GPU warning message in VSx5

[Mark Swanson]

Hi, I have a question and am seeking some education!
I have VSx5, and I've gotten an error message or two,telling me that my GPU unit is not up the task. This happens when I'm running a few of the more demanding things, it came up when I was using the Vitascene filter and also in Boris Graffiti.
Does this mean I should get a better graphics card? I have an ASUS i5 laptop, and as far as I can tell my GPU card is the Intel HD graphics 3000. I'm a bit dumb about these things, so some advice is needed! Thanks!

[Natal]

HD 3000 is the integrated graphics unit in your CPU. You either don't have a graphics card, or it is not being used by the program.

[Mark Swanson]

Thanks for your reply!
So, VSx5 is telling me that my GPU is not up to some tasks. It leaves me with some questions...
1. How can I tell if my GPU really is inadequate, or if it does have enough horsepower and the program is not using it correctly? I just up-graded to VSx5 and I never got that message before in VSx4. Natal, you said it may not be being used by VSx5....I didn't know that was possible, I didn't think the program could run if it wasn't seeing a GPU.
2. Is it possible to get a better GPU for my laptop, an ASUS i5? I guess I'll have to ask someone who knows more about my specific laptop.

[teknisyan]

Thanks for your reply!
So, VSx5 is telling me that my GPU is not up to some tasks. It leaves me with some questions...
1. How can I tell if my GPU really is inadequate, or if it does have enough horsepower and the program is not using it correctly? I just up-graded to VSx5 and I never got that message before in VSx4. Natal, you said it may not be being used by VSx5....I didn't know that was possible, I didn't think the program could run if it wasn't seeing a GPU.

To check if your GPU is adequate or not..here's a quick steps that you can follow.
1. START > RUN
2. On the RUN box type "DXDiag" this should open the DirectX Diagnostic Tool screen.
3. Click the DISPLAY tab, from there check the NAME, APPROX. TOTAL MEMORY and DISPLAY MODE.
4. The setting that I said should have meet or exceed these values.
APPROX. TOTAL MEMORY: 1 GB
DISPLAY MODE: 1024 x 768

2. Is it possible to get a better GPU for my laptop, an ASUS i5? I guess I'll have to ask someone who knows more about my specific laptop.

If you're using a laptop, the GPU are not upgradable unless of course you get a new one.

To check if you have another GPU aside from the Intel HD graphics 3000, you can open your CONTROL PANEL then open DEVICE MANAGER, then just double click on the DISPLAY ADAPTERS. If you have two GPU.. you should see Intel HD graphics 3000 and another GPU listed under DISPLAY ADAPTERS.

[Mark Swanson]

Thanks very much! Now I am getting somewhere.
So, the Total Memory shown is only 1696MB, pretty far below your suggested minimum. How can I get that closer to 1GB? I sure hope there is a way!

[Ken Berry]

My maths may be a bit wonky, by I thought that 1024 MB = 1 GB... In other words, your memory is higher than the minimum specified by Abiel.

[Mark Swanson]

Duh....uh...yes, I thought of that myself a minute ago!
Sorry about that. So, I have above the minmum in all the suggested areas. now, why then do I get messages telling me that some parts of Vitascene will not work, and New Blue Titler will not run at all. I bought this laptop just to run VideoStudio, and now I am starting to fear that I should have gotten something else!
I am trying to determine of there's something that isn't functioning, or if I am just stuck with it the way it is!

[Ken Berry]

I can't answer your question, I'm afraid. You will see from my computer details, I too work on a laptop -- but it has a dual graphics system, with an on-board graphics for most purposes, but also the Radeon HD 7690M XT card with its own 1 GB RAM I list there, for extra grunt. The reason I listed that card instead of the on-board graphics, is that when I first installed VS, it told me that I didn't have enough graphics power to run Vitascene and Titler. But when I load any program, an AMD dialogue comes up asking me to assign one of the graphics systems to that program. Since I regard VS rendering to be "High Performance" (in the AMD language), I assign the AMD card to VS functions, and that seems to work well.

So the bottom line is that the sort of on-board graphics you have is not really suited to some VS functions. And Abiel is probably also correct in saying that your motherboard probably will not have a slot available for a separate graphics card to up the ante. Mine obviously does since it was manufactured that way for HP dual graphics systems...