How do i increase shared video memory with HD4000

[MoKante]

I have the Dell Insprion 15 3521 i3-3227u 1.9ghz 4gb(3.87usable)ram 500gb and i have the bios version A12 i was wondering how do i increase my video memory. Can i increase it to 512mb? I would like to have good performance on elder scrolls online medium,high settings and play other games. It will be great if i can.

 

[IDontUnderstand]

The only way is the do it in BIOS, so check there and if you can't see an option for that, then it's disabled.
Laptop BIOS usually are very limited to any tweaks, so I won't expect much.

 

[kowashie]

Increase your Ram and it should help some ( i believe that they connect to each other.. the integrated graphics leaches memory from your ram)
hope this helps

 

[IDontUnderstand]

Indeed it does, onboard graphic will take more memory as they require more to operate.

 

[kowashie]

i'd upgrade your Ram to the max and that should help!

 

[IDontUnderstand]

It really depends on whether the game is maxing out his RAM or not. If not, then simply upgrading the RAM size will not improve performance significantly.
If it does max out RAM while he is playing the game, then increasing the RAM size will most likely reduce the RAM bottleneck. Therefore, it all depends on his situation.

 

[kowashie]

well Hd 4000 isn't exactly the greatest for gaming.. and if you could do any upgrading it will always help improve..

 

[IDontUnderstand]

Exactly, your point.
I agree that HD 4000 is terrible for gaming, but increasing RAM does not always help as I've mentioned above.
It's just like how you should upgrade the CPU if your CPU is running at 100% when your GPU is running at 70%. That's a CPU bottleneck and upgrading the CPU will help. In the same situation, if you upgrade the GPU once more, the CPU will still be a bottleneck no matter what.
In the current situation, if the RAM isn't maxing out and you upgrade the RAM, chances are that it isn't going to change much, because again, your point, that HD 4000 is bad at gaming so no matter what you do, it is just not going to get any better, unless it's actually maxing out on RAM, which I doubt.

 

[kowashie]

Putting in more ram should increase his HD 4000 memory increase right? and since it only has like 512mb memory increasing his ram should help
or is my assumption incorrect?

 

[MoKante]

How am i suppose to upgrade when it is a intergrated laptop gpu and i dont have a setting to let me change the amount of memory i can put in my gpu in my bios is there any modded bios for insprion 15 3521

 

[MoKante]

Please help me i really want to increase my gpu memory

 

[IDontUnderstand]

If the option does not exist in BIOS, then you cannot force it to increase the amount of shared memory. In addition, as we've discussed above that the integrated GPU will take more memory as it needs to, so there will most likely be minimal impact even if you find a way to force more shared memory.

Start a game and monitor your RAM usage in Task Manager, see if your RAM hits 90+%. If you do, then upgrading your RAM size will help, but only to an extent. Keep in mind that your integrated graphic was never meant for gaming, so there is only so much you can do to increase its performance.

 

[MoKante]

Well is there any other way i can increase intel hd 4000 proformance or overclock?

 

[IDontUnderstand]

Honestly, no.
It's been proven in multiple benchmarks and review that they are only capable of display and watch videos, or gaming on low settings on 720p at like 20 fps.
Here is a thread that talks about what HD 4000 is capable of http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/389702-33-what-4000-play

 

[islandInTheVoid]

To increase your memory go to any reputable online pc hardware store. Buy a 4GB SoDimm 1600 card. Download manual from dell read it carefully. Follow instructions to add memory card. Add the card. Memory will increase shared video memory will increase dedicated memory will not increase but it doesn't matter OS and chipset handle that OK. I got a 1.5 increase in my experience index because I increased my ram and in improved video performance. That is all you can do and it is the best you will get from that laptop. If you want to play high end games get a high end gaming laptop or better get a dream machine tower so you can brag it up online. You can do OK at $2,000 or you can go crazy for limited improvement for $10,000+. I would stay between 2000 and 5000.
The Dell Inspiron 15 3521 is a very low end home/family laptop I wouldn't expect to much. There is no processor upgrade path, memory limit is 8GB. If you want the absolute best you can do add the extra 4GB and a SSD 480GB hard drive. For around $500 you will have a machine that doesn't suck.