Difference between mobile graphics and desktop graphics?

[pkchen]

Hi all,

Does anybody know the differences between a mobile discrete graphics solution and a desktop one? I know companies like ATI and nVidia often use the same core chip in both ... so I'm kinda wondering what the heck the difference is then? I know that they will knock down the core frequency and memory frequency in mobile graphics, and often times they will implement some sort of power-saving feature ... but is there anything else that is different? If it's the same core chip.... is there much else that is different besides frequency?

Any help would be much appreciated ... thanks!!!

 

[DaveSimmons]

amount of memory, type of memory.

number of pipelines, which is sort of how many pixels can be drawn at once.

 

[Arcanedeath]

All recent mobile chips from both companies are at best performing 1/2 as good as their high end desktop counterparts, but they are based off the desktop cores w/ more powermanagment features. the 6600 series for Nvidia and the X800 (I belive it only has 8 piplines altho could have 12 I forget) for Ati I haven't seen a mobile 6800 part announced yet but I could have missed it. Also in general they have only 128mb of memory instead of 256 and in some cases only a 128bit or 64bit memory bus instead of a 256bit one.

 

[JimPhelpsMI]

Hi, CRT and LCD are usually fed the same signals. Internal circuitry in both convert the standard signals into what is needed for the device. Jim

 

[sharkeeper]

Power and thermal management issues are the biggest hurdles right now. The power requirements of a single 6800U with 256MB of ram is more than most entire notebooks including the GPU! :Q

My Inspiron XPS has a Mobility Radeon 9800 with 256MB and its performance is probably close to a desktop with a 9700Pro, perhaps somewhat higher. Not shabby for a sub 10 pound package.

There is a 6800GO that is currently the fastest mobile GPU on the market right now. I wish Dell offered it!

 

[halfadder]

The mobile GPUs often have fewer pipelines than their desktop counterparts. Also marketing makes them sound closer to their desktop counterparts than they really are.

ATI's Mobility Radeon X800 is based mostly on the Mobility Radeon 9800, which is just a faster Mobility Radeon 9700, which is just a faster Mobility Radeon 9600. However, all of these are mighty powerful, especially when you get up to the Mobility Radeon 9800 and X800.

NVIDIA's GeForce 5200 Go Ultra is a bit slower than their desktop GeForce 5200 Ultra, which is weak to begin with (it's just a DX9 complaint version of the GF 4 MX). But their GeForce 6800 Go is a powerhouse!

The Mobility Radeon X800 and GeForce 6800 Go are very close in performance, and like their desktop counterparts, each has its strenghts and weaknesses in various games. Actual performance is closer to the Radeon 9800 XT and GF 6600, which is still pretty darn good for a notebook.

 

[lazybum131]

Originally posted by: halfadder
ATI's Mobility Radeon X800 is based mostly on the Mobility Radeon 9800, which is just a faster Mobility Radeon 9700, which is just a faster Mobility Radeon 9600.

Your right about the MR9700 just being a higher clocked version of the MR9600 (which is based off the desktop 9600). But the MR9800 and MRX800 are based off the desktop X800s, not merely higher clocked versions of the MR9700. The MR9800 has double the pipelines and a 256-bit memory bus compared to the MR9700 and the MRX800 has 12-pipelines. The MRX800 is pretty much a desktop X800pro with slower clockspeeds.

 

[halfadder]

That would explain why the MR9800 feels so darn fast!

 

[aatf510]

How much faster is a MR9800 vs. a MR9700.
I currently play CS:S @ 1024x768 medium-high details with dx9 on my Centrino 1.5GHz + MR9700 (not too bad for a 5 pounds laptop)
The gfx quality is not good as my dekstop set-up but it's very playable and smooth enough.
However, I am still wondering how much faster a MR9800 is?