Video Cards and BIOS problems

[lutan]

First off, let me say that I'm not PC Technical Junkie (!) so any replies need to be in as plain English as possible!!!!

According to the specifications of my machine, I have a standards 64mb Intel Extreme Graphics video card. Yet when I check the BIOS, it only allows me to set the mb to either 1mb or 8mb....

If it is a 64mb card, shouldn't the BIOS allow me to set it to 64mb or am I barking way up the wrong tree and should go back to knitting and playing Solitaire, not PC upgrade stuff??!!

Also, after having numerous contacts with HP, they are suggesting there is no problem with my machine, but I am welcome to upgrade the video card. (They even explained the slots and types I should be looking for!)- That seems to suggest to me that there may in fact be a problem....

[Heon2574]

Some motherboards require a certain amount of system memory for it to allocate 64 megs to shared video ram. if you only have 128 or so then you'll only be able to allocate around 8 or 16 megs (i think).

If you're gonna play any of the latest 3d games on your machine I highly recommend upgrading your graphics card. DO NOT BOTHER WITH ONBOARD GRAPHICS. THEY'RE SLOW AND good for nothing more than web browsing and office apps.


"Also, after having numerous contacts with HP, they are suggesting there is no problem with my machine, but I am welcome to upgrade the video card. (They even explained the slots and types I should be looking for!)- That seems to suggest to me that there may in fact be a problem...."

Don't jump to conclusions, i think he/she may be giving you valuable advice.

[lutan]

Some motherboards require a certain amount of system memory for it to allocate 64 megs to shared video ram. if you only have 128 or so then you'll only be able to allocate around 8 or 16 megs

Thanks heon for the reply. I'm running 768mb of RAM....

The current card is an onboard one- I just wanted to ensure there was no fault with anything before I part with money to upgrade....