Thinkpads Forum

i have T430 with Intel HD 4000. I've got crashes in some games, because it seems that my GPU utilizes only 256 MB. Isn't it supposed to have much more when needed? How can I change the amount of RAM for video card? I see no such options in BIOS, which disappoints me, because even in 2005 - when I had a HP laptop - I could already set how much RAM goes to iGPU.

kony wrote: How can I change the amount of RAM for video card? I see no such options in BIOS, which disappoints me, because even in 2005 - when I had a HP laptop - I could already set how much RAM goes to iGPU.

You can't change the amount of RAM that video card uses. The system decides on how much to utilize...and there's no workaround.

The HD4000 VRAM must be set somewhere, because the HD4000 on my T430 is using 1664 MB.

85101 wrote:The HD4000 VRAM must be set somewhere, because the HD4000 on my T430 is using 1664 MB.

As previously stated, it's the SYSTEM ITSELF that decides how much RAM is needed to be allocated to VRAM function.

This aspect really hasn't changed much over the past decade...

It looks like Linux Mint 15 doesn't reallocate RAM to VRAM dynamically and there's no such option to set minimum amount in my BIOS. I guess, Windows would get up to over 1.5GB of RAM and allocate it to VRAM when needed (but I don't have Windows to check it out), whereas in LM15 it always stays at 256MB. Lack of VRAM results in constant crashes in a game Kerbal Space Program. Moreover, sometimes the game freezes the entire OS. The crashes/freezes are much rarer if I set textures to the minimum. The same thing happens in a game Euro Truck Simulator 2 - if I set textures and anisotropic filtering to maximum, it only takes a few seconds until the game freezes my OS, while I can play just fine on low textures. Linux never allocates more than 256 MB of RAM for video card in both KSP and ETS2.

sudo lspci -v -s 00:02.0
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
Subsystem: Lenovo Device 21f3
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 43
Memory at f0000000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable)
Memory at e0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable)
I/O ports at 5000
Expansion ROM at <unassigned> [disabled]
Capabilities: [90] MSI: Enable+ Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit-
Capabilities: [d0] Power Management version 2
Capabilities: [a4] PCI Advanced Features
Kernel driver in use: i915

sudo dmesg | grep drm
[ 0.751141] [drm] Initialized drm 1.1.0 20060810
[ 0.984183] [drm] Memory usable by graphics device = 2048M
[ 1.005554] [drm] Supports vblank timestamp caching Rev 1 (10.10.2010).
[ 1.005556] [drm] Driver supports precise vblank timestamp query.
[ 1.268552] [drm] GMBUS [i915 gmbus dpb] timed out, falling back to bit banging on pin 5
[ 1.374961] fbcon: inteldrmfb (fb0) is primary device
[ 2.187772] i915 0000:00:02.0: fb0: inteldrmfb frame buffer device
[ 2.197836] [drm] Initialized i915 1.6.0 20080730 for 0000:00:02.0 on minor 0
[ 2.813851] [drm] Enabling RC6 states: RC6 on, RC6p on, RC6pp off

As you can see, IN THEORY the OS should use 2 GB of VRAM, or at least it looks so to me. However, even if running KSP or ETS2, the amount of VRAM never changes and this results in a game crash/OS freeze.

Here's a screenshot when I have KSP running in another workspace (it's basically the same with ETS2):
http://i.imgur.com/Rxs23vd.png

Moderator edit: picture was too big, converted to link. Please read the Forum rules!