EN8600GT 256mb says it's 512mb

[dmayner]

Greetings,

I posted this question in the GPU-Z forum, but I thought i would post it here as well. I purchased an Asus en8600gt silent 256mb, but every sys info program I run (Sandra Sys, msinfo32, dxdiag, GPU_caps, ect.) says that I have 512mb. The only program that tells me I have 256mb is GPU-Z. I have asked Asus and they basically said "I don't know" and Nvidia said the same. Anyway, does anyone have any ideas about what is going on? Is this something I should be worried about? Thanks for the help.

Dave

 

[BrooksyX]

I have the Leadtek PX8600gt 256 and every program also tells me I have 512 mb except for Gpu-Z.

So I guess I am wondering why its like this too.

 

[ShadowFold]

Well it does atcually have 512mb and it works fine shouldnt be happy?

 

[dmayner]

Thanks for the responses. Shadowfold, if I actually do have 512 and it all works I will be very happy. The problem is I have no idea if I have 512 or if the card is miss reporting it. Question could it be the video drive that is causing the misinformation? I have the most recent Nvidia driver. The reason I ask that is when I installed XP and it only had the generic vga driver installed it didn't report anything about the card. After I installed the driver it was then able to report about the card. Again thanks for the feed back.

 

[ShadowFold]

Well TBH with you, even if it is 512mb the 8600GT doesnt have enough power to utalize all of it in most aps and games. Games like Crysis are really GDDR hungry so it will be a little better there. The reason it report anything about the card is because with out drivers it cant read anything about the card.

 

[dmayner]

ShadowFold,

Thanks for the quick response. You have helped me to understand a little better. So, any idea why it might report differently? Is it anything to worry about? Will it create problems for games or apps. if they think they have 512 and there is only 256? Sorry for all the questions I am kind of new to all this.

 

[ShadowFold]

Naw it wont make any problems. Maybe quality control just put the wrong card in the box, it happens.

 

[Jess Stingray]

i think your card has 256MB onboard memory, 256MB turbocache. Check how muuch RAM your system reports (Control Panel -> System) if it says 1.75GB, there's your problem.

 

[ShadowFold]

i think your card has 256MB onboard memory, 256MB turbocache. Check how muuch RAM your system reports (Control Panel -> System) if it says 1.75GB, there's your problem.

I dont think the 8600's have turbo cache maybe they do but idk

 

[dmayner]

Ben,

I checked what you said and it reports that I have 2.0g. So I don't believe this has turbo cache. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[BrooksyX]

Im 90% sure that the drivers are just reporting the wrong memory size. As far as I know the 8600gt does not have turbo caching.

 

[candle_86]

its 256mb onboard and 256mb pulled from your ram, my EVGA 8600GT KO did the same thing.

 

[BrooksyX]

Then why is the system memory still showing up as 2 gb then?

 

[ShadowFold]

Because its not TC. It has 512mb onboard. If you want more proof go lurk in the bios I think there is a Turbo Cache option.

 

[Solaris17]

some 8600M as in laptop editions have turbo cache...its probably a driver error or a simple bug....and even if it was turbocache..the reason it would show up as 2 GB is because you can usually control the amount of ram it can use in your bios..

 

[dmayner]

Thanks for all the discussion. I definitely don't have Turbo Cache. There is no bios option for it. Is there any way I can find out for sure if I have 256 or 512 without taking my card apart? Thanks again.

 

[wolf]

yeah dude, read the code written all tiny on the memory chips, then refer to the website of the company that made them, you should be able to deduce which modules are on you card/how many there are, to give you an accurate measurement.

also alot of 512 meg cards either have memory on the back side of the card too, or they flank the gpu on more sides and with more chips on each flank, although i am not sure what the configuration is on a 512 meg 8600GT anyway....

my guess atm is 50/50, however as already mentioned, 256-512 meg on an 8600gt isnt going to make a huge difference unless the game is very Vram hungry like crysis, basically its superfluous, the constricting factors on the 8600series are the 8 ROPS, only 32 shaders (didnt we all expect 64???) and that narrow ass 128 bit memory bus...

good luck with your elusive ram.

 

[Solaris17]

the easiest way shy of taking off your cooler is to dump your bios..give it to me...and i can tweak it to show the cards memory size right b4 your mobo post screen..and that will tell you for shure but would require you flashing your card.

 

[wolf]

thats tue, the display memory size option WILL work, as it basically works like a whole comp POST right? itll check thru each megabyte, then display your actual size fo' sho'

well its always worked for me anyway...

 

[Solaris17]

ya the vga bios requests the size of every ram chip on the card thats a sure fire way of getting the actual amount of memory...incase theirs a driver bug. because even if you have a turbo cache card which he doesnt its onboard ram only it wouldnt include avalible know what i mean?

 

[wolf]

totalleh, so all you need now is a dump of his bios.

 

[dmayner]

O.K. guys keep in mind I am a newbie, but willing to try this just for the sake of finding out what is going on. So, please give me clear instructions and I will see what I can do. Thanks for the help.

 

[Solaris17]

download gpu-z 1.5 and dump your bios its a little chip in the main window then put it in a zip file and upload it here for me to tweak....then if you click on the mod guide in my sig it will tell you everything you need to know about flashing.