Is an Intel UHD 630 iGPU with only 128 MB of allocated video RAM enough for 1080p HD video?

Question

There is no option in the bios to increase the amount of system ram allocated to the iGPU to 256, 512, or beyond.

Is a UHD 630 with only 128 MB set aside enough for 1080p video?

Answer 1

For 1080p video, such as playing a movie, streaming, or anything 2D, its more than sufficient.

Video memory is needed more for 3D graphics, such as gaming and modeling.

Answer 2

It is more than enough if you're talking about "Playing" a 1080p video. However, it's a completely different story if you're talking about "Rendering" a 1080p video.

Answer 3

The 128MB is what is dedicated to your graphics card which it will need all the time, typically this will be primarily to drive the main display. It is not the absolute amount of memory that the graphics card has access to.

Modern graphics systems require at least some form of memory dedicated for their use. On "full" dedicated graphics cards this is of the order of 2 to 8 GB, but this is for performance on top of the basic duties it serves.

Graphics cards can also share system RAM to do their work, for a card with 8GB of built-in RAM this is rarely needed.

For integrated graphics cards this shared RAM is absolutely necessary. What this shared RAM means is that the graphics drivers can allocate as much or as little system RAM as needed on top of the "dedicated" memory.

It is better to think of the BIOS dedicated memory as the memory available to the graphics card when no operating system or drivers are available to allocate more memory. It is the basic "functional" memory.