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redflower
Journeyman III

How does dedicated and shared VRAM works?

Hi, this is actually my first publication, sorry if a miss something, english it's not my natal language, Ok, so recently i buy a ASUS X543B, it has a AMD dual core proccessor, so.. here is my question. in the specifications, it's says i have 2 cores and 3 other GPU cores, and in the VRAM i have 512 MB and aviable i have like 4GB, i try conventional methods to increase VRAM (no one works) but i investigate, and i found that my Graphic memory and my RAM are connected (8GB) so... that means that if i want to play deep rock, that it need 6GM RAM and 1GB VRAM, my graphic memory can use the other 512 MB from my RAM? or how does my Graphic memory works (AMD Radeon(TM) R5 Graphics)

3 Replies
fyrel
Miniboss

The graphics will use whatever system memory it needs for the textures.

Setting texture detail too high can hog the system memory enough that the page file gets used.

Not much of an issue if your running a PCIe M.2 drive but terrible if your running a HDD.

Keep your quality settings within reason and you should be fine.

thanks , and i always kepp my settings in low or mid, i'm more a fps guy that a graphics guy 

leyvin
Miniboss

When your Laptop Boots up, tap either [Del] or [F2]... depends on the BIOS., for Asus it tends to accept both as methods for getting into the BIOS.

There will be an option in the Advanced Menu for changing how much Video Memory is allocated to the Integrated Graphics. 

It will be set to 512MB by Default., but you can typically increase it to up to 2048MB (2GB)

With this said AMD Integrated Graphics use something called UMA (Unified Memory Array)., which works a little differently to normal Window Dedicated and Shared Graphics Memory.

See the way it would normally work with a Dedicated Graphics Card, is that Dedicated VRAM is what's on the GPU... when that runs out it will switch to SRAM (System Memory) but ONLY provided that Windows itself hasn't allocated it., meaning more often than not you'll find Windows will push it into the Virtual Memory (Page File) that is Physical Storage (SSD / HDD).

This as you can imagine is bad news for Performance., because SRAM is typically 4x Slower than VRAM., Virtual is typically 10 - 50x Slower than SRAM.

It's why the new Consoles (like PS5) Memory setup is something Developers and Hardcore Tech Enthusiasts are gushing over so much, because they use a series of Caching RAM that offset the performance hit from going beyond the Dedicated Memory.

As noted., AMD Integrated Graphics (such-as with APUs., like the A-Series or Ryzen with Graphics) have something called UMA. This works differently.

Remember that the Graphics and System are using the same Memory.

So let's say we have 8GB System Memory (from the looks of your Laptop Specification, they ship with 12GB?)

Well by Default for "Desktop" usage., you will have 512MB Dedicated to the Graphics (which is enough for Desktop, Videos, etc.) with the remaining 7.5GB for the Operating System.

When you run a Game however and requests are made for allocating Graphics Memory., what the APU will do is expand the Video RAM based upon said Demand.

What you'll find for most Modern Games is that this will increase to 3.5 - 4.0GB VRAM, leaving 4.5 - 4.0GB for the SRAM. 

This is likely why these are shipping with 12GB., as it can Allocated 4GB (which is enough for a Low-End Graphics) while retaining 8GB for System (which generally you want 5.5 - 6.0GB for System while Gaming).

It all happens automatically, and via the APU., with Windows 7/8/10 designed to work with this, automatically Virtualising anything that suddenly finds itself no longer having any Memory Available to remain Resident. 

Generally speaking Windows Virtualises everything "Not in Usage" anyway., with it remaining in the Memory but marked as "Non Dedicated" ... so it can still quickly switch if needed, but can be reallocated IF necessary.

As noted at the top, you can of course manually set the Minimum Dedicated VRAM... but generally speaking you shouldn't ever need to touch it, and it will ONLY affect the Minimum allocated; UMA can still decide to allocate more if required and you have ZERO control over that. 

Hopefully this clears things up.

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