Increasing Video RAM

[Agui41]

Hi everyone.

I was checking my system specs and I found that my GTX 650 Ti Boost has 1024MB of dedicated video memory and it also says that the graphics memory available is a total of 4096MB.
So... I'm wondering many things:

1. Where does this come from? (I have a i7-3770 and 8GB of RAM)
2. Is there anyway I can increase my GPU video memory? If it so, how? if not, how do I increase it in the CPU and how does it improves my gaming experience.
3. I feel like I'm wasting all those MB's, any other way I can use them in?

I hope you can answer those 3 questions and thank you beforehand!

 

[turkey3_scratch]

Normal RAM can be configured as vRAM to my knowledge, you must have 3GB of yours as spare vRAM. I do not know how to increase/decrease that's all I can give you.

 

[chenw]

Increasing VRAM beyond what it is designed with often have little to no effect either. GPU's usually run out of grunt power before they run out of VRAM, especially towards the low end.

There isn't much you can do to deliberately increase the usage of VRAM if your game isn't using it. System RAM is another story completely.

 

[Agui41]

Normal RAM can be configured as vRAM to my knowledge, you must have 3GB of yours as spare vRAM. I do not know how to increase/decrease that's all I can give you.

Not even how to configure it? or by saying "increase/decrease" do you meant that? haha (English is not my main language, sorry if there are weird phrases)

 

[Agui41]

Increasing VRAM beyond what it is designed with often have little to no effect either. GPU's usually run out of grunt power before they run out of VRAM, especially towards the low end.

There isn't much you can do to deliberately increase the usage of VRAM if your game isn't using it. System RAM is another story completely.

What do you mean with the "grunt power" thing?

Also, I mean to increase VRAM, so the GPU will have more memory to process higher quality of textures... Like Watch Dogs, the game says that to use Ultra textures you need at least 3GB of VRAM, so if there's a way to give the GPU that memory I will be able to run Ultra textures...

 

[turkey3_scratch]

Increasing VRAM beyond what it is designed with often have little to no effect either. GPU's usually run out of grunt power before they run out of VRAM, especially towards the low end.

There isn't much you can do to deliberately increase the usage of VRAM if your game isn't using it. System RAM is another story completely.

What do you mean with the "grunt power" thing?

Also, I mean to increase VRAM, so the GPU will have more memory to process higher quality of textures... Like Watch Dogs, the game says that to use Ultra textures you need at least 3GB of VRAM, so if there's a way to give the GPU that memory I will be able to run Ultra textures...

I don't think the 650Ti will ever use over 4GB let alone 2GB.

 

[chenw]

Your GPU isn't fast enough to process the ultra textures, VRAM here isn't a make or break factor.

I use VRAM as a guideline as to what kind of GPU you'd need to be able to run the game, not as a system requirement like system RAM is.

I'll be honest here, your system is currently setup to be extremely CPU heavy and not enough GPU to go with it. 3770 is one of the higher end CPUs, but 650 is an entry level GPU. Games are much more GPU heavy than CPU heavy. You'd probably want to upgrade that GPU to play games like Watch dogs

 

[Agui41]

Your GPU isn't fast enough to process the ultra textures, VRAM here isn't a make or break factor.

I use VRAM as a guideline as to what kind of GPU you'd need to be able to run the game, not as a system requirement like system RAM is.

I'll be honest here, your system is currently setup to be extremely CPU heavy and not enough GPU to go with it. 3770 is one of the higher end CPUs, but 650 is an entry level GPU. Games are much more GPU heavy than CPU heavy. You'd probably want to upgrade that GPU to play games like Watch dogs

Mmm then why are there many versions of one GPU with different VRAM amounts?
And I'm not talking about my system's RAM, I'm talking about what my system says of my GRAPHICS memory available, wich I feel I'm wasting and I don't even know where it comes from.

Also, as far as I know, the VRAM is very crucial for textures, if the game says it, is for something.

 

[Agui41]

Increasing VRAM beyond what it is designed with often have little to no effect either. GPU's usually run out of grunt power before they run out of VRAM, especially towards the low end.

There isn't much you can do to deliberately increase the usage of VRAM if your game isn't using it. System RAM is another story completely.

What do you mean with the "grunt power" thing?

Also, I mean to increase VRAM, so the GPU will have more memory to process higher quality of textures... Like Watch Dogs, the game says that to use Ultra textures you need at least 3GB of VRAM, so if there's a way to give the GPU that memory I will be able to run Ultra textures...

I don't think the 650Ti will ever use over 4GB let alone 2GB.

I'm sorry, but I don't get what you're saying.
My 650 Ti is the only version that is available which is 1GB version.

 

[chenw]

VRAM is crucial, but only if your GPU has enough power to use it. 650ti isn't a GPU that is powerful enough to process that kind of textures, even if it had 3GB native VRAM, not 1GB + shared system RAM.

Some GPU's use system RAM to extend their VRAM pool size in case they need more, but in general, system RAM is much slower than VRAM.

Also, VRAM requirement is what I use as an indication of the GPU power requirements (IE it recommends a GPU that comes with 3GB native VRAM, not actually needing 3GB VRAM), not a hard requirement.

Lastly, GPU that comes with different VRAMs, at least for the 290x, is for those either running multi-GPU setups (since VRAM is not added in those setups), or a placebo effect. I do have any concrete evidence in suggesting that, for the SAME GPU, increasing VRAM has noticeable effect in improving performace (certainly not enough to justify the premium on the extra VRAM anyhow). It happens for few games, but those are exceptions rather than rule.

 

[Agui41]

VRAM is crucial, but only if your GPU has enough power to use it. 650ti isn't a GPU that is powerful enough to process that kind of textures, even if it had 3GB native VRAM, not 1GB + shared system RAM.

Some GPU's use system RAM to extend their VRAM pool size in case they need more, but in general, system RAM is much slower than VRAM.

Also, VRAM requirement is what I use as an indication of the GPU power requirements (IE it recommends a GPU that comes with 3GB native VRAM, not actually needing 3GB VRAM), not a hard requirement.

Lastly, GPU that comes with different VRAMs, at least for the 290x, is for those either running multi-GPU setups (since VRAM is not added in those setups), or a placebo effect. I do have any concrete evidence in suggesting that, for the SAME GPU, increasing VRAM has noticeable effect in improving performace (certainly not enough to justify the premium on the extra VRAM anyhow). It happens for few games, but those are exceptions rather than rule.

I appreciate your patience and clarification, but I find it weird that my GPU (the GTX 650 Ti Boost) is actually able to run the game in High-Ultra settings, not counting with the textures. The 1GB VRAM is original from the GPU but where does the rest of MB's come from? Is it from the RAM or what? All I am hoping for is that I can make my GPU use those 3072MB's left and for what I believe, try to run WD in Ultra.

 

[chenw]

The extra RAM would seem to come from the system RAM, as it is the only other source of RAM, and that system is quite a bit slower than the VRAM speeds.

What resolution are you playing at just out of curiorisity? And do you have AA on?

 

[Agui41]

The extra RAM would seem to come from the system RAM, as it is the only other source of RAM, and that system is quite a bit slower than the VRAM speeds.

What resolution are you playing at just out of curiorisity? And do you have AA on?

I'll try to be brief.
The screen I usually use is 1440x900, I sometimes use a TV screen of 1920x1080 and (maybe you won't believe me) the FPS risen up, in 1440x900 it have been at a maximum of 60 FPS in the TV it went at 81 FPS, how? I have no idea.
And no AA at all.

 

[chenw]

If I were to hazard a guess, perhaps monitor refresh rate has something to do with that particular oddity?

Also, I stand corrected, Watch Dogs seems to be an oddity, the Ultra textures really do eat VRAM, but otherwise the game runs ok. AA also tend to eat up a lot of VRAM, and resolution also affect its usage somewhat.

Back to your original question, I am not sure if it is possible to get the 650ti to use more system ram, and TBH even if you could I don't think it'll help much, due to the difference in speed of the RAMs.