How to allocate memory from GPU back to system.

Hi, I got a question. I've a Sager NP5793 with 9800M GTS on Vista 64 bit.

However, under Personalization - Display settings - Advanced Settings - Adapter, it shows:-

Total available graphics memory 2815MB
Dedicated Video memory - 1024MB
System Video memory - 0MB
Shared System Memory - 1791MB

Ok, since my 9800M GTS have a 1GB memory, I do not required any further Shared System Memory of 1791MB as 1GB memory is sufficient. So, now how to I allocate back the 17941MB memory back to my system memory?

Any kind souls mind to help me? Thanks.

 

I think that's just a quirk of Vista. if you open Task Manager then you'll see you have all your RAM (or at least not losing 1.8 GB)

My system says it's taking away 1281 MB of my ram for a total of 17xx MB (I have a 512 MB card) and my task manager is showing the full 3GB of RAM I have in my system.

so that basically means ignore it.

 

How much RAM do you have installed in your system?

 

Are you running into low memory errors? What kind of programs are you running. Few laypersons understand modern OS memory management and I believe it is premature to think your amount of system memory is your bottleneck.

 

I have 4GB of DDR2 667mhz installed in my system.
I just wanna ensure that my system have the full 4GB running and not allocated 1.7GB to my graphics adapter which is a waste since I am using 64bit Windows Vista.
So, mind to explain how to check whether my system is utilising the full 4GB onot?
Thanks in advance.

 

Your graphics card is not touching your system memory. I promise you this. It would have to completely run out of its 1GB of VRAM before it would look to your system for more.

 

I hate to be a nudgnik, but the whole concept that somehow _Vista is "stealing" memory from your system and restricting it to video usage only is offbase - _Vista does no such thing, and system memory that is "allocated" to video is merely available for the video subsystem to use, provided that it isn't already in use by some other component of the system.

In a nutshell, here is the takeaway quote from Microsoft's whitepaper Graphics Memory Reporting Through WDDM:

(see page 3 of the aforementioned whitepaper).

Basically, that means that whatever number _Vista reports as being "allocated" system memory is the maximum amount of RAM the video subsystem could utilize for its own purposes if nothing else has already laid claim to that memory first.

Of course, if you're running a massively graphics-intensive app and not much else, it's quite likely that the video system will glom onto as much system memory as it is allowed in order to keep the show going; if you then try to fire up a bunch of other non-graphics apps while that graphics-intensive app is still going, then, perhaps, you might find yourself being limited by the allocation of system memory to video (I didn't get into it enough to find out what prevails - system or video - in the event of a conflict), but then again, if you really needed that system memory for non-graphics apps, you most likely wouldn't have fired up that graphics-intensive app in the first place. If you find yourself getting hung up on low system memory issues in circumstances like this, then the simplest solution is to get more RAM in the first place.