Laptop Graphics Cards

[josh]

Hey Guys,

I am helping my dad look for a laptop for my little brother and my mom to share. It has to have pretty good graphics (good enough to play games like Battle for Middle Earth and stuff like that), but I don't want to go all out and get somethign like an Alienware.

Size does not really matter becuase it is only going to be moved around the house (thats why we are not getting a desktop though).

The thing is I really know nothing about laptop graphics cards and what a good one would be. I was looking at this laptop in the futureshop add Here which does have a seperate ATI graphics card, but I don't know how good it is. Do you guys think it is any good?

The card is a ATI Radeon Xpress 200M

THANKS!!!
-Josh

[rdrake]

Despite the fact that it's separate, it's still shared memory. Basically, 128 MB of that 1024 MB RAM you have can be put towards graphics use. This is much slower than if your video card has its own dedicated memory.

From reading your post, I get that you're just looking to play some games, correct? Just don't expect too much out of a laptop graphics wise, they're typically not designed for that.

Simply put, you can play some games, but it will be slow and is not recommended.

I would highly recommend you look at reviews of that particular model from other consumers before buying. Some models have known problems which could make you regret your purchase. Remember to always research before making a large purchase like this.

[Andy]

asus custom built is your answer

[Neo]

Andy wrote:

asus custom built is your answer

[josh]

That would be good, but he doesn't need to be able to play really high quality games. Just good enough so that if he plays a game like Guild Wars or something, he can do even low quality graphics but it will still run smoothly.

[Andy]

the xpress 200m uses an RS480 core, which is equivalent of a RV370, also used in the X300. since the X300 uses ddr400 vram natively on a desktop, you shouldnt be getting much of an performance hit with ddr333. i'd recomment something with at least an RV4xx core, X700 is RV410.

the mobile asics will have it's own name, ie X1800 mobile is M58, X1600 mobile is M56, Radeon 9600/9700 is M10, but for simple references, just compare them to their desktop counterparts

[josh]

Thanks for the advice

[Neo]

Andy wrote:

the xpress 200m uses an RS480 core, which is equivalent of a RV370, also used in the X300. since the X300 uses ddr400 vram natively on a desktop, you shouldnt be getting much of an performance hit with ddr333. i'd recomment something with at least an RV4xx core, X700 is RV410.

the mobile asics will have it's own name, ie X1800 mobile is M58, X1600 mobile is M56, Radeon 9600/9700 is M10, but for simple references, just compare them to their desktop counterparts

Or simply, the one with the higher number is better.

[Blade]

Neo wrote:

Or simply, the one with the higher number is better.

Andy wrote:

the xpress 200m uses an RS480 core, which is equivalent of a RV370, also used in the X300. since the X300 uses ddr400 vram natively on a desktop, you shouldnt be getting much of an performance hit with ddr333. i'd recomment something with at least an RV4xx core, X700 is RV410.

the mobile asics will have it's own name, ie X1800 mobile is M58, X1600 mobile is M56, Radeon 9600/9700 is M10, but for simple references, just compare them to their desktop counterparts

higher number isn't necessarily better according to andy. specifically RS480 is still a higher number than RV410..

[Andy]

okay, i'll give you guys a quick breakdown
Rxxx is the mainstream series, they were all once the enthusiast cards. ie: R580 = X1900, R520 = X1800 R480 = X850 R420 = X800 R300 = 9800

RVxxx is the second rate cards, they use the same core as the Rxxx series, but has some goodies taken out of it. ie: RV515 = X1300 RV530 = X1600, RV410 = X700, RV370= X600, RV350=9600

and RSxxx is the onboard series ie, Xpress200 uses RS410, i dont know too much about IGP, but yeah, you get the point

[Neo]

Blade wrote:

Neo wrote:

Or simply, the one with the higher number is better.

Andy wrote:

the xpress 200m uses an RS480 core, which is equivalent of a RV370, also used in the X300. since the X300 uses ddr400 vram natively on a desktop, you shouldnt be getting much of an performance hit with ddr333. i'd recomment something with at least an RV4xx core, X700 is RV410.

the mobile asics will have it's own name, ie X1800 mobile is M58, X1600 mobile is M56, Radeon 9600/9700 is M10, but for simple references, just compare them to their desktop counterparts

higher number isn't necessarily better according to andy. specifically RS480 is still a higher number than RV410..

But notice the difference, RS and RV. So according to andy higher number is better, provided that they are the same series or whaterver...

[Andy]

once again, not necessarily.
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2006/02/15/ati_preps_r590/

this R590 is less powerful than the R580... wack? yes i know... damn marketing ppl

but it's ok, the Rxxx may lie, but the names that start with X dont

X300<X600<X700<X800<X850<X1300<X1600<X1800<X1900

[shorthair]

for someone who works at ati, your not gonna sit here and tell me
a x1300 outperforms a x700XT , any x800 , any x850
that would be insane , and everyone would be buying them

[Andy]

okay wow.. i just realized what i wrote lol.. shorthair is right, i'm way off haha.. damn OTs... x1300 is an consumer card, X850 used to be our flagship. i guess the only way to tell which card is better than which is to look at the specs. my bad

[shorthair]

it would be correct.
if you seperated both the lines.

The 1K Series
and the x*00 , x850 series
those are in proper order of course.

but dont even try to put them together , its gets sticky by manufacturer , overclocking , random letter versions like XT OC , or nVidia XXX. stuff like that.

but definatly go for the new 1k series. the x1600 is in the new dual core lappys, and everyone wants AVIVO tech , its way better. and i believe also 3.0 Shaders.