[RESOLVED] nvidia 8600 memory limit

[chronodekar]

About 3 or 4 months ago, I bought a Nvidia 8600GT graphics card from Sparkle. It came with 512MB RAM on it.

But according to nVidia's own site here.

It says that the Memory amount for the 8600GT is 256MB. (look at the bottom of the page, under Specifications/Performance)

Any drivers I try downloading from nVidia just don't work on my system (I have XP). The only thing that does work are the drivers I got in the CD along with my card. So, I'm stuck with Forceware 169.21 ( I can't even get CUDA to work...)

What I deduce from all this is that Sparkle deviated from nVidia's specs and I have to rely on them for my drivers. Dissappointing as it is, I've got no other options.

What confounds me is this.

That's the link for GTA IV system specs. It seems to be the official information. What interests me is the Recommended Requirements. It says "512MB NVIDIA 8600" !!!

But to my knowledge the ENTIRE 8600 line is capped at 256MB. (Officially anyway)

So what am I missing here? Or are they implying that we need to run it in SLI ? That's the only other conclusion I can think of.

 

[BlueAcolyte]

Really? I am implying that maybe you have done something wrong with the drivers.

Grab the newest drivers if you haven't already. WHQL 178.24

1) Uninstall.
2) Boot up in safe mode and use driver cleaner
3) Install new drivers.
4) If THAT doesn't work, then you can complain.

There are lots of 512mb or even 1GB designs:

Some here at Newegg

But of course partners deviate froom the design. That's a good thing. It leads to factory overclocks, greater memory amounts, shorter cards, better overclocking, etc. Vendors don't have to stick to the reference design.

Oh, by the way, if you run two 8600GTs in SLi:

1) It's a waste of money.
2) They don't pool their video memory, so each card still only has 256mb... Unless you bought one with 512mb!

 

[error8]

There are non reference versions with 512 mb, on the market, but the gpu is so slow that that extra memory doesn't improve performance at all. Nvidia released it with 256 mb, but some partners decided that it might sell the card better by adding an extra amount of 256 mb ( pure marketing crap). It's exactly the same with the 9600 GT with 2gb of ram. That's next to nothing in performance, over the 512 mb stock version.

Oh and don't look at GTA requirements, since they are recommending an 8600 GT and a 3870 for optimum performance. ATI 3870 has nothing to do with the 8600 GT. It's way faster.

I find it hard that you are unable to install drivers for your card. Maybe you are not looking where you should or your OS is very screwed up.

 

[chronodekar]

BlueAcolyte,

Thanks for those instructions.

I'm downloading 178.24 now.

I don't have driver cleaner with me. So, I think I'll skip that step. I'll uninstall my current drivers and then try installing 178. I'll post back on how things went for me.

 

[BlueAcolyte]

Remember safe mode!

 

[chronodekar]

:shocked:

I dont' believe it !! It installed just fine !!

Ok, here are the steps I did.

1. I restarted my system in Safe Mode.
2. I uninstalled the Nvidia drivers.
3. The driver un-installation wanted me to restart, and I restarted back to safe mode.
4. As soon as I got back to safe mode, XP detected some new H/W. "Video Controller(VGA Compactible)". I asked it to try and find some drivers by itself, but XP didn't find anything. I checked back in Device Manager and found that the driver for the "Video Controller" was NOT intalled.
5. Still in safe mode, I ran the Forceware setup I just downloaded.
6. I left the default options for the installation.
7. I was asked to restart and I did so, back to safe mode. My device manager now showed a new device under, Display adapters> NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT.
8. I restarted my system back to Normal mode.

I'm still shocked ! I actually have forceware 178.24 running just fine !!!!! :Q



Thanks a LOT BlueAcolyte !!!!

 

[chronodekar]

A minor problem here. HOW do I mark this thread as "Resolved" ?

I can't seem to find the settings anywhere ... ?

 

[ViRGE]

You can edit the first post and put it in the title/header.

 

[chronodekar]

Thanks ViRGE !!

 

[BlueAcolyte]

No problem, glad we could help.