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AGP Memory Allocation
Oblivion
Posts: 20,248 Forumite
in Techie Stuff
I have an old Dell Precision 340 workstation running XP Pro (SP3) with 2Gb RAM and a Radeon VE 32Mb video card set to 1024 x 768.
This week I started getting "Backup battery low voltage" messages. So after taking a snapshot of the BIOS settings (quite literally with a digital camera) I replaced the battery, and then had to reset some of the BIOS settings to their original values.
Whilst doing this I noticed one BIOS setting called "Memory allocated to AGP adapter" which had been set by Dell to 128Mb. The full range of choices were 32Mb, 64Mb, 128Mb, and 256Mb. I'm not that computer savvy, but I suppose that this is a way of reserving some of the system RAM for video card use to supplement the card's onboard 32Mb.
My question is, given that I have 2Gb of RAM, is there any technical reason why I should not set the AGP allocation to the maximum available 256Mb? Just worried that there may be a good reason why Dell set it to 128Mb.
Oh, and please no recommendations for a better card thank you, I'm just looking to get the max out of what I already have.
Dave.
This week I started getting "Backup battery low voltage" messages. So after taking a snapshot of the BIOS settings (quite literally with a digital camera) I replaced the battery, and then had to reset some of the BIOS settings to their original values.
Whilst doing this I noticed one BIOS setting called "Memory allocated to AGP adapter" which had been set by Dell to 128Mb. The full range of choices were 32Mb, 64Mb, 128Mb, and 256Mb. I'm not that computer savvy, but I suppose that this is a way of reserving some of the system RAM for video card use to supplement the card's onboard 32Mb.
My question is, given that I have 2Gb of RAM, is there any technical reason why I should not set the AGP allocation to the maximum available 256Mb? Just worried that there may be a good reason why Dell set it to 128Mb.
Oh, and please no recommendations for a better card thank you, I'm just looking to get the max out of what I already have.
Dave.
... Dave
Happily retired and enjoying my 14th year of leisure
I am cleverly disguised as a responsible adult.
Bring me sunshine in your smile
0
Comments
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128mb is just the default setting by Dell as the typical amount back then. I don't believe there is any technical reason why you can't try the 256mb setting. It will decrease the availability of it to the system which may decrease system performance e.g. cannot open as many programs at the same time without it becoming more noticeable sluggish. If it doesn't make any noticeable difference (graphics-wise) you can always bump it back down to 128mb.0
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