XP Pro SP3 reporting Video RAM incorrectly for Intel(R) 82865G Graphics Controller

[Bear003]

Intel(R) 82865G Graphics Controller

BIOS says my Video RAM is 256MB's. Windows XP Pro SP3 reports graphics adapter max Video RAM as 96MB's. I was told that a BIOS upgrade from Dell would resolve this. I have installed the latest BIOS upgrade from Dell's site without any problems, but this did not resolve the issue. I have looked in many places online for any Adapter driver upgrades but I seem to have the latest available.

This computer is a Dell Optiplex GX270. I bought it refurbished and upgraded. It has 2GB's of RAM which is important to know when looking over the Intel link mentioned below.

If replying to this post please look over this link from Intel first, maybe this is the whole issue in a nut shell and I simply don't understand it. However, the people that sold it to me had a customer that resolved this issue and had Windows XP reporting the Video RAM correctly as 256MB max, but his solution was the latest BIOS upgrade from Dell which I already have.

http://support.intel.com/support/graphics/intel865g/sb/CS-009174.htm

I have also tried to find a Video Game that would require more than 96MB of Video RAM and see if it will run, however, most of the ones that require that much Video RAM also require hardware T&L which this integrated video adapter does not support.

I have downloaded and ran Civilization IV demo, and it runs, but it's minimum Video RAM requirements are only 64MB's which still doesn't help me check if it will work with something that requires more than 96MB's of Video RAM to run.

In any case whatever application or game I try to run if it bases its Video RAM requirement on what Windows XP is reporting it will be incorrect anyway.

This is a link on Intel's site that shows what video games they say will run with this graphics adapter. I include it as additional information for research on this issue.

http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/CS-010472.htm

Thanks for any and all help!

[caperjack]

I no expert about this for sure ,but just reading the first link and the last ? states=
The sum total cannot exceed 96MB.
and this =
Pre-allocated memory is invisible to the operating system.
The additional memory requested by the application is relinquished back to the operating system upon exit by the Intel Extreme Graphics Driver.

also ,my opinion is that onboard graphics are only good for basic games and any really good new games need a good AGP or PCI-E video card

[Bear003]

Thanks for your response caperjack.
I agree about the comment on a better video card for games. I'm just trying to make sure I got what I paid for. Which was suppose to be 256MB's Video RAM. I talked to Dell tech. support after posting this and they basically said it uses shadowed RAM for the Video and does let it go to 256MB's of RAM, but just doesn't show up as that until a game or application actually needs it. So I'm still looking for a game or any application that will require a minimum of more than 96MB of Video RAM to make sure it does use the max 256MB shadowed RAM like it is suppose to.

I am having a great deal of difficulty locating a game or application like that though since most games that would need that also need a lot of other things that this integrated video chipset just don't do.

Thanks again!

[caperjack]

I am having a great deal of difficulty locating a game or application like that though since most games that would need that also need a lot of other things that this integrated video chipset just don't do.
Thanks again!

yeah, a correct statement for sure ,and you most likely will not find such a beast !

[shadecomputers]

Thanks for your response caperjack.
I agree about the comment on a better video card for games. I'm just trying to make sure I got what I paid for. Which was suppose to be 256MB's Video RAM. I talked to Dell tech. support after posting this and they basically said it uses shadowed RAM for the Video and does let it go to 256MB's of RAM, but just doesn't show up as that until a game or application actually needs it. So I'm still looking for a game or any application that will require a minimum of more than 96MB of Video RAM to make sure it does use the max 256MB shadowed RAM like it is suppose to.

I am having a great deal of difficulty locating a game or application like that though since most games that would need that also need a lot of other things that this integrated video chipset just don't do.

Thanks again!

I dont know if you are still looking at this thread but if you are I have the same video card. I own a computer repair business, and I made thsi computer with a dell dimension 1100 motherboard that I had as a spare, and after I finished loading Windows XP Pro it showed my video card as a 256mb card, then after I installed the bios update from dell it showed as a 96mb just like yours. This is a very good feature. It is a little slower at loading games, but what makes it so good is that most other onboard graphics controllers do not reallocate the ram after you open, or close a game, so everything becomes slow, and drags because the ram is still utilized to something you are not even using anymore, like a game, or windows applications, programs etc. This controller frees upp all of the ram for you so that you will not have this problem. It is definatley 256mb though. Hope this is helpful to you!
Dave Shade
(Shade Computer Repair)

[Bear003]

Thanks for the reply Dave and sorry I didn't post back to you sooner. I did load a lot of different Video ram hog type games. I think the best one I used was Civilization IV and the latest Doom. I'm not really much into gaming anymore just wanted to make sure I did get what I paid for and forgot to come back here and post this as resolved. It never shows more than 96MB's but it's obviously using more than that on some of the games I tried. However, it is nice to hear from another tech. that has the same board and knows the facts to confirm it. I will mark this one as solved now.

Thanks Again!

[shadecomputers]

It is absolutely my pleasure to help you with this. Good luck in the future and come back anytime for any help you may need!