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Integrated HD graphics - workaround solution for dedicated video memory

NSam1
Beginner
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After extensive search on the internet, the only useful thread i found is in these forums ( ). My system (Thinkpad T410 laptop - see attached image below for details) has integrated Intel HD graphics. I took image below by going to Intel Control Center, to show the details of the GPU/system. "Process Manager" reports only 64MB of dedicated memory to GPU and i understand that system will use the shared memory as needed. But, streaming video is stutters, and I want to allocate more into the dedicated GPU memory (since i am usually using only half my RAM). I tried creating the Registry entry as pointed in the above URL, and assigned 256 (decimal) to the entry i created. Reboot system -> still has only 64MB dedicated to GPU. Is there any work around to increase the GPU dedicated memory, so that system does not have to dynamically intervene into video operations ? (I have the latest drivers installed with a SSD in system; BIOS has no options to change VRAM).

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NSam1
Beginner
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By the way, i also came across another internet thread (http://www.forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=120495 How To Get More V Ram Memory From HD Graphics On A T410? ) that has a posting / URL to download, where i can find & install a "modified driver". I have no further info but this modified driver would increase the dedicated vram on this laptop. I am uncomfortable with that idea, as we have no clue as to what goes into a device driver that comes from a non-authority source. If someone has posted a modded driver in Intel forums, i would be more comfortable with the idea i guess. Comments on this welcome. Thanks.

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idata
Employee
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Hello seekingbuddha,

 

 

If you tried the suggestion posted by Bryce@Intel and it did not work then from our end there is no much we can do. In some Laptops in the BIOS there is an option to increase the dedicated video ram called DVMT; you can see the following thread:

 

/thread/20552 https://communities.intel.com/thread/20552

 

 

Basically this depends on your motherboard BIOS and the way DVMT option appear. If this is not there you can contact your Laptop manufacturer to check if there is a BIOS update that can support this configuration.

 

 

I'm sorry from our end this is all the support we can provide.

 

 

Best regards,

 

 

 

Ivan.

 

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NSam1
Beginner
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Hi Intel support Rep,

Thanks for your answer. I will contact Lenovo but there is not much hope since their support is nowhere near Intel support in these community forums. So, i am on my own to try and find a proper driver on intel website, since Lenovo has not updated video drivers in many years (my T410 is an old model). Now, in order to find the right driver from Intel website, for my "Integrated Intel HD graphics GPU", i need to first find out what exactly is the version of HD GRaphics GPU that is Integrated into my motherboard. How would i find out the exact model number of my Intel HD graphics ? Note that i have posted the relevant output from Intel Management Engine/Software in the images i posted with original post.

I am pursuing this to the end, even though hope is low because I can not stand the stuttering and poor performance in simple video streaming from HULU.com or netflix. I am not even playing games on this, which are more demanding than video streaming. So, i can not understand how to fix this issue. CPU is spiking upto 80% during video playback even though i have a Intel i7 at 2.7Ghz - the only explanation i can think of is that CPU is sharing the load of the GPU in order deal with the shortage of VRAM etc......

Thanks for your support.

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idata
Employee
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NSam1
Beginner
2,531 Views

Thanks Intel. Installing the above mentioned driver (which my manufacturer/Lenovo did not supply) has helped slightly. I am noticing that GPU is using more of system memory (which i had plenty of while video streaming, but previous driver was not using as much as this new is using). So, the video playback has improved definitely, and i am also noticing that more of "Shared memory usage" now. But, the video stuttering/freezing has not stopped completely. That is a shame, when there is 1.6GB of shared memory allocated to GPU, but it is only taking up about 250 MB to 300MB for a video playback (in addition to the 64MB that is dedicated to GPU). It would be nice if Intel takes notice of this fact, and changes the video driver in future, to more effectively use shared memory because video streaming has become an integral part of a large population in USA. Thanks much for the pointers. Lenovo support sucks and Intel support is more active in replying in forums.

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idata
Employee
2,531 Views

I'm glad that this driver helped you at least a little bit, with your system; most likely this is a limitation from Lenovo.

 

 

With most recent computer technology there is more dedicated video memory available, but this is the previous graphics version that it was launch at the beginning of 2010 so at his point the support for this graphics is limited from our side especially because of OEMs limitations.

 

 

 

Regards,

 

 

Ivan.

 

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