What is shared memory

Sinster · November 5th, 2003

What in the hell is shared memory. I have been building computers for over 7 yrs now. My company ordered a dell with 256 shared memory. What does this mean? I have never heard of this before.

**Taurus** · November 5th, 2003

it means the board has onboard video which uses a portion of the system memory for it's video memory. so you might not get 256mb in windows. it might be something more like 240 (256-16mb shared).

**JJB6486** · November 5th, 2003

Yes, usually the amount of shared memory can be modified in the BIOS. If you want more system ram, you can decrease the reserved video portion. My laptop lets me reserve anywhere from 16MB to 128MB of system ram to its video chip.

JJB

daddyo · November 5th, 2003

It's a way to build cheaper video and audio boards. They used part of RAM which then slows your system down.

November 5th, 2003	Top \| #1
Sinster OSNN Senior Addict Joined: December 2001 Location: *Mssholechusetts Posts: 519 Reputation: 40 Power: 133**	Dfq What in the hell is shared memory. I have been building computers for over 7 yrs now. My company ordered a dell with 256 shared memory. What does this mean? I have never heard of this before. XFX - 590 SLI AMD 6000+ x2 AM2 2 x 1gb DDR2 EVGA 8800GTX X-Fi Fatal1ty Vista Ultimate CDRW LG 8400B / DVDRW Samsung S182M MX1000 / Logitech G15 Samsung 22" WS 225BW

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November 5th, 2003	Top \| #2
Taurus hardware monkey Joined: May 2002 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 3,206 Reputation: 90 Power: 155	it means the board has onboard video which uses a portion of the system memory for it's video memory. so you might not get 256mb in windows. it might be something more like 240 (256-16mb shared).

November 5th, 2003	Top \| #3
JJB6486 Retired Mod Joined: December 2001 Location: West Lafayette, IN, USA Posts: 1,207 Reputation: 0 Power: 140	Yes, usually the amount of shared memory can be modified in the BIOS. If you want more system ram, you can decrease the reserved video portion. My laptop lets me reserve anywhere from 16MB to 128MB of system ram to its video chip. JJB

November 5th, 2003	Top \| #4
daddyo OSNN Addict Joined: December 2001 Posts: 151 Reputation: 10 Power: 128	It's a way to build cheaper video and audio boards. They used part of RAM which then slows your system down.