On 10/29/07, Michael Schultheiss [email protected] wrote:
Now that I have 2G of RAM, it's not a big deal. But back when I had only 512MB of RAM, using 64-128MB (or whatever the minimum was) as video RAM potentially hurt performance. I know Intel GFX chips don't offer dedicated VRAM - I was specifically thinking of a higher end ATI or nVidia graphics card.
FWIW, I can run Compiz Fusion and all sorts of Linux 3D games on an old GF4MX 440. Even the integrated 915 video (GMA 900) should stomp all over it. I think Luke is right that it's about all one really needs (on a laptop) unless you want some serious video power which (in a laptop) is then going to help suck out your battery power and put off heat. I haven't really put the specs together in a while, but also powering a bigger and faster LCD to make use of a more powerful GPU is also going to suck down battery power. And many LCD panels don't truly support the speeds and colors a good GPU can put out anyway, so it's still a bit overkill.
Jon.