looking for a laptop but worried by switching gfx

bigjonnyauk · 25 Apr 2013 at 01:12

ok so ive got my eyes on a few laptops within my budget for normal usage and the odd light gaming here and there

the thing is the one i like has amd enduro technology and i keep seeing posts about it not working correct and its a game to get it to work

on the other hand i hear the nvidia one is better

so i dont know what to do the 2 cards in question are

nvidia 630m and amd 7730

do i take the lower card for the more reliability or the better 7730 but have nothing but problems and google searching ?

really not sure

Awesomeish · 25 Apr 2013 at 04:22

I did own a laptop with a 7730m, though unfortunately I did have problems with the drivers crashing frequently and needing a re-install every time.

Since then I've returned that laptop and now own one with a 650m, which I've had no major driver problems with (though there is a slight dynamic boosting issue, but not nearly as inconvenient as the 7730's problems).

It might be better to go with NVidia, but are you really limited to just a 630m? If you could find one with a 640m, that's equivalent/better than the 7730m.

bigjonnyauk · 25 Apr 2013 at 16:02

would happily goto a 640m but my budget is 470 quid top end and not a penny more the wife says lol

you know anywhere

to be honest i question if i really need to game on a lappy lol i only really want to play rts games on it

bfme 2 and witch king expansion plus the age of empires,baldurs gate series and maybe the odd single player cod series and grid

seems the inbuilt intel hd4000 chip will do them all

but my wife set the budget so if i have any left over she will use it for clothes lol so ill get one for as close as damn possible lol

drakioned · 25 Apr 2013 at 16:05

AMD graphics cards do seem to be more work to get working right, although they are better bang for the buck.

I think it's usually possible to get it working right, it's just more effort and I think largely down to how much your time is worth... A lot of the models using AMD graphics do give you the option to switch off the integrated graphics (although not all), but then you lose the power/heat benefits.

If you are planning to use the laptop plugged into the wall most of the time and the model you're considering can have the integrated GPU switched off, then it should be fine to go with the 7730m.

bigjonnyauk · 25 Apr 2013 at 16:36

laptop will always be plugged in but dont think you can swith off the gfx

its from the big outlet place ?

bigjonnyauk · 25 Apr 2013 at 20:55

so if there is so many problems with this switchable gfx is that why they are cheap

would really like this lappy but went on the sites forums and google and seems its just problem after problem

what is the exact problem with them i dont want to be reinstalling drivers all the time and it not working

Awesomeish · 25 Apr 2013 at 21:29

I think the main problem people have with switchable graphics is not knowing whether the dedicated card is being used in games. It's pretty easy though: just go to CCC, go to 'switchable graphics' and you can manually set which applications you want to run in 'high performance' mode. I never had any troubles there.

The 7730m IS a pretty good card for some light gaming... I could do GW2 on medium at 1080p at a fluid frame rate, Crysis on medium/high, it scored about 6.5k in 3DMark Vantage graphics tests, and it always stayed cool (never saw it raise above 65C or so, whereas my NVidia card tends to hang around 65-72C under load).

I think the problems I experienced might have been a one-off, 'cause I couldn't find much help through Google at the time. Basically my computer screen would, on occasion, randomly flicker whilst making the 'media disconnected' noise, at which point a CCC error message comes up, which caused some other programs to stop functioning somehow (like Chrome and Skype), and I'd have to reinstall.

I suppose you could return the laptop if you do have issues, what is it, Inspiron 15R SE? If you go refurbished you could get a 17R SE in that budget. I did

bigjonnyauk · 25 Apr 2013 at 22:53

Awesomeish said:
I think the main problem people have with switchable graphics is not knowing whether the dedicated card is being used in games. It's pretty easy though: just go to CCC, go to 'switchable graphics' and you can manually set which applications you want to run in 'high performance' mode. I never had any troubles there.

The 7730m IS a pretty good card for some light gaming... I could do GW2 on medium at 1080p at a fluid frame rate, Crysis on medium/high, it scored about 6.5k in 3DMark Vantage graphics tests, and it always stayed cool (never saw it raise above 65C or so, whereas my NVidia card tends to hang around 65-72C under load).

I think the problems I experienced might have been a one-off, 'cause I couldn't find much help through Google at the time. Basically my computer screen would, on occasion, randomly flicker whilst making the 'media disconnected' noise, at which point a CCC error message comes up, which caused some other programs to stop functioning somehow (like Chrome and Skype), and I'd have to reinstall.

I suppose you could return the laptop if you do have issues, what is it, Inspiron 15R SE? If you go refurbished you could get a 17R SE in that budget. I did

yeah thats the one mate dont really want to go 17 inch would be to big for my needs and space lol i know it sounds daft but 17 is just to big

i might plump for that then like you say i can always send it back after getting help on here if it doesnt resolve issues .

do you have to set every program you use to decide on hd4000 or 7730 ?

does the game you play have to incorperate the switching technology as bfme2 is an old game but i want it to use the 7730 and not the onboard

Awesomeish · 26 Apr 2013 at 00:05

Yeah that's understandable... the 17 inch is a bit big for some, but then it is considered a 'desktop replacement'!

Well, if you do go for the Inspiron then I hope you don't have the same troubles I did

but then like I say, I seemed to be alone in having those problems. Dell support were actually pretty good in my experience, so you shouldn't have many problems returning/fixing it if it goes wrong.

The drivers are pretty good at automatically detecting when they need to switch to the 7730m, though some games you need to manually set to 'high performance'. I don't think it matters whether the game is old either, it should still use the 7730 when you tell it to.

edit: Oh yeah, something else I should mention about that laptop. They might've updated the drivers to fix it now but, the 'palmcheck' option couldn't be turned off unless you changed a few registry settings (palmcheck is when it prevents you from moving the mouse when you type on the keyboard, which is bothersome during gaming). Also, I couldn't right+left click at the same time (aim+shooting in some games), so you'd have to either plug in a mouse, find an option in-game to make the aim 'toggle', or revert to generic synaptics drivers which allows right+left click.

so like Drakioned said, there might be a bit of fiddling involved... just letting you know of all the little niggles I can remember.

bigjonnyauk · 27 Apr 2013 at 21:34

thanks for your input mate i wont say its put me off but has certainly made me think lol

infact ive even been thinking maybe i dont need powerful gfx at all as i only play rts games on lappy as my xbox is next to me lol

i could prob get away with a gt525 and up the proccy and ram instead of sacrificing them for gfx

going to be around 4-5 weeks yet before all funds are ready so maybe something will appear that brings down the price of the slightly older tech.

another thing tried a lappy with windows 8 today and really didnt like it so i might have to factor in the cost of a windows 7 if i cant buy one with it .....