vid card memory allocation

hi all

i was wondering if any of you would have any advice or know how to help me with this problem. (i'm sorry if i posted this incorrectly under hardware, i thought it was the most applicable subject area)

i have a dell inspiron 1300, only got it about 6 weeks ago. my problem is with my graphics and video. if i'm playing any kind of video (dvd, mpeg, etc, etc.) it tends to stick and stutter.
a friend of mine took a look at my system and it seems that there's only 8MB of RAM allocated to the video card.

now these are my questions:
1. could the 8MB be the cause of the problem?
2. if yes, is there any way for me to increase the amount of RAM that my video card can use?

thanks so much guys!
MajorGeeks rock.

Sabrina

 

There is usually a setting in the bios that allows you to adjust the amount of ram dedicated to the on-board video.

Hard to believe that a new computer system would on have only 8MB ram dedicated to the graphics. Most on-board gpu's have at least 32MB dedicated ram. The bios options usually allow - 16, 32, 64 and sometimes 128 MB to be allocated to the video.

Check the bios and see.

 

hi! thanks for the reply
i checked the BIOS and the 8MB allocation is right there...unfortunatlely on the same screen it says "None of these settings can be changed"
...so i'm guessing i'm screwed.

Maybe I should contact Dell?