Can extra RAM replace a graphics card?
Would getting a laptop with 16GB RAM do the same thing as a laptop with 12GB RAM and a 4GB graphics card? Some of the games I play are Minecraft and things on DesMuMe. Which laptop is better? (Not in terms of price, portability, etc)
Update:Thx everybody. n/a, stfu
Comments
No it most likely won't make a difference. What matters is whether or not the laptop has a dedicated (or discrete) graphics card or an integrated graphics card. An integrated graphics card shares the computer's memory and is nowhere near as powerful as a dedicated graphics card. However, with those simple games, even modern integrated graphics cards should be able to play them. The amount of RAM won't make much of a difference though.
No. Or at least, probably not. If the the laptop with 12GB of RAM has a dedicated graphics card with 4GB of RAM (not likely, actually, since most dedicated graphics cards in laptops don't have more than 2GB of RAM), that would almost always be better than any integrated graphics processor (IGP) regardless of how much RAM the system has. The 4GB model is probably using integrated graphics with some (or no) dedicated RAM and up to 4GB of system RAM. If that's the case, both laptops are probably similar.
Why not post links to the two laptops and ask for a comparison?
No, it won't make a difference at all.
Minecraft and the DesMuMe (Nintendo DS emulator) are actually pretty low-GPU games. I play DS games on my desktop with the integrated Intel HD 2000 graphics and 4GB 1333 single channel RAM, and Minecraft takes less resources than some of the older games like Neverwinter Nights or Jedi Academy, both of which I play at 100% full settings and get 60fps out of at highest available resolution on that same desktop.
They are not interchangable in the way you describe. Having an overabundance of system RAM will not alleviate the bottleneck caused by inadequate graphics processing.
you can think of the entire architecture as a pipeline. The end performance will be only as good as narrowest section of pipe.
until you have a hybird crossfie/hybrid sli motherboard, which I doubt considering the fact that your board seems to be older than that, the committed photographs card will consistently replace integrated photographs. on the different hand, even the main inexpensive committed card would be swifter than maximum, if not all, integrated photographs chipsets. i'm uncertain, yet i think of you may desire to have the skill to apply the motherboard video outputs (for a entire of as much as 4 video exhibit instruments).
It really won't make a difference.
-Elian
TROLL ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!
Or just someone so incredibly dumb then shouldn't be allow to live