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Which laptop video card should I be looking at?

I

imported_Krypto

Senior member
Ok, I'm looking for a gaming laptop and I will most likely get a sager. Now I just need to decide if the extra money is worth it for the 9700 128mb, or the 9700 256mb, or the nvidia 6800 256mb. Which would be better to have for gaming? As far as I know those are the only ones besides the 9600 128mb which I have had in the past and I'd like something more powerfull.
 
I read that one and it didn't answer my questions. I'm not getting a pentium-m laptop, and I just want to know if there is a difference between the 9700 128mb and the 9700 256mb, and if there is a difference between the 9700 256mb and the 6800 256mb. I have heard that the 6800 sucks for gaming and I want to know which one is the best for gaming. As far as I know these are the only video cards that are about 128mb except for the 9600 and the nvidia 5200 i believe?
 
First of all, keep in mind that the 9700 is old. The high end ATI Radeon Mobility GPU timeline looks something like this:
9600 -> 9700 -> 9800 -> X800

The current top-of-the-line portable gamer ATI GPU is the Radeon Mobility X800.
The current top-of-the-line portable gamer NVIDIA CPU is the GeForce 6800 Go.

The 6800-Go is significantly faster than the M-9700. In fact, it's real competitor is the M-X800.

For some games (Doom3) the 6800-Go is faster, for others, (HL2) the M-X800 is faster. In most cases,the 6800-Go and M-X800 are about the same in real-world performance.

As far as gfx ram, if you're using the latest games, the more the better. The higest quality settings in the latest games require 256+ MB. But also keep in mind that the mobile versions of these GPUs have fewer pipelines than their desktop cousins, so the amount of horsepower to make use of the gfx ram will be limited. So, basiclly, get as much as you can afford, but don't worry if you can only afford the 128 MB version.
 
Originally posted by: Krypto
I read that one and it didn't answer my questions. I'm not getting a pentium-m laptop, and I just want to know if there is a difference between the 9700 128mb and the 9700 256mb, and if there is a difference between the 9700 256mb and the 6800 256mb. I have heard that the 6800 sucks for gaming and I want to know which one is the best for gaming. As far as I know these are the only video cards that are about 128mb except for the 9600 and the nvidia 5200 i believe?
Click to expand...



did you actually look at those two links that i had in that posted? if you had then you would already know the answer to this question

 
The difference between 128mb and 256mb is basically the same as desktop video cards. Most of the time 128mb is more than enough, while some top detail settings in few games will see benefit in 256mb. THe radeon 9700 mobility is simply a radeon 9600 xt chip with 400 - 450mhz core, 200 - 260mhz ram. Currently, the nvidia 6800 go seems to be the fastest and only comes in larger p4/ a64 notebooks.
 
I'm looking at notebooks with 15 inch screens and under 7 pounds. I haven't seen any video cards better than the 9700 and the 5650 go -- Got any suggestions?
 
Nope. Better than the 9700 means the X800 or 6800, which draw a lot more power and thus won't be found in any "mobile" notebooks (i.e. lighter notebooks). At least I haven't seen any. Anyone?
 
I read up on the new centrino chipsets and it looks like we'll see at least the possibility of better video cards (pci-express brings in the x800 and 6800 I believe) into the non-DTR range. Hopefully... And hopefully they won't cost an arm and a leg. It'd be harder to carry even an ultraportable with just 2 limbs.
 
From what I've read, (for example beyond3d.com's review), it might be hard to put these high performance gpu's into an ultraportable because of the heat they will probably generate.

I guess we'll see. I haven't seen any concrete specs
 
You probably could put a 6800/X800 into the Sonoma Centrino systems, hell you might even be able to hardwire one into the current platforms. But then, instead of having battery life, you would have in effect a giant capacitor strapped to the back of your laptop that just discharges instantly when you turn it on. :roll: My point is that high end video cards like that probably won't be seen in mobile notebooks for quite a while due to the power draw, even in idle mode. If we do, I'll rejoice and then wait for the battery tests. But I won't hold my breath
 
also these cards are preety large, so i dont think they could 'fit' in a thin n' light notebook w/o compromising some thin-ness and weight as a result.
 
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