How to increase shared Graphics memory on Asrock A55M-HVS motherboard

[Bhramavar]

Right now I am using a Asrock A55M-HVS motherboard with AMD A6-3500 APU and Gskill 4gb 1600Mhz RAM. The problem is the shared graphics memory is limited in my case. Currently I can get only 512mb of shared graphics memory as max. I am looking for a way to increase it but I don’t know how. Should I need to update the BIOS or simply tweak with BIOS?

[raghini]

It seems to me that you have enough Graphic memory for your GPU and I don’t think that you can get more than this unless your motherboard supports it. If you can install add-on card or motherboard does support an extra Graphics card then its fine but here it doesn’t look like this option is integrated into your motherboard where sharing memory is possible. However as for the BIOS update, take a look into ASRock > Products > Motherboard > A55M-HVS > Download section on the ASRock official website. When I looked I didn’t come across an latest version of BIOS for me. In a meantime, you could directly contact the ASRock tech support to see if you can get a special bios which will help you to get more shared memory.

[Pamina]

Shared memory is when there is an integrated video chipset on the motherboard and that it uses part of RAM to supplement the lack of video memory (which is found on all video cards). And then there obviously affect PC performance! My motherboard’s share memory is also limited to 512MB. I don’t know for what reason it fixed only this much amount memory as maximum. I think it is due to the use of AMD APU. So I was thinking about allocation extra system memory to Video memory. First I thought it as a good idea but my friend suggested to me that it is not what you think. Both memories are completely different from one another. If you do it, the frame buffers and holds the rendered content without sending it to the screen. Shared memory belongs to PCs using only "integrated graphics”. If you allocate your system memory to display function, the other apps will be short of memory and this slows down the system. Main memory is not as fast as Video memory. Better you could try with a dedicated Graphics card only if you have an option.

[Skullnit]

As far as I know that Windows allocates shared memory as needed. When the system or you don’t do anything, then it will be low. However when you run extreme graphic intensive operations, programs or games, the Windows will automatically allocate more memory. Try upgrading your system memory to increase the amount of allotted Graphics memory. Sometimes during extreme condition Windows may increase more memory depending on its needs.

[LavinaD]

No. there is no way you can increase the amount of memory on a video card and Windows does not increase the memory automatically and when needed above the maximum limit. The Windows only allocate shared memory under the maximum limit which has bee previously specified by the BIOS. Everything is depending on the onboard video card and its capacity along with the BIOS support. It is the BIOS job for allocating more system memory to the Graphics. I have heard that most of Intel's latest graphics solutions do not allow you to increase this memory because they come with a fixed dedicated amount. You might need customized BIOS for all these reasons.

[crook]

The memory addresses which would normally point to the memory areas of the motherboard and are already allocated to other areas of systems other than memory (RAM cache, video cards, buses....). At the time or the first 32-bit systems arrived, the memory cards did not exceed 64 KB. It was far from thinking late 80's that 20 years later, we still would use a 32 bit system! And 4 GB Maximum Theoretical used were part of science fiction. So certain memory addresses "high" were allocated to other memory resources. It seems a miscalculation! Then indeed does not amuse you to increase the size of shared video memory, AC is useless! It is the chipset that makes the difference, and not really a huge memory size.

[Savannah87]

Do not tapping the top contribution. The amount of memory is handled by the graphics driver. There is a minimum size and maximum size and it manages all this by himself. The software does not know if the graphics card memory is dedicated or not. Anyway, it's not their problem. The games send the information to the display driver and the driver does the rest. You cannot increase the shared memory. The memory card is supported on your RAM. However, if you have lots of RAM 2 or 3 or 4GB there will always be the RAM for your card.