VRAM Vs RAM

Blitz3D Forums/Blitz3D Programming/VRAM Vs RAM

D4NM4N(Posted 2005) [#1]
If you specify VRAM then load on a pc with no VRAM, or not enough VRAM, what happens? does blitz compensate, ot does it crash? I cant tell because both my pcs have it.

Im assuming using VRAM for textures is lots faster right, especially large ones?


jhocking(Posted 2005) [#2]
A computer without vram? Will that even run blitz?


Scherererer(Posted 2005) [#3]
vram is built into the graphics card, and if that person doesn't have vram they have bigger problems than not being able to run blitz. And also, for your question about not enough vram, there are functions to check the available video RAM left, i.e. AvailVidMem() and TotalVidMem()


jfk EO-11110(Posted 2005) [#4]
AFAIK DirectX starts to utilize RAM when it runs out of VRAM. It will also swap VRAM and RAM, depending on the usage of textures in the render pipeline. Swapping usually blocks the system and results in ugly pauses. RAM is slower than VRAM, I guess about 4 times slower, this also depends on the machine specs.