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Dedicated graphics card in laptop

Merlin5

Merlin5

Merlin5

Soldato
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This may or may not be the correct forum to ask, but since I can't get any proper responses in the pc games forum, and no responses in the laptop forum, I don't have much to lose :p

I'm looking to buy a laptop second hand preferably, purely to run point and click adventures. I've been looking at this one but it has integrated graphics, Intel GMA X3100 http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3960

And I don't think it's going to be very good. So does anyone here know of some very capable laptop graphics cards I should be looking out for to better help me choose the right laptop?
 
If all you are going to run is point and click adventures I would have thought the Intel graphics be fine as they are not really 3D intensive games ?
 
"point and click adventures" what are these? Games based on Flash? Then you might want a powerful enough mobile CPU, nothing special with the GPU. I bet the Core 2 Duo CPU would do it? T7xxx series is already very nice.
 
Yeah, sorry, I should have been more specific. Games such as these, system specs shown.

http://www.game-debate.com/games/index.php?g_id=1034&game=The Next BIG Thing

http://www.amnesiagame.com/#buy

No, they're not flash games.Think of games like broken sword, but with the latest graphics developments.

I need a laptop to run those nicely. If it can run those, I'm pretty sure it should run all other point and click adventures. So I'm not looking to run crysis type heavy duty graphics games, but someone on the the adventuregamers forum said "you'll have better compatibility if you get somthing with a video card that isnt integrated graphics. In my experience its a coin toss when it comes to whether an integrated card will run anything."

According to those specs, it seems I need something at least equivalent to GeForce 7800 GT, Radeon X800 XT, Radeon X1000/GF 6.

(crikey, reached 4K, lol)
 
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Even fairly low end laptop graphics these days are equivalent to a 7800GT or better so should be ok there. Only potential problem with integrated GPU is they tend to have less than mainstream drivers/support and might potentially have compatibility issues so something with an AMD or nVidia GPU would potentially be less of a headache.
 
Rroff said:
Even fairly low end laptop graphics these days are equivalent to a 7800GT or better so should be ok there. Only potential problem with integrated GPU is they tend to have less than mainstream drivers/support and might potentially have compatibility issues so something with an AMD or nVidia GPU would potentially be less of a headache.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Yeah, I want to stay away from integrated graphics. Can you name any dedicated cards equivalent to the 7800GT? I really have no clue. The only card I know the model number of is a Go7300 I think it's called.
 
I suggest going here http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile...l&type=specs&vantage3dmark=&vatnage3dmarkgpu= when looking at mobile gpus. Naming conventions aren't consistent, nor is performance. Iirc a mobile 520 from nividia is only something like 3-4% faster than a 320 from a couple years earlier. That said amds fusion chips have far superior graphics than intels, better fame rates and lower power use (which adds a couple hours to the battery) but less cpu power. They do happen to be significantly cheaper but really aimed at low-mid range.

Do research, do a lot :p
 
OK, basic rule: if any of those game has mentioned a dedicated graphics card in the recommended spec, then stay away from the Intel IGP at all costs! Intel IGP has always been representing the worst standard of GPU at time. It does nothing more than cheating in 3DMark.
 
Thanks guys. I'll check out that gpu link. Meanwhile, I've stretched my budget to £250. I've found an Acer Aspire 4552 Windows 7 laptop on a site that specialises in refurbs, but this one is A1 condition, meaning it's brand new, just box opened, for £249. The graphics card isn't dedicated and I'm struggling to find one. It's got integrated ATI Radeon HD 4250 (256MB dedicated memory)
Microsoft® DirectX® 10.1 support. Would that graphics card be any good? http://www.laptop-software.com/acer-software/acer-aspire-4552-laptop-review-specs/
 
harmony said:
You could use this site to check the standings of mobile GPUs:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/ATI-Radeon-HD-4250.29664.0.html

Make sure you choose one with a standing no worse than the desktop GPU specified by the game.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I have a feeling from just reading the first section of that link, that HD4250 could be just the ticket. It seems pretty decent. Along with the cpu being AMD Turion II Dual-Core Mobile Processor P540 (2MB L2 cache, 2.40GHz), it's surely gotta be able to carry the games I want to play.
 
Amazing what research can do. 4 days ago I knew nothing about laptop graphics cards and today I'm pretty clued up. I finally bought a laptop today with two switchable graphics cards, the AMD HD6630M and the integrated intel HD3000. :) The 6630M is number 109 on this list. Not too shabby eh? http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

As for the laptop heavyweights, it's the same 2 at the top as the best desktop cards, the GTX 580 and AMD 6990 mobile cards.
 
Your games have system requirements.

Read them?

The system you have bought is almost overpowered for the point and clicks you linked.

Unless you run a DX10 game or up the dedicated card wont even turn on.
 
Meaker said:
Your games have system requirements.

Read them?

The system you have bought is almost overpowered for the point and clicks you linked.

Unless you run a DX10 game or up the dedicated card wont even turn on.
Click to expand...

Hmm, oh dear then. Well, they are working on a fix which is supposed to be in around 2 weeks. http://www.ideastorm.com/ideaView?id=087700000008XjiAAE&p=3

"a new GPU driver that is supposed to address 2 of the 3 main concerns I am seeing on this thread (OpenGL support for the ATI side, same for the Intel side, and application level control to lock in either discrete or onboard graphics). The OpenGL support for both GPU's should be included in the new driver. Please update to the new driver, and post back how it goes. As far as the application level control, this is an issue we are told ATI has to solve"

I don't suppose those fixes would sort DX9 would it?
 
Hey, just to let you know, Dell have now fixed the problem with switchable graphics cards on this laptop. I have full manual control on which ever graphics card I want to use. I had to update the AMD drivers and they created a new BIOS which I updated. Now it works perfect on all my games, any DX version, point and click and fps. There's no issue with OpenGL anymore. Dirt2 runs very smooth on medium settings, benchmarking 52fps. All worked out good in the end!
 
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