I need a direct answer 128MB ATI RADEON XPRESS 200M w/Hypermemory

Alright, I've been doing some research and everything I read contradics everything else I read. I've been considering buying a compaq v5000z for a little while now. But I plan to play a few games on it (the MOST graphics intensive will be bf2 and half life two). But I'm not sure about the graphics card, which happens to be a 128MB ATI RADEON(R) XPRESS 200M w/Hypermemory(TM). Alright, first question, will it play both these games (even if the graphics settings are down way low), and will i get a decent enough frame rate to play. Second, it says that it has "discrete graphics memory". And from what I've gotten that means it has dedicated video memory. But then I read up a little more and SUPOSEDLY it has a set up were 32mb of it is dedicated and 96 is shared (is that even possible, or was I lied to?). Thank you in advance to anyone who actually read this. Ohh, and on one more note, I plan on getting a gig of ram, 80 gig hard drive, and a 1.8ghz turion procesor (in case anyone asks).

 

I looked into that same laptop about the shared and dedicated mem thing too. From what I understand, there is a 32mb and 128 mb dedicated memory version of the x200m in those laptops. Then with the hypermemory, you have the option to share up to another 128mb of mem. Effectively giving you 256 mem with the 128 dedicated.

I'm curious too as to if the dedicated memory will make a huge difference with this laptop since the gpu is intergrated. My question is does the regular shared memory x200m perform that much less than the one with dedicated memory?

As far as if hl2 and bf2 will run, there's been lots of people on this forum that have said yes already, at low settings mind you. I'll leave that up to someone who has the laptop though. So anyone who has it, please chime in.

 

Thank you so freaking much, first direct answer I have EVER gotten out of anyone about this. I was only worried because I have a desktop with an x700 pro 256mb on it, gig of ram, 2.6ghz processor, and it can only play that on about medium graphics settings. I was comparing it to that, and got a little worried.

 

I was thinking about getting a laptop with the 128MB ATI RADEON(R) XPRESS 200M w/Hypermemory(TM) also.... Almost all of the laptops ive seen have the 128MB ATI RADEON(R) XPRESS 200M w/Hypermemory(TM) as a video card

PLEASE REPLY

 

Ok guys heres the low down on the x200 gpu. Theres 4 versions out there and there are some minor to moderate differneces between them. First there is the one that has no dedicated memory and borrows all of its memory from the system RAM.Avoid this one as it is barely any better than the Intel integrated graphics.

The second version is found in the Hp Pavillion 5000 and has 32mb dedicated+96 borrowed. It is an ok performer but does not use the full potential of the gpu as it hasnt got much memory dedicated to it.

The third version is the one with 64mb dedicated + 64mb shared and is found in the latest toshiba laptops such as the basic A100 model. It is a good performer as it has enough memory dedicated to it so that its using taking advantage of the gpus full potential. It will run the likes of FAR CRY and HL2 on near max settings with respectable framerates (27-35fps). However it wont run anything too fancy(although it plays DOOM3 on medium-low settings very well)

The fourth version is also found in a version of the HP pavillion and has 128mb dediacted+128mb shared. This version, even with all of the extra memory isnt going to perform much better than the 64+64mb version above, as the GPU simply doesnt have the power to take advantage of all of this extra memory. However it is still a solid performer.

Overall the higher end versions of the x200's are very good considering that they werent really designed for gaming and can play 'newish' titles and even DOOM3 at respectable framerates. I have proof of this as i own a Toshiba Satellite with the 64+64mb version of the x200 and can play all of the above mentioned perfectly. (Provided you have at least 1GB RAM!!) I have 1.2GB's.

And finally for some reason the x200 plays HL2 very very well in nearly all forms! Not sure why.. The game jst seems like its highly compatible.

So that should answer all your questions about the x200. Its a good GPU!

 

I'm pretty sure all versions of the card can borrow up to 128mb of system ram plus the hypertransport feature

 

I have read on another forum that there were four different versions of this card. The information on that bored mirrored the information that was posted by Fishy. Let me say first that I am unsure at to if there are four different types of 200m cards. I have looked all over on ati's website and I have never found anything that says that there are different types of 200m cards that are available. And on every site that I looked at on google, reviews speak of the 200m as a single piece and not a series with different varients in the 200m. But I am still unsure. It would be nice to know since I do actually have a 200m on my laptop.

 

Just to clarify, the Radeon Xpress 200M - the actual graphics core - is the same across all versions. However, the differences lie in the memory configuarions. Some have no dedicated and some do as mentioned.

 

Yes there ARE 4 versions of the x200 and its rediculous that ATI doesnt make it known. Even on the boxes or specification sheets of all of the different laptops out there, it will always only say 'ATI x200 supporting 128mb'. However its only when u look at the computer itslef by turning it on that you will find out what version of the x200 is inside.. Nvidia did the same thing with the Nvidia 6200 Go and the newer versions.. 7300..7400... It will always just say 'Nvidia 6200 supporting 128mb'. However in reality there were 3 main versions. The first had 16mb dedicated=+112 shared, second had 32 dedicated+96 shared and then the Nvidia 6400 which was written down as having had the same thing 'supporting 128mb' but had 64mb dedicated+64 shared..(as well as an overclocked version of the 6200Gpu)

If you ask how i know this, well its because i now work in a laptop shop and have pretty much tried everything out there at the moment..

A perfect example of what iv jst said can be seen with the HP Pavillion 5000. We have two versions. The first has a Turion ML32 and the second has the ML37 cpu. Both laptops are identical, different in price and both have written down on the box 'X200 supporting 128mb'. HOWEVER the cheaper one with the ML32 has the ****per x200 with jst 32 dedicated memory, while the dearer one with the ML37 has the fully dedicated 128mb x200!

Very confusing stuff and i only found out all this through alot of research!

 

Ok, then how do you know which version you have in the laptop. All versions have the BIOS feature to share 128mb but how to find the dedicated memory?

 

The simplest way to do it is by going into the 'control panel' in windows and then selecting 'display---settings---advanced---ATI options---Details'. This options should then show u the amount and type of memory that is actually built onto the gpu. Mine for instance has 64mb DDR SGRAM. And when i check my system information in my 'system folder' it shows that i am also missing a further 64mb of system memory which is DDR2 RAM.
(Supporting 128mb total)
Altogether that info tells me that i have 64mb dediacted+64mb shared.
When i checked the same menu on the more expensive Hp Pavillion 5000, i found that it had 128 DDR SGRAM dedicated and also used 128mb of the system DDR2 RAM. (256 total) But the card doesnt really have the horse power to take advantage of all of that extra memory..

Hope this was of help

 

Hm, I didn't know I have 64mb of dedicated memory in my L2000. Just in case, I will change the BIOS amount to check if this figure is really dedicated or shared.

Edit:
As I changed the BIOS value to 32 the figure in the Ati options also changed to 32mb DDR SGRAM/SDRAM. No dedicated memory here as I expected

 

Oh i forgot to tell you...
IN the menu i just mentioned there is an option to choose the amount of dedicated memory you want to use. For instance, physically on the x200 version i have which has 64mb dedicated, it is in the form of 2*32mb memory modules. You an actually choose whether or not to use one or both of these modules. If you choose to use only 32mb, your computer will restart and will then only use 32mb of system memory!..64mb total! A pretty cool feature i think.. This means that you have the choice to have 128mb support (64+64) or 64mb support (32+32)!. This will be handy if you are stuck for system memory and dont want to gpu to be borrowing too much system memory.

 

Sorry i made a mistake there..
The option i was talking about is the option to change the amount of system memory you want to use. (UMA Frame buffer) - Unified Memory Architecture. You ARE NOT given the option to choose how much dedicated memory u want to use.

Vasil 98 , try to find this option in the menu. what is the max and min amount of UMA usage you can choose???

 

I know what UMA is and it is 128mb for l2000. In my zv6000 for example I have UMA 128 mb and 128mb dedicated. Yet, zv6000's bios does say that it is UMA memory, while l2000 just says Video Memory. I believe l2000 has only 128mb of share memory and I think HP only offers 128mb and 128+128mb versions of the the card.

 

All the bios will show you is how much system memory ur using or u want to use. If your have 128mb through the UMA and ur laptop is marked as having a 128x200, then it is 128 shared as you thought..

 

ok, you guys said there were 4 different types. HP pavillion offers two different types on the laptop i'm looking at and they are described as " 32MB ATI RADEON(R) XPRESS 200M" and " 128MB ATI RADEON(R) XPRESS 200M w/Hypermemory(TM)" so would it be fair to assume that the one that says 32mb is the 2nd one fishy listed and the one that says 128mb is the fourth.
or is the 32mb one a totally different graphics card than what fishy is describing and the 128mb could be any of them?

 

The 32MB Xpress 200M has 32MB dedicated + 96 shared for a total of 128MB, and the second 128MB Xpress 200M is all dedicated.

 

ok, so the 128MB ATI RADEON(R) XPRESS 200M w/Hypermemory(TM) is not what fishy described which said "128mb dedicated+128mb shared" but is instead 128mb dedicated and none shared. right?

 

Well, it can have shared, if that's what you want to know. HP just doesn't advertise it as that. All ATI PCI express cards with 128MB or less of dedicated memory can borrow up to 128MB HyperMemory if you have the latest drivers installed. You can't change the amount shared on most notebooks, it just dynamically borrows what it needs.

 

Just wondering if this laptop has 128MB Dedicated?

GRAPHICS: 128MB ATI Radeon XPRESS 200M with Hypermemory (up to 128MB of dedicated video memory)

The "Up to 128MB of dedicated video memory" worries me.

Does this mean 128 + 128 = Hypermemory?

 

I'd be a little careful there, not sure if they mean it has the 32MB ded. + 96 shared one or the straight 128MB dedicated. Probably best to email them and confirm what it has.

HP's site doesn't say anything specific about that model either:
http://h50025.www5.hp.com/hpcom/au_en/11_29_64_4889_EX075PA.html

 

I'm a bit confused with conflicting info.
Can the 200m with 128 dedicated borrow a 128mb from the system to max out the horse power on the gpu?
If so, has anyone tested and found the performance difference between the 128D 128B and the 64D 64B? Can the 64d/64b max out the Gpu?

 

Yes, the X200M can borrow memory from the system memory if needed, it's called HyperMemory. HyperMemory is enabled on all the ATI PCI-express video cards with 128MB of dedicated memory or less using the latest drivers.

 

Yes , I am using the shared version . But the funny thingy is that Windows shows I have 128MB of VRAM and certain games detect it as 256MB of VRAM.Thats really weird...I will look more into it..

 

this is complete[edited by moderator] I play bf2 very well on my x200 with 128mb integrated without lag. ALso this non sense about the x200 "Avoid this one as it is barely any better than the Intel integrated graphics." is a load of ****. Check out the writeup on the card and the difference btwn that and the intel gma950. Having owned intel integrated and then the ati x200 its anhuge difference.

But I will say if your a hardcore gamer none of the x200 series will do. But for light gaming like I do it works out perfect.

 

Hahaha [edited by moderator] Before basing everythink on ur own experience id advise u to look at the huge forum thread on the x200 where there are dozens of people who own all types of the x200 telling of their experiences.
And the totally shared version of the x200 is ****!. It is has only about 60% of the graphics power of the 128mb dedicated version. There was a person in the other forum who owned the shared version who could barely play anything decent and a person who had the version with 32mb dedicated who could play everything fine. Theres a a significant difference between having something with a bit of dedicated memory+shared than having all shared.
And yes the shared x200 is better than the **** Intel Integrated graphics..BUT when u wanna play serious games, the x200(shared) performance will weaken alot to actually be comparable to the Intel Extreme gpu.. But when playing moderately demanding games the x200 will majically shine far ahead of the Intel gpu..
What make of laptop do u have anyway?? Are u sure ur x200 has no dedicated memory?

And for the other question that was put forward.. yes the 64+64mb version of the x200 is gonna pretty much get the full performance out of the x200 as any extra memory that is available (dedicated or shared) is gonna go to waste as the gpu x200 simply hasnt got the horse power to take advantage of it!

And Chazman i can choose only to use 32or64mb of RAM for my x200 which is the one with 64 dedicated to it.. But when i changed my drivers (temporarily) to the Omega Drivers iv been hearing so much about.. i lost that option! And actually had my x200 stuck on the setting i had left it on which was to only use 32mb!.. Im back to my oroginal drivers and am happy with them..

 

read my sig, and bf2 plays on 1024x768 on medium settings perfect. Like I said Im a mild to moderate gamer. Any UT games play, Ghost recon, lots of RTS, and BF2. I have also read people playing HL2 and other games. But again like I said any variant of the x200 isnt for the extreme gamer. Look elsewhere.

 

There's no need for this 'debate' to escalate to the point where cursing or other language is incorporated . . do not bypass the filters, they are there for a reason.

 

I was wrong to bypass the filters and Im sorry. I just dont like wrong facts thats all.

 

I love the way your tried to put that in about "wrong facts". Nothing wrong about them!

 

I also require a straight answer, does the Acer Aspire 5043 model have any dedicated memory for its ATiI X200 or is it all shared.

 

Well, if he's able to use his 200M for gaming, and gets better performance than you would on an integrated Intel chip, then the "fact" that it's "barely better" is wrong, don't you think?

60% is still a hell of a lot better than Intel integrated graphics though.

You're saying that second-hand evidence is better than first-hand? "What I heard from someone else" is more reliable than "What I observed myself"?
His own results are the only ones he can verify and test, they're the only ones that can't possibly be faked or be attributed to unknown factors. That alone makes them infinitely more reliable than "what other people say". (To him, anyway. To the rest of us, it's all second-hand evidence, of course)

To everyone else, what makes you think there is a straight answer? Even if you do find out how each model is configured with regards to memory/hypermemory/shared memory, that still doesn't give you anything near a straight answer to how well it performs, as this thread probably shows pretty well.

 

How many times were you planning on asking that question? Only ask once for future reference. I deleted all your other ones.

 

hi, sorry if i seem a bit stupid here, just want to know if anyone can help me? what does it mean if it says ATI Radeon Express 200M 128MB DVMT? does this just mean it can have a max of 128mb dedicated memory without saying how much, if at all? thanks.

 

i think both games will run on low settings. I've tried demos on my old laptop with the saem graphics card and it was alright.