384MB v 256MB?

[charpi]

From the macworld review the base 11" is 256MB VRAM while the rest is 384MB VRAM? From the official site it says 256MB or 384MB

Will there be much difference?

Sorry for cluttering the forums with the existing many threads, but I would appreciate it to be answered

thanks

 

[mkoesel]

The bigger question to me is whether the 4GB RAM upgrade for the $999 11" model also automatically upgrades the integrated video memory to 384MB like it is on the other models (which come with 4MB memory standard).

In other words, is the extra shared video memory automatically triggered somehow via software when you double up the RAM?

 

[Ztormie]

The bigger question to me is whether the 4GB RAM upgrade for the $999 11" model also automatically upgrades the integrated video memory to 384MB like it is on the other models (which come with 4MB memory standard).

In other words, is the extra shared video memory automatically triggered somehow via software when you double up the RAM?

Yes

 

[vader_slri]

The bigger question to me is whether the 4GB RAM upgrade for the $999 11" model also automatically upgrades the integrated video memory to 384MB like it is on the other models (which come with 4MB memory standard).

In other words, is the extra shared video memory automatically triggered somehow via software when you double up the RAM?

I would bet money that this is the case.

 

[mkoesel]

Thanks guys

Sorry for thread-jack OP. My educated guess is that the larger video memory size means that the graphics controller can keep 50% more textures, meshes, bitmaps, etc. at its immediate disposal. Without digging into the details I don't know exactly what the penalty is for having to go through the main CPU and/or memory controller to load these things into video memory first vs. just having them there already. I suppose the line is blurred a little given that the GPU is sharing main memory vs. having its own higher speed, dedicated memory.