Laptop card?

[Romanian]

Hey all, is it possible to buy a laptop with a 512mb vid card, for
around $2000? If not... can I buy a graphics card seperately and then
take out the one that came with the computer, and place the one I
bought into it? That is, into a laptop. If I have the correct
measurments, it is possible, no...?


Thanks in advance!

 

[Benjamin Gawert]

* Romanian:

Hey all, is it possible to buy a laptop with a 512mb vid card, for
around $2000?

Don't think so. BTW: what do you expect from a "512mb vid card"? You
obviously seem to think that only video memory size decides over
performance which is simply nonsense. The GPU is much more important
than the video ram size, and on a notebook 512MB video ram is just a
waste of money and energy.

If not... can I buy a graphics card seperately and then
take out the one that came with the computer, and place the one I
bought into it? That is, into a laptop. If I have the correct
measurments, it is possible, no...?

No. Even today gfx "card" (means: GPU and video ram) usually are
soldered onto the notebooks system board. Some manufacturers like Dell
used some proprietary module system for some of their notebooks which
allowed them to sell the same notebook with different gfx options, but
these modules are hard to find and usually very expensive, and only fit
to a certain Dell notebook series. There also were some Alienware
notebooks with replaceable gfx but also there it was a proprietary
system. Not to mention that the choice of gfx hardware is _extremely_
limited.

If you would enlighten us about what you want to do with the notebook
maybe we can give you a better advice.

Benjamin

 

[Clint]

Check out www.alienware.com. I don't know if you'll find your magic
configuration for under $2000, but I think these are some of the highest end
gaming laptops out there.

As far as the 512MB of video memory goes, I think you'll be out of luck,
especially at that price. Probably 256MB max, and I doubt you'd notice the
difference. Do some searches for video card reviews that compare 256MB vs
512MB. What games do you want to run? I'm assuming you want to use it for
games.

And as far as putting in a new video card goes, I doubt you'll have much
success with that. You'd be very lucky to find ANY laptop video cards
available. They're not the same connectors as desktop units. It's not just
a matter of taking the measurements.

Clint

 

[Barry Watzman]

$2000 is a LOT for a laptop. You can get a really good, high-end system
for about $1,200.

Generally, you can't buy the video card separately or retrofit one
(there are few exceptions to that, but VERY few).

I think you are putting WAY too much emphasis on the size of the video
memory. You can get some relatively high-end video systems in a $1,200
laptop. They may or may not have 512 megs of memory (probably won't)
but they will still be very capable.

However, don't expect ANY laptop at any price to have a video system
comparable to a desktop $350 to $500 video card. Power, cooling and
physical size all pretty much preclude that.

 

[Romanian]

Woah woah woah.... Can you please show me how/where I can get something
high-end? And I want to run games like Battlefield 2 and Oblivion, both
which reccomend a 512mb graphics card. And yes, I *am* uneducated about
graphics card. No idea how they really work

So... does anyone know where I can get something like:

-- 5.1+ Surround Sound
-- 2gb RAM
-- 256mb video card
--80gb drive, preferably 7200rpm
--2.16GHz+, Intel
for around $1200?

One LAST question... does anyone know if there is a way to get
discounts on a computer if you buy an Intel processor, and you work for
Intel?


Many thanks!

 

[vellu]

You won't find that configuration at that price range. Very few laptops
are equipped with 5.1 sound, 2.5" harddrives (for laptops) don't spin at
7200, but 80GB is possible (or 100). 2.16GHz Intel would be Centrino
M770 I think.

I estimate a price for such a laptop would be atleast 1500$.

For a discount I think you'd need to be working for the laptop
manufacturer, not Intel (they just provide components). Or an IT
retailer/distributor.

Romanian kirjoitti:

 

[James]

Woah woah woah.... Can you please show me how/where I can get something
high-end? And I want to run games like Battlefield 2 and Oblivion, both
which reccomend a 512mb graphics card. And yes, I *am* uneducated about
graphics card. No idea how they really work

So... does anyone know where I can get something like:

-- 5.1+ Surround Sound
-- 2gb RAM
-- 256mb video card
--80gb drive, preferably 7200rpm
--2.16GHz+, Intel
for around $1200?

One LAST question... does anyone know if there is a way to get
discounts on a computer if you buy an Intel processor, and you work for
Intel?


Many thanks!

I play Battlefield a great amount.

You will find it challenging to get good performance on a laptop. The
suggestion about alienware is a good one. They have a $1999 laptop that
has much of what you want, but it comes with 512MB of RAM, which in my
experience is not enough for Battlefield (1GB minimum.). A 256MB video
card is ok - the speed of the graphics processor is much more important
than the amount of video RAM.

If you work for Intel you would know better than I about discounts.
I've never heard of such a thing and how would Intel give you a
discount on someone else's product? I've never seen a laptop come
without the manufacturer already installing a CPU.

As other posters have mentioned, you won't find many high speed HD in
the laptop size(2.5 inch).

You know for the same money you can buy a very good desktop gaming
system, or even a decent desktop AND a low end laptop.

James

 

[Clint]

There's a number of 7200 rpm laptop drives now, going up in size to 100GB.
Even 6 months ago, that wasn't the case. I think the only 7200 rpm drive
for the longest time was the Hitachi 60GB unit; that goes back over 6 years,
I think. But a few other manufacturers have finally come out with some,
including Seagate.

As for the OP, you can also check out the Dell XPS M1710. It will blow your
budget, but it's also available with a 512MB video card (NVidia 7900 GTX),
if that's really important to you. They also say that it's got 5.1 audio.
By the time you get it fully decked out, you could be looking at more than
$3000, I'd guess. Save your pennies, or look into financing it, if it's
really important.

BTW, 5.1 audio won't do you much good unless you have the 6 speakers, which
means you're not really portable. You can save a ton of cash if you go with
a desktop unit instead of laptop. Even if you got a small form factor unit
with a 19" LCD panel, you'd probably come out much ahead. And it would
still be pretty portable.

Clint

 

[James]

There's a number of 7200 rpm laptop drives now, going up in size to 100GB.
Even 6 months ago, that wasn't the case. I think the only 7200 rpm drive
for the longest time was the Hitachi 60GB unit; that goes back over 6 years,
I think. But a few other manufacturers have finally come out with some,
including Seagate.

As for the OP, you can also check out the Dell XPS M1710. It will blow your
budget, but it's also available with a 512MB video card (NVidia 7900 GTX),
if that's really important to you. They also say that it's got 5.1 audio.
By the time you get it fully decked out, you could be looking at more than
$3000, I'd guess. Save your pennies, or look into financing it, if it's
really important.

BTW, 5.1 audio won't do you much good unless you have the 6 speakers, which
means you're not really portable. You can save a ton of cash if you go with
a desktop unit instead of laptop. Even if you got a small form factor unit
with a 19" LCD panel, you'd probably come out much ahead. And it would
still be pretty portable.

I've seen 5.1 headphones, but they are very bulky - they have multiple
speakers in the headphones themselves. Around $100 IIRC.

I agree a shuttle case and LCD would be relatively portable. Our
courier company provides our shipping computer and just replaced an old
unit with a new one - the small form factor computer sits in the stand
for the LCD, just behind the display. In terms of footprint - its no
more space than a laptop.

James

 

[Benjamin Gawert]

* Romanian:

Woah woah woah.... Can you please show me how/where I can get something
high-end? And I want to run games like Battlefield 2 and Oblivion, both
which reccomend a 512mb graphics card.

None of these cards needs a 512MB gfx card to run fast, and especially
BF2 even can't make use of 512MB video memory.

And yes, I *am* uneducated about
graphics card. No idea how they really work

It's simple: the GPU (the gfx processor) decides the features and
performance, the video RAM tells you how much textures the gfx card can
use without having to swap them into main memory which is slow.
Generally speaking, with higher display resolution you need more memory
than with lower display resolution.

Today, almost no games make use of 512MB video memory. All current games
still run fine with 128MB, and 256MB is already enough even for the
latest games.

Another thing is that notebook GPUs usually are much slower than the
comparable desktop GPU. So a X700 in a notebook never ever is as fast as
a X700 in a desktop computer. Besides that, most notebook manufacturers
tend to use low GPU clock settings to minimize energy cosnumption and
especially heat dissipation.

So... does anyone know where I can get something like:

-- 5.1+ Surround Sound
-- 2gb RAM
-- 256mb video card
--80gb drive, preferably 7200rpm
--2.16GHz+, Intel
for around $1200?

1200$ won't get you that.

One LAST question... does anyone know if there is a way to get
discounts on a computer if you buy an Intel processor, and you work for
Intel?

Probably not, since computer manufacturers have to buy their chips from
intel, too. Why should they honor the employment for one of their supplier?

Benjamin

 

[Benjamin Gawert]

* vellu:

2.5" harddrives (for laptops) don't spin at
7200

That's nonsense. There are lots of 7200rpm 2.5" drives, and this for
almost two years now...

Benjamin

 

[Benjamin Gawert]

* Clint:

There's a number of 7200 rpm laptop drives now, going up in size to 100GB.
Even 6 months ago, that wasn't the case. I think the only 7200 rpm drive
for the longest time was the Hitachi 60GB unit; that goes back over 6 years,
I think.

You think wrong. Besides that 6 years ago the maximum disk size for a
2.5" drive was 10GB, the first 7200rpm 2.5" disks came out around two
years ago.

Benjamin

 

[vellu]

I stand corrected. Though having checked what's available in 2.5" size
the vast majority are 5400rpm drives. But there are 7200rpm models too
indeed.

Benjamin Gawert kirjoitti:

 

[Romanian]

Alright. So, I'm guessing that 256mb graphics is enough. And 5.1 won't
happen with a laptop. But still, the thing is that I don't know who I
should buy from; who gives the best quality/money ratio? I would buy
Alienware if they weren't so pricey. And I found that one laptop for
$1999, with 512mb video memory, but the rest of the specs were really
bad.

Anyone know who I should buy from?

Thanks again, you've all been a great help and saved me time!

 

[Clint]

I thought I got my old Inspiron 5000e back when my son was born (November
2000) with a Travelstar 60GB 7200 rpm drive. Could be wrong on that. The
oldest posting I've seen for the 7K60 Hitachi Travelstar drive was May 2003,
which makes it 3 years old, and they seem to indicate back then that this
was a wonderful new thing. If you do a search in the Dell Inspiron forums,
though, they do have posts relating to 30GB Inspiron 5000e drives back in
2000.

I no longer have the old laptop, so I can't check on that anymore. Thank
goodness!

Clint

 

[Benjamin Gawert]

* Romanian:

Alright. So, I'm guessing that 256mb graphics is enough. And 5.1 won't
happen with a laptop. But still, the thing is that I don't know who I
should buy from; who gives the best quality/money ratio? I would buy
Alienware if they weren't so pricey. And I found that one laptop for
$1999, with 512mb video memory, but the rest of the specs were really
bad.

Anyone know who I should buy from?

It heavily depends on what you want to use the notebook for. If it's
just gaming then just get one of the cheaper ones like the ones from
Sony, Acer, HP Pavilion/Compaq Preario or whatever. These notebooks are
basically made for home users, with often some questionable mechanical
quality but with latest hardware, a bunch of software and a relative low
price.

If you use it mainly portable on the road and primary want really good
quality/durability and good manufacturer service then go HP (nc-, nw-
and nx-Series) or IBM/Lenovo Thinkpads, especially if its for business
use...

Benjamin

 

[Romanian]

Well, I'm going into Junior year in high school... thinking of skipping
senior year and just graduating this year because I have all of my
required credits and more... So, I would like to use it for school, but
also be good for gaming.

I found an nVidia Quadro series (or something like that), which has
512mb video memory, but I've heard that these are not as good for
games. Is this true, or would it still work?

Thanks again!

 

[Romanian]

Well, I'm going into Junior year in high school... thinking of skipping
senior year and just graduating this year because I have all of my
required credits and more... So, I would like to use it for school, but
also be good for gaming.

I found an nVidia Quadro series (or something like that), which has
512mb video memory, but I've heard that these are not as good for
games. Is this true, or would it still work?

Thanks again!

 

[Benjamin Gawert]

* Romanian:

Well, I'm going into Junior year in high school... thinking of skipping
senior year and just graduating this year because I have all of my
required credits and more... So, I would like to use it for school, but
also be good for gaming.

In this case I'd recommend going with one of the business models from HP
or IBM.

I found an nVidia Quadro series (or something like that), which has
512mb video memory, but I've heard that these are not as good for
games. Is this true, or would it still work?

Quadro are the professional GPUs aimed at the
MCAD/ANimation/Visualization market. They are certified for professional
applications and have some features like AA lines that are needed in
these apps but useless for games.

Really, you have to get rid of that rudiculous "more video memory is
better" thinking. It's basically the same like comparing penis sizes.

First, 128MB is usually more than enough for notebooks, even for games.
Since even the fastest notebook GPU is much slower than even an average
desktop gfx card there is no reason in more RAM since you still have to
reduce details, otherwise you're experiencing a slide show.

Second, I'd strongly recommend getting a notebook with ATI gfx. The
simple reason is that ATI offers their drivers also for the mobile GPUs
(Catalyst Mobility) while Nvidia only has drivers for their Geforce Go
7800GTX. For all other Nvidia mobile GPUs you are dependend of driver
updates from your notebook manufacturer which can take a while (or even
forever) until newer drivers are released.

Third, with notebooks the battery running time usually is somewhat
important. So stay away from notebooks with desktop CPU (P4, Athlon64)
or with Pentium4 Mobile because they suck your battery empty in no time.
The best choice at the moment is a Pentium-M or Core based notebook
(often also sold as "Centrino"). Turion64 is also nice but the chipsets
usually aren't very good and 64bit is hell of useless on a todays notebook.

Fourth, since a notebook is not made of generic components but highly
proprietary parts the mechanical quality and the manufacturer service
gets very important.

I have a HP nc8230 with Radeon Mobility X600 128MB, and I can play all
games incl. Oblivion. The newer model (nc8430) uses a X1600 which is
even faster. There of course are notebooks around with a much faster GPU
but since I don't use it for gaming only but mostly for mobile
applications I wanted a unit of high mechanical quality which isn't the
case with most consumer notebooks.

Benjamin

 

[Romanian]

heh... comparing penis sizes. Good analogy. Well, I guess I'll go with
a Radoen, but are there any computers which supply ATI cards with a
good price?