What is IGD Aperture Size?
Content Type: Product Information & Documentation | Article ID: 000028294 | Last Reviewed: 02/12/2025
Support Knowledge Base
Environment
Operating System
Windows 7 family*, Windows 8.1 family*, Windows 8 family*, Windows® 10 family
Caution | Changing IGD Aperture Size settings in BIOS may result in varied system performance. |
Most BIOS or Unified Extensible Firmware Interfaces (UEFI) define the Graphics Video Max Memory as the maximum amount of system memory dedicated to integrated graphics solely for an Integrated Graphics Device (IGD). This memory is never available for regular system memory, instead it's utilized for:
- Pre-driver load frame buffer(s)
- Device internal usages
- Any not used for the above two is used as Video Memory (VRAM)
| Note | Total IGD graphics memory is based on the operating system and not equal to Graphics Video Max Memory. See more information at Frequently Asked Questions for Intel® Graphics Memory on Windows® 10. |
Some BIOS or UEFIs also allow users to define IGD Aperture Size, which provides the size of Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) Base Address Registers (BAR)/Window for integrated graphics. The PCIe BAR/Window for integrated graphics is provided in two cases:
- Application requires direct access to system memory dedicated for integrated graphics.
- Application requiring de-swizzle or linearize view of graphics data (only applicable to Windows® 7 or older operating systems. Not applicable to Windows® 10).
Applications interact with BAR, which in turn redirects to the system memory that is dedicated for integrated graphics or regular system memory for de-swizzle. A large IGD Aperture Size is not a good idea 100% of the time, since this will increase BAR space in system address space.
IGD Aperture Size (Default) = 256 MB (for 10th Generation Intel® processors and older)
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