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PC Spec Question
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flashiv:
Very true lilshawn, lots of people don't know that on-board video does take away from your memory.
smalltownguy:
Lilshawn's comment only applies if the video is using shared video RAM. Most systems with on-board video don't. At least not in my field experience. For example, at my workplace, we have approx 100 workstations, ranging from an Intel Celeron 1.1 setup to a Core2 quad 2.8 that I just built last May. All have on-board video except 1 workstation utilizing  a dual monitor setup - that system has a separate PCIe graphics card.

Out of the rest of the population, I have only inventoried 2 systems that are using shared video RAM - both are AMD rigs.

MAME won't benefit much with a multi-core processor unless it's a recent version, and even then you won't see much improvement. I'm perfectly happy with my P4 3.2 HT setup. No, I cannot run Blitz, but neither can the guy with the latest and greatest Octo-core madness either. MAME's development has not really moved much into the multi-threaded realm yet.
bkenobi:

--- Quote from: smalltownguy on November 18, 2010, 11:12:50 am ---Lilshawn's comment only applies if the video is using shared video RAM. Most systems with on-board video don't. At least not in my field experience.

--- End quote ---
You have some unique experience then.  Since the inception of onboard video (essentially), the video RAM is segmented off of the system RAM through a BIOS setting.  I have an OLD system (P3 or P4 I think) that has 256MB or system memory.  I can select up to 128MB of video memory in BIOS.  That would be HORRIBLE, but possible.  Anyway, unless onboard video has changed architecture in the last 2-3 years, memory is still shared.
flashiv:

--- Quote from: bkenobi on November 18, 2010, 11:27:04 am ---
--- Quote from: smalltownguy on November 18, 2010, 11:12:50 am ---Lilshawn's comment only applies if the video is using shared video RAM. Most systems with on-board video don't. At least not in my field experience.

--- End quote ---
You have some unique experience then.  Since the inception of onboard video (essentially), the video RAM is segmented off of the system RAM through a BIOS setting.  I have an OLD system (P3 or P4 I think) that has 256MB or system memory.  I can select up to 128MB of video memory in BIOS.  That would be HORRIBLE, but possible.  Anyway, unless onboard video has changed architecture in the last 2-3 years, memory is still shared.

--- End quote ---

I have to say that my experiences match bkenobi's also.  We have 70 machines and all have shared video RAM.
newmanfamilyvlogs:
Even more ironically, the two systems I can think of that I've used with onboard video that DIDN'T share ram (ie, they had their own onboard dedicated ram) were AMD systems.
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