Question about a graphic card?

[taker36904]

For the start,if i didnt have a video card,i would have 480 MB of ram,i then i updated to a 42 MB geforce mx 4000 and that gave me 512MB of ram,the i finally decided to upgrade again to a ATI 256 Radeon 9550 AGP card,my guestion is why isnt my new card not combining/adding the 256MB to my 512Mb.
For example,before i bought my geforce card i had 480 mb of ram and then in installed it,it added to make 512mb,i want to upgrade again and bought a ATI card and its not adding to my 512mb.
Please help me ouy.

Thanks in advance.

Here is a pic......................
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[e404pnf]

You're getting slighty confused here mate.

The graphics card RAM doesn't combine with the system RAM. When you first bought your computer you would have had 512MB of system RAM and used an on-board 32MB graphics card (leaving you with 480MB system RAM). Then when you installed a the first separate graphics card the 32MB that was used of the on-board graphics card was returned for system RAM which is why you saw the increase.

[taker36904]

Ok.I always thought it added more to your ram,but i guess was wrong about that.So i guess the only way to get more ram is by buying more ram.Thanks for the fast response and info..I am really thankful for that.Thanks again.
1 more question.....what does the 256mb of ram actually do?

[e404pnf]

Yeah, you'd need to buy and install additional RAM modules. RAM is pretty cheap now a days though, and very easy to install. That said, depending what you are using your computer for 512MB will probably be sufficient

As to what the RAM actually does... Beyond 'it's memory for the graphics card to process and display 3D graphics' I'm not techie enough to give you an answer that doesn't sound like the ramblings of a drunken fool. As with most things, given all other variables are equal "bigger is better". That doesn't mean you need more though, I don't play games so am more than happy with my little 32MB MX440 graphics card

[ROF]

As to what the RAM actually does... Beyond 'it's memory for the graphics card to process and display 3D graphics' I'm not techie enough to give you an answer that doesn't sound like the ramblings of a drunken fool.

That's it in a nutshell. You could get more technical but essentially the RAM is there to store the video for processing and relieving the system RAM to store other calculation information. This RAM is what separates equivalent "onboard video" from owning a separate graphics board. When you speak about onboard video that means the GPU is on the motherboard and uses a portion of system RAM in it's video processing. The 9550 is a very capable card with good specs for gaming. It's not the greatest available but given it's low cost it's one of the better boards to own today.