[rescue] Re: OT: Games and workstations (was OT: Linux and USB on Intel)

[Gavin Hubbard]

>> 16MB isn't much for a consumer video card (I haven't seen anything (new)
>> with less than 32MB in years); most current PC games seem to require at
>> least 32MB, sometimes 64MB (higher-resolution textures, etc.).
>
>Yes, but how much of that can be allocated as texture memory, and how
>much is for the framebuffer?  By the time you've allocated enough
>framebuffer for 1600x1200x32 double-buffered, you're already chewed up
>15MB.  That leaves you 17MB for textures, at -best-, assuming that the
>video memory isn't used as scratchspace for geometry calculations, and
>that textures are referenced, not copied, during intermediate
>calculations.
>
>16MB of TRAM (that is, raw TRAM, not multiple copies of texture and some
>framebuffer, but all TRAM) is quite a lot.  I think SGI RealityEngine2
>only has 16MB of TRAM, and it's certainly up to snuff for playing games.

I was under the impression that most of the consumer level PC cards are now
shipping with 128MB or 256MB of RAM onboard?

Regards,

Gavin