If you’re struggling to run graphic-intensive games on your PC, you probably need more video RAM (VRAM). And while you can’t increase VRAM on its own, you should still understand your options.
What Is Dedicated Video RAM (VRAM)?
Video RAM (or VRAM, pronounced “VEE-ram”) is a special type of RAM that works with your computer’s graphics processing unit, or GPU. The GPU is a chip on your computer’s graphics card (also called the video card) that’s responsible for displaying images on your screen.
Though it’s technically incorrect, the terms GPU and graphics card are often used interchangeably.
Your video RAM holds information that the GPU needs, including game textures and lighting effects. This allows the GPU to quickly access the info and smoothly output video to your monitor. Older or simpler games don’t require much VRAM. Conversely, running games at 4K resolution and/or high frame rates, with fancy visual effects, will require more VRAM.
Even if you’re not interested in gaming, other popular software requires a fair amount of VRAM. 3D design software like AutoCAD, particularly intense edits in Photoshop, and editing high-quality video will all suffer if you don’t have enough video RAM.
Using video RAM for these tasks is much faster than using your main system RAM, because video RAM is right next to the GPU in the graphics card. VRAM is built for this high-intensity purpose and it’s thus “dedicated.”
How to Check Your VRAM in Windows
You can easily view the amount of video RAM you have in Windows 11 by following these steps:
- Open the Settings menu by pressing Win + I.
- Click System in the left sidebar, then Display in the resulting menu.
- Scroll down and click Advanced display under Related settings.
- If applicable, choose a display from the dropdown box at the top.
- Expand the box under Display information and click Display adapter properties for Display [X].
On Windows 10, the same menu is accessible under Settings > System > Display > Advanced display settings > Display adapter properties.
Under Adapter Type, you’ll see the name of your Nvidia or AMD graphics card, depending on what device you have. If you see Intel HD Graphics or something other than the name of a video card, you’re likely using integrated instead of dedicated graphics. This has a major effect on your VRAM situation.
Dedicated vs. Integrated Graphics VRAM
If you have a dedicated graphics card (which is common in custom-built desktop PCs and gaming laptops), the amount of VRAM on the card is set; you can’t increase it without buying a new one. Graphics card listings note the amount of VRAM included on the card; we’ll discuss how to know what you need later.
Budget desktops and most off-the-shelf laptops don’t include video cards—they use integrated graphics instead. An integrated graphics solution means the GPU is on the same die as the CPU, and shares your normal system RAM instead of having dedicated VRAM. This is a budget-friendly solution and allows laptops to output basic graphics without the need for a space and energy-hogging video card.
However, integrated graphics are poor for gaming and other graphically intensive tasks. While newer CPUs are an improvement over older models, integrated graphics struggle with anything beyond simple games at low settings.
Tricks to “Increase” VRAM in Windows
As mentioned, the best way to increase your video RAM is to purchase a new, better graphics card. Upgrading from integrated graphics to a dedicated card (even a budget model) will do wonders for your video output.
While adding more RAM to your computer (which is often difficult to impossible on laptops) can marginally improve performance with integrated graphics, it’s usually not enough to make a difference. You should also make sure you’ve reduced your RAM usage as much as possible, but these small optimizations can’t overcome the core problems with integrated graphics.
If you’re desperate, there are a few ways you can try to trick your computer into “increasing” the VRAM value.
How to Increase the VRAM Value in the BIOS
The first method is adjusting the VRAM allocation in your computer’s UEFI or BIOS. Enter your BIOS and look for an option in the menu named Advanced Features, Advanced Chipset Features, or similar. Inside that, look for a secondary category called Graphics Settings, Video Settings, or VGA Share Memory Size.
These should contain an option to adjust how much memory you allocate to the GPU. The default is usually 128MB; try upping this to 256MB or 512MB if you have enough to spare.
Not every CPU or BIOS has this option, though. If you can’t change it, there’s a workaround that might help you.
Faking a VRAM Increase in Windows
Most integrated graphics setups automatically adjust to use the needed amount of system RAM. As such, the details reported in the Adapter Properties window we discussed above don’t really matter for integrated graphics. The amount of Dedicated Video Memory is a dummy value provided so games see something when they check how much VRAM you have.
You can modify a registry value to change the amount VRAM your system reports to games. This doesn’t actually increase your VRAM; it just adjusts that dummy value. If a game refuses to start because you “don’t have enough VRAM,” upping this value might fix that.
Open a Registry Editor window by typing regedit into the Start Menu. Then head to the following location:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareIntel
Right-click the Intel folder in the left panel and choose New > Key. Name this key GMM. Once you’ve made it, select the new GMM folder on the left and right-click inside the right side.
Select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name this DedicatedSegmentSize and give it a value, making sure to select the Decimal option. In megabytes, the minimum value is 0 (disabling the entry) and the maximum is 512. Set this value, restart your computer, and see if it helps a game run better. If not, try a higher value and repeat.
How Much VRAM Do I Need?
There’s no perfect amount of VRAM for everyone. If you’ve decided it’s time to upgrade, these are some basic minimum guidelines about how much VRAM your next graphics card should have:
- 1+GB of VRAM: The lowest-end video cards offer better performance than integrated graphics, but can’t handle most modern games at above-average settings. Only purchase a card with this amount of VRAM if you want to play older games that won’t work with integrated graphics. They’re not recommended for video editing or 3D work.
- 4+GB of VRAM: While another step up from integrated graphics, this amount of VRAM is insufficient for modern games. It’s an awkward middle range where these won’t do much that the prior tier can’t, but you get so much more for your money at the next tier.
- 8+GB of VRAM: This is sufficient for most 1080p gaming, but future-proofing with a higher amount is wise these days as 8GB is starting to become too little for modern gaming.
- 12+GB of VRAM: A good baseline for 1440p gaming and a good sweet spot for most people. If you aren’t playing in 4K and don’t care about future-proofing, it’s a good fit.
- 16+GB of VRAM: These are high-end video cards that are required for 4K gaming and above.
You should take the above generalizations with a grain of salt. Graphics card manufacturers add the appropriate amount of VRAM to a card depending on how powerful the GPU is.
Thus, a cheap $100 graphics card will have a proportionally low amount of VRAM, while an $800 graphics card will pack a lot more. If a weak GPU isn’t powerful enough to render the video that takes 16GB of VRAM to store, it’s a waste to have that much VRAM in the card.
Extremes aren’t the concern with VRAM. You don’t need a $1,000, top-of-the-line card with 20GB of VRAM to play 2D indie platformers. You only really need to worry about how much VRAM to get when a card you want to buy is available in multiple VRAM configurations. VRAM isn’t the only factor that should go into your GPU decision.
Video RAM in Practice
Remember that just like with normal RAM, more VRAM doesn’t always mean better performance. If your card has 12GB of VRAM and you’re playing a game that only uses 6GB, upgrading to a 16GB card isn’t going to have a noticeable effect.
Conversely, not having enough VRAM is a huge problem. If VRAM fills up, the system has to rely on standard RAM and performance will take a huge hit. You’ll suffer from a lower frame rate, texture pop-ins, and other adverse effects. In extreme cases, the game could slow to a crawl and become unplayable (anything under 30FPS).
Remember that VRAM is only one factor in performance. If you don’t have a powerful enough CPU, rendering 4K video will take forever. A lack of system RAM prevents you from running many programs at once, and using a mechanical hard drive will severely limit your system performance. Plus, some cheaper graphics cards use slow DDR3 VRAM, which is inferior to GDDR6 (and later) used in modern cards.
The best way to find out which specific graphics card and amount of video RAM is right for you is to talk to someone knowledgeable. Ask a friend who knows about the latest graphics cards, or post on a forum like Reddit or Tom’s Hardware asking if a specific card would work for your needs.
To increase graphical performance, you’ll likely need to upgrade your graphics card, processor, and/or RAM first—the VRAM should sort itself out when you take care of those.
