Can video card memory make up for a lack of system memory?

[tigersty1e]

I have 1 gig of memory and it's just not keeping up with the games I play, not to mention my 6800.

Does more memory on a video card, say 512 or 640, make up for a lack of system memory or are they 2 different things?

 

[PianoMan]

Two different things, both in architecture (DDR3+ in vid cards ATM) and function (vid memory for textures, typically - system memory for game engine, AI, etc.).

The CPU can't directly control the vid memory (must go thru the GPU), but vid cards can allocate some system memory, if required.

Not all games thrive on greater system memory (BF2 seems to run noticeably smoother at 2Gb), so a vid card upgrade would be your best route to playing some of the newer games. Maybe an 8800GTS?

PM

 

[Elias824]

well really if you are talking about an 8800gts or some other high end card im assuming you are going to be playing on rather high settings which can take up alot of system memory and may even be holding your card back. For any card really that high end id probably make sure i had a decent system to back it up. DDR2 is pretty cheap at the moment even an extra 512mb would probaly be enough