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    GeForce Go 7600, "Discrete" Memory?

    Discussion in 'HP' started by Pixel Chick, Oct 27, 2006.

  1. Pixel Chick

    Pixel Chick Notebook Enthusiast

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    I have a brand new HP dv9000t, GeForce Go 7600 512MB video RAM, 2GB system RAM, purchased from Costco. HP's website shows a description of the nVidia Geforce Go 7600 with 2 options, both having "discrete" video memory. However, I am now looking at my BIOS, which indicates that my video is "dynamically allocated" and shared with the system RAM. I thought that "discrete" meant that the video card had its own memory??????
     
    Pixel Chick, Oct 27, 2006
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  2. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    It does...256MB of that RAM is dedicated (on the GPU), and the card borrows an additional 256MB of RAM from the system when it is needed.
     
    Greg, Oct 27, 2006
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  3. Pixel Chick

    Pixel Chick Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thank you for your response. I can't find information on this anywhere (including nvidia's site). So there is a difference between "discrete" and "dedicated" video RAM. . . Hmmm. Something to watch for next time. So does "discrete" usually mean half of the RAM in the description is onboard, half shared?
     
    Pixel Chick, Oct 27, 2006
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  4. Rahul

    Rahul Notebook Prophet

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    Its not always half dedicated and half shared, it entirely depends on the type of videocard.
     
    Rahul, Oct 27, 2006
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  5. lappy486portable

    lappy486portable Notebook Evangelist

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    Where did you get that avatar from. :p Oh and to answer the question most cards have that now, all it does is increase video card performance.
     
    lappy486portable, Oct 27, 2006
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  6. Pixel Chick

    Pixel Chick Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks everyone for the info.
     
    Pixel Chick, Oct 27, 2006
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  7. Charles P. Jefferies

    Charles P. Jefferies Lead Moderator Super Moderator

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    Could you elaborate a bit more about what it says in the BIOS? A picture would be helpful.

    The GeForce 7600 series GPU does not use TurboCache according to Nvidia (it lacks hardware support), although it can use system memory to store extra textures and stuff that won't fit in the video card's RAM.
     
    Charles P. Jefferies, Oct 27, 2006
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  8. Pixel Chick

    Pixel Chick Notebook Enthusiast

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    On the right it shows
    Total memory 2048MB
    Video Memory up to 512MB

    On the left is:
    "Video memory is included in the total memory and the size is dynamically changed in the OS based on the usage."

    This sounds to me like it is ALL shared memory.
     
    Pixel Chick, Oct 27, 2006
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  9. Pixel Chick

    Pixel Chick Notebook Enthusiast

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    Another description from HP's website:

    "An NVIDIA GeForce Go 7600 graphics card with 256MB dedicated video memory delivers best-in-class video for games and multimedia. For the ultimate experience in streaming video and gaming, choose the version with 512MB dedicated video memory."

    Very misleading.
     
    Pixel Chick, Oct 28, 2006
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  10. KrispyKreme50

    KrispyKreme50 Notebook Evangelist

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    To the original poster - the 512 MB is all dedicated but it won't make any difference because the GeForce 7600 isn't fast enough to utilize all of the memory.
     
    KrispyKreme50, Oct 28, 2006
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  11. Pixel Chick

    Pixel Chick Notebook Enthusiast

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    Strange about how the BIOS is seeing it, no?
     
    Pixel Chick, Oct 28, 2006
    #11