Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Its true what the 64MB video card of Macbook change to 256MB on Windows???
- Thread starter Wulliwolf
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Short answer: yes it is true.
Long answer: It is taking your physical memory and devoting it to the graphics card in Static Allocation. By that, if you have 512MB of system memory and devote 256MB to your graphics card, then you will in turn have 512MB of usable system memory.
Additionally, virtual shared memory is generally slower than dedicated graphics memory as all data going in needs to pass from the graphics card into your FSB and then into your system memory controller and then into the memory whenever it needs to be accessed.
Under OS X, memory is allocated dynamically to the graphics card with 64MB set as the minimum value. So, if you go into a graphics intensive process to a maximum of 25% the system's total memory.
Long answer: It is taking your physical memory and devoting it to the graphics card in Static Allocation. By that, if you have 512MB of system memory and devote 256MB to your graphics card, then you will in turn have 512MB of usable system memory.
Additionally, virtual shared memory is generally slower than dedicated graphics memory as all data going in needs to pass from the graphics card into your FSB and then into your system memory controller and then into the memory whenever it needs to be accessed.
Under OS X, memory is allocated dynamically to the graphics card with 64MB set as the minimum value. So, if you go into a graphics intensive process to a maximum of 25% the system's total memory.
I think that Mac OS X will START at 64MB and ramp up to 256MB if and when needed.
Or i may be totally wrong.
Anyway, simply having 256MB of video Ram means bugger all, there are a lot of cheap and nasty graphics cards out threr with 256MB that are a dog in performance.
Or i may be totally wrong.
Anyway, simply having 256MB of video Ram means bugger all, there are a lot of cheap and nasty graphics cards out threr with 256MB that are a dog in performance.
Wouldn't that make gaming on a MacBook(if you have over 1GB of RAM) closer to gaming on a MacBook Pro?
Sharing system RAM for graphics will always be slower than dedicated graphics RAM. Also, there is more to a graphics card than just memory.bluetorch18 said:
Finiksa said:
From the Apple MacBook page:
"Memory available to Mac OS X may vary depending on graphics needs. Minimum graphics memory usage is 80MB, resulting in 432MB of system memory available."
So 80MB (64+16) is just the minimum.
EricNau said:
I once saw a sony with a hybrid graphics system: 128 MB shared graphics with 128MB Nvidea card. How does that work?
I think the PCI-x cards have the ability to use system ram as video ram, if the need arises. Obviously, it's if the card/mobo support it, etc etc.dextertangocci said:I once saw a sony with a hybrid graphics system: 128 MB shared graphics with 128MB Nvidea card. How does that work?
dextertangocci said:I once saw a sony with a hybrid graphics system: 128 MB shared graphics with 128MB Nvidea card. How does that work?
You know how boot camp lets you choose weather you want to run XP or OS X?
Well there are a few notebooks that let you choose what video card you want to use. Obviously the more powerful one when you need it, and the onboard for when you want to have the most power savings.
Very innovative, but I don't see it catching on.
thejadedmonkey said:
I believe that all windows systems have the ability to use System RAM to fill in when strains on the graphics memory dictates. I remember being able to set something in the BIOS of the mobo for it. I think the rule was 4XGPU RAM if you have enough system RAM to handle it or was it 1/4 the amount of system RAM.....Hmm can't remember what that setting was called.
dextertangocci said:I once saw a sony with a hybrid graphics system: 128 MB shared graphics with 128MB Nvidea card. How does that work?
The sony vaio sz has it. It works pretty well you save about 1 hr worth of battery life. The downside is everytime you switch you have to reboot.
Perhaps, but it won't be any more functional than in OS X. A worse job, perhaps, because I'm fairly certain OS X does a better job of handling system memory than Windows does.
However, this all depends on the game too. You're not going to be playing Crysis on your Macbook, have no doubt.
But basically, if there's a game that has both an OS X and a Windows version, I would just stick to the OS X one. Performance will be comparable in both and will be affected more by drivers and the OS than any superficial GPU-shared memory.