Patent ID: 7081897

Claim:
A method comprising: determining a first quantity of memory required within a memory system to support a first block of a graphics memory to store graphics data; selecting an address location within the memory system at which to position the first block of the graphics memory that minimizes a number of banks of memory cells and a number of memory devices occupied by a portion of the first block of the graphics memory; allocating the quantity of memory required within the memory system to support a first block of the graphics memory at the address location; and placing a first bank of memory cells within the memory system that is not occupied by any portion of the first block of the graphics memory into a lower power state in which the memory cells become inaccessible while refraining from placing a second bank of memory cells within the memory system, wherein the second bank is occupied by at least a portion of the first graphics memory, into a lower power state such that the memory cells remain accessible to read graphics data.