Graphics question

[headhunter228]

On my computer, I have a GeForce 7300 LE graphics card with 128 MB of memory. Unfortunately, a game I want to buy has the requirements set at 256 MB video memory. I know my chipset will work, but my card doesn't have enough memory. Does anyone know if it's possible for a computer to get some graphics memory in a place other than the video card? (RAM, virtual memory, etc.)

[Wraith]

Q: Does the GeForce 7300 LE support NVIDIA® TurboCache™ technology?
A: Yes.

Q: What is the physical memory for the GeForce 7300 LE?
You will see a lot of GeForce 7300 LE-based cards with 128MB of on-board memory, supporting 256MB of memory in a 512MB system. You will also see GeForce 7300 LE-based cards with 256MB of on-board memory that support 512MB of memory in a 1GB system. http://www.nvidia.com/page/7300_faq.html

This would suggest that your card has 128MB on-board and can use up to 128MB of system memory for a total of 256MB of video memory. (And hopefully you've got at least 1GB of system memory, even though 512MB is the minimum required for the card to use system memory.)

Not that I'd expect the card to work well for a game requiring 256MB minimum video memory.

[headhunter228]

http://www.nvidia.com/page/7300_faq.html

This would suggest that your card has 128MB on-board and can use up to 128MB of system memory for a total of 256MB of video memory. (And hopefully you've got at least 1GB of system memory, even though 512MB is the minimum required for the card to use system memory.)

Not that I'd expect the card to work well for a game requiring 256MB minimum video memory.

When you're saying system memory, you're talking RAM, right? If so, that just means I need to get an extra RAM stick. My computer has 2 GB and the game requires 1.5 GB (stupid Vista), so a little more memory couldn't hurt.

[Wraith]

When you're saying system memory, you're talking RAM, right? If so, that just means I need to get an extra RAM stick. My computer has 2 GB and the game requires 1.5 GB (stupid Vista), so a little more memory couldn't hurt.Yeah, system memory = RAM.

If you've got 2GB of RAM, your video card can use up to 128MB (1/8 of a GB) of that towards video memory (for 256MB total video memory), so you'd still have about 1.8GB of available RAM for the system, which is just over the 1.5GB required for the game. (2048MB - 128MB = 1920 / 1024 MB in a GB = 1.875GB remaining.)

So..... as long as your video card is using system memory like it says, then you're just barely meeting the minimum system requirements.

I don't have Vista in front of me, but I think you can do the same as XP... right-click on My Computer, and see how much RAM is showing in System Properties. Is it showing a full 2GB, or is it something lower, like 1.88GB?

[Ancalagon]

When you're saying system memory, you're talking RAM, right? If so, that just means I need to get an extra RAM stick. My computer has 2 GB and the game requires 1.5 GB (stupid Vista), so a little more memory couldn't hurt.

Not exactly. I would say the simplest and best option is to buy the cheapest graphics card you can find with 256mb of memory (which should be really, really cheap). That will not only allow you to run the game, but should greatly increase performance, much more than buying extra RAM would.

In fact, you might as well get a 512mb card, since they wont be much more expensive. Something like a 4650 would be plenty.

[Cyndair]

Do you mind my asking what game it is? Others may have had experience running it on similar hardware.

[Wraith]

Not exactly. I would say the simplest and best option is to buy the cheapest graphics card you can find with 256mb of memory (which should be really, really cheap). That will not only allow you to run the game, but should greatly increase performance, much more than buying extra RAM would.

In fact, you might as well get a 512mb card, since they wont be much more expensive. Something like a 4650 would be plenty.Agreed. If you're running 2GB of RAM, money would be better spent on a new graphics card.