video memory?

Question

hi. i have a 128MB video card. i enjoy playing graphically-intense games and video editing, and have found that the card that came with the computer tends to underperform, even tho i have directx and all that jazz. is it possible to create a sort of paging file for video memory??? (like RAM?) i'd really like to do that, but if not, how much does the average "good" (not necessarily "best") graphics card cost? and also, my computer has an AGP (which i think means advanced graphics processor or something like that) slot. could someone explain this to me also? thanks!

thanks for the answers. in more detail:

(1) i have 512 MB internal physical RAM, and a max 2 GB paging file for regular RAM.

(2) the graphics card says 128 MB. i do not know if it's sharing physical RAM.

(3) is there any way to set how much it allocates for video memory, or is it a strictly automatic process?

what exactly is PCI/PCIe? if my system says it has support for AGP, does that mean it already has PCI capabilities or no?

Answer 1

AGP stands for Accelerated Graphics Port, you weren't far off. Anyway, here is part of the problem... all the new graphics cards are coming out for PCIe only and had you had PCIe I would have told you to get either a 7600GS or 7600GT, which are both great graphics cards and offer the best performance per dollar.

Well, here's my reccomendation, a 256MB Geforce 6800XT for $146, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150157 Yes, you can get a graphics card with more memory for less but more memory does not equal more performance. The 6800XT has GDDR3 memory MOST of the other cards with the AGP interface have GDDR2 memory which is slower. 256MB of GDDR3 memory will outperform 512MB of GDDR2 memory, every time. Well, that's really the only card I would purchase out of the entire AGP choices.

Answer 2

What you are describing about paging files is already automatically done for you by windows and in the bios when you set agp aperture. The amount of RAM on your GPU does not indicate anything about its performance, and in fact if you are sharing 128MB ram with your system ram on an onboard GPU that is likely to give terrible performance.
Video performance is more of a balancing act with all your components. But one key component is the GPU. A decent AGP card should run you $150-200, such as a Radeon 9600XT. Verify the compatibilty of your AGP slot, whuich you can get info about at the motherboard manufacturer, before purchasing any video card. Newer better cards will in most case require you to upgrade to a system with a PCI express slot.