Radeon xpress x1100

Hello, I would like to know if there is anyway i can reduced the amount of ram my video card uses, as when I open up dxdiag (dx10) and switch to the display tab it claims "Approx. Total Memory: 1214mb" which is very awkward because I have read that the most ram (shared) that the Radeon xpress x1100 can use is 512mb, also in my bios I can only change it to choose 32mb, 64mb, 128mb of memory (not sure if that is dedicated or not), when i change the ram in bios it does not seem to affect the amount ram shown in dxdiag.

specs:
"Aspire 5100"
Windows Vista Basic 32-bit
ATI Radeon xpress x1100
4gb ram (vista sees 2.62 as usable)
AMD Turion 64 2.00ghz

 

In my computer (aspire 5100 also) I can change the ram amount in BIOS and have it be that much. But I guess this must be the XP drivers, because that's what controls this.



I would try and update the drivers.

 

When I first got this laptop about 1 month ago, after I loaded up the operating system and windows update and all that I went to ati's website to download the latest catalyst stuff, unless they already came out with a new version my drivers should be up to date. Another thought, I just read ATI's specs on the card and it said it was compatible with dx9, not 10 which some how is what is currently installed. Could dx10 be seeing the video card incorrectly?

 

Yeah the xpress 1100 is not a dx10 card.

 

adinu, doesn't the DAC (400Mhz) mean you have a 1150? Is that the core clock? If so I thought 1100 had 300Mhz. 1150 400Mhz.

 

powerpack, also on my computer dxdiag says that the dac is 400mhz (theres a sticker on my laptop that says x1100 so it is certain i have an x1100). how would i go about downgrading from dx10 to 9? the link on microsoft's website seems to not work

 

In order to run DX10, you must have the software (Vista) and the hardware (nVidia 8th gen or ATI ). Since the x1100 chip has no DX10 capabilities, you definitely aren't running it. My dxdiag output also reports running DX10, but its not possible considering the hardware being used. It may be a mistake on Vista's part, or it may be using DX10 to run DX9c.

 

if your saying that dx10 is acting as dx9 by backward compatibility, is there still a way to reduce the amount of system memory used by my graphics card?

 

My 5102 (vista ultimate) has the xpress 1100 and directX 10 installed. AFAIK dx10 is a standard component of vista (regardless of which GPU you have) and cannot be removed or downgraded to dx9. All that would happen is that if your GPU is not dx10 compatible then it would not be able to use the dx10 features.

Remember dx10 is backwards compatible with dx9(that is all dx9 components already exist in dx10) so "downgrading" will not make any difference.

Edit: I just checked my dxdiag and my xpress 1100 reporting Approx.Total Memory:830mb so it isn't dx10 that is causing it. Perhaps it has something to do with the amount of ram you have installed I only have 2Gb while you have 4GB.

 

or perhaps it has to do with both windows vista and amount of memory because adino has xp and it shows the exact amount of mem. that he set in bios

 

I have 2gb also, and it's only using whatever I set in the BIOS. So I don't think it's that, so it has to be Vista and the drivers that are using all that memory.

 

Vista automatically share ram with whatever gpu you have...

 

Perhaps; when I had my Toshiba with a Radeon 9100 IGP, the amount of graphics memory was adjustable in XP. In Vista, you could right-click> Personalize> Display Settings> Advanced. Search the tabs for settings that allow you to change the frame buffer.