An update on recent technical problems and more from the admin: https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/250292/on-technical-difficulties-mod-coverage-and-other-things/p1?new=1
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Regarding VRAM and SWTOR
Maltease
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I recently picked up playing SWTOR again and realized that, though the laptop I've had for less than a year is a powerful machine that could easily run the game, it's being gimped by a mere 64mbs of video ram. So before I go and shell out a couple hundred for a new, better video card (the one I have is a stock intel video card), I figured I'd ask you guys for a little advice. Primarily I was wondering what my options are. I know I could overclock the card, and I've heard something about maybe partitioning my RAM to lend some of it to the VRAM? I mean, I have 8 gigs and my computer does NOT need that much at any time. It needs, like, 4 at most. Any help would, obviously, be greatly appreciated.
If it helps, my specs:
Processor: 2.00 gigahertz Intel Core i7-2630QM
RAM: 8 gigs (2 cards, 4gb each)
Video Card: Intel HD Graphics 3000 (I think. It's the closest I can actually find to a real video card name after trying WinAudit and Belarc Advisor)
I'll provide any other information you need, I'm just not sure what all is relevant. It should also probably be noted that WinAudit lists my video card as having "3851 Adapter RAM", but Belarc doesn't list that and the plug-in over at Can You Run It lists the video card as only having 64mbs of dedicated ram.
Thanks again for any help.
If it helps, my specs:
Processor: 2.00 gigahertz Intel Core i7-2630QM
RAM: 8 gigs (2 cards, 4gb each)
Video Card: Intel HD Graphics 3000 (I think. It's the closest I can actually find to a real video card name after trying WinAudit and Belarc Advisor)
I'll provide any other information you need, I'm just not sure what all is relevant. It should also probably be noted that WinAudit lists my video card as having "3851 Adapter RAM", but Belarc doesn't list that and the plug-in over at Can You Run It lists the video card as only having 64mbs of dedicated ram.
Thanks again for any help.
Maltease on
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I did not know that.
I am now disheartened.
I have been looking into it a little, though, and have found that because integrated video cards don't have any dedicated RAM themselves, they just take what they need from the system ram. Because of THAT, you can manipulate how much the video card takes by default through the BIOS. The new problem, then, is that I can't seem to actually edit my laptop's BIOS. I press F2 (which is labeled SetUp at the bootscreen, because there's nothing else on that screen labeled as "BIOS" or anything like that) and go into what I assume are the BIOS, but I can't actually change anything except for the time and date. It won't even let me scroll onto the other entries.
well.. depending on the model of laptop he "might" be able to, but of course if the GPU is intagrated into the MB then it isn't happening.
Unfortunately if he had a laptop that could do that, there's a high chance it would already have something better than an Intel.
You could build a gaming capable desktop for a lot cheaper, if that's something you want to look at. Honestly, you can put together a complete middle-low tier gaming desktop for about the cost of a single high end graphics card. Stop by the Computer Build Thread http://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/156472/computer-build-thread-forget-sandy-bridge-e-i-want-some-raspberry-pi/p1 if you're interested in talking about that.
Yeah, I was considering doing that. I use to use a desktop, then I started going to friend's houses for gaming and things like that a lot so I moved to laptops. But that was like, 6 years ago. Generally my gaming stuff pretty much stays stationary, so I was thinking it'd be time to go back to Desktop gaming. I prefer it anyway, because I don't have to worry about the damn things overheating.
Thanks for your help, everyone!
Go hit up that thread. We're all really good Newegg Warriors. If you give one of us a budget, we'll be happy to throw together a newegg wishlist for you that matches your budget and gets the level of performance you want.