KnowledgeBase
Display Memory on the Visual
Workstations
System:
any |
Category:
graphics |
Last Modified:
2/22/99 |
OS version:
NT 4.0 |
Product:
OpenGL |
Service Pack:
|
What is display memory, and how would I change
the amount available to graphics applications?
The Silicon Graphics 320 and Silicon Graphics 540 Visual Workstations are based on the Integrated Visual Computing
(IVC) architecture, developed by Silicon Graphics. What this means is that,
unlike most PCs, display memory is shared with system, or "CPU memory." This architecture has major advantages over traditional
PC architectures, some of which include:
- fewer and faster buffer-to-buffer copies
- virtually unlimited texture memory
(limited only by the amount of memory installed in the machine)
- more flexibility
- speedy advanced rendering involving off-screen buffers,
for such effects as reflections and live video
- less expensive machine
The amount of memory dedicated to graphics may be customized on
the Silicon Graphics 320 and the Silicon Graphics 540 to suit the type of application being run.
For example, applications such as flight simulation might
require a fair amount of display memory for storing hundreds of
textures for land features, trees, etc. Image processing
applications may want to allocate more memory to be used in
off-screen image processing.
To change the amount of available memory, bring up the Display
Properties panel:
- Choose Start->Settings->Control Panel
- Select Display
Or, a quicker method:
- Right-click on the background of the screen to reveal a
pop-up menu
- Select "Display Properties"
Then, from the "Display Properties" panel, select the
<Silicon Graphics Settings> tab panel.
There are several recommended settings, based on estimated
memory demands. Your application may need more or less than the
recommended amount. You can choose one of the recommended
settings, then customize it by using the "copy" button.
Keep in mind that any memory allocated here will be subtracted
from the pool of memory available to Windows NT. For example,
if you have 512 megabytes installed and you allocate 128
megabytes for graphics memory, Windows NT will see only 384
megabytes of memory when it boots. In most cases, you will need
to reboot for the changes to become active.
Send comments on this case to kbase@sgi.com.
Copyright © 1997-98, Silicon Graphics, Inc.
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