WAN Show: Can you allocate 8GB of system RAM as VRAM for the integrated GPU?

Results45 · June 7, 2020

As asked by Linus on the show:

Short answer: no, but yes.

No current integrated GPU on the market today (even if overclocked to 1500Mhz) was designed to make use of more than 2GB let alone the 512-1024MB most systems allocate to the iGPU by default nowadays.

As defined in these Q&A pages:

It's also worth mentioning that not even a MX350 has more than 2GB of dedicated VRAM.

What I find interesting is that in one of the iGPU charts above Intel includes a link to this Microsoft support page with C++ code that implies that up to half of system memory can be allocated as VRAM.

Does that mean we'll see iGPUs that need 4-8GB of VRAM in coming APU generations?

GDRRiley · June 7, 2020

I fully can use more than 2gb on my 3500U its called driving a 1080p and 1440p while trying to game. the 2 monitors alone took up like 1.5gb.

I hope AMD moves to 4 being an option

keik · June 7, 2020

I've gamed on ryzen's vega and for many games it's more then ok. You will not be able to run newest AAA games in full HD or beyond on max detail for obvious reasons, but if you plan to play games like League of Legends or Owerwatch and Apex, you might be pleasently surprised how well those games actually run. And learning you can dedicate 2GB instead of default 512MB was a real blessing.

And why there isn't option to dedicate more VRAM is, my guess, first of all: A/iGPU weren't that strong and popular few years ago. With newer generations of CPUs offereing better and better graphic solutions, this may change.