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Integrated Video OK for editing? What’s “Shared Video RAM”?
Thanks to those who responded to my system question. I THINK I’ve found a good system.
Sony Vaio RB30 — P4, 3.0 GHz, 512 RAM, 200 GB drive, DVD burner — all for $799 @ Circuit City or CompUSA.
My question is about the video output…there is no separate video card, the CompUSA spec sheet lists “Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA)” as the video chipset. I assume that means it’s integrated in to the motherboard. Is that usable for video editing or should I buy a separate card?
If I need a separate card, which one? ATI, nVidia GeForce ? My older Dell has an ATI (Radeon, I think)
Related to this, the spec sheet also says “Shared video RAM (Max)” What does that mean? Is this using part of the 512 MB system RAM?
Thank in advance for your reaponses.
–Hollington Lee
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4 Replies
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Hi,
I think, and that’s just me, but integrated video is fine for NLE, the shared video RAM mean that it will use a portion of the system RAM, the 512MB, for video RAM, typically today, by default they’ll set that amount aside for video to 32MB, but it can be modified through the BIOS very easy, you can for instance decide to put it down to 16MB, or up to 64MB.
Have an ice day 😉
Bernard
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I know some people will disagree with this, but my recommendation on this one is “stay away”. It is not worth it. Integrated video (and even sound) is a really poor substitute for the real thing. Not to mention that it will consume precious RAM and other resources which you will need for editing.
Get something that does not have integrated video. Don’t bother with this one, it is for surfing and email only 🙂
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I don’t like shared memory for video/audio.. keep in mind, too, the system comes with only 512K of RAM, and you’re going to share? WinXP likes 512 for itself practically!
If you’re serious about editing, or any graphic work, I’d say keep looking.
John Hartney
werks.tv
Elgin, Illinois – Chicago area
847.608.1357 -
This system also has a PCI-e x16 slot so you could get a card for it later. That means you could use it as-is for now until you’re ready to get a card.
The onboard graphics uses something Intel calls DVMT or Dynamic Video Memory Technology. In BIOS you can set various combinations of memory usage for graphics. One of them will probably limit it to a range of 8 to 64 MB which should be more than enough for two screens and a video overlay. Because it’s dynamic, the system will let go of memory if it isn’t using it for graphics. It’s not too bad for use with Vegas and you could add a card later on.
You should consider adding another hard drive and another half GB of RAM would help as well, although 512 is certainly enough.
Sony offers customized builds here.
Here’s the specs:
Specifications
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