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I have a host computer which is Windows 8.1 and contains a 3GB nVidia graphics card. Inside of VMware I am running Windows 7.
I have installed VMware tools, but the dedicated video memory is showing up as 64 MB. In the settings I have said I want my video memory to be 1 GB. Inside the guest's display settings it says it is using the VMware SVGA 3D driver with a total graphics memory of 2114 MB, 64 MB dedicated, 0 MB system, and 2080 MB shared memory.

The system was running horribly slow. I turned off Aero and all visuals and the guest sped up a lot so I think I have a problem with the video memory, but I would like these feature inside of my guest and do not want them turned off. How do I increase the dedicated ram? I have googled some solutions online, but they seem to target older version of VMware which do not seem to work.

UPDATE MY CONFIG FILE:

.encoding = "windows-1252"
config.version = "8"
virtualHW.version = "11"
numvcpus = "6"
cpuid.coresPerSocket = "6"
scsi0.present = "TRUE"
scsi0.virtualDev = "lsisas1068"
sata0.present = "TRUE"
memsize = "8192"
mem.hotadd = "TRUE"
scsi0:0.present = "TRUE"
scsi0:0.fileName = "Windows 7.vmdk"
sata0:1.present = "TRUE"
sata0:1.fileName = "auto detect"
sata0:1.deviceType = "cdrom-raw"
floppy0.fileType = "device"
floppy0.fileName = ""
floppy0.clientDevice = "FALSE"
ethernet0.present = "TRUE"
ethernet0.connectionType = "custom"
ethernet0.virtualDev = "e1000e"
ethernet0.wakeOnPcktRcv = "FALSE"
ethernet0.addressType = "generated"
usb.present = "TRUE"
ehci.present = "TRUE"
ehci.pciSlotNumber = "34"
sound.present = "TRUE"
sound.virtualDev = "hdaudio"
sound.fileName = "-1"
sound.autodetect = "TRUE"
mks.enable3d = "TRUE"
svga.graphicsMemoryKB = "1048576"
serial0.present = "TRUE"
serial0.fileType = "thinprint"
pciBridge0.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge4.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge4.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"
pciBridge4.functions = "8"
pciBridge5.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge5.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"
pciBridge5.functions = "8"
pciBridge6.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge6.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"
pciBridge6.functions = "8"
pciBridge7.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge7.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"
pciBridge7.functions = "8"
vmci0.present = "TRUE"
hpet0.present = "TRUE"
usb.vbluetooth.startConnected = "TRUE"
sensor.accelerometer = "pass-through"
sensor.ambientLight = "pass-through"
sensor.compass = "pass-through"
sensor.gyrometer = "pass-through"
sensor.inclinometer = "pass-through"
sensor.location = "pass-through"
sensor.orientation = "pass-through"
displayName = "Windows 7"
guestOS = "windows8"
nvram = "Windows 7.nvram"
virtualHW.productCompatibility = "hosted"
powerType.powerOff = "soft"
powerType.powerOn = "soft"
powerType.suspend = "soft"
powerType.reset = "soft"
extendedConfigFile = "Windows 7.vmxf"
gui.lastPoweredViewMode = "fullscreen"
uuid.bios = "56 4d a9 11 2f 4b 39 27-43 92 26 14 9c cd 97 25"
uuid.location = "56 4d a9 11 2f 4b 39 27-43 92 26 14 9c cd 97 25"
replay.supported = "FALSE"
replay.filename = ""
migrate.hostlog = ".\Windows 7-92c902ec.hlog"
scsi0:0.redo = ""
pciBridge0.pciSlotNumber = "17"
pciBridge4.pciSlotNumber = "21"
pciBridge5.pciSlotNumber = "22"
pciBridge6.pciSlotNumber = "23"
pciBridge7.pciSlotNumber = "24"
scsi0.pciSlotNumber = "160"
usb.pciSlotNumber = "32"
ethernet0.pciSlotNumber = "192"
sound.pciSlotNumber = "33"
vmci0.pciSlotNumber = "35"
sata0.pciSlotNumber = "36"
scsi0.sasWWID = "50 05 05 61 2f 4b 39 20"
ethernet0.generatedAddress = "00:0C:29:CD:97:25"
ethernet0.generatedAddressOffset = "0"
vmci0.id = "-1664248027"
vm.genid = "1137670855548845163"
vm.genidX = "-1294450341537404688"
monitor.phys_bits_used = "42"
vmotion.checkpointFBSize = "4194304"
vmotion.checkpointSVGAPrimarySize = "134217728"
cleanShutdown = "FALSE"
softPowerOff = "FALSE"
usb_xhci:6.speed = "2"
usb_xhci:6.present = "TRUE"
usb_xhci:6.deviceType = "hub"
usb_xhci:6.port = "6"
usb_xhci:6.parent = "-1"
usb_xhci:7.speed = "4"
usb_xhci:7.present = "TRUE"
usb_xhci:7.deviceType = "hub"
usb_xhci:7.port = "7"
usb_xhci:7.parent = "-1"
floppy0.autodetect = "TRUE"
sata0:1.autodetect = "TRUE"
tools.syncTime = "FALSE"
unity.wasCapable = "TRUE"
tools.remindInstall = "FALSE"
toolsInstallManager.updateCounter = "2"
svga.guestBackedPrimaryAware = "TRUE"
floppy0.startConnected = "FALSE"
vhv.enable = "TRUE"
vpmc.enable = "FALSE"
usb_xhci:4.present = "TRUE"
usb_xhci:4.deviceType = "hid"
usb_xhci:4.port = "4"
usb_xhci:4.parent = "-1"
checkpoint.vmState = ""
usb.generic.allowHID = "TRUE"
usb:1.speed = "2"
usb:1.present = "TRUE"
usb:1.deviceType = "hub"
usb:1.port = "1"
usb:1.parent = "-1"
usb.autoConnect.device0 = "path:1/3/0/5 autoclean:1"
sata0:1.startConnected = "TRUE"
vmx.buildType = "release"
svga.autodetect = "FALSE"
svga.vramSize = "1073741824"
gui.exitOnCLIHLT = "TRUE"
MemTrimRate = "0" 
mainMem.useNamedFile = "FALSE"
sched.mem.pshare.enable = "FALSE" 
prefvmx.useRecommendedLockedMemSize = "TRUE"
mainmem.backing = "swap"
monitor.virtual_mmu = "automatic"
monitor.virtual_exec = "automatic"
ethernet0.vnet = "VMnet1"
usb_xhci.present = "FALSE"
usb:0.present = "TRUE"
usb:0.deviceType = "hid"
usb:0.port = "0"
usb:0.parent = "-1"
Hennes
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user2924127
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  • Make sure the drivers are installed properly and you have the guest addons installed, then reboot. – LPChip Oct 18 '15 at 21:02
  • @LPChip I have VMWare tools installed. What drivers should I install? – user2924127 Oct 18 '15 at 21:06
  • The videocard drivers. – LPChip Oct 18 '15 at 21:13
  • @LPChip THe NVIDEA drivers? I don't think I can install host video card drivers inside of the guest as it is virtualizing the hardware is it not? VMware provides me with a VMWare SVGA 3D driver. – user2924127 Oct 18 '15 at 21:26
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    I was talking about the VMWare SVGA drivers. Even if you installed them in the past, they may have stopped working. I once had to uninstall and reinstall the drivers to fix performance issues. – LPChip Oct 19 '15 at 06:54
  • @LPChip I already just recently installed VMWare tools which installs the driver. Is there another driver from VMWare tools? – user2924127 Oct 21 '15 at 04:17
  • No, I think thats the one. Just make sure its properly installed and functions correctly. Reinstall when in doubt. – LPChip Oct 21 '15 at 10:06
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    VRAM and non-VRAM is exactly the same when running in VMWare, so it's pretty much irrelevant. – qasdfdsaq Oct 28 '15 at 16:19

1 Answers1

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  1. Power off the virtual machine.
  2. Open the .vmx file in a text editor.

  3. If you are using ESX, you can proceed to step 4.

    If you are using an older version of hosted product (Workstation, ACE, Player, Server, or Fusion), add this line so that video memory settings changes made here will be respected by the virtual machine and not overridden by VMware Tools:

    svga.autodetect = "FALSE"

    Note: If you are using ESX, this value is set by default.

  4. Calculate the amount of video memory required to support the highest desired resolution. Multiply the width by the height of the largest resolution desired, then multiply the result by 4. If the result exceeds 16777216 (or 4194304 for ESX Server), the video memory must be increased. Add or update this line in the .vmx file and then append the resulting value of the calculation:

    svga.vramSize = sizeInBytes

    Example: To add the resolution 2560 x 2048 to a Workstation virtual machine, multiply 2560 * 2048 * 4 to get 20971520. This is the amount of memory in bytes required for the resolution. The result, 20971520 bytes, exceeds the default of 16777216 bytes. Therefore, you must add this line to increase the video memory available:

    svga.vramSize = 20971520

    Notes: The value must be evenly divisible by 65536 when the guest is running Windows. If the value exceeds the maximum video RAM supported by your hardware version, it is automatically adjusted to the maximum.

  5. Save the file and open the virtual machine.

More config details here.

DrZoo
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  • Hi. Thanks for the reply. I have tried this previously, but it did not quite work. I allocated 1gb VRAM, but the most I can get it up to is 128mb. – user2924127 Oct 30 '15 at 06:51
  • @user2924127 can you provide a link to pastebin of the .vmx file you edited? – DrZoo Oct 30 '15 at 18:25
  • I have updated the question to include the vmx file. – user2924127 Oct 30 '15 at 21:32
  • @user2924127 remove the quotes from svga.vramSize to make it a number and not a string – DrZoo Oct 30 '15 at 22:29
  • I do have it removed, but when I start up the virtual machine it automatically changes this line and puts quotes around it and lowers the number. – user2924127 Oct 30 '15 at 23:10
  • @user2924127 Try setting `svga.minVRAMSize` to the calculated value, [as described here](https://communities.vmware.com/thread/533853?start=0&tstart=0). – Marc.2377 Sep 07 '16 at 23:39