

i wanted 4gb of ram, but my chipset only supports 3gb. I tried 3gb and unfortunaly due to horrible compatability issues I was forced to use 2gb of ram in the end :/

Hellgate London maxes out my ram at 98% full that extra 1gig would have been nice.

 

Now I'm really not sure any more to upgrade to 3GB
I really wanted to see a fps increase but now I might only get +3 fps lol

maybe people with an G1S and 3GB ram can post here...

 

well i put 4gb ram in g1s, with vista 64b.. and now.. the 8600gt have 2gb ram.... I need to change this amount of ram, a 8600gt will never use it...