Need help and advice with the G1S

Well after 3 years of having the same HP (it's old, but reliable but it is on it's last legs) I am finally getting a new laptop. I am torn between the G1S and the IFL90.

I like the fact that the IFL90 is cheaper, but it is pretty plain and I like the design of the G1S. Cost isn't too much of a factor, so I was shooting for a
G1S with 3 gigs of ram and a 160 gig 7200 rpm hard drive or an IFL90 with similar specs.

The only real difference that will drive my purchase is the GFX card. I have read somewhere that the 256 meg 8600M is actually faster than the 512 meg because of the vram on the cards. Is this true?

 

This depends if the IFL90 uses 512Mb of GDDR2 or GDDR3. The G1s has 256MB GDDR3 and is faster then the Zepto 6625WD with 512MB GDDR2.

I tried looking in the Compal forum but didnt find any info. It seems that the IFL90 comes with a GS and GT version, but I am unable to find info on the GT's VRAM being GDDR2 or 3. The GS version will be much slower then the G1s for sure.

 

i would advise you simply not to worry about memory size, just make sure that its GDDR3.

the 8600, for all its bells and whistles honestly isnt powerful enough to get to the point where having an extra 512mb of memory will make a difference.

an example is the 8800GTS 320 vs the 8800GTS 640. one has 2x the memory, everything else is the same.

basically the extra 320mb really doesnt make itself known until 1600x1200+.

by the time you get a 256mb and 512mb 8600 to that res it just wont matter because both will be unplayable on alot of todays new games.

so i say just forget about memory size on the 8600. go for the faster, cooler GDDR3.... if there happens to be 512mb of it, then thats a bonus...but honestly i doubt you'd see any worth while benefit from it.

by the specs, the GS should be just above half as fast as the GT...it supposedly has higher shader clocks, but only features 16 stream processors to the GT's 32. theres no replacement for displacement

 

the specs on the IFL90 are pretty rare cuz the notebook will come out in the middle of june so it's still early

 

Im content with the G1S specs, however I did add more RAM to try and counter balance the lack of Robson. I also wanted a little bit quicker HD so I decided to upgrade. Either notebook would be a good buy and a lot of it has to do with the return policy and warranty of wherever you buy it in case anything goes wrong.

 

You should benchmark that beast in 3DM06! I take it you are using 1 x 1gb stick and 1 x 2gb stick? Any plans on going to 4GB?

 

Also it looks like the IFL90 skipped the artistic design phase and went straight into industrial preprocessing.

 

@bare did you just install those upgrades yourself (aka take out the stock hdd, and add your own) or get them direct from where you ordered your G1S from?? I myself am also wanting a 7200rpm HDD for this machine if I opt for it over the C90.

I'll stick with 2gb of ram at first, then move to 4gb later when I feel the need. I hope it comes with the x64 version of vista on it, or atleast the software they send you has both versions on it so I can do a x64 install.

I guess thats another question you can answer.

 

I too am wondering if its better to get the cheaper IFL90. It does use the Santa Rosa right? whats the difference between DDR2 and DDR3? I'm kinda new to that thing so please help me.

 

DDR2 is better than DDR3 for now when it comes to system memory. It will stay that way for quite awhile I think.


Here is a review of ddr2 vs ddr3
http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2989

to sum it up: DDR2 is still performing better than DDR3 right now, and is like 3x cheaper. So untill DDR3 can mature enough to beat the older DDR2 in performance its pointless to have. Once it does reach that point, prices still need to drop dramaticly to make it worth while.

 

Can someone explain to me why DDR3 improves VRAM greatly, but makes system RAM suck?

 

because the gpu needs a crap load of bandwidth and DDR3 does just that, while system memory bandwidth is nice, but latency and things are important too. DDR3 has HORRIBLE latency

Im sure the ram is made diffrently, system DD3 just came out and is crappy , GDDR3 has been around for ahwile and is probaby more refined.

Down the road as DDR3 gets better it will beat DDR2, but that time has not come yet.

 

It is actually entirely different but uses the same 3 letter acronym

video ddr3 is not different from video ddr2 its double data rate quality 3.

ddr3 desktop ram is something else.

 

I'm glad you guys are bringing up all this stuff about RAM because I am pretty clueless about it myself.

 

@Vicious I did not install the upgrades myself even though I could have. I let the good people at GenTech PC take care of it for me.
@Radditz I will try to do a few benchmarks and see where I come in in respect to stock system scores. Even though I imagine it wont be that great of a difference. I have 2GB+1GB and I hope to eventually have 4GB and pick up the 64bit Vista Ultimate later down the road. I think Dual Channel 2GB + 2GB would be pretty sick.

 

Not mean to hit you on the head, but they are talking about GDDR3 which is different from DDR3. GDDR3 is basically an modified version of DDR2 for better heat dissipation and more bandwidth.

 

They are talking about making GDDR3 into system RAM at some point as well.

 

yes thats what i meant its called gddr3 and it is the same as ddr2 but goes faster.

 

Hmm does the G1S-A1 not have 4 (so)dimm slots??? id go 4x1gb if it did since its cheaper and they have lower latency.

 

The G1S has two "200-pin SODIMM" notebook memory "cavities". The SODIMM connectors are horizontal edge-mounted. To go to 4 GB in a G1S, you replace the two 1GB modules with two 2GB modules. An F3SV-B1 owner would be interested in a 1GB module, since the F3SV comes with only 1GB, but has a second, empty, RAM connector.

 

Ohyaaa...^^ if i change to 4 GB ram, my notebook have big different in speed n performace, and if do this, the warranty can Void or No...?

 

from what ive been told, 4GB will not be that big of a difference, and no it wont void your warranty unless if your laptop breaks and its the ram that destroyed everything.