Can someone please explain PCI-E video card memory?

[Zim]

I ordered up a new m/board that has a PCI-E x16 slot and then went to look for a cheap video card to fill it. I looked thru the offerings at NewEgg and got quite confused with the statement "xxxMB supported". Some of the boards say "xxMB onboard, xxxMB supported" but others don't say anthing about the amount onboard. I'm guessing that some of these cards steal some of your system ram but how do you tell? Should I avoid ones that do this? How do I know which is which?

At the moment I'm guessing that this card would suit my (non-gaming) needs... but it's just a guess.

Thanks!

 

[baddog121390]

if its got 'turbocache' or 'hypermemory' in the name of the card it steals system memory

 

[ryanv12]

Originally posted by: baddog121390
if its got 'turbocache' or 'hypermemory' in the name of the card it steals system memory

This man speaks with a truth attributable to the justice that the Lord serves. Listen to this man, he knows what he speaks of.

 

[Zim]

Originally posted by: baddog121390
if its got 'turbocache' or 'hypermemory' in the name of the card it steals system memory

Thanks! I just went back to NewEgg and tested your statement. You are, of course, correct. I also assume that these turbocache/hypermemory cards are the pits? Sounds like mutton dressed as lamb.

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: Zim

Originally posted by: baddog121390
if its got 'turbocache' or 'hypermemory' in the name of the card it steals system memory

Thanks! I just went back to NewEgg and tested your statement. You are, of course, correct. I also assume that these turbocache/hypermemory cards are the pits? Sounds like mutton dressed as lamb.

They aren't very good if you're going to be using them for gaming or in a system that can use every bit of RAM you can throw in it.

 

[Hard Ball]

Originally posted by: Zim

Originally posted by: baddog121390
if its got 'turbocache' or 'hypermemory' in the name of the card it steals system memory

Thanks! I just went back to NewEgg and tested your statement. You are, of course, correct. I also assume that these turbocache/hypermemory cards are the pits? Sounds like mutton dressed as lamb.

It should be OK for something that only utilizes a small amount of VRAM for frame-buffers and texture, since it has a small amount of onboard memory, but utilizes system memory beyond that point; but would not be ideal for applications that would require large amount of VRAM (such as gaming).

 

[Zim]

Originally posted by: baddog121390
if its got 'turbocache' or 'hypermemory' in the name of the card it steals system memory

Hmmmm! What about this card? The Geforce cards don't seem to use the same naming conventions.

 

[gac009]

6200TC
the TC means turbo cache.

edit: if you actually read the specifications on the link you posted it mentions turbo cache.

"NVIDIA TurboCache technology
Shares the capacity and bandwidth of dedicated video memory and dynamically available system memory for turbocharged performance and larger total graphics memory"

 

[Zim]

Originally posted by: gac009
6200TC
the TC means turbo cache.

edit: if you actually read the specifications on the link you posted it mentions turbo cache.

"NVIDIA TurboCache technology
Shares the capacity and bandwidth of dedicated video memory and dynamically available system memory for turbocharged performance and larger total graphics memory"

OK, thanks. The fog is slowly starting to lift.

God help Joe Public when he goes to buy a video card, that's all I can say!

 

[Peter]

This is much like the original idea behind AGP - have an essential amount of RAM on the card, and borrow more from main system RAM as needed, through a high speed link.

Only that AGP was quickly outrun by cheap and fast graphics RAM, and despite the revving up to 8x, its speed didn't keep up.

Now, with fast RAM technology on the chipsets and the much faster PCIE link, this becomes viable again. I predict that history is going to repeat and this isn't going to last long.

 

[vss1980]

One thing I can't understand though and that is what stops any normal PCI-E Geforce or Radeon doing this....... i.e. will a standard Radeon X300 do this kinda thing or will it only be the 'Hypermemory' branded ones. And if so what about the X8xx cards, etc...?

Also, while I agree this will die out like AGP texturing did, I don't think it will go as quickly. The main reason being we generally aren't raising the resolution as much as we used to - even HDTV resolutions for example aren't much higher than some of the higher than normal PC resolutions. Although PCI-E may eventually end up not being able to cope with this, its successor may well do and when that happens I think that will be far more successful in terms of staying power.
Just a thought.