Video Card..

I'm in the process of purchasing parts for a new Windows XP home edition
32 bit operating system based computer.

I'm an amateur photographer but I use CS3 which is a memory/processor
hog on my current computer so I'd like to optimize my new computer for
CS3. On my current XP system I have 2GB of ram, an AMD 1.45GHz single
core processor and 128 MB of Video Ram and CS3 can be a little
"sluggish" at times. Currently, under Preferences, Performance, I have
1603MB of Available RAM and I'm letting CS3 use 1202MB which is 75% of
the Available RAM. I currently have the Scratch Disk set on a different
partition on my one hard drive. I have the History States set at 10 and
the Cache Levels set at 6.

I'm going to use an AMD 2.8 GHz dual core processor but there is a
question as to how much RAM. 32 bit operating systems can only address
4GB of memory so the more RAM on my video card the less memory address
for the system RAM.

I planned to install 4GB of dual layer RAM, which the new motherboard
supports, and a 1GB video card. Because of the OS memory address limit
of 4GB, I'm only going to be able to address 3GB or less of the system
memory because of the 1GB on the video card.

I'm not a gamer. Is CS3 going to really benefit from having a video card
with 1GB of ram or can I go with either 256MB or 512MB of RAM on the
video card?

I also plan to have two hard drives so I can put the CS3 scratch disk on
the second hard drive and use that drive for photo and data storage.

--
JD..

If I am not mistaken the video ram is not calculated as part of the system
ram. As for memory on the a video card I would suggest 512MB. Based on
things I have seen hinted at by Adobe people the next version of Photoshop
is going to make very good use of GPU and memory.

Robert Barnett wrote:
> If I am not mistaken the video ram is not calculated as part of the
> system ram. As for memory on the a video card I would suggest 512MB.
> Based on things I have seen hinted at by Adobe people the next version
> of Photoshop is going to make very good use of GPU and memory.

I was told a 32 bit operating system like Windows XP only has 4GB of
memory address space.

On the new XP system, I installed 4GB of dual layer ram and a video card
with 256 MB of ram. Under System Properties, it recognizes 3.25GB of ram.

I have not had a chance to play with PS on the new XP system since I had
some problems with the original motherboard.

--
JD..

Interesting as on my XP and my Vista system both with 4GB of Ram and two ATI
Radeon 1650 Pro cards each with 512MB Windows reports only the system memory
and not the video ram. I know some laptop computers use system memory for
video memory but I have never seen a desktop system do this. How do you know
that .25GB is the video ram and just part of the 4GB?


"JD" <JD@example.invalid> wrote in message
news:88idnfUXxs5UsSrVnZ2dnUVZ_rrinZ2d@posted.grand ecom...
> Robert Barnett wrote:
>> If I am not mistaken the video ram is not calculated as part of the
>> system ram. As for memory on the a video card I would suggest 512MB.
>> Based on things I have seen hinted at by Adobe people the next version of
>> Photoshop is going to make very good use of GPU and memory.
>
> I was told a 32 bit operating system like Windows XP only has 4GB of
> memory address space.
>
> On the new XP system, I installed 4GB of dual layer ram and a video card
> with 256 MB of ram. Under System Properties, it recognizes 3.25GB of ram.
>
> I have not had a chance to play with PS on the new XP system since I had
> some problems with the original motherboard.
>
> --
> JD..

What does your system say? Control Panel, System, General tab. Computer.

Robert Barnett wrote:
> Interesting as on my XP and my Vista system both with 4GB of Ram and two
> ATI Radeon 1650 Pro cards each with 512MB Windows reports only the
> system memory and not the video ram. I know some laptop computers use
> system memory for video memory but I have never seen a desktop system do
> this. How do you know that .25GB is the video ram and just part of the 4GB?
>
>
> "JD" <JD@example.invalid> wrote in message
> news:88idnfUXxs5UsSrVnZ2dnUVZ_rrinZ2d@posted.grand ecom...
>> Robert Barnett wrote:
>>> If I am not mistaken the video ram is not calculated as part of the
>>> system ram. As for memory on the a video card I would suggest 512MB.
>>> Based on things I have seen hinted at by Adobe people the next
>>> version of Photoshop is going to make very good use of GPU and memory.
>>
>> I was told a 32 bit operating system like Windows XP only has 4GB of
>> memory address space.
>>
>> On the new XP system, I installed 4GB of dual layer ram and a video
>> card with 256 MB of ram. Under System Properties, it recognizes 3.25GB
>> of ram.
>>
>> I have not had a chance to play with PS on the new XP system since I
>> had some problems with the original motherboard.
>>
>> --
>> JD..
>

--
JD..

3GB. I have 4 installed not counting the 1GB of video ram on the two video
cards.

Robert


"JD" <JD@example.invalid> wrote in message
news:vvadnfA8J-O2nyXVnZ2dnUVZ_gOdnZ2d@posted.grandecom...
> What does your system say? Control Panel, System, General tab. Computer.
>
> Robert Barnett wrote:
>> Interesting as on my XP and my Vista system both with 4GB of Ram and two
>> ATI Radeon 1650 Pro cards each with 512MB Windows reports only the system
>> memory and not the video ram. I know some laptop computers use system
>> memory for video memory but I have never seen a desktop system do this.
>> How do you know that .25GB is the video ram and just part of the 4GB?
>>
>>
>> "JD" <JD@example.invalid> wrote in message
>> news:88idnfUXxs5UsSrVnZ2dnUVZ_rrinZ2d@posted.grand ecom...
>>> Robert Barnett wrote:
>>>> If I am not mistaken the video ram is not calculated as part of the
>>>> system ram. As for memory on the a video card I would suggest 512MB.
>>>> Based on things I have seen hinted at by Adobe people the next version
>>>> of Photoshop is going to make very good use of GPU and memory.
>>>
>>> I was told a 32 bit operating system like Windows XP only has 4GB of
>>> memory address space.
>>>
>>> On the new XP system, I installed 4GB of dual layer ram and a video card
>>> with 256 MB of ram. Under System Properties, it recognizes 3.25GB of
>>> ram.
>>>
>>> I have not had a chance to play with PS on the new XP system since I had
>>> some problems with the original motherboard.
>>>
>>> --
>>> JD..
>>
>
> --
> JD..

So you may have 4GB installed, but XP is not able to address 1GB because
of your Video card and other components, etc on your computer. I'm not
making this up.

http://members.cox.net/slatteryt/RAM.html

Current operating systems, such as Microsoft® Windows® XP, can only use
a maximum of 4 GB of address space; however, the amount of memory
available to the operating system is less than 4 GB. Certain components
within the computer require address space in the 4-GB range. Any address
space reserved for these components cannot be used by computer memory.

Robert Barnett wrote:
> 3GB. I have 4 installed not counting the 1GB of video ram on the two
> video cards.
>
> Robert
>
>
> "JD" <JD@example.invalid> wrote in message
> news:vvadnfA8J-O2nyXVnZ2dnUVZ_gOdnZ2d@posted.grandecom...
>> What does your system say? Control Panel, System, General tab. Computer.
>>
>> Robert Barnett wrote:
>>> Interesting as on my XP and my Vista system both with 4GB of Ram and
>>> two ATI Radeon 1650 Pro cards each with 512MB Windows reports only
>>> the system memory and not the video ram. I know some laptop computers
>>> use system memory for video memory but I have never seen a desktop
>>> system do this. How do you know that .25GB is the video ram and just
>>> part of the 4GB?
>>>
>>>
>>> "JD" <JD@example.invalid> wrote in message
>>> news:88idnfUXxs5UsSrVnZ2dnUVZ_rrinZ2d@posted.grand ecom...
>>>> Robert Barnett wrote:
>>>>> If I am not mistaken the video ram is not calculated as part of the
>>>>> system ram. As for memory on the a video card I would suggest
>>>>> 512MB. Based on things I have seen hinted at by Adobe people the
>>>>> next version of Photoshop is going to make very good use of GPU and
>>>>> memory.
>>>>
>>>> I was told a 32 bit operating system like Windows XP only has 4GB of
>>>> memory address space.
>>>>
>>>> On the new XP system, I installed 4GB of dual layer ram and a video
>>>> card with 256 MB of ram. Under System Properties, it recognizes
>>>> 3.25GB of ram.
>>>>
>>>> I have not had a chance to play with PS on the new XP system since I
>>>> had some problems with the original motherboard.
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> JD..
>>>
>>
>> --
>> JD..
>

--
JD..

On Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:13:58 -0500, JD <JD@example.invalid> wrote:

>I'm in the process of purchasing parts for a new Windows XP home edition
>32 bit operating system based computer.
>
>I'm an amateur photographer but I use CS3 which is a memory/processor
>hog on my current computer so I'd like to optimize my new computer for
>CS3. On my current XP system I have 2GB of ram, an AMD 1.45GHz single
>core processor and 128 MB of Video Ram and CS3 can be a little
>"sluggish" at times. Currently, under Preferences, Performance, I have
>1603MB of Available RAM and I'm letting CS3 use 1202MB which is 75% of
>the Available RAM. I currently have the Scratch Disk set on a different
>partition on my one hard drive. I have the History States set at 10 and
>the Cache Levels set at 6.
>
>I'm going to use an AMD 2.8 GHz dual core processor but there is a
>question as to how much RAM. 32 bit operating systems can only address
>4GB of memory so the more RAM on my video card the less memory address
>for the system RAM.
>
>I planned to install 4GB of dual layer RAM, which the new motherboard
>supports, and a 1GB video card. Because of the OS memory address limit
>of 4GB, I'm only going to be able to address 3GB or less of the system
>memory because of the 1GB on the video card.
>
>I'm not a gamer. Is CS3 going to really benefit from having a video card
>with 1GB of ram or can I go with either 256MB or 512MB of RAM on the
>video card?
>
>I also plan to have two hard drives so I can put the CS3 scratch disk on
>the second hard drive and use that drive for photo and data storage.

Sounds to me like you need something like this to increase video
memory. (no, I'm not a salesman... I just happen to be looking at this
one for my desktop system.)

EVGA GeForce 8500 GT Video Card - 1GB GDDR2, PCI Express, SLI Ready,
(Dual Link) DVI, VGA, HDTV ($76-26 mail in at Tiger)

EVGA GeForce 8500 GT Video Card
The EVGA NVIDIA® GeForce® 8500 GT 1GB graphics card offers the
features of the GeForce 8 Series architecture for an incredible value.
Essential for accelerating the Microsoft® Windows Vista™ experience,
the EVGA NVIDIA® GeForce® 8500 GT is designed to enhance the Windows
Vista Aero™ graphical 3D interface, allow you to play the latest
Microsoft DirectX® 9 and DirectX 10 games, and enjoy the ultimate HD
movie experience with PureVideo™ HD technology.

It's All About The "O"
This video card is very highly factory overclocked. EVGA has taken the
GeForce 8500 GT GPU and equipped it with 1GB of GDDR2, increased the
stream processors from 16 to 32, and increased the shader clock to
918MHz (vs. 900MHz standard).

--

Vintage Burgundy 65 Fastback 2+2, 289 OEM 4bbl, Custom C4,
OEM front disc/rear drum P/R&P, 16x8" V40s, BFG gForce
T/A skins. Cobra drop, halogen and LED lighting.

I think your wrong. No place from anyone from Microsoft have I ever heard
them say that video card memory was included in the OS max. Video card
memory is not directly accessed by Windows. It is accessed through the video
card's GPU and is used for video purposes. The limit on system memory is 2GB
per application and 2GB for Windows. If Windows was indeed accessing 3GB of
the 4 I have and the 1GB of video memory I have it would be reporting 4GB of
RAM and not 3. I have never seen anything that indicates Windows counts or
can use video memory as system memory.

The web site you provided is not as far as I am concerned a reliable source.
Point me to some a page on Microsoft's site that says this. Until then I
don't believe it. There have been many many discussions of ram usage on the
Adobe user forums and not once was it said that your video card memory is
used for system memory or counted as system memory. Video card memory is for
video card usage.

Robert

I think this has gone on long enough. You're right and the MS MVP that
wrote the article is wrong.

Robert Barnett wrote:
> I think your wrong. No place from anyone from Microsoft have I ever
> heard them say that video card memory was included in the OS max. Video
> card memory is not directly accessed by Windows. It is accessed through
> the video card's GPU and is used for video purposes. The limit on system
> memory is 2GB per application and 2GB for Windows. If Windows was indeed
> accessing 3GB of the 4 I have and the 1GB of video memory I have it
> would be reporting 4GB of RAM and not 3. I have never seen anything that
> indicates Windows counts or can use video memory as system memory.
>
> The web site you provided is not as far as I am concerned a reliable
> source. Point me to some a page on Microsoft's site that says this.
> Until then I don't believe it. There have been many many discussions of
> ram usage on the Adobe user forums and not once was it said that your
> video card memory is used for system memory or counted as system memory.
> Video card memory is for video card usage.
>
> Robert

--
JD..