Graphics Card Question

I ordered a D830 yesterday but had the option of ordering a D820 with a much faster ship date but the only option was for a nvidia graphics card (dedicated). The 830 has a integrated one - the new intel one -. I sort of prefer the integrated because I've heard the dedicated cards run hotter, make the fan run more, use more battery, etc..

And I only do Internet, Email, Office Apps, no gaming, occasional dvd playing...

Will the Intel do fine for me with Vista Business? Will it run aero?

Does in fact the dedicated card run hotter, etc...?

Thanks...

By the way, the 820 was $150 more than the 830 -

 

Intel X3100 is more than capable of handling all the tasks you have mentioned including Vista Aero. An integrated card is actually the better choice for a non gamer like you. Because it will keep the heat to a minimum while giving the maximum battery life. Dedicated cards normally runs hotter than integrated cards because they have more powerful and faster dedicated GPUs (graphics processing units).

 

I enjoy a dedicated video chip due to its fine graph; my D620 (soon to be upgraded) runs many financial applications. So I prefer a better video chip, or I will have problems viewing the chat pattern. Can’t say for sure if it runs hotter, but my fan doesn’t kick in that often unless I am watching movie. A better video chip will effect your viewing pleasure when comes to playing DVD, and of course it will drain your battery quicker that’s for sure.

Hope this helps.

 

I know the previous Intel integrated video chip was sufficient for everyday stuff, but was not the sharpest or best for DVD's. I have not read anywhere if the new X3100 is a true improvement. Maybe it is sufficient for DVD and DX10, but I will not believe it until someone gives it a good test.

 

What kind of problems are you guys talking about ?. I used to have a GMA900, and I have also seen and used several notebooks with GMA950, both of them are quite capable of displaying DVD video without any issues. They look as good as on any other notebook/PC.

 

I think that a large portion of the DVD work is on the CPU actually...usually only high definition clips get help from the GPU when playing.

 

According to this white paper (by intel), the X3000 series supports hardware accelerated MPEG2 and HD video playback. Therefore I don't see any reason to worry about video playback issues; besides, new Core 2 CPUs are more than capable of decoding HD video even without any hardware support.

 

ohh you can play DVD; but the quality is close to viewing video tapes. maybe it is the screen? ok this is going topic a bit.

 

is the x3100 powerful enough to drive a 1920 x 1200 external DVI monitor (via dock) without noticeable lagging in screen response?

 

Yes. Any graphics card now should be able to do that no problem.