Member Avatar for Quadraxis

Ok, I know my Video card pretty much sucks already. What I need to find out, however, is how much MB it is. On the stat sheet with my comp it doesn't tell and I can't find out how to tell either.

The card is a Integrated Intel 3D AGP Graphics. That's all it says, so I don't know if I need additional information or what.

Any help is welcome! =)

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Dani AI

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The replies from and point in two useful directions: if a separate AGP card is present it will be marked and identifiable, but many Intel AGP solutions are integrated into the motherboard and use shared system RAM. Determining the actual amount available to the graphics subsystem is best done with a few software checks and a BIOS check rather than by looking for a label.

Common checks (software)

  • Run the DirectX Diagnostic Tool: Start -> Run -> dxdiag -> Display tab. Look for the Display/Approx. Total Memory fields.
  • Device Manager (Control Panel -> System -> Hardware -> Device Manager -> Display adapters -> Properties -> Adapter): the Adapter/Memory fields sometimes report a fixed preallocated amount or “Unknown” for shared designs.
  • msinfo32 (System Information) -> Components -> Display will show chipset and memory if the driver exposes it.
  • If Windows reports a generic adapter (Standard VGA) or doesn’t show memory, install the correct Intel/motherboard graphics driver; that usually exposes the chipset name and memory reporting. Third‑party utilities such as GPU‑Z or HWiNFO also report dedicated vs. shared memory and chipset IDs.

Firmware/BIOS notes

  • Many boards let firmware set a preallocated frame buffer (labels vary: UMA Frame Buffer, Video Memory, DVMT Pre‑Allocated, AGP Aperture). That preallocated value is what Windows will often report as “adapter” memory; DVMT (Intel’s dynamic allocation) can expand use of system RAM at runtime within chipset limits.
  • Increasing the preallocated size reduces system RAM available to the OS and gives only limited 3D benefit because integrated GPUs are constrained by their architecture, not only memory size.

Practical takeaway

  • If the goal is accurate reporting for troubleshooting, the DxDiag Display section plus the exact Device Manager adapter string are the key diagnostics. If the goal is better gaming performance, a discrete AGP card with its own VRAM is the more effective upgrade—check AGP revision and power/space compatibility before purchasing.

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Member Avatar for aamg37

open the machine and the video card should have a model number and name - then search for it - you will anything that is to know about that card with that info.

Member Avatar for Quadraxis

open the machine and the video card should have a model number and name - then search for it - you will anything that is to know about that card with that info.

Oh ok, I'll try that tomorrow. Thanks!

Member Avatar for Coconut Monkey

From what I can tell, your card is an onboard solution - it's integrated into the motherboard, so looking inside won't help too much! It takes a portion of RAM for itself, and the amount set aside is governed by a BIOS setting, which you can change. Allocating more system RAM to the video card means less is available for other tasks, so I wouldn't go maxing it out in the hope of making games run faster (it's a rather slow 3D accelerator anyway).

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