Size of the video card RAM: how can I know it?
 

Hi: I'd like to know the size of the video card RAM installed in the machine. This video card has no dedicated RAM, it shares the RAM with the CPU, in case it matters. Also, it is really an onboard controller, not a physical card plugged into a motherboard slot. So, the motherboard manual, should give me some information about it. But it does not. I know there is in Linux at least one program that shows information about the video card, including RAM size. Could you tell me the name of some of these programs? Or files, in case the information is in /proc/some_file.

Have a look at these 2:

- lspci, the following should give some info you might want: - Look at the Xorg.0.log file:

If you enter BIOS at startup, it will give you the chance to alter the amount of RAM that the video chip uses, which might prove useful.

Thanks a lot. I used all three approaches. In the BIOS menu I can set what it calls 'DVMI internal graphics memory size'. This could suggest that the RAM is internal to the controller, depending on how I read the words:
'internal (graphics memory)' or
'(internal graphics) memory'.

All the motherboard manual says is
'On board graphics:
Integrated graphics processor.
1 x Dsub port [which merely refers to the type of connector]'

Perhaps the meaning of word DVMI could uncover the mystery. But neither wikipedia nor google give a clue.

Read it as (internal graphics) memory size. You would have it clearly stated in the manual if the integrated videochip would have dedicated memory and in that case you wouldn't be able to change the size using a BIOS setting.

Ahhh... Thank you very much.

That looks like a typo to me. What motherboard is it?

I really doubt that the motherboarde manual makes no mention of the onboard video settings...but if it does, do general research on the chipset.

Well..you wouldnt be able to change the size ofthe installed dedicated video memory. But in many cases the video will be using the dedicated video memory + some of the main system meory, and you can normally change that. In many cases, the manual isnt exactly clear about if the video is using dedicated video memory or system memory unless you know the terminology/adspeak well (eg M4A88T-V EVO/USB3, page 2-21, examples of both being able to change the memory size and unclear terminology)

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/M4A...OUSB3/#support

You are right though, read it as 'shared main memory for video'..from what I know about stf92, I doubt any of the system stf92 has will have dedicated video memory.

The manual has a section commenting on every BIOS setting, though it really adds nothing to what you already see in the menu screen. It's specifications what I'm speaking about.

The motherboard is Gigabyte GA-H61M-S1. There is a chipset, labeled 'Intel H61' in a diagram in the manual, besides the CPU. The CRT controller is only a subset of the Intel H61. The motherboard box says About this motherboard, the manual says:
Support for Intel Core I7/I5/I3/Pentium/Celeron in the LGA1155 package. But I never new which of these categories the installed Pentium G620 belongs to (just the category Pentium quoted above?). The sSpec is SR05R. It's all I know.

A knowledge of which of those categories the Pentium G620 belongs to becomes important when trying to load the video drivers from the DVD supplied with the motherboard. A readme.txt file says:

NOTE: This document refers to systems containing the
* following Intel chipsets/processors:
*
* 3rd generation Intel(R) Core(TM)Processor Family
* 2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i3 processor
* 2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 processor
* 2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 vPro(TM) processor
* 2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 processor
* 2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 vPro(TM) processor
*

When I run the drivers installer (Windows, Slackware 14.0 seems to have all the necessary software to handle video), it complains about machine incompatibility and aborts the installation, which makes me think the G620 does not belong to any of the categories listed in the readme.txt.

For the record: I do have a machine with a video card with dedicated RAM: Nvidia Geforce4 MX 4000. When I took this machine to a certain computer shop, the dealer told: You can have a better machine for this little money --and he specified the quantity. And you will have a much better video card. I now think he was bluffing. Unfortunately, I bought it, which is the machine under discussion.

I thought it would probably be your newish system. Since the video is intergrated into the CPU with LGA 1155 ssytems, you need to check the intel information to find the video 'card' spec (and BTW, its 'Intel HD', just Intel HD, not Intel HD 2000/2500/3000/4000......the 'Pentium' LGA 1155 CPUs are just a i3 with features disabled.)

It does support that CPU. You can check that on the gigabyte page.

It is possible that you're got an 'early' BIOS revision that doesnt support the G620. Check your BIOS version.

Apart from the BIOS issue, there could be other things going on. Have you tried checking to see if the gigabyte site has newer drivers (I _never_ run drivers I get on motherobard driver discs, as I have never seen them come with 'current' drivers, they are always behind).

It could also be a wrogn BIOS setting causing the problem.

Knowing the exact error msg might help as well.

Dedicated viceo card. When I said 'I doubt any of the systems stf92 has will have dedicated video memory' I meant 'systems using onboard video with dedicated video memory'.

'Bluffing'? Not really. Selling you something you didnt need? That is what salesmen do.

Hummm... The LGA 1155 socket carries the CPU above it (I think). The video is integrated into the Intel H61, a thing I do not really know what it is, except that it is a separate chip (integrated circuit).

I do not quite understand. What is 2000, 2500, ...?
Could those guys in the computer shop be so unscrupulous or ignorant? They not only gave me the motherboard box but the CPU box, containing a booklet of some hundred pages (50 sheets), though for the most part it is a guarranty written in 5400 languages.
I downloaded the drivers (windows XP) from gigabyte and they are exactly the same file recorded in the disc. It also outputs the same message than the disc setup program. I sometimes boot windows to check for some things. For instance, I was having trouble with video and I wanted to double chech with windows. But I found windows was using a generic driver. The machine came home with one of the latest Windows installed on the hard disk. I erased the hard disk because I saw no point in using a windows Vista or 7. Now I am regretting that. God knows how the technician did to install proper drivers in that windows. Tough if I remember well, he objected the use of Windows XP.

Ahhh... you speak about the motherboard disc installer objecting the machine. Yes, that is a problem, because although I use windows 0.001% of the time, it's nice to have things properly set. But what bothers me is the video behavior under linux. I was using 800x600, 24-bit color, for reasons that don't belong here (I use 800x600 a very long time since). I then wanted to watch Planet of the Apes with mplayer and saw that I had no way of making the picture (movie) fit entirely into the screen (it has a very large aspect ratio, very wide screen). So I began playing with xorg.conf, unsuccessfully though. I then entered the BIOS menu and, to my surprise, I saw I could reserve as much as 1GB for video (RAM). On the other hand, the Xorg.0.log indicates built-in resolutions as high as 1920x1440. So, I think I will be able to watch a movie like this to my entire satisfaction. I only have to study a little the BIOS settings and the xorg.conf screen sections.

The only thing is that I could damage the display. I once ran a linux utility from the slackware distribution disks and it dumped an huge quantity of data about the monitor (this monitor can be queried). Among them, the upper limits for the dot clock and the horizontal scan frequency. But unfortunately, I lost the name of the program.

One has to be a connoiseur in order to buy these machines. I mean, you must have an in depth knowledge of current developments in hardware to get something worthy of the money you spend. Though it may be you get just what you paid for, as I'm afraid my case is.

LGA 1155 is he socket the CPU mounts to the motherobard with.

No, the video isnt in the H61 chipset, its in the CPU. Intel HD graphics comes in various different model numbers-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_HD_Graphics

It does happen.

You deleted Win7 to install XP? OK, if thats what you want to do, but I wouldnt have.....

Without knowing the error msg, I have no idea what is going wrong.

800x600? on a 17'' CRT? Yuck. IMO its better to set the resolution to 1024x768 (or whatever the highest resotuion you can get with a 85Hz refresh rate is) and adjust things to suit.

If it is a 720p (1280x720) or 1080p (1920x1080) movie you will not be able to watch it at full resolution when you are using 800x600, or even 1024x768.

I wouldnt bother setting the videorAM to 1GB, its not going to be any better than 256MB for desktop use.

Would have been some program that gets the EDID information, possibly 'get EDID'.

Nah, yuo dont have to be a 'connoiseur' to buy new computers...just ask a few questions on a forum, dont buy the 1st thing you see, and dont trust the sales hype and manipulations.