better video card or better duo processor ??

Hi,

Dell has give me the option to
upgrade from a
2.0 ghz duo processor to a
2.16 ghz duo processor

or

upgrade from a
256 nvidea geforce go7900 gs to a
256 nvidea geforce go7950 gxt

at no cost.

what i need to know is -

which one would most people choose??

would u go to the better graphics card or the better duo??

whcih one will really make my laptop more enhanced more noticably?????


ONE LAST IMPORTANT QUESTION ASWELL - will the battery life be very poor / even worse if i get the 512 video card instead of just keeping the 125 ge force???

 

The video card.

very lil difference between 2.0 and 2.16

 

if you do more gaming and plan to game with new releases, go with the better video card. If you encode more video and stuff like that, go with the processor.

 

im a photographer,

i will need to upload heavy files to clients on the go and also

showcase video footage and music photo slideshows to clients on the go.


???


damn

cant make up my mind

i think graphics are real imporant to me

but processor could be good too....?

 

will i be really imprerssed by the 512 card over the 256 card as well??

 

video card hands down (assuming you are a gamer... i dont see why else you would buy that laptop...)

its about twice as fast as the other one.

 

wait a second. you are a photographer, but not a gamer?

 

sorry, twice as fast as what??

im not a gamer

but as per above

photographer....

?


s

 

we need to have talk.

either of those video cards is entirely overkill. they are meant for complex real time 3d rendering (games)

it wouldnt hurt you, except any machine with that card in it isnt going to last more than 30 minutes on the battery... they are serious heat hogs and battery life hogs.

 

i think you should look at a macbook pro if you are a serious photographer.

basically, if i were a photographer, i would want a large accurate-color screen, a thin, transportable system overall, and a solid battery life.

you can definitely find pc laptops that fit those descriptions, but you want a midrange graphics card at most (for photoshop and the like)

 

wow man

i am sooo glad u told me about the battery life beiung really bad if i get the 512.

im gonna stick to the default 256 ge force 7900.


im a phootgrapher, i know macs are bbetr but i hav ea thing for dell.

they are a rip off but i like them and its more tax deductable for me

so i hear th em1710 is probally the very best for my phororaphy business / looks/

yeo i hate games

but i currently own the 9400 inspiron and the ATI Mobility 256 card i have im not happy with

(the web pages graphics seem pixlated for my standards.....)
( i have a dfell desktop and its soo much smoother the graphics....)

.

ill stick to the 2.16 core duo

 

sweet

thanks

yep

stayinmg with 256 ge force

 

If I were a photographer, I think I'd want to get a notebook with the new LED backlight screens?

 

LED backlit screens do not matter at all whether you are a photographer or not. Back on topic, it is more important that you have a better duo processor than a better video card for graphics editing if your a photographer.

 

without a doubt GPU..from 2 to 2.16 is very minimal, unlike the GPU..

 

LOL... You do not need any dedicated graphics card at all for photography stuff! I don't care how "heavy" your files are... LOL... For Photoshop etc., integrated graphics works just fine. Even for video playback integrated graphics is fine. If you do serious video editing, you might want a low-mid range card. Either of these is wayyyyy overkill and will just reduce battery life while providing zero benefit. These cards are for 3D GAMES.

By the way, unlike the video card, a faster processor and more ram WILL help with Photoshop and other image processing tools.

 

Can you elaborate? I don't think this is a video card issue... web page graphics should look EXACTLY THE SAME regardless of your video card...Can you describe the pixelation in more detail? Is it the text or the images or both? What resolution do you have? Is it running at the LCD's native resolution? In what way are your desktop's graphics "smoother"?

 

In a test at anandtech.com, they pitted 4 laptop screens against each other, including the XPS m1710. The asus G2P came out on top, and the G2 screen is in fact one of the best laptop screens out there. So if you need a good screen ( which you seem to do), get a G2s or something

 

sorry?

im not sure about this lingo

cpu and all that?

 

ok sweet.

i am defiently getting the 2.16 even thougj its minimal.

hey man - forgive me for my innocence

but im having a hard time trying to understand what the most imporatnt componenet is
in regards to the visuals on my laptop,.

what i mean by this is - everyone says the 256 ge force is perfectly fine foir photos etc abd dvds but i mean, what about nornal web site thats have graphic images / graphic text.

i have this issue with my 9400 that the imags on web pages look pixlated and not a smooth as on my dell deskto.

all i ned to know is that - aside form having all the optimnal settings
on my graphics card / property settings, like best resolutopm / dpi etc

what componenet is it that can enhance my actual web page images anbd the text hat you read on web pages

i want to get smoother images and text / tabs etc....

 

well, lets say im looking at the follwing web site

bigpond.com.au

on my desktop, see the tabs at the toip of the web page
thats ay

"sports / big pond / kids / music etc"

on the desktop, it looks smooth and definded, the text as\nd the graphics

but on the 9400 that is brand new with the ATI radeon card 256 - they look less smooth and the o\images and tabs and bolder text seems more pixlated and less definded,



Its all as though i have copy and pasted the web site page and then saved it as say 70% qualityu instead of 100% original quality JPEG.
But all the small text and resoultion is really good - fine, its more the bigger items / tabs / iamges





someone has to know what i m ean!!!

 

That's more likely a driver issue than anything. For your usage, even a X1400 (which you have right now) is more than enough. Your computer usage is not graphiclly taxing, and will not even use all of the power of the x1400. The component that controls the quality of the visuals the most is the screen, and one of the best screens are in the Asus G2s. That will suit you needs better than a XPS m1710.

 

If the graphics are crappy then you need to blame the screen there.

If all your concerned about is text appearance and graphics on the web, you need to focus on getting a machine with a good high quality screen.

Making graphics, like Photoshop...you want something with a top notch processor. Again, a 2.0GHz Core 2 would EASILY do what you need it to do under 95% of all circumstances.

Playing graphics based games...you want a good GPU. The X1400 will do anything you need, except for playing more intense games (and even that does halfway decently).

So the bottom line is that you don't need to spend $2-3k on a notebook unless you have some very demanding tasks to do.

 

Video card will NOT affect still image quality AT ALL! (Unless it's not working properly.) It will NOT affect web page graphics appearance AT ALL. If it does then something is broken -- your screen, your driver, your resolution... something is messed up.

Open to your Display control panel and go to the Settings tab. Make sure you're at the maximum resolution setting. Also make sure you are using at least 16-bit color or higher. Click the Advanced button. What's your DPI set to? (And are you using Vista or XP?) Go into your video card's control panel and make sure all the settings make sense.

In your web browser, make sure you don't have it set to zoom (enlarge or shrink) everything. What browser are you using? In IE7 at the bottom-right corner of the Window (in the window border) it should say "100%"... does it?

If text quality is also an issue, check the ClearType setting.

 

If you are using internet explorer 7.0, and text size is anything but 100%, then you get that pixelation effect.

 

Oh yeah, also, try hooking the laptop up to your desktop monitor. That will tell you whether the problem is with the laptop LCD or the video card. You should go into the display control panel to tell it the proper resolution for your desktop monitor.

 

i will have to look at somehow updating the drivers then

as it certainly can not be the screen

as, the photos and all round quality is amzing of the screen.


its is also the very best screen dell has as a 17 inch!!!

so, all those millions of peolpe who own the M1710 XPS cant have poor quality screens.

hmmmm.

i dont wanna sound like some snob / jerk

but i dont care about the $$

i just want the very best notebook ever !!! that dell has on offer this very moment

(as a 17 inch)

wow, i have tried every single thing u have dais below!!!


except - its a brand new dell 9400 - so the drivers are probally old ,

and the explorer it came with is not the latest
so i need to update to the newest explorer.

any tips on a direct link to get the latest drivers for 9400? (ATI 256 card i have)

 

When I said please refrain from double-posting, doesn't mean that triple-posting is good thing.

 

ok well u point out the double posted threads and ill delete them

 

I have a question along the same lines
You guys say that 512 is a better upgrade than a 2.16ghz
but what about if on the XPS M1710
would it be better to upgrade from a
2.0ghz(T7200) to
2.33ghz(T7600)
or
256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7900 GS to
512MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7950 GTX

This would actually be considering it a gaming computer.

 

thats a good question grobsiul, id just go with both since you are already shelling out probably 1500 $ + on the notebook. what difference would another 200 $ make?

just my two cents

 

haha

yeah

sweet.


i have tried everything @!!!!! just as u said and others said!


what a shame, its a mystery!

im returninmg it

shoope i dont have same issuer with m1710

 

nah

no way

it has to be 17 inch

any samller is crappy on the eyes.

i say.

besides - ill be transporting it by car once or twice a wqeek
so im not worried about it not being tthat mobile

 

No they don't... Screenwise, Asus and Sony has better ones. In Price/performance Clevo wins out. And when it comes to design, many are better.

 

Actually the computer options i described above put the computer at just under $3000 which is my absolute limit. This includes 2gigs of ram and a dvd burner and alomst no additional options....sure i would love to get both plus other options like 4gigs of memory but its just too expensive.

I wonder if i would get better options under 3000 when the 1710 refreshes with the santa rosa or if it will cost more.

 

i know someone who was about to but the M1710
but wont now as there is talk the m1710 will phase out and be replaced by new models in july 07