Shared video memory allocation: Gateway MT3705

Hello,

I have a Gateway MT3705 with 2gig of RAM. My video card is the integrated ATI Radeon Xpress 200m, with 64meg dedicated and up to 256meg shared. I want to be able to configure the video memory to max out at 128meg (64meg dedicated and 64meg shared). I have looked in the BIOS for an option to do this, but nowhere do I see anything in the BIOS to set video memory allocation.
Would anyone know where this option is located? Is it in the Control Panel, etc? My former HP notebook allowed me change the settings in the BIOS, am I missing something?
Thank you in advance.

 

What Windows are you using? If your using Windows Vista, then its even worse, as it will assign as much as 800MB of shared video memory to your graphics card.

Also you wont find anything in the BIOS; as far as I know, the ATI Xpress 200M uses "Dynamic" system, which means its not user definable. This means you can not change the amount of system memory the card is using. Your card will use as much system memory as it needs, so the only solution is to add more ram.

Don't lose hope, I'll try and seach around for a solution. If I find anything, I'll let you know.

 

If you can't manually allocate a set amount of memory to the X200M, then the card is doing it automatically.

It will only take as much memory as it needs, but yes Windows Vista does go overboard when it comes to allocating memory.

 

Many thanks for the replies, and yes I have Vista installed on the MT3705. While Vista is beginning to grow on me, I would still rather have had, at this point in time, Windows XP on the laptop. With Vista, I feel like I am one of Microsoft's Beta testers, so many incompatible programs, so many patches.

Alas, from what I have read on this website, and from what I have heard elsewhere, I can not install Windows XP on my MT3705; since this computer is so new, only drivers written for Vista are available.

Is it possible someone on this site knows how to install XP on the MT3705?

BTW, before and since purchasing the MT3705 for myself and my daughter, this website has been a treasure trove of advice and knowledge.

 

I'm pretty sure the video card only takes what it needs. So, if you're just browsing the internet, it probably uses minimal system RAM. But, if you're playing a game, it probably uses all its shared capacity.

Is losing 500+ MB of RAM that much of a problem? You have 2 gigs and Vista only needs about 900 to run properly.

 

Will there are different types of graphics cards with shared memory. The ATI Xpress 200M/X1100 uses shared memory in a way that even though the graphics card doesn't necessarily need (for instance) 128MB of video ram it will still grab it from your system memory. So even though your not playing a high demanding game (which might require greater amount of dedicated graphics ram than what you have), the Xpress 200M will still assign 160MB of system memory to your graphics card. That’s why on Windows XP, when you right click on “My Computer”/Properties you will see 1.99GB of system memory, even though you have 2GB/2046MB of system memory installed.
But notebook/laptops with ATIs HyperMemory or NVIDIA’s Turbo catch graphics technology, more dedicated RAM is installed on the graphics card alone and the HyperMemory/Turbo catch system will allow the graphics card to only barrow what it needs when it needs it. Windows Vistas is even worse; it will automatically check how much system RAM you have and will assign you a great deal of share system graphics memory. Now I’m not sure, but I think Vistas shared graphics memory works much like the Hypermemory and Turbo catch system and will let you have access to your full system memory if the graphics card is not using it.