What's shared video RAM and is it a bad thing?

If you've been shopping for a new PC then you've probably come across the term 'shared video memory'. But what does this mean, and is it a good or a bad thing?

First, let's have a quick look at what RAM is. Ram stands for Random Access Memory. RAM is a computer chip that your computer uses to store information on a temporay basis. When you turn off your PC, it forgets whatever it had stored in the RAM. Ram is different to your hard drive which remembers information on a more permanent basis.

An example of RAM: You run a computer program (like your email software). The program will be stored in the RAM while it is running.

So what's video ram? Whatever is on your screen is generated by your computer's graphics chip. Whether it's a page off text, a movie, a game - whatever you see on screen is handled by your PCs graphics department. Just about all computers these days have what's called built in graphics chips. These are graphics processors that are hard-wired into the computer when you get it.

In order to put any kind of graphics on your display, the computer needs to store the graphics information in some ram.

There are two different setups you can use when it comes to ram.

1) Shared video memory

2) Dedicated video memory

A bit more about those two...

Shared Video Memory means that your computer graphics will use the same ram chips as all the other things running on your computer uses. So word documents, mp3s, emails, websites and anything else the computer stores in the ram will be held in the same chips as the graphics information.

Shared memory is GREAT because: it makes computers a lot cheaper to buy!

Dedicated Video Memory is where the graphics processor has some special chips that it alone has access to. Extra ram chips that it can use to show the graphics.

Dedicated memory is GREAT: because it is faster!

It's worth saying that this whole shared video ram thing is a lot less important than it was a few years ago. Why is this? Because modern PCs have...

LOADS OF RAM!

Seriously! If you're buying a computer that has 2, 4, or more GB of ram - that's a lot of ram.

So who needs lots of dedicated ram then?

If you're a hardcore gamer and you want to play cutting edge games with your PC then you're going to have to invest in a graphics card with some serious power and some dedicated ram. But this is only if you're seriously into your PC gaming and want to run the very latest games. If you DO want to do this - don't worry. It's very easy to fit a posh graphics card to your new PC at a later date. (You just open the case and clip it in...)

If you're getting a computer to watch movies, surf the web, send emails, use applications, work and all the other million and one things people to with their PCs, then you really don't need to worry too much about whether it has dedicated video ram or shared video ram. Bottom line - get a pc with good specs and buy a new graphics card if you really need it later on.