GT 540M vs GT 525M (Graphic Designing/3D Modeling)

At the moment, I'm just researching for the best all-around laptop possible and would hate to break my policy of "I don't buy over 15.4/15.6 screen laptops but would like to continue use WUXGA-like screen (1920x1200/1920x1080)." I know I'll need the space for both studying and my side web development material but also I'd like to know the differences between video cards, as I really don't game, I didn't pay attention to this part in the past.

This laptop would have the following uses:
- Viewing CAT Scans, X-Rays and 3D Slices of the Body
- Anatomic Analysis of Human Body
- Graphic Designing, 3D Modelling and Rendering (e.g. Maxon Cinema 4D, Adobe Creative Suite 5, Lightwave 10)
- Web Designing and Development (e.g. Oxygen 12 XML Editor, Komodo IDE 5)
- Typing Papers and Power Point Presentations (e.g. Microsoft Office)

For the most part, I'm not sure what programs I'll be using each Medical School is different, my cousin used a variety in conjunction to help him get through Gross Mammalian but I'll find out when I get there. He always told me that his CPU, at the time I-C2D T7500, was always slowing him down.

If you guys could tell me which would be more suited, I keep hearing that for Gaming GT 540M is better but if I'm really not going to game does that apply to me? Outside of this, I'm also considering Dell Latitude E6520, HP Envy 17 and Vostro 3550.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

I was kinda wondering the same thing about the difference between the 2 cards so I did a little googling and I think they are really the same cards just the 540m is clocked higher. Idk what card would be best for your needs though.

 

I often have a hard time even justifying the 540M upgrade. Looking at clock speeds, it's only 12% faster, and this difference won't be make-or-break in most cases.

 

I guess a more suited/valid question would be would these video cards work better than the current video card I have? I hear a great deal of people just trashing both of these cards and telling me to screw this all together and just go buy the Envy w/1GB GDDR5 Radeon HD 6850M. I'd really like to keep the 15" policy but if no decent laptops arise, I'll go for that I guess.

 

They have the HP dv6t thats a 15in with a 2gb 6770 in it. Idk how much worse the 6770 is compared to the 6850 but it would meet your 15in policy.

 

The 6770M in the HP has issues with OpenGL, which might defeat the purpose of having a discrete GPU for 3D modeling, depending on how intensive the OpenGL needs are.

 

if you compare these couple 540M / 520M absolutely 540M should be selected .
NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M - Notebookcheck.net Tech
Nevertheless 520 have 2 different type 520M and 520MX so you should be careful.
For above programs which you are planning to run which mostly will be included MAYA and 3ds Max, you need pipeline !!! on the graphic card, for drawing such as polygons !!!


540M have 96pipeline and 520M have 48pipeline

 

The 525M is significantly better than the 520M, and is much closer to the 540M. All the 525M is, is a downclocked 540M, and it can be overclocked to 540M speeds.

The 520M -> 540M GPU upgrade would actually be worth $100, unlike the 525M -> 540M upgrade.

 

you are confused, the gt 525m and the gt 540m are the ones in question. and both are the same card.

Sincerely I would go for the e5620 (or whatever) mainly because of the build quality, and the enterprise class support, aside that the keyboard might be better. Have you thought about the w520? or the 8560w?

 

right guys, actually ı wrote something about 520M today and I confused with the same thing but it doesnt change the reality 540M still better because 525M also already overclocked

 

So, I'd recommend the 2000M (it has 192 CUDA cores).

 

OK ont point to concider .. I Know Maxon and alot of hig end filters etc in CS5/5.5 DONT like setups with Optimus. the final output through the intel IGP screws them up.

its great for some games and conserving battery life but a nightmare for other games and Pro apps.

I have to agree heavily with MM on the Elitebook 8560W or 8760W though

 

Take it from a gamer, the 540M isn't better for anything. Biggest difference between it and 525M is the extra gig of VRAM, which no one needs. It's kind of like a car dealer trying to sell you rust proofing or fabric protection.