128MB VRAM OR 256MB VRAM?

Currently i have a mbp cd with 256vram.This weekend ,i am going to buy a new mbp c2d.Which one should i get the $ 1999 model with 128mb vram or the $ 2499 model with 256mb vram?. I have an extra gig of ram so, in both models i`ll have 2gb memory so what do you guys think? Would you spend $ 500 for an extra 128mb vram?
Cheers

well I dunno, you tell me. you should check the docs of all your video software and see what they have to say about required or prefered specs for video cards and the amount of video RAM. also, go to the FCP, motion, DVD studio pro forums and ask people there what their experiences are about it all.. personally, I wouldn't know because video is not my thing.
still, my instincts tell me it's probably a no-brainer.. you should just get the best video card with the most video RAM available, because you are working in video..

Similar Messages

Hardware profile says 256MB vram but I have MBP with 128MB vram

Today I ran the Apple hardware test from the install CD's and afterwards, I checked out the hardware profile. It said I had a total of 256MB of vram. I have the 2.2ghz MBP model with only 128MB vram, so I'm not sure why it would say 256MB. Can anyone shed some light on this matter? Thanks.

Here's the answer:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=305638
I had that problem too. Secretly hoping that Apple had put a 256mb vram 8600GT card in by mistake haha. ;p

How different is Windows Vista run on Macbook Pro with 128MB and 256MB VRAM

Hi guys,
I am going to buy a MacBook Pro soon. But I am struggling picking the right model for me due to that I am not sure how differently Windows Vista is run on them.
I don't use much CPU intensive programs. CPU power is not an issue to me. RAM? I will install 2GHz of it regardless which model I will buy. The only thing worries me is the VRAM.
I would love to have smooth experience with the Aero effects. So how much will the difference in VRAM really make?

At this time Windows Vista is not fully supported by using Apples Boot Camp program. It has been done but people that I personally know that have done it have not much success. I currently am running Windows Vista (non beta) in a parallels session and it runs quite nicely. But I don't get the Aero effects. I would certainly suggest 256MB VRAM Microsoft suggests 128 and their suggestions are for minimal performance. 256 will give you the best performance. Hope this helps.
PS Welcome to Apple Discussions.

IMac Intel 20" with ATI X1600 256MB VRAM

I ordered my iMac Intel 20" with 256MB VRAM Video card. when I go to 'About this Mac', it does show that there is 256MB VRAM but when I ran the Hardware Diagnostics DVD, it only shows 128MB VRAM.
I was wondering if anybody else has this "problem".

yep... there have been some posts about this...most likely it is a bug in the hardware test.
No worries, mate.

I have a Macbook Pro june 2011... I have 8GB ram but I only have 256mb VRAM... I've read some other questions about this and I realized... Why do I not have 560mb of VRAM since I have 8GB of RAM? Is there any way to get more VRAM to play games on steam?

I have a Macbook Pro june 2011... I have 8GB ram but I only have 256mb VRAM...
I've read some other questions about this and I realized... Why do I not have 560mb of VRAM since I have 8GB of RAM?
Is there any way to get more VRAM to play games on steam?
I've learned by reading other topics that I can't upgrade my graphics card on my Macbook Pro because it's soldered into the motherboard or somthing like that, but please tell me if there is any way to get more video ram by chaning some setting or upgrading something else. I'd also like to know why I only have 256MB of VRAM when I have 8GB of RAM, since I have 8GB of RAM I thought I was supposed to have 560mb of VRAM...
So the two questions are...
Is there any way to upgrade my VRAM, so that I can play games on steam?
Why do I only have 256MB VRAM when I have 8GB total RAM?
Other Info:
I have a quad core i7 Processor.
My graphcics card is the AMD Radeon HD 6490M.
I am also trying to play games on my BOOTCAMPed side of my mac, or my Windows 7 Professional side.
THANK YOU SO MUCH IF YOU CAN REPLY,
Dylan

The only two items that a user can change on a MBP are the RAM and HDD (Retinas not included). You have what the unit came with and the only way you will be able to change that is to purchase a MBP with superior graphics
If you are very much into gaming, the I suggest A PC. They are far superior for that type of application to a MBP.
Ciao.

My MBP 15" early 2008 / 10.6 ((2.4GHz Core 2 Duo/2GB/256MB VRAM/200GB 5400rpm) is not working after looking to aYouTube short film. It made a strange strong noise , I closed it and when I switched on again I have a gray display and a frozen wheel o

My MBP 15" early 2008 / 10.6 ((2.4GHz Core 2 Duo/2GB/256MB VRAM/200GB 5400rpm) is not working after looking to aYouTube short film. It made a strange strong noise , I closed it and when I switched on again I have a gray display and a frozen wheel on it... Can you help? Do I have to repair or change any part ? Thanks

That model has a known fault in that Nvidea sold Apple and other computer manufacturers bad GeForce 8600M GT video chipsets that failed eventually. Apple had a program that repaired this at no cost to the owner but it expired almost two years ago.
If this is what happened to yours, and the symptoms suggest so, the only proper fix is a new logic board and I amd pretty sure Apple no longer has parts. When my Late 2007 MBP (same faulty chipset) failed, Apple told me there were no more parts and they could not even do the fixed-rate "depot repair" on mine even though I was willing to pay the ~US$300 for the repair.
The early 2008 MBP is on the vintage and obsolete list:
Vintage and obsolete products - Apple Support
The fact that yours is shown as "vintage" means Apple will not work on it but an independent service provider MAY be able to get the parts from Apple. However, as so may new logic boards were required to satisfy the repair program, from a practical standpoint boards for these are hard to find.

Will 256mb vram make a diff

I'm considering the iMac 20 inch. The stock config is fine for me since ram is easy to upgrade aftermarket. But the video ram makes me wonder. Is it worth it?
I primarily will use ilife, iwork, and some photo manipulation software. iPhoto is doesn't have enough editing capability for me (ah...if it only had unsharp mask and highlights and shadows it'd be perfect) So I'd be using either elements in emulation or the lightroom beta. I don't do much gaming. I haven't found a game I'm interested in buying in a bit over a year. So it appears that phase of my life is done.
So...what do you guys think? Buy and off the shelf iMac or do BTO to get the 256mb vram?

Thanks gang. I posted this question in a couple other forums and the response is running something like 10 to 1 to get the extra VRAM. ...and several have also brought up increasing RAM at the same time. You're right...it's expensive, but not too much of a markup as there used to be in the past.
I was basing my decision to go stock on fear...if I didn't like the machine or it didn't work, I could take it back to an applestore for return (with restock fee) or switch it out if it's broken out of the box. But if I customize it...it's mine. I'll have to repair it if I'm unfortunate enough to get a bad one. Even when I brought this up on the other forums, the response was to still get the VRAM and memory.
Thanks again

Will this card work? - Nvidia Geforce 6800 ULTRA 256MB VRAM AGP Video Card

I posted a question about getting the maximum resolution from an Apple 30 inch Cinema Display and another card, which didn't work.
The replies were fast here in the forum and quite correct.
My next question is regarding the Nvidia Geforce 6800 ULTRA 256MB VRAM AGP Video Card.
I have an AGP card with an ATi Radeon 9600 Pro card that can't power the 30 inch because it's only 64MB and no DVI output.
I'm wondering whether this card will give me the maximum resolution?
Thanks again.

Hi Japamac-
Thanks for the quick reply.
My System Profiler indicates a ATI Radeon 9600 Pro, but it doesn't have the Dual Link since this is an older G5 with only 64MB of VRAM.
The GeForce 6800 is a refurb, but is Mac compatible.
I'm hoping that it will work, but since it won't be returnable, I don't want to spend the money needlessly.
I did order another card that the Apple support suggested should be compatible, but turned out that they sent me the PC version.
I've spoken to Apple as well and get conflicting info.
It boils down to the fact that this is a G5 with a late 2004 date.
It is fast enough for me and my only hang up is that I'm only getting 12980X800 resolution.
I'm not using it for gaming or graphics processing.
HTH.

128mb vs 256mb vram?

Well, our 9 month old 2.0 CD failed for the 3rd time and it's being replaced by the newer 2.16 C2D. We're getting a faster cpu but we're losing some mem on the video card. How much will that affect things (iMovie rendering, games on Bootcamp)?

from TweakGuides.com :
The VRAM Stores the Data
The data entering the graphics card is now stored on the card's own local memory, called Video RAM (VRAM), just two chips of which are circled in red above. These onboard VRAM chips provide a similar service to that of regular system RAM on your motherboard; a temporary storage area designed to help speed up calculations by the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) - circled in yellow above. Basically as you can see, your graphics card is almost like a miniature PC within itself, with its own CPU (GPU), RAM (VRAM) and motherboard (PCB), and operates in much the same way. VRAM in particular not only serves as storage point for data to be calculated for rendering, it also holds completed images (frames) ready for sending to your monitor - see Step 8 further below for details.
This is the reason why the amount of VRAM is increasingly becoming larger and more important on modern graphics cards. The more information that can be held onboard the graphics card's VRAM, the more quickly the GPU can process data and not have to pause to allow more data to be loaded up into VRAM. For example, games with high resolution textures require more VRAM space. When space runs out in VRAM, existing unused textures have to be switched out and new ones loaded up from your hard drive and/or system RAM into the VRAM. This slight pause which results is commonly referred to as hitching (when data loads into VRAM) or stuttering (when data loads up from the hard drive first), and is most noticeable when you enter new areas or see new objects during a game. Your graphics card literally pauses to wait for new data to be loaded for display before continuing.
Performance Tip: This step highlights the importance of having more VRAM on your graphics card. If running a game on a card with less VRAM, you must lower your texture settings and/or resolution, otherwise you will get more hitching/stuttering as data is constantly swapped into and out of the VRAM. This is particularly true if you have a slower hard drive and less system RAM as well. Note further that cooling the VRAM properly is also essential, as almost all cases of noticeable graphical glitches (also called 'Artifacts'), and many crashes and lockups, are due to overheating VRAM. Remember that the temperature sensor on your graphics card is not located on the VRAM - it is on or close to the GPU; so your VRAM can often run much hotter.

Leopard ATIRadeonx1000GLDriver.bundle broken for 256MB vram imacs

I have been troubleshooting opengl problems on my 2 GHz intel core duo with ATI RadeonX1600 with 256 MB vram.
If I boot in safe mode everything looks good.
If remove the ATIRadeonx1000GLDriver.bundle from the /System/Library/Extensions/ folder the display looks good but front row and probably anything else that uses quartz extreme stops working.
The problem I'm trying to eliminate are:
distorted graphics in front row, they look like a twisted perspective and are being drawn in the wrong locations
little black dots in my video window
System Preferences window has thin vertical tears rainbow colors
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Ben

I have been troubleshooting opengl problems on my 2 GHz intel core duo with ATI RadeonX1600 with 256 MB vram.
If I boot in safe mode everything looks good.
If remove the ATIRadeonx1000GLDriver.bundle from the /System/Library/Extensions/ folder the display looks good but front row and probably anything else that uses quartz extreme stops working.
The problem I'm trying to eliminate are:
distorted graphics in front row, they look like a twisted perspective and are being drawn in the wrong locations
little black dots in my video window
System Preferences window has thin vertical tears rainbow colors
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Ben

128MB vs. 256MB Video Card for External Monitor?

I may want to run an external monitor for Final Cut Pro HD. Will getting the 2.16 Processor with its 256MB Video Card drive an external monitor any better than the 1.83 w/ 128MB Video Card? TIA
BTW, I won't be "gaming" at all. Just doing a little FCP HD...
20 G5 iMac/2 GB RAM/250 GB HD Mac OS X (10.4.2)

Randy, I believe you have great technical knowledge
(much more than me) and your math is unobjectionable.
But in my opinion 16% of the graphic card's capacity
just to light up the monitors is not a low figure.
Actually, for generic 2D stuff that doesn't involve OpenGL, Randy has it correct. You'll find that VRAM makes absolutely no difference to Photoshop, for instance. A couple of big screens will happily run on 64MB VRAM.
Once you start running pro applications on those
monitors, and expect real-time responsiveness and
lower and lower rendering times; you might come to
realize that 128MB of VRAM is enough, it's a lot...
but not excessive.
You only need the extra VRAM for apps that specifically use the graphic card, through OpenGL, Core Image, Core Video or similar. Of course, there are more and more apps which leverage the graphics card this way, so 256MB is going to be more future-proof, and is what I went for.

Vram vs shared Vram?

I'm considering new Imac 2.66 with shared vram or last gen 2.8 with dedicated vram. I plan to do some home video editing and my sons play WOW.
I'm not sure what the realworld difference is but, I'm sure dedicated vram is better.
Could someone clarify this in a way that even I can understand?
Thanks

Well, the 2.66 uses the shared 256Mb, however it is faster memory than before.
The new iMac has a whole new chipset with faster memory and core graphics support. If you do anything with graphics, I recommend purchasing the newer iMac than the older one (even if it is the 2.66 with dedicated). The next level up (2.9) will give you the option of having one of 3 other graphics cards with dedicated ddr3 memory. This would be the better option, if you could put out the funds.

When do surfaces get uploaded to VRAM / removed from VRAM?

Hello! I'm aware of the differences of cacheAsBitmap and cacheAsBitmapMatrix and when to use them. However, can someone answer me the following questions?
1. If I set cacheAsBitmap=true - when does the DisplayObject get rendered into a bitmap? at the next screen update or when the object is next time actually visible on the stage?
2. same question for VRAM upload. If i set cacheAsBitmap=true - at what moment does the bitmap get uploaded to the GPU? right after it got rendered or only when it next time appears on the screen?
3. if I set cacheAsBitmap=false - does the texture get removed from VRAM instantly?
4. what happens if a DisplayObject that has cacheAsBitmap=true is set to visible=false. Will the texture persist in VRAM memory?
of course the questions apply when GPU rendering is used.
Thanks!

No one?
it'd be really great to know something about the internal workings in order to optimize performance.
Also - at what point do BitmapData's get uploaded and removed to/from VRAM?

Macbook pro 15" 128 Vram or 256 Vram

Ok I am a video Producer on a tight budget, I really want to get a new Macbook Pro, But I can't justify the $500 price differnce between the two 15" models. More Proc speed would be nice but 2.2 Vs. 2.4 is not a deal breaker for me, the hard drive space can be upgraded exterternaly using eSata. But the Video processor will haunt me until the day that I get rid of the computer. So my question would be. I am using the Laptop for a mixture of gaming, CS3 apps and also Final cut Studio 2 which I will be using a external monitor with so that I can work with color, but how much difference does a 128 vs. 256 mb graphics card make with using motion. I know with AE it is only about a 10 - 20% difference which I can live with for not spending $500 more. Does Motion utulize the Graphics card that much ?

Hi Jaicen,
the 128 mb vram is enough for Motion and most apple software nowaday, but we cannot tell if motion or other software need higher requirement for their next version.
Also, choosing 256 mb will benefit you if you are using external screen, and it will "split" memory into 128 mb each. And imagine macbookpro "split" 128 mb (if you choose this one) into 64 mb each, then I think it will not sufficient to run flawlessly on intensive graphic card hog application.
Good Luck.

Thinkpad t61p fx 570

Hey guys, I'm thinking about buying a thinkpad t series. I cant decide whether i want to get the t61p 14 inch or 15.4 inch, mainly because the 15.4 offfers the 256mb video card and the 14 inch offers the 128mb card. I really want a good graphics card, but the size of the computer is also very important too. Id prefer the 14inch but it unfortunately only offer the 128 card. Is there a huge performance difference between the 128 card and the 256 card? I dont intend to play games, but i do plan to dual screen but im not sure if the 128mb card will cut it. I dont want it to lag at all when i dual screen. Will the 128 card work fine when dual screening?

The only real performance difference you should see between a system with 128MB VRAM vs 256MB VRAM will be if/when you run out of graphics frame buffer - i.e. use all available video memory and your system starts using main system memory. I'm a bit out of the modern gaming scene, but more graphically intensive games at higher resolutions will likely benefit from that 256MB.
To your question on one screen with Counter Strike (CSource I presume?) and another playing a DVD, I would say that will be more CPU limited than anything else. Your graphics card is taxed mainly with 3D rendering only. If you're running a game while playing a DVD, your CPU will be the major bottleneck. My opinion is that you won't have performance issues, especially if you choose a higher clocked CPU, but having plenty of RAM and a fast hard drive will effect that as well. After all, your system can really only be as fast as it's slowest part.
Personally I would choose the system based on how it will be used in the majority. Will you be out & about most of the time, taking your system places and being mobile? In that case the 14.1 standard is the winner hands down. Now our 15.4" model is one of the thinnest & lightest 15.4's in the industry, and I personally carried a rather heavy 15.4" Z61m around college for a while, but I would choose form factor over a difference in video memory any day.
Tim Supples
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128MB VRAM OR 256MB VRAM?

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