What do they mean by this when they talk about Graphic Cards in Computers?

[zungerman090]

I went online to look for a suitable laptop to get my mitts on. However, I saw something quite puzzling. For DELL Studio 1558 (6WGX5-430W) they listed VGA like this: 512MB up to 2234MB. What do they mean by "up to"? Can someone please explain? Anyways, please reply. Thanks

 

[Steppin Razor]

The 512 is dedicated memory supplied entirely by the graphics card.
Cards released in the last few years can use some of your computer's RAM to increase their memory, hence the "up to 2234".

Pretty much, just ignore the "up to" number. In my experience it makes virtually no difference at all.

 

[Freyar]

One thing to consider is that if you are intending to play games on a laptop, they may or may not work with mobile versions of the drivers.

Shared memory is stupid memory.

 

[Kouen]

you want to look for a laptop that states "Dedicated memory xxxmb" (xxx being how ever much) its better all round that way for gaming

 

[Rauten]

Another thing about laptops: if it states the graphics card is an INTEL anything, run away from it like it's the freaking black plague. Seriously. INTEL graphics cards are an absolute disgrace.

 

[The Lawn]

Also, don't buy a dell, I have a dell "gaming" laptop and the hardware has failed so many times that it's not even funny.

It's probably spent a good 6 months out of the 3 years I've had it in a non working state.

If you have to get one, get the 4 year warranty.
If you have a choice, go with Toshiba or Asus, much better hardware in those and usually you get more bang for your buck.

 

[Kouen]

Another thing about laptops: if it states the graphics card is an INTEL anything, run away from it like it's the freaking black plague. Seriously. INTEL graphics cards are an absolute disgrace.

I Dunno you can play Return to Castle Wolfenstien and Serious Sam on that xD just nothing recent that isn't indie

 

[ethaninja]

Another thing about laptops: if it states the graphics card is an INTEL anything, run away from it like it's the freaking black plague. Seriously. INTEL graphics cards are an absolute disgrace.

I Dunno you can play Return to Castle Wolfenstien and Serious Sam on that xD just nothing recent that isn't indie

Aw bugger... so no Crysis then?

 

[Kouen]

Another thing about laptops: if it states the graphics card is an INTEL anything, run away from it like it's the freaking black plague. Seriously. INTEL graphics cards are an absolute disgrace.

I Dunno you can play Return to Castle Wolfenstien and Serious Sam on that xD just nothing recent that isn't indie

Aw bugger... so no Crysis then?

oh you can load Crysis

if you dont mind the frame rate of a power point slide show on a 33mhz 386 CPU based PC with 1mb ram xD

 

[DanDeFool]

Another thing about laptops: if it states the graphics card is an INTEL anything, run away from it like it's the freaking black plague. Seriously. INTEL graphics cards are an absolute disgrace.

I Dunno you can play Return to Castle Wolfenstien and Serious Sam on that xD just nothing recent that isn't indie

Aw bugger... so no Crysis then?

And to make it worse, laptop processors and graphics cards are always UNDERclocked to save on heat and power consumption. It's a darn shame.

 

[Janus Vesta]

-snip-

 

[Koganesaga]

One thing to consider is that if you are intending to play games on a laptop, they may or may not work with mobile versions of the drivers.

Shared memory is stupid memory.

Lol, too true, too true.

P.S. Laptops are evil, as due to their protability and the you'll be using that asset (if not get a desktop foo) they have a signifigantly high chance to break. Basically I'm saying I don't care what you're doing, unless you really need that mobility, get a PC.

 

[iJosh]

Shared memory is stupid memory.

This pretty much sums it up, It's just the amount of memory that it can get up to with shared memory

 

[Rauten]

Another thing about laptops: if it states the graphics card is an INTEL anything, run away from it like it's the freaking black plague. Seriously. INTEL graphics cards are an absolute disgrace.

I Dunno you can play Return to Castle Wolfenstien and Serious Sam on that xD just nothing recent that isn't indie

Aw bugger... so no Crysis then?

oh you can load Crysis

if you dont mind the frame rate of a power point slide show on a 33mhz 386 CPU based PC with 1mb ram xD

That was my first computer. I freaking kid you not. Also had a 16MB HDD. Sigh, nostalgia...

 

[Vitor Goncalves]

*snip*

if you dont mind the frame rate of a power point slide show on a 33mhz 386 CPU based PC with 1mb ram xD

That was my first computer. I freaking kid you not. Also had a 16MB HDD. Sigh, nostalgia...

Mine was a 486 DX2 66 Mhz with 16 MB RAM and a 420 MB HDD. Before that I used to do some work on a processor with same stats of that first of yours. And even on a school's 8088 without harddrive, when loading text it would load one line every 5 seconds, lol.