integrated video card with lots of shared memory vs dedicated or hybrid setup

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jtitos

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Aug 24, 2013
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Just curious, if one is limited to an Intel integrated graphics chip in a system with 16GB's of ram, does the card use the full max allowance of 8GB (half the system ram)?

Would a system with 16GB of ram and an intel 520 card perform better than another with a hybrid graphics set up and a radeon r7 260x card?

Thank you in advance!
 
Solution
Natsukage
Hello.

To begin with, performance is not directly related to RAM. Even if the Intel 520 uses 8GB of RAM, it will be FAR less powerful than the R7-260x with 2GB of ram. Around 3X less powerful to be exact.

Memory is strictly used in video cards for buffering, so that the video card doesn't need to fetch information on the HDD/SSD when running games. If the game needs a larger amount than the available memory, it will slow down.

Dedicated cards have a fixed amount. Integrated graphics use the system memory.

But the base performance is unrelated. Higher clock speeds, faster RAM (GDDR5), and more efficient processors make dedicated video cards far better than most integrated graphics.
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clutchc

clutchc

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Apr 22, 2009
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The system RAM used by the GPU will vary depending on the CPU and its iGPU. It only uses memory as needed. Dynamically. And system memory is much slower than dedicated GDDR5 memory.

A dedicated gfx card is always better for gaming. Unless the card is a weak one. The R7-260X will be stronger than any Intel iGPU.
 
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Natsukage

Natsukage

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Oct 28, 2016
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Hello.

To begin with, performance is not directly related to RAM. Even if the Intel 520 uses 8GB of RAM, it will be FAR less powerful than the R7-260x with 2GB of ram. Around 3X less powerful to be exact.

Memory is strictly used in video cards for buffering, so that the video card doesn't need to fetch information on the HDD/SSD when running games. If the game needs a larger amount than the available memory, it will slow down.

Dedicated cards have a fixed amount. Integrated graphics use the system memory.

But the base performance is unrelated. Higher clock speeds, faster RAM (GDDR5), and more efficient processors make dedicated video cards far better than most integrated graphics.
 
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E

eltouristo

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Mar 4, 2006
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I know this is old thread, but I think more memory helps with higher resolutions. I don't know exactly how this works out, and I think it may vary much by game. I have heard this repeatedly over the years. So yeah it doesn't increase potential performance but lack of it below certain thresholds may reduce performance, at higher resolutions, or something like that, roughly speaking, I think. Do more reading about it. but yeah, ram amount can matter, of course.

 
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