Can't Increase 'Dedicated Video Memory' Due To Restrictive BIOS

[spartan00]

I'm stuck with this laptop while I wait for my main system's problems are sorted. Seeing the specs for this thing, it should at least be able to play lighter e-sport games like CSGO. Simply put, it doesn't.


It seems that no matter what I tried within the game, the performance would just tank. At a resolution of 640X480 and graphics settings set to its lowest, the game runs at a measly 15fps.


I tried various monitoring apps to find two things: the graphics is only given 384MB of dedicated video memory to work with, and the integrated graphics frequency tops out at 300ish MHz instead of AMD's specified 720MHz. The latter will be discussed in a seperate thread.


Is there any way to increase the amount of dedicated vid memory in this laptop? The BIOS doesn't have the option to increase this (or even allow to change anything aside from boot order). Does adding more RAM to the system automatically add the amount of assigned video memory?


Answers, especially those that resolve the issue, are highly apreciated.

Confirmed by Radeon Settings to only have 384MBSorry mate. This was intended for a different threadYup, can't change anything

[WAWood · Accepted solution]

@spartan00

Sorry. but the answer to both of your questions is no -- you can not allocated more RAM to VRAM, and adding more system memory will not add more VRAM.

[spartan00]

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@WAWood wrote:

@spartan00

Sorry. but the answer to both of your questions is no -- you can not allocated more RAM to VRAM, and adding more system memory will not add more VRAM.

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Well that kinda sucked. I can't believe HP would bottleneck their systems this way.

Are you sure adding more RAM wouldn't help though? I have a feeling that HP's BIOS will automatically adjust itself when more RAM is added.

Thanks

[David_J_W]

The Maintenance and Service Guide for your system indicates that your system has integrated Radeon graphics - see the table on page 1, I believe your system falls into the penultimate column (headed "Touch UMA A12, A10"). UMA means "Unified Memory Architecture" - there is no dedicated GPU memory bus, instead the GPU shares the system memory bus. The BIOS dedicates some memory to the GPU and the GPU has access to further memory from a shared area. Installing additional RAM might increase the dedicated GPU memory, but it might not.

Yours is a budget laptop with integrated graphics that isn't sold as a gaming rig. The GPU setup will have been designed primarily for web browsing (including video decoding) and desktop application use. The thermal solution in the laptop will likely not be designed for running the GPU at 100% for long periods, so the clock speed may well be throttled fairly aggressively.

[spartan00]

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@David_J_W wrote:

The Maintenance and Service Guide for your system indicates that your system has integrated Radeon graphics - see the table on page 1, I believe your system falls into the penultimate column (headed "Touch UMA A12, A10"). UMA means "Unified Memory Architecture" - there is no dedicated GPU memory bus, instead the GPU shares the system memory bus. The BIOS dedicates some memory to the GPU and the GPU has access to further memory from a shared area. Installing additional RAM might increase the dedicated GPU memory, but it might not.

Yours is a budget laptop with integrated graphics that isn't sold as a gaming rig. The GPU setup will have been designed primarily for web browsing (including video decoding) and desktop application use. The thermal solution in the laptop will likely not be designed for running the GPU at 100% for long periods, so the clock speed may well be throttled fairly aggressively.

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David

That's exactly what I mean. Considering that this laptop uses an APU/iGPU, the machine uses system RAM as VRAM. By my own experience, systems like this  usually allows adjusting the amount of system RAM to be allocated as VRAM. Unfortunately, this one doesn't.

I also wouldn't call this machine a 'gaming rig' per se, which is why I would not even get close to heavier titles. I'm just disappointed that the system wouldn't handle games that are usually playable on integrated graphics, something any portable AMD A10-based systems should be able to.

Seeing from the same service manual, I could tell that the cooling system wouldn't handle a maxed out Radeon R5, but HP should at least have the decency to LET it run at that speed or give it an option to.

All in all, I'm a tad disappointed with how locked down the system is. 

Thanks everyone.