Sign in with
Sign up | Sign in
Your question

shared memory worse performance?

Tags:
  • Memory
  • Performance
  • RAM
  • Product
Last response: in Memory
Share
July 23, 2008 11:40:56 PM

hey guys i was just wonder, currently i have a 9800gx2 in my system and 4 gigs of ram. my pc sees and only uses 2gigs. later i found out i needed a bios update ( bios problem) so after i did that my pc used 3gigs instead of 2 and the other gig cant be used because my gpu is using 1gig so =4gig. i noticed since my pc now uses 3gigs my fps in my games increased from like 30 to 40fps. im upgrading my gpu and im getting 2 gtx 260 which use 896x2 of memory = 1792mb. now my pc will only use 2.2 gigs of ram will this cuz my system to perform worse because the amount of ram went down from 3 to 2.2gig. ( remember when my pc went from 2 to 3gig a huge improvement was made on games)
Thanks.

More about : shared memory worse performance

July 24, 2008 12:58:52 AM

Are you running Windows 32 bit? If so and if I understand your issue correctly, the reason you're only seeing 3gb of the 4gb is because Windows 32 bit can only recognize a little over 3 gb. I don't think your GPU is responsible for the missing 1gb of RAM. It's just a coincidence that the GPU happens to have 1gb.
July 24, 2008 1:05:29 AM

ya i have a 32bit os. im just saying 3gigs ram is only being seen is because of the graphic card which has 1 gig. thous limiting to 4giga 3gig usage 1usage on video card. im just saying if i get the 2 gtx 260 which is 896mbx2 a piece it will take 1792 ram from my max 4gig leaving me 2.2gig. would that drop my performance?
Related resources
July 24, 2008 1:16:57 AM

The graphic card is not the reason you only see windows using 3gb. The reason is because the 32 bit OS can only use slightly over 3 gb. The other 1 gb is not being and cannot be used. Thus, the change in graphic cards will not affect the available system memory. GPU has its own memory.
July 24, 2008 1:30:00 AM

r u postive some ppl told me that video memory is also being used within ur 4gig limit.
a b } Memory
July 24, 2008 2:13:34 AM

Honestly, I have no idea what you should expect. More GPU power will help, less RAM available will hurt, and I can't even guess which of the effects will matter more. But it sure looks like you need a 64-bit operating system.

Here's how it works: Windows 32-bit can see 4 GB. If you have a video card like mine (8800GTX, 0.75 GB of RAM - that is, 768MB), you have a total of 3.25 system RAM accessible to applications + 0.75 video RAM + 0.75 system RAM that is unused and inaccessible. With GTX 260 it will be a bit worse, it's 896MB instead of 768MB. And then you have the second card. The SLI drivers take an awful amount of RAM from the amount left (which is a bit over 3 GB). So you end up with 2.2 GB for the game, 900MB taken by drivers, 900MB unused and invisible.

Now, if you had a 64-bit system, you'd have that last 900 MB available for the game. You'd also be able to add another 2 GB or 4 GB which would be available to the game.

Edit: if you decide to get a 64-bit system, don't pick XP. Xp 64-bit is not tested with games, it's designed for businesses and there are compatibility issues with lots of applications. It also doesn't have DirectX 10. Get Vista Home Premium or Ultimate.

July 24, 2008 2:31:44 AM

currently i have a 3gigs available while 1gig is used by my gpu. so ya ill have 2.2gig left. i think im just gonna get the 2 gtx 260 it should handle most games now, as games get more demanding im just gonna later upgrade to 64bit. how much is windows vista premium 64bit? like 100$ would vista home edition 64bit be enough?
July 24, 2008 3:09:17 AM

+1 on aevm's whole post. nail on the head, but i think you should expect a performance increase in games with 2 gtx 260's, however the performance of other app's and task switching will take a noticeable hit.
July 24, 2008 3:39:40 AM

What? Two 260 GTX's? Sounds like a waste to me.

I would just get one ATi 4870 or,if you insist on being a fanboy,just a single 260.There's no reason to have two of those. :pfff: 
July 24, 2008 4:07:10 AM

i would of gotten ati 4870 but i have a sli mobo, so no im not a fanboy. i just want the cards now so i dont have to upgrade later on since my dads paying for it if i ask for a upgrade in a few months for another gtx260 his most likley gonna say no saing "the pc u have is fine", so might is well take the advantage now so i dont have to buy the card out of m own pocket later lol.
thanks gus for ur help ill just upgrade to the 64bit sometime down the road.
=]
July 24, 2008 4:29:38 AM

Is you windows vista and oem copy? If not i think you can buy the 64bit version for like 10 bucks from the microsoft site. Not 100% but worth checking into.
July 24, 2008 4:37:38 AM

dragunover said:
What? Two 260 GTX's? Sounds like a waste to me.

I would just get one ATi 4870 or,if you insist on being a fanboy,just a single 260.There's no reason to have two of those. :pfff: 


just because you don't think so....sounds like he has a pretty good reason to have 2 to me.
July 24, 2008 1:21:38 PM

so for 20$ extra i get media center and aero interface.
i dont use the aero interface because i game and it uses up to much resources. cant i just download media center? i wanna use that 20$ for more ram =]
a b } Memory
July 24, 2008 2:02:22 PM

Nice try. No, you can't just download Media Center.

You can buy BeyondTV, if/when you need it. It's more like $60, I think, not $20, but it is better than Media Center. There are also a few shareware programs, or even freeware. I wish I could tell you more but since I do have Media Center I never bothered to research those other programs.

Looking at your config, you don't even have a TV Tuner. That would normally be a PCI card or USB device, and good ones are around $100. Without the tuner you wouldn't have any use for Media Center or Beyond TV anyway. And btw, where I live the TV cable company charges $2/month more just so I have an additional cable socket in the PC room. I don't know if they do that in your area too but I wouldn't be surprised.
July 24, 2008 2:14:19 PM

ahh watever ill just get the home premium its only 20$ more. i have dish they provide sockets for 2 rooms free of charge and 5$ extra for every 2 rooms since i have 3 rooms with a tv and one room with a computer i just told them to hook it up in all 4 rooms just in case i get a tuner. so ya ill just get home premium just in case i get a tuner later on. thanks for all ur help. =]
!