ATI Radeon Xpress 1100

The description for this card in an Acer notebook is as follows: High-end audio/video: This notebook features ATI Radeon Xpress 1100 integrated 3D graphics with 256MB of shared memory and 256MB of dedicated video memory. This high-end memory is great for more demanding games or video editing.

Does this card indeed have 256 of dedicated video memory? Am I missing something here? This is for my sons, who play games. Can this handle say, Oblivion, Halo and WOW? Or am I better off with a notebook with the Nvidia 6150 (I know, it's low end but this is a 2nd computer for them).

 

Oblivion: a BIG MAYBE
Halo 1: yes
Halo 2: NO
WOW: yes

and yes you have 256 mb of dedicated memory for your GPU

 

Not real but system dedicated memory. if you have that system will say 512MB.

Oblivion: no

 

Yeah he could. Use Oldblivion mods. And still Low Res, Low Graphics ETC.

 

Which notebook is this? I've never heard of an integrated graphics card having 256MB of dedicated memory. It wouldn't matter if the card had 128MB or 256MB of dedicated memory anyway since the X1100 is not powerful enough to make use of all that.
GPU Guide.

 

if your concern is gaming, you should look at a low end dedicated part, at the minimum.

8400m / mobility hd 2400

 

well ati might have made more mem in there like they did to ati 200m
i think halo 2 is playable with 2gig or 1gig of ram since i can play quake 4 right now. i just need more rams

 

I have 1150 same but 400Mhz instead of 300Mhz. I installed it and could not run well enough to enjoy, I am not a gamer so I uninstalled and never tried anything.

This does come up more than it should, the MFG make it confusing. They say dedicated what they should say is reserved system RAM, theory is if card has to go to a certain part of mem faster, also less fragmentation than when things are randomly placed throughout the entire system memory. You can set up the amount, something like 16MB to 256MB, whatever you pick the card will double with the extra functioning just like traditional shared memory. I set mine at 128 and it is read by windows as 256MB graphics adapter, which may still even be overkill for this card but better than 512MB. Windows reports RAM memory less whatever you have set aside so in my case 2048-128.

 

Pretty sure the Geforce Go 6150 and X1100/1150 can have 256MB dedicated but it is rare. They could easily be wrong as I know there is a 128/384 ded/shared X110/1150.

 

It's an Acer on sale this week at Circuit City. I was going to add the link, but their site is down... this is the description, though:

AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-56
• 2GB of DDR2 memory
Built-in WEBCAM
• Burns DVDs and CDs
• Built-in 802.11gb wireless
• 160GB hard drive
• Windows Vista Home Premium

Detailed Info:
Acer Aspire 15.4" Widescreen Notebook PC (5100-5023)

Mid-size notebook: The Acer Aspire 5100-5023 notebook is a mid-size notebook, with high-performance processing power and entertainment features to rival most desktops. This notebook is equipped to handle demanding applications as well as high-end graphics.

Dual core/64-bit processing: The 1.8GHz Turion 64 X2 TL-56 has two processing engines that work in tandem, providing much more power than standard 1.8GHz processors. This processor is also capable of processing 64 bits of information at once, twice as much as standard 32-bit processors. AMD PowerNow! technology enhances mobile performance and extends battery life.

* This notebook features 2GB of DDR2 system memory—enough for all but the most demanding users, gamers and multimedia professionals.
* Data travels along the frontside bus. The faster the data travels, the faster everything works. This notebook features a 533MHz frontside bus which is fine for everyday computing.
* L2 caches keep data neat, organized, and nearby so processors can retrieve it quickly. This 2 x 512KB gives the processor a little boost.

Hard drive: This notebook features a 160GB hard drive with more than enough space for most casual PC users.

Go wireless: Built-in 802.11gb wireless LAN gives you a fast connection to a wide range of networks and peripherals.

Burn DVDs and CDs: Enjoy DVD movies, or share your files, music mixes and home movies. You can even burn double-layer DVDs and even DVD-RAM discs—specially-formatted discs that let you drag and drop, or write and rewrite your files up to 100,000 times.

Widescreen display: This 15.4” widescreen features 1280 x 800 pixel (WXGA) resolution, providing sharp detail and plenty of room for whatever you want to view.

Microsoft ® Windows® Vista ™ Home Premium: Windows Vista Home Premium is the operating system for homes with advanced computer needs. And Vista Premium features the elegant new Aero interface. You’ll be able to use your notebook more effectively and enjoy new entertainment experiences—all with the benefit of added security and reliability.

High-end audio/video: This notebook features ATI Radeon Xpress 1100 integrated 3D graphics with 256MB of shared memory and 256MB of dedicated video memory. This high-end memory is great for more demanding games or video editing.

Media card reader: Seamlessly transfer images from your digital camera, MP3 player or camcorder. This 5-in-1 reader is compatible with xD, Secure Digital, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro and MultiMedia Card.

Software bundle:
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
Acer Arcade, GridVista and Launch Manager
Norton AntiVirus™ (trial version)
Adobe® Reader®
NTI CD-Maker™

I'm still confused!

 

Interesting, thanks for the info.

Micro Center is listing the AS5100-5023 with 256MB of shared memory:
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0260669

CompUSA is listing a very similar model (still an AS5100 but different specs) with 256MB shared also:
http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=344634&Pn=Aspire_5100_5778_Notebook

At this point I would say that Circuit City has an error on their site - typo perhaps by someone.

 

Thanks so much. That's what I kind of thought. Circuit City wasn't any help at all and of course, they didn't have this particular model out on display.

 

their site tends to have errors from what I have seen in laptop descriptions

 

Actually I myself bought this... it indeed does state on its computer sticker on the laptop it has 512 video memory.

Still... I actually returned a HP laptop to get this, which had 1G ram and 287 shared video on a 6150 Nvidia card. I play LotR and the graphics were set at 'high' on the HP and yet are 'low' on the Acer... which doesn't really make sense to me.

 

When you set LOTR to "High" on the Radeon, does it play as well as the 6150?

 

Nope, not at all. It gets laggy. What I _can_ do is go into the advanced graphics in LotR online and fiddle around so where some things are set as 'high' while other things are set 'low'.

For example, I have lowered it where I see things at a distance but I have put as high where things like trees, leaves, etc are rendered.

In the end it plays well. Nowhere near the Nvidia though.

edit: I should really say that it plays better than just 'well' once you tweak the advanced graphics, I'm just kinda floored it doesn't compare to the Nvidia given there is dedicated memory involved with the Radeon. Personally, I'm just glad it can PLAY the danged thing and look pretty too. lol

 

ATi's integrated cards (expecially the x200m) have a habit of being rather unpredictable. Some can play BF2, some cant. Some can play CoH, some can't. It might be down to dedicated ram but that doesn't always seem to be the case. I;d guess the Nvidia 6100/6150 would give more reliable performance.

 

I have an x1150, and it says on the specs that it does have 256m dedicated memory and you can also share up to 256mb of memory which can found while starting the laptop.. but this really bugs me since whenever i set the shared the memory to the minimum of 16mb or 8, my game (VT3), doesnt run it exits sutomatically.. so somehow the 256mb dedicated doesn't seem to help much..

 

You are changing the dedicated not the shared. That is why you are having trouble.

 

looks like i got a lucky one.. plays most games in 256mb of phisic ram
oh boy!!!!

 

thanks for the clearup baddogboxer.. just read the thread on the dedicated and shared.. kind of disappointing though.. didn't think that the 512mb of the x1150 actually came from my ram.. no wonder 1gb of ram slows my games a lot..

 

I run mine set on 128MB it leaves me more RAM both for "shared and dedicated" with my 2GB I run better at that. 256MB dedicated 512MB is to much for the bandwith and slows things down, just keep in mind. Consider going to other thread so it does not die, says a lot more, thanks. Also I can explain better, it is not all that bad!


Edit: set at 128MB you will see improvment, maybe 64 but have not tested!

 

Saw this while looking around for some information about best settings for running Oblivion on a laptop with this Video mentioned here. Post saying oblivion is a maybe, or won't run smooth enough for enjoyment. I had played very deep into oblivion on my desktop, with a radeon 9800 pro that burnt out on me sadly. Now i have a Acer Aspire 3100, one of the new models, that i grabbed at staples for $450 while it was on sale. I formated vista off it and put windows xp onto it. Few days back i had decided to try oblivion because i realy want to finish it and oldblivion wouldnt do shivering isles. Well my aspire 310 has only 512 mb of ram right now, 64 allocated to the video. But medium settings on oblivion ran to the point of playable, but jerky. Low-medium settings was happily playable tho. This is *NOT* witht he standard ATI driver though, if you install the Omega modified drivers, video works alot better then most would expect. I know this is an old thread, but this information may proove useful to people in the future that might stumble into this thread to.