Question I want to install a graphics card on my pc that has an iGPU.

[J.Allas]

Hello, I own a pc with a Ryzen 5 3400g, I bought it when GPU prices where an all time high and I plan on putting on a Dedicated Graphics Card. From what I know, my iGPU gets memory from my ram. I am wondering how would I able to get those ram back when I install my graphics card.

 

[Paperdoc]

You understand correctly. Adding a graphics card will release that RAM currently dedicated to video use. When your system is set in BIOS to use the graphics chip included in your CPU, it also allocates some main RAM for that purpose. But when you install a graphics card and change the BIOS setting to use that instead, the BIOS will not allocate any main RAM for video. It assumes (correctly) that the video card has all of its own RAM that it needs. Actually, when you install that video card, the utility that you run to install the drivers for that card will make that setting change in BIOS for you - you do not do that yourself. If you want to see all that, boot your system before installing the new card, and check for Free RAM space. After the installation, check that again to seee the change.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Also you may find that if your board has bios updates available, that installing a cpu such as a ryzen 5600 or 5700x will also help to improve performance further.

 

[J.Allas]

You understand correctly. Adding a graphics card will release that RAM currently dedicated to video use. When your system is set in BIOS to use the graphics chip included in your CPU, it also allocates some main RAM for that purpose. But when you install a graphics card and change the BIOS setting to use that instead, the BIOS will not allocate any main RAM for video. It assumes (correctly) that the video card has all of its own RAM that it needs. Actually, when you install that video card, the utility that you run to install the drivers for that card will make that setting change in BIOS for you - you do not do that yourself. If you want to see all that, boot your system before installing the new card, and check for Free RAM space. After the installation, check that again to seee the change.

Thank you so much! I inserted my gpu and went into bios. It automatically set itself to Pcie display. I have all my ram now.

 

[J.Allas]

Also you may find that if your board has bios updates available, that installing a cpu such as a ryzen 5600 or 5700x will also help to improve performance further.

I have a very basic Motherboard. an Asus Prime a320m-k. I believe that this was my best options when I was still using my APU. But now I've paired with a GTX 1660 Super. I feel my motherboard is not handling it that well.

What motherboard should I replace it with? Just enought to run my set up well. Thinking of buying a used one.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

The a320 may be ok. I imagine that the 3400g is just a little weak. What power supply is in there? If you did upgrade the cpu on that setup I’d probably stay with something like a ryzen 5 5600 if you keep the a320 board. Which is still decent. Probably close to an i5 11400 or perhaps 12400 give or take.

 

[Vic 40]

I have a very basic Motherboard. an Asus Prime a320m-k.

Agree with ohio-buckeye, if the motherboard is okay with the 3400g will it likely be fine with a 5600.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Yeah, max I'd push on that board would be a Ryzen 7 5700x. You might get away with that, but I'm not sure if that has significantly more power draw under full load than a 5600 or 5600x. Push too far and the board may throttle the cpu to protect itself, so I'd consider sticking to something like a 5500, 5600g, 5600, or 5600x. The 5600 and 5600x being the 2 fastest out of those. But one of those even with a higher end gpu like a 6800xt or 6900xt, or 3080 or 3090 if you are an nvidia fan should do fine as long as your psu is up to the job.

 

[J.Allas]

The a320 may be ok. I imagine that the 3400g is just a little weak. What power supply is in there? If you did upgrade the cpu on that setup I’d probably stay with something like a ryzen 5 5600 if you keep the a320 board. Which is still decent. Probably close to an i5 11400 or perhaps 12400 give or take.

I have a Corsair TX850M Bronze. I plan on upgrading my CPU next year.

Thank you for you help