Question on graphics cards & Ram

calza

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Shiney new laptop ... hp elitebook 840 g1 with an i7-4600u, 8750m & 4gb of ram.

Now It's running dog slow and I think it might be the ram?

It's showing as 2.20 Gb useable, and resource manager shows 1845MB hardware reserved. My guess is that it's the i7 graphics hogging this for it's own ram. Solution is surely to disable it and just use the 8750m?

Thing is I can't see anywhere in BIOS to do this. Am I barking up the wrong tree here or is this why it's running so slow?
 

cdrkf

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Mar 18, 2013
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Hi, 2gb of usable ram is too low! Unfortunately I don't think you can disable the built in graphics on the Core i7 as it's used by default for windows to save power.

You might be able to reduce the amount of ram it takes- it usually listed as 'frame buffer' in the bios if that helps. The only other option is to buy more memory (ram isn't that expensive, an 8gb kit would solve your issue I think).
 

calza

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The only option I saw in bios was video memory, and it was set to 512mb which is a bit short of the 1845 being used! I can drop this to 32.

If I do set this to 32mb, will it be ok because anything that requires more it will just switch to the 8750m and it's 1gb dedicated?

Stuck on 32bit due to software limitations sadly :(
 

geofelt

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If your os is 32 bit, that could be your problem.
A 32 bit os reserves ram for hardware buffers.

If your os is 64 bit, then add more ram, it is relatively cheap.

Since you have both integrated graphics and discrete graphics, there should be a bios setting that allocates the amount of ram set aside for integrated video. Possibly there is a similar setting in the graphics driver settings.
Or... is there a setting to turn off the integrated display adapter?

 

calza

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Like I said, I'm 99% sure I can't turn off the integrated (Unless I disable it in device manager!). I can reduce the memory allocation down from 512mb to 32mb. I think this is the option I need most? As long as it won't negatively affect anything ...
 

geofelt

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Since you must be on a 32 bit os, added ram will not help.

I suggest you consider changing out your hard drive for a SSD.
I have done so on my sony vaio which also runs w7-32 bit.
I have both integrated and dedicated graphics. (selectable with a keyboard switch)
You may be doing lots of demand paging that a SSD can handle very nicely.
For what it is worth, properties shows 4.0 ram, 2.41gb useable.
Task manager at idle shows kernel to total 254mb.

I have no performance issues even playing civ4.
 

pm4

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Apr 28, 2014
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Even if you disable that HD graphics on CPU, you still won't get 4gb ram. if 8750m have 1gb of memory it will still reserve that memory so at best you will get to around 3gb of memory and over 1gb reserved for hardware.

That 32 bit limit contains all memory in PC. Which is actually bit more than just ram and gpu ram but other memories are lot smaller so not really important in this matter.
 

cdrkf

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Given your limited amount of ram, have you considered loading Linux on it instead? It tends to need much less memory. If you're unsure if it will work, you can boot it from a live CD or memory stick without installing anything to test it. I'd recommend Ubuntu as it's the most polished distribution and doesn't require programmer levels of knowledge to actually use.
 

calza

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I can't, it's partially a works machine (supplied but limited support) and I doubt the bespoke software would work outside of windows environment.

What would happen if I lowered the onboard graphics to say the lowest (32mb), would that in theory free up ~400mb for useage? How would it impact video performance. I'm hoping windows would be clever enough to switch to the discrete if the 32mb onboard wasn't enough?
 

cdrkf

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32 mb might be a bit low. If you have too little memory you'll be limited on screen resolution or colour depth. Drop it to 64 mb would be a better option. Otherwise it should be fine. For anything 3-D the system should be using the 8750m card as that is much faster. The only case where too low a frame buffer might hurt is accelerated web aps (as web browsers will not be aware of the dual cards and will probably default to the integrated chip).

I'd reccomend trying it and see how you get on, you can always put the setting back again if it causes problems.
 

calza

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It'll be running 2 monitors at 1920x1080 if that changes your suggestion from 64mb minimum?

In the power management thing (via CCC) it's set so that when plugged in it should maximise performance for every application including chrome. So that means everything should run off the 8750m? (Apart from a few which are locked to power saving mode).
 

cdrkf

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The 8750 M will only come on when running something 3D.

For normal windows use it will default to the built graphics I'm afraid. The problem is that the display is actually connected to the integrated graphics chip- and that passes the signal from the dedicated chip through it when it's in use. There's no way to bypass the integrated graphics chip due to the design of the CPU and chip set.

As for memory, I'm not sure how much frame buffer is needed for dual 1920 x 1080 screens, probably more than 64mb. Try it at 128 mb and see what happens.
 

calza

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I see, that explanation actually helps a lot thanks!

If I disabled the 8750m would that free up a gb of ram, and let the built in do all the work? (My old machine was a desktop with an i5, 4gb of ram and no discrete card. It ran fine although I don't know the the allocaiton was 512mb or 1024mb).
 

cdrkf

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I'm not sure, it might be worth a try!

If you're not doing gaming then the 8570m really isn't being used for anything.
 

calza

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I'm definitely not gaming! So for general office tasks the 8750 is pointless pretty much?

What's the best way to disable it? (No bios option). Can I just disable it in device manager?

Cheers!
 

cdrkf

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That's the only way I think you can disable it to be honest. What I'm not sure about is if, once disabled, windows will ignore its physical memory or not?

All I can say is try and and see what happens.
 

calza

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Didn't work, and it would only drive one monitor :) Oh well!

Guess I'll have to deal with the shitty performance. I doubt it's all ram related anyway ... even loading windows takes an age.
 

cdrkf

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It probably could do with a bit of TLC. You could try a bit of system maintenance software to give it a tune up.

I'd recommend 'Advanced System Care' (free version) as that includes a range of tools including a registry maintenance programme, defrag and so on. It might just get it working a bit more smoothly again.

http://www.iobit.com/advanced-systemcare-antivirus.php