Laptop vid cards?

[itim100]

Im looking at buying a laptop new, but there is this mess of mobile vid cards. Im looking at either Alienware cause of the upgradeable vidcards or ibm cause they aren't that expensive anymore and have alright cards (and ibms are l33t).

Any thoughts on what to look for? Are there any good sites that keep up with this stuff? BTW, voodoo laptops and the like are waaaay to expensive. The most important thing to me is the vid card, as i have found that that is was most often determines a laptop's longenvity of usefulness. I game hardcore.

thnx!

 

[CalsonicGTR]

If youre looking for a gaming laptop, try and find one with the ATI Mobility 9600. While the graphics arent as good as the 9600 Pro, it will sure blow away any other form of integrated video on laptops. Also, as you said, the Mobility 9600 uses a modular design which lets the user swap out the unit for more powerful units when they become available. The only downside that I can think of are the cost factor and that it would probably use more battery to run than integrated graphics.

 

[Evnas]

Anything ATi really. They have been the leader in laptop graphics for years, and are very power efficient and very good quality

 

[NewbiePerson]

I heard somewhere a mobility 9700 version will come out in 2004. Basically don't get a laptop for gaming unless you wana dish out some serious cash. They are like double or triple the cost of a comparable pc offering the same performance if not better. Thats due to the fact that laptops have inadequate cooling and the components must be sized down. Just feel the bottom of one. Someone actually burned theirself on one and sued the company. It will be awhile before you can compare a laptop to a pc.

 

[itim100]

So, are all Mobile Radeon 9600s upgradeable? Or do some vendors keep you from being able to upgrade?

 

[NewbiePerson]

i'm not sure but i would think laptop video cards are integrated onto the mobo making it near impossible to upgrade without a major overhaul...

 

[itim100]

Also, as you said, the Mobility 9600 uses a modular design which lets the user swap out the unit for more powerful units when they become available.

?? Are all systems using the M9600 removeable parts?

 

[NewbiePerson]

2 things i know that you can upgrade in a laptop are ram and the hdd. the rest i don't know. You might be able to do processor i've seen just the porc for sale. Other than that i've never seen anything else. If they did everyone would be building their own laptop. Also games are going to load slower along with everything else on a laptop i think 5400rpm hdd is the max. They usually have alotta cache though but it doesn't match a 7200rpm drive.

 

[moorcito]

In the laptops with upgradable vid cards, the cards plug into the motherboard much like a desktop system. That's why they are upgradable.

I once was using a Dell Inspiron 8100 w/ a GeForce2 Go that I could have swapped out for an ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 because they sold the laptop with either card and they pluged into the motherboard making them swapable.

I'd check the service manuals, which usually can be found online, to verify if the laptop has and integrated (ie. soldered onto the MB) or plugin video card. That way you'll have a better idea if the card will be upgradeable or not.

 

[Movax]

I purchased a Dell 8600 with a 9600 mobile chip and a 1.5 GHz Centrino. It also has a 7200 RPM hard drive. CPU and Video are upgradable.

It scores about 9020 in 3dmark01 and 2800 in 3dmark03.

 

[CalsonicGTR]

As far as I know, all 9600 Mobility based systems feature the removeable graphics card. I think that the chip was designed in this fashion from the get-go, so I doubt they have some removable and some fixed to the board.

 

[itim100]

Yeah, that's kindof what I was thinking/hoping. Perhaps ill ask ati...

 

[silentfire]

your laptop has a 7200 rpm hardrive????
where the hell did u get that??
itim im in the same boat as u man. Ive been looking for a laptop that can play most games and i have relaized one very important thing. Its expensive as hell. I think your much better off just getting a laptop that does everything well besides gaming and save that for your main rig and it costs way less.
Either way let me know what u decide im currently looking at all the dells.