Is the 512 card worth it over the 256 card on the Studio 15?

Hoping to order mine in a couple days. My main uses with be photo-editing (Photoshop) video watching, and light-to-moderate gaming. Will there be a noticeable difference if I make the jump to 512? Are the any games that are playable on the 512 that are completely unplayable on the 256 (ex. GTAIV)?

 

You'll not notice a massive difference on this card between having 512 or 256MB

 

How not massive of a difference will I notice?

I'm just curious, because I've seen lots of topics similar to mine, where people say that it doesn't make a big difference, but seems like most the people on the board have a 512.

 

I suppose the question is , will the new games in the next 5 years or so, need 512mb to run or will we still be fine with 256mb.

 

It's not something that is easily quantifiable.

If it needs more RAM for graphics stuff, it will steal it from your main RAM. You'd only notice a big difference with a better GPU, as the Studio 1555 has a 64bit bus you'd probably notice very very little difference.

 

Apparently not

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=394736

 

if its a 64 bit bus you won't even be able to play Solitare

128-bit ok maybe some Command and Conquer

256-bit bus pretty good games FPS etc.

go for it.

 

Uh... could you elaborate a bit more? Not sure what you mean here.

 

if the card has a 128 bit bus then go for it if its a 64 bit bus then don't

 

Both the 256MB and 512MB versions of the card have a 64-bit memory bus. Ice Cold is exaggerating, though. My Studio 1535 has an even weaker card, the 3450 with 256MB, also 64-bit, and I can play Half-Life 2, Counter-Strike, Team Fortress 2, and to some extent Call of Duty 4. The 4570 will do significantly better.

 

Shroom, do you have any comment on the new 1555 review that is giving harsh criticism on the build/sound quality?

 

I don't have a 1555, so no I don't.

 

Well duhhhhh but I mean how did your 1535 feel? Were these issues with earlier models that Dell spaced out on and never corrected?

 

Ah, it appears I misread you.

The build quality is pretty solid. A bit flexible in some places, as it is a primarily plastic chassis, but I would not say annoyingly or dangerously so. The speakers are not very good, even among notebook speakers; they are very quiet at first, although that can be amended with some driver tweaking. Even loud, though, they just don't have great quality. Supposedly the 1555 sound is much better thanks to the added subwoofer.

 

Are there any benchmarks out there comparing the 256 and 512 card?

I'm just curious as to why so many people have gotten the 512 card, when everyone seems to be saying that there's no difference.

 

Zilch, probably because they are seeking to maximize their performance. Its not noticeable, but people trying to stretch it as tight as possible feel better with the slightly extra amount of RAM. To be honest, you will be unlikely to see a huge difference. As many have said, you see larger differences between graphics cards than between the same card with slightly more memory.

If you wanna save some cash, get the 256 card and sleep easy.

 

games aside, is there a benefit for media editing?

 

Ice cold has exagerrated by a very large way. Check out this post, where I have posted stats of my HD 4330 in the Inspiron 1545. The GPU in the Studio 1555 should be slightly better than this. Only slightly though, because the only difference between the two GPUs is that the Studios has faster clock speeds.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=4815743&postcount=57

Gaming or not, you really are not going to notice a difference due to the 64bit bus.

 

well i have reason to complain to dell then

 

what reason is that?

 

My guess is because he upgraded to 512 mb.

Its not a bad thing that you upgraded... for 75 bucks it could slightly improve your performance. You may not think it was worth 75 bucks, though, and thats how these people make their money.

Most users on average never need anything better than a T6400 processor and 2 gigs of RAM with integrated or low-end discrete graphics. They just like the 'options' and get all caught up in the 'this will make it betters'. In reality, we end up convincing ourselves that we should spend another 600 bucks upgrading the configuration, and do all the work for them.

EDIT: To prove my point, I'm still using an Inspiron 9300. I got it 5 years ago. Running a Pentium M 1.6 GHz and 1 GB of RAM. These are netbook type specs nowadays, but I still handle all of my internet browsing, office applications, and even some gaming (WoW and D2). Granted I play on low details with this integrated graphics, but I played for 4 years and had alot of fun and wasn't held back by my computer. Sure, its starting to get loud, creaky, and some tasks aren't as snappy as they used to be, but I will let it serve as a reminder to me when I go shopping for that new machine- a majority of the time, we are after more than we need.

 

Good point Texas, eyes bigger than bellies and all that