GeForce 6200 reduced memory problem

SGriff79 · June 19th, 2006, 09:47 AM

I bought a new PC which has a geforce 6200 le 256 graphics card pre-installed.

The driver is a year old so i have tried to update it with the latest driver from Nvidia. I have also tried the latest beta driver.

The problem i get is that the memory is reduced from 256 to 128.

Before anyone points it out, I know that this card has turbocache, so the actual memory probably isnt 256 anyway, but the existing driver is allowing for 256. So whatever the relation of card memory to system I want to to be using 256.

Has anyone seen this before, or do you have any suggestions ?

buckaro · June 19th, 2006, 02:08 PM

Hmm, not sure about it but you may want to check your BIOS settings for the video card and see if you can change the settings there but im not sure to be quite honest....worth a try(only takes a few minutes), just be careful, resetting it takes 2 much effort lol

DanU · June 19th, 2006, 05:14 PM

I don't have a 6200TC, but my understanding is that it will only "steal" as much system memory as it needs at that time. You don't want it to steal more than that since that memory gets taken away from the rest of the system, which can hurt performance.

SGriff79 · June 20th, 2006, 03:59 AM

That would be right, but as i understand it the memory size which is diplayed is including the stolen system memory. meaning that with the new driver, the highest it will run is with 128, whilst with the old driver it is stealing the full amount possible and running at 256. I dont think it changes dynamically, but correct me if i'm wrong.

There is the question of whether i would want it stealing more memory to dedicate to the graphics, or have the lower graphics memory and release my system memory.

I would prefer more graphics memory. I'm not playing the really high end games, so i would rather be able to play mid range games with better graphics.

It's only a low end card, but if i can get it setup with the new driver then it will do the job.

cheers for you comments so far, i've asked Nvidia about this and they are slow coming with a reply

vikeor · June 20th, 2006, 04:16 AM

anyway, have a 256mb 6200 is absolutely pointless... a 256mb 6600 is worse than a 128mb one, so i wouldnt wanna know what a 256MB 6200 is like :P even if u did have the 256mb available the gpu wouldnt be able to utilize it fully so i wouldnt really worry about your problem

SGriff79 · June 22nd, 2006, 06:30 AM

Soiunds like your being a graphics card snob !!!

So what if its only a basic card as it happens it performs quiet well. I'm not interested in benchmark scores or whatever. I just want i to look work and look ok.

Someone give me Doom3 to test it with and it runs in high detial (the second to top setting) when it has the old driver (256 memory) and it looks good and is very smooth.

Whilst with the updated driver it drops to medium quality and if is try to push it back up it cant cope, so obviously it is worth running it at 256.

buckaro · June 22nd, 2006, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SGriff79

Soiunds like your being a graphics card snob !!!

So what if its only a basic card as it happens it performs quiet well. I'm not interested in benchmark scores or whatever. I just want i to look work and look ok.

Someone give me Doom3 to test it with and it runs in high detial (the second to top setting) when it has the old driver (256 memory) and it looks good and is very smooth.

Whilst with the updated driver it drops to medium quality and if is try to push it back up it cant cope, so obviously it is worth running it at 256.

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/...mory/page9.asp

128mb beats the 256mb version....it may be the drivers your using are just messed up or that quite simply your card is only using the RAM when in a game and needs the extra memoery, out of a game you shouldn't need it and it should go back to 128mb.

The le version may be different, but the 128mb 6200TC has a higher mem clock which thrashes the 256mb's speeds.

SGriff79 · June 22nd, 2006, 11:54 AM

Do you know if there is any way to manually change the amount of resource used for Turbocache

I'm not sure whether its better at 128 then 256, but my problem is that with the newer driver the highest it will run at is 128mb.

buckaro · June 22nd, 2006, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SGriff79

Do you know if there is any way to manually change the amount of resource used for Turbocache

I'm not sure whether its better at 128 then 256, but my problem is that with the newer driver the highest it will run at is 128mb.

Try a different driver, go back one or two. And it should change automatically for you so i don't believe it should show up at all, i see no reason for it. I do not believe you can change it because it does it itself if it needs more memory, and i think it does it without you realising it. If the old driver really did work better then try using it again or getting one slightly better than it, but a 6200 should be running doom3 at lower settings not high settings anyway for a decent FPS really.

Not sure if you may be able to turn off turbocache in BIOS settings or maybe in windows somewhere. I'd try googling it myself.

SGriff79 · June 23rd, 2006, 04:04 AM

searched google, but no can not find any reference to an option to setting the amount of turbocache. I begining to think it cannot be manually changed.

I've tried 3 different drivers including the latest official release, one thats a bit older and then the latest beta release. All reduce the overall availible card memory to 128.

AS for running Doom in lower settings, I understand that this card is only entry level as far as running high spec games, but Doom3 runs really well with on high setting with my current driver.

I would be happy to stay with this driver, but for the fact that general colour and picture quality doesnt look quite right. I tested a DVD with stong colors (Finding Nemo, dont laugh) and colour and quility isnt right. Just enough to notice and put me off a bit. With the newer drivers the picture quality is perfect.

I understand that this card may be strained when it runs at 256, but the games look good.

Whether its the best option to run it at 256 or not, that is the supported memory size for the card, so i want it to run at this size.

I've asked this question to Nvidia, but after asking for details of my system, they havent been back to me. Its been about 10 days some i'm not holding my breath.

Thanks for the input so far guys.