x1600/V5200 performance question

[6000SUX]

I am considering buying a Thinkpad T60p soon, and was curious about the gaming performance of the video card, listed as "ATI Mobility FireGL V5200 - 256 MB". As I understand it, this card is basically an x1600 with workstation-class drivers.

fbrdphreak posted a link to these helpful tests including a 128MB x1600:
http://www.laptoplogic.com/resources/de...ESSID=14a0df13252afcb934090d3f6cdfaa55

From the 3dMark05 numbers, the 128MB x1600 seems to run neck-and-neck with my 6600GT, so I'd probably be pretty happy with something comparable.

My questions:

1) What makes drivers "workstation-class"?
2) What will the performance be like with the stock driver, on this 256-meg part?
3) How much will I gain by using Omega drivers, and is the risk of instability really severe?
4) Will I be able to play most games at a native resolution of 1400 X 1050 if I turn off some eye candy?

Most of my gaming is not that intensive, some racing games like NFSU, but I would like to be able to take the laptop to an occasional LAN party and at least be able to play most of the games. I also want something I'll be happy with for the next three years, but I have to buy now because I'm off to law school soon (and will be near-penniless for those three years). Thanks.

 

[fbrdphreak]

1) Drivers are optimized for 3D rendering, not 3D games
2) The extra mem won't matter much. Assuming same clocks, performance will be somewhat less. Rough guesstimate, maybe 10% less.
3) I'd say anywhere from 10-20% performance, again roughly. On my T42 ATI MR 9600 64MB, going from stock IBM drivers to Omega's allowed me to go from Need For Speed Underground @ 1280x1024 with no eye candy and sluggish to playing @ 1280x1024 with all eye candy and fast as hell. Most people don't have stability issues, but minor bugs instead. For instance, on my T42 whenever the screen would turn off due to timeout or closing lid, when the screen turned back on it would take like another 5sec to actually refresh and be ready to go. Such a PITA
4) If you turn off most eye candy, yes. Playing NFSU definitely leave HDR off, 8xAF should be fine, maybe get away with 2xAA. As you saw in my article, the Asus with MR X1600 did okay in FEAR at 1400x900 on medium settings, and well on low settings. You can probly manage most games @ 1400x1050 at medium settings with omega drivers. Also considering OCing the chip if it matters that much. ATI Tool is your friend

 

[AmigaMan]

I wonder if you could install the x1600 drivers for the FireGL? Anyways, that T60p looks like a sweet machine, if I didn't already have a MacBookPro, I'd be jealous...nah I'm jealous anyways
And with the x1600 in my MBP, I can run Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion which is arguably one of the most graphics intensive games available. I'm currently running it at 800x600 w/HDR with no problems (however I did overclock the card). The 5200 with some good drivers should get comparable performance (I'm not sure if the T60p is underclocked or not).

 

[6000SUX]

Thanks a lot, guys. I have gotten the go-ahead from the wife... I just have to wait a week until I finish classes to buy it. I can't wait! I really liked both of the Thinkpads I used in the past, but this new one will blow them away.

I'm definitely going to try installing the regual x1600 driver for the 5200; that's a smart idea. If that fails, Omega, here I come.