Graphics/AGP Aperture Size=?

[Ichinisan]

I was searching the forum before posting and found this:
http://www.adriansrojakpot.com/Speed_Demonz/New_BIOS_Guide/AGP_Aperture_Size.htm

The guide basically says that 64MB is the bare minimum for this setting. However, the "Preferred BIOS Settings" in my eVGA documentation (GeForce 6800 AGP) says "4MB". 4MB is the lowest setting and it is available on my BIOS.

To me, this looks like an unfortunate typographical error that causes confusion where I'm looking for clarification! The eVGA documentation was probably trying to say "64MB". What should I set it to for optimizing performance?

2GB (2x1GB) OCZ DDR400
3.0GHZ 800FSB Northwood P4 Socket 478
eVGA GeForce 6800 AGP

 

[AzNPinkTuv]

256

 

[Matthias99]

The "AGP Aperture" is system memory that is dynamically allocated for use by your graphics card if it can't fit everything into its onboard memory. Unlike the memory set aside for onboard graphics, this is dynamically allocated and deallocated, so it's not taking memory away from your other programs unless it needs to.

With a 256MB card, you are unlikely to ever be using system memory unless you are playing newer games and have all the detail levels cranked up to the absolute highest settings (like the "Ultra" settings in Doom3/Quake4, which are designed for 512MB cards). So most of the time, it is irrelevant for 256MB/512MB cards.

You probably want the total of (onboard GPU memory + AGP Aperture memory) to be at least 256MB for newer games to always work properly. Generally, you can just set it to 256MB and forget about it.

 

[SynthDude2001]

Yeah, I doubt it'll make a difference in any usage you'll ever see. The only time I ever saw a boost from AGP aperture was a few years back when I tried to run some X800 tech demos on my old 9700 Pro...with AGP Aperture at 256MB, they were not much more than a slideshow; with AGP Aperture at 512MB it was actually somewhat smooth