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Showing 3 GB Shared Sytem Memory, only set to 32 MB

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  • Graphics
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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September 14, 2014 12:32:03 PM

I have a 1 GB GeForce GT 630 on my AsRock Z77 Pro3 Motherboard
The motherboard offers a maximum of 1024 shared memory, and is set to only 32 MB (the minimum).

BUT... my physical memory has been stuck around 20-30% lately and I was beginning to think windows somehow stole my memory for video memory... when I click properties in "Screen Resolution" I see: Total Available Graphics Memory: 4096 MB ; Dedicated Video Memory: 1024 MB ; System Video Memory: 0 MB ; Shared System Memory 3072 MB

This is all a big mystery to me. Can anyone explain to me what is going on? I don't think I need 4 GB Video Memory.

More about : showing shared sytem memory set

September 14, 2014 1:18:26 PM

Chris_6 said:
I have a 1 GB GeForce GT 630 on my AsRock Z77 Pro3 Motherboard
The motherboard offers a maximum of 1024 shared memory, and is set to only 32 MB (the minimum).

BUT... my physical memory has been stuck around 20-30% lately and I was beginning to think windows somehow stole my memory for video memory... when I click properties in "Screen Resolution" I see: Total Available Graphics Memory: 4096 MB ; Dedicated Video Memory: 1024 MB ; System Video Memory: 0 MB ; Shared System Memory 3072 MB

This is all a big mystery to me. Can anyone explain to me what is going on? I don't think I need 4 GB Video Memory.


Those are two different definitions for two separate things. Allow me to break it down for you.

"Total Available Graphics Memory" as it appears in Windows is the absolute maximum amount of memory available to the graphics driver to use as it pleases.

"Dedicated Video Memory" as it appears in Windows is the amount of memory that the graphics driver reports as being connected to all of the video adapters in the system. This is the onboard video memory, or the 1024MiB located on your GeForce GT 630.

"Dedicated System Video Memory" as it appears in Windows is the amount of system memory that has been dedicated to the graphics driver and is not available for other uses. This is often used in lieu of dedicated video memory where none exists, almost exclusively when an IGP is enabled. If your CPU or chipset does not have an IGP, or the IGP is disabled, this value should be zero.

"Total System Memory Available For Graphics" is an invisible value that is calculated as follows

Total System Memory Available For Graphics = MAX((Total System Memory - 512) / 2, 64MiB)

"Shared System Memory" as it appears in Windows is the maximum amount of system memory that the video driver may allocate from the system's shared memory pool. This value is computed through the following

Maximum Shared System Memory = Total System Memory Available For Graphics - Dedicated System Video Memory

Since your Dedicated System Video Memory is zero, your Maximum Shared System Memory is equal to Total System Memory Available For Graphics. Since this reports as 3072 MiB I can assume that your Total System Memory is around 6656MiB (seriously, how did you get this number?).
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September 14, 2014 1:36:32 PM

I have 8.0 GB memory, shown in System Properties (right clicking Computer), it shows 8.0 GB and does not say anything like (5 GB Use-able) after. But yet my Task Manager always shows Physical Memory at about 20-30% and it never did this before I installed the Samsung 840 EVO SSD. (RAPID has been turned off because of the low memory issue)

I never said anything about 6656 MiB lol.

I mistakenly said it was "properties" in Screen Resolution, but its actually "Advanced Settings" I clicked and it says:
Adapter Type: NVIDIA GeForce GT 630
Chip Type: GeForce GT 630
DAC: Integrated RAMDAC
Adapter String: GeForce GT 630
Bios Information: Version 80.28.3d.0.14
Total Available Graphics Memory: 4096 MB
Dedicated Video Memory: 1024 MB
System Video Memory: 0 MB
Shared System Memory 3072 MB

Thank you very much for trying to explain everything but to be honest, I didn't understand anything this time, it's all over my head.
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September 14, 2014 2:04:38 PM

Chris_6 said:
I have 8.0 GB memory, shown in System Properties (right clicking Computer), it shows 8.0 GB and does not say anything like (5 GB Use-able) after. But yet my Task Manager always shows Physical Memory at about 20-30% and it never did this before I installed the Samsung 840 EVO SSD. (RAPID has been turned off because of the low memory issue)

I never said anything about 6656 MiB lol.

I mistakenly said it was "properties" in Screen Resolution, but its actually "Advanced Settings" I clicked and it says:
Adapter Type: NVIDIA GeForce GT 630
Chip Type: GeForce GT 630
DAC: Integrated RAMDAC
Adapter String: GeForce GT 630
Bios Information: Version 80.28.3d.0.14
Total Available Graphics Memory: 4096 MB
Dedicated Video Memory: 1024 MB
System Video Memory: 0 MB
Shared System Memory 3072 MB

Thank you very much for trying to explain everything but to be honest, I didn't understand anything this time, it's all over my head.


I don't know why that number came out weird. In any case, it's nothing to worry about. It's just a poorly named field that confuses a lot of people. The Shared System Memory is the amount of memory that the graphics driver can allocate for use if it needs it. If it doesn't allocate it, it's available for use by other drivers/applications.
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September 14, 2014 3:53:36 PM

Thanks for explaining so I can understand. I got it all figured out now, I shut down a few programs I added (BitComet (i have quite a bit downloading since I just got a new 3 TB HDD), the new wallpaper changer I added, and the Samsung Magician Software for the SSD I just added) , this made the Physical memory go from the 20's to 18%, and right then I think I remembered seeing it around 18 all the time before lol. This panic was all about when I seen that 3GB Shared System Memory but I understand now thanks to you. :) 
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