CanYouRunIt? A question about video RAM.

[MrEco]

I'm sure many of you are familiar with CanYouRunIt?, since I first heard about the service on this very forum.

But I'm seriously perplexed about one thing. I understand that they are known to get it wrong some times, but recently I've noticed that they sometimes tell me my computer specs are different depending on what game I'm testing. Specifically with my video RAM.

For example, if I test whether or not my computer can run Skyrim, it says I only have 64 MB of vRAM. While if I test it against Borderlands, it say's I have 1.7 GB's of RAM.

Now I'm quite sure the 1.7 statistic is a more accurate guess, since I've played quite a few games (Skyrim among them, as well as other games like Black Ops 2) that run just fine despite CanYouRunIt? claiming I only have 64 MB and therefor not enough to meet minimum system requirements.

So does anyone know what causes (Or could be causing) this? It's not a huge deal, but I'm rather curious.

As a side note, it's literally always those same two numbers. It always say's I either have 64 MB or 1.7 GB's.

[emwearz]

Does Borderlands say you have 1.7gb of System Ram or Vram? I know of no GPU that has 1.7gb of ram on them.

Which graphics card do you actually have in your rig?

If you don't know, paste a screenshot of the main screen.
http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/

My guess would be your using an onboard with 64mb of onboard ram, that can use up to 1.7gb of your system ram, depending on the games profile it either detects the total amount available, or the dedicated amount available. Though I would think you would be struggling to run Skyrim with an onboard.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

^ Bingo

I was thinking of a shared VRAM card as well. Stuff like the 9400m/320m/Various Intel graphics.

[MrEco]

Well the Borderlands test definitely does say video RAM, not system RAM. But perhaps it doesn't differentiate, cause I've never seen a listing for system RAM on the site.

And you are correct, I am using an onboard graphic's card. Specifically the Intel Graphics 4000. But honestly, on all around medium settings but with the antialiasing (And one other thing I can't remember) turned off and the texture quality set to high I can run Skyrim fine with roughly 60 FPS (It dips down a bit occasionally but is mostly solid).


Also, before anyone says anything, yes I know onboard graphics cards are much worse than dedicated ones for a gaming computer. But I had a bit of a budget to keep with, lol.

[Hobie-wan]

If DX 10 and up still include it, you could bring up the run box and do DXDIAG. The first page should show system memory and the display tab should show video memory. But shared onboard memory can change around and confuse things.

[emwearz]

Well then that will be why, it will be using shared RAM.

What res do you run Skyrim at? (Just interested).

[MrEco]

Full screen 1360 x 768.

I tried running it in windowed mode since that always seems to give me an even better framerate (And therefor I could turn a couple more settings up by a bit). But for some reason Skyrim will only let me run it in 1280 x 720 max (much smaller than my screen) when in windowed mode, and also doesn't have the option of a borderless window.

Now a bordered window I could put up with if I had to to squeeze out a bit better framerate, but I can't stand playing games on my PC when I can clearly see my desktop in the background.

[emwearz]

Full screen 1360 x 768.

That makes more sense to me now.

[MrEco]

Full screen 1360 x 768.

That makes more sense to me now.

Lol, how's that? Is that a very low resolution?

[Hobie-wan]

Full screen 1360 x 768.

That makes more sense to me now.

Lol, how's that? Is that a very low resolution?

Yes, that's low.

*looks at consoles and console games bragging about running at 720p*

I mean no, not at all. *cough*

But seriously, it is is the grand scheme of penis waggling in regards to PC prowess, but if it's playable and you're enjoying it while keeping withing a budget, that's fine. When I was playing Stalker, I was running it at a lower resolution than native for my LCD so I could turn up some of the shinies. Aside from some text being a little grainier everything still looked great and I just enjoyed playing the game.