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    Question about the GeForce 8600M GT

    Discussion in 'Gaming (Software and Graphics Cards)' started by Arquis, Nov 2, 2007.

  1. Arquis

    Arquis Kojima Worshiper

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    well I recieved my macbook pro a few days ago and it came with this graphics card. however the NVIDIA site says that it has a maximum memory of 512mb... but when i check my mac info it says it's only got a total of 256mb. whats up with this?
     
    Arquis, Nov 2, 2007
    #1
  2. Lithus

    Lithus NBR Janitor

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    Your MBP has a 256 dedicated card with limitless potential to use shared memory. The shared memory doesn't do much.
     
    Lithus, Nov 2, 2007
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  3. Arquis

    Arquis Kojima Worshiper

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    oh i see... so it has 265mb on the card itself but if it needs it it can take another 256mb from the system RAM? making 512.
     
    Arquis, Nov 2, 2007
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  4. Eleison

    Eleison Thanatos Eleison

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    Correct. If you have 1 GB of memory, it can use up to 256 MB of shared memory. If you have 2 GB, it can use up to 768 MB of shared memory (for a total of 1 GB total). It's a shame turbocache doesn't work better than it does, because this sounds a lot better in theory than it actually works.
     
    Eleison, Nov 2, 2007
    #4
  5. zadillo

    zadillo Notebook Virtuoso

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    What they mean on the NVidia site is that the 8600M GT can be available with as much as 512MB of physical VRAM. In the case of the MBP though, it is offered with 256MB of VRAM.

    -Zadillo
     
    zadillo, Nov 2, 2007
    #5
  6. Arquis

    Arquis Kojima Worshiper

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    oh cool. here's hoping it can still run crysis half-decently lol. Thanks for the replies.
     
    Arquis, Nov 2, 2007
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  7. JCMS

    JCMS Notebook Prophet

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    TC/HM work well, it's just that the system's DDR2 533 can't keep up with the GDDR3 1400 of the 8600M GT GDDR3 lol.
     
    JCMS, Nov 2, 2007
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  8. foclis

    foclis Newbie

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    Hi there,

    I had a similar question with Arquis. On the specifications of the graphics card, what confirms that the card will be using memory from the computer's RAM, when the 128-512 MB run out?
    Is this standard feature on all graphic cards? I had the impression that GPU, which come on their on chipset (not like the intel ones for example) only utilise their own memory, in that case the 128-512MB...

    Cheers!
     
    foclis, Nov 22, 2007
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  9. The Forerunner

    The Forerunner Notebook Virtuoso

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    They borrow extra ram when necessary and depending on availability. Most of the nvidia and ati cards do that, yes.
     
    The Forerunner, Nov 22, 2007
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