shared graphics memory

I have an R40 and Vista installed. The xpress200m is supposed to have 128mb dedicated memory and theres an ati sticker on case.

In the bios i tried to disable shared memory entirely but no option.

128 shared
256 shareds
AUTO

I left it on auto and in Vista it shows;

Total 319mb
Dedicated 128mb
System 0mb
Shared 191mb

Total memory available to Vista 894mb

I don't play games and just want the full 1gb to help vista run along smoothly.

Any idea's please?

 

The Samsung R40 specs show that the graphics memory is UMA 64MB - 128MB. Maybe the Samsung specs are wrong (not uncommon) and your version has 128MB of built-in graphics memory (I know this is the case with some desktop versions of this chipset) but can still borrow extra system memory.

This means that the BIOS options mean:

128MB = GPU RAM only (not shared)
256MB = GPU also borrows 128MB of system RAM
Auto = The GPU shares system RAM either on an as needed basis or there is a fixed amount of RAM allocated to the GPU depending on the total system RAM (you manual may explain which applies).

I would suggest that you set your graphics memory to 128MB and see if the graphics run OK. If the 128MB setting gives jumpy graphics, try 256MB which will mean borrowing 128MB of system RAM. However, people with the Intel GPU report that Vista runs OK and that is with 128MB of system RAM for the GPU, so 128MB may prove fine for you.

I am sure there are other tweaks to help Vista run smoothly and leave some RAM for your applications. I haven't got Vista yet so I haven't investigated the tweaking. Have a browse through the Windows and Software forum.

Hope this helps,

John