«

I keep reading about this Shared Memory. I see alot of dell computers have
Shared memory and the computer had cheap prices. I was wondering...

1. Why is it different then regular memory
2. How will it perform
3. Is it the memory that is shared, or is it how the Motherboard handles the
memory.

-thanks

"CE" <> wrote in message
news:gTrCb.94862$. net...
> I keep reading about this Shared Memory. I see alot of dell computers have
> Shared memory and the computer had cheap prices. I was wondering...
>
> 1. Why is it different then regular memory

This simply means that instead of the video processing circuitry having it's
own dedicated high-speed memory, it must use the main system memory instead.
This is slower, and removes some main memory from the operating system's
access. For example, if you had 256MB of RAM, and the system has 16MB shared
video memory, then there is only actually 240MB of RAM available for
programs. 16MB is reserved for video use. The term "shared" is kind of a
misnomer, because the memory really isn't "shared". The video system takes
control of it, so the rest of the system cannot even use it. Usually, when
you bring up the system properties in windows, the amount of RAM

> 2. How will it perform

Accessing system RAM is slower for video usage, so video performance is
typically mediocre in comparison to video with dedicated RAM.

> 3. Is it the memory that is shared, or is it how the Motherboard handles
the
> memory.

The shared memory architecture is a function of the motherboard and it's
chipset. While some boards give you some control over how much memory to
assign to video functions, others give no options at all. It just depends on
the system.

Thor wrote:
>
> you bring up the system properties in windows, the amount of RAM

shown will only be what's available to windows to use.

"Plato" <|@|.|> wrote in message
news:3fda7614$0$84145$...
> Thor wrote:
> >
> > you bring up the system properties in windows, the amount of RAM
>
> shown will only be what's available to windows to use.

Thanks for finishing that.

Thor wrote:
>
> > > you bring up the system properties in windows, the amount of RAM
> >
> > shown will only be what's available to windows to use.
>
> Thanks for finishing that.

darn spiders keeping warm on the motherboard