Video Memory
Table of Contents
Understanding Graphics Memory types and their particular function is easy. Unfortunately, too many have made an effort to explain them, without a clear understanding leaving us confused. After some deep research I have found the correct answer and it is correct as the source of this information, the link of which I have given below, is Microsoft.
Scenarios
Scenario One
Integrated Graphics Chip (IGC). This is when a Central Processing Unit (CPU) and the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) are built on the same chip or wafer of Silicon. They both share the same memory. IGC’s are smaller, cheaper and consume less power. They have three Metrics of Memory.
- Total Memory
- Display Memory
- Shared Memory
Scenario Two
An External Graphics Card is separate from the CPU unlike the Internal Graphics Card, which is integral to the CPU chip. It has its own memory. is often more expensive and provides better Graphics. NVIDIA Ge Force and AMD Radeon are market leaders in this segment.
They have four Metrics of Memory.
- Total Available Graphics Memory
- Dedicated Video Memory
- System Video Memory
- Shared System Memory
Your Systems Graphics Memory
For displaying your Graphics Memory Metrics follow the steps given below: –
- Type RUN in the search bar of your computer.
- When the command prompt opens, type dxdiag.
- A window will open. Select the Display Tab.
- You can scroll to see the memory metrics.
Understanding the Jargon
Let me try and explain the various terms.
An Integrated GPU has no memory of its own. The system allocates memory for graphics use, based on BIOS Settings. This allocated memory is called, Shared Memory. But the GPU may nor use all of the Memory allocated. The amount of Memory utilized is shown as the Display Memory. The sum of Shared Memory and Display Memory is Total Memory.
Dedicated Video Memory
Dedicated Video Memory is provided on the External Graphics card by the manufacturer. This is very fast memory (eg., GDDR6X) that only the Graphics Chip can use.
In some implementations, even in IGCs, some of the very fast memory of the CPU is allocated to the Graphics card, which is also called Dedicated Video Memory.
Shared System Memory
Shared System Memory is the same as Shared Memory described above. It is the memory allocated by the system for Graphics purposes over and above the Dedicated Video Memory.
The GPU first uses its Dedicated Video Memory and only after that will it use the Shared System Memory. The amount of Shared System Memory used for Graphics after exhausting the Dedicated video memory is reported as System Video Memory.
How to set Shared System Memory through BIOS
- Start/restart your computer.
- Press F1/F12/Delete key while the computer boots. (Key may vary)
- Enter into the BIOS settings options screen.
- Select Advanced > Integrated Peripherals menu > AGP aperture size (options may vary)
- Here in this options we can set the shared video memory from 8 to 64 MB in older computers and even up to 128 to 256 MB in the newer ones.
Allocating more video memory may slow down your computer, so be careful in this setting.
Conclusion
That’s basically what video memory is. It stores all the graphics data your GPU needs so things run smoother, especially in games and high-res videos. More VRAM doesn’t always mean better performance, but having the right amount for your usage definitely helps.
