Gtx275 uses system ram but not HD4890 why?

[vinshon]

Hey guys after reading few threads about graphics card using up system ram, i still cant figure this out..

When i first put together my computer on XP32 bit, i have my full 3gb system ram with HIS HD4890(1gb ram).
My Computer displayed i had my full 3gb, but due to coil-noises i exchanged the HD4890 for a GTX275(896mb ram).
When i installed the GTX275 My Computer currently displays i have 2.7gb of ram. Why is that?
I dont know why my gtx275 with less ram would use up my system ram, i also tried reformating xp and even installing vista, the same thing happens.

ps. bios and cpu-z states i have 3gb of ram, but in windows and dxdiag it shows i have 2.7gb only

 

[renz496]

is your vista 64 bit?

 

[vinshon]

32 bit

 

[renz496]

then try installing 64 bit OS (vista or win seven).if i'm not mistaken the problem is due to hardware limitation.
sorry its kind of hard for me to explain this so you should search more about 32bit vs 64bit OS

 

[vinshon]

yeah i've read about hardware limitation but it doesnt indicate whats happening with my system... =(

3gb ram + 1gb video card = windows displays full 3gb system ram
3gb ram + 896mb video card = windows display 2.7gb system ram wtf

 

[renz496]

different hardware will produce different result....

 

[slo]

Is it a clean installation of windows? Or did you just swap the cards?

 

[vinshon]

before i took the 4890 out i had 3gb system ram, after i swapped it out and plugged in the gtx275 windows displayed i had 2.7gb, so i reformatted but still shows 2.7gb ram.

 

[hsetir]

May be a part of one of the ram modules failed ? Try plugging in 4890 again and see if it still shows 3gb

 

[djcoolmasterx]

May be a part of one of the ram modules failed ? Try plugging in 4890 again and see if it still shows 3gb

OP has already exchanged it.

 

[vinshon]

bios and cpu-z says i have 3gb ram, when i plug the 4890 back in i get 3gb ram. THen putting the gtx275 back in windows shows 2.7gb ram

 

[overshocks]

dude you worry too much, why are you doing the ram + vram theory, its total bs.

your system has 3 gb ram, it has 896mb vram period.
you wasted money on switchin with gtx 275. you should have kept 4890 instead

 

[vinshon]

the 4890 was making more sounds then my speakers when playing, my head was gonna blow up. lol ohwell i love my silent gtx 275

 

[djcoolmasterx]

Go and get Vista 64bit or wait for Windows 7 64bit, that way you wont have to worry about the memory limit untill we hit 64-128GB of RAM.

 

[djcoolmasterx]

dude you worry too much, why are you doing the ram + vram theory, its total bs.

your system has 3 gb ram, it has 896mb vram period.
you wasted money on switchin with gtx 275. you should have kept 4890 instead

1) OP was having problems with coil noise on his 4890.

2) The OP exchanged it.

3) 32bit systems have a limitation, even if the memory is physically there only a maximum of 4GB maximum combined RAM and VRAM can be addressed.

 

[vinshon]

thank you djcoolmasterx

now i gotta figure how and where to get vista/win7 64 bit for free =p

 

[overshocks]

1) OP was having problems with coil noise on his 4890.

2) The OP exchanged it.

3) 32bit systems have a limitation, even if the memory is physically there only a maximum of 4GB maximum combined RAM and VRAM can be addressed.

1) I know

2) I know

3) Yes, I know 32bit systems have a limition, the system only only read 3-3.5gb of RAM. What I didn't know is you combine RAM and VRAM. So if I have 4GB RAM and 1GB VRAM on 32bit system, computer reads 3.25GB RAM, now what is happening, it can only take .75GB VRAM? Umm..

Can I get a few sources for this. I want to understand this combination theory more.

 

[Mousemonkey]

All the sources you could ever want.

 

[overshocks]

All the sources you could ever want.

Best quote of the day, never knew about that lmgtfy site.
mousemonkey, you didn't understand the situation. It's the combination of RAM and VRAM. Sigh. Fail.
Now LMGTFY, comprehension courses.

 

[Mousemonkey]

Oh I did understand, it's a shared memory issue that affects 32bit OS's but will also surface with some cards even if they are used on a 64bit OS.

 

[Kari]

and why is that 4890 -with more memory than the 275- using less of the address space... or is it a 512M model instead and not a 1G one...

 

[vinshon]

4890 was 1gb ddr5 ram
gtx275 is 896mb ddr3 ram