ATI RADEON XPRESS 200M - review?

hey everyone,

i'm purchasing a new laptop and im a bit problematic about
the video card - i'm not a gamer but i do play some games
occasionally like counterstrike/kal online/warrock/gunz/nfs/bf2
and i would like to be able to run these games on the laptop
(even by reducing details/res, etc).

the laptop is gonna be equipped with a 1.7ghz pentium-m
and 1gb of ram.

i know that the gma900 can run most of the games but not all
like not doom3 and other cards that require opengl and such.

SO - would having a card like the ATI RADEON XPRESS 200M
provide me with the ability to run the games i've mentioned
and new games as well?


thanks.

 

If you really want a gaming laptop with a Pentium M, then get the HP DV4000 (Compaq Equivalent = V4000T). Choose the ATi X700 128MB - it's a lot better than the ATi XPRESS 200M, and should be able to play most, if not all, modern demanding games. If you're still wondering about the XPRESS 200M, check your last post. There's no need to post twice about the same thing.

 

If you are looking for a notebook recommendation, I suggest going into the What Should I Buy forum and completing the FAQ there, we can help you out.

Thanks.

 

The 200M can play all those things, provided you get the 128mb dedicated version, the others will be quite a bit slower. Just because it can run those games doesn't mean it's going to be a ton of fun, most of the newer titles will have to run at the lower resolutions with just about everything turned down. If you are on a tight budget but still want the ability to be able to run the latest games, the 200M is a great card as it is in some really cheap machines. But, if you have the option of getting something better, such as an x600 or x700 or better, definitely go for that.

 

Even the shared version of the 200m will run most of the games at low res. Don't expect eye-candy. You will have to set it at 128mb shared. And I'm running them with a Celeron M

 

As I stated at the beginning I'm not a gamer but I would like
to have the ability to run games even at low details.
Anyway going for the X600 or X700 isn't possible with the laptops I've seen except for the Acer Aspire 1692WLMi which seems like a good laptop but its way over my budget (btw, what d you think of the 1692?)

I've seen laptops with the X200M 128MB DEDICATED and the X300 with 64MB. Is the difference between them that big?
Which should I go for if I have to choose between them?

Thanks again.

 

Running games with the X200M is one thing, but running them smoothly is another. With my Intel GMA I tried running CSS. It ran but it wasn't very playable. VERY VERY Low framrates. I know the X200M is about twice as powerful as the Intel 900 GMA but I still think It would struggle a lot when playing newer games. Its better to go with the X600 or X700 as mentioned above for better gamming performance.

 

It's obviouse to me that I won't be able to play games as smoothly with a 200M as I will with an X700.

More important question for me is how the 200M 128M Dedicated vs the X300 64MB? Which is better? and are the differences that big?

Thanks.

 

Check out my guide, read the section on the X200M:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=39568

 

i actually read it even before i registered to the forum and posted this link at an israeli forum as a great link to get more detailed info about video cards

from your review the 200m is stated to produce around 2/3 of the x300, though how do the 200m with 128 dedicated rate against an x300 x16 with only 16 dedicated? i wont be gaming
but i do play some nfs/gunz online/bf2/cs/ from time to time and i'd like to have that ability.

 

X300 with only 16MB dedicated? Never heard of that. A 64MB dedicated one would be similar in performance to the 128MB - the X300 doesn't have the fill rate to take advantage of even 128MB of memory.

I recommend getting as much dedicated video memory as possible.

 

sorry if i mislead you, it says "X300 x16" so it's a 64mb X300 version and i think the x16 means its pci-express but im not sure...

So an X300 64MB dedicated is easily comparable to the 200M 128MB dedicated performance-wise?
i just need to be sure that im not getting the 200M and then
im finding out that i cant run games (smoothly or at all) as
i would if i had bought the X300 card...

 

Neither card is going to give you great performance, the difference will be noticable between the two but it won't be that much of one.

 

I have the HP DV8000 (DV8125nr more specifically). I almost bought the older HP ZD8000, but UPS lost it (then found it a month and a half later) and I opted to by the DV8000. I'm not a big computer gamer, but every now and then I like to switch away from Flash and Vegas Movie Studio and throw on a PC game. Like you, I was a little confused about the two chips (the ZD8000 had the x600 and the DV8000 has the Xpress 200M). I can say with absolute honesty that this computer (and chip) has blown me away with what it can do! I am able to play Half-Life 2 on full resolution without any problems. I have also played Postal 2 (full res, no prob), Battlefield 2 (high res, slight jitter, not much) Battlefield 1942 (full res, no prob) and Half-Life 2 (like I mentioned above, full res, no probs.) Now I understand some of these games are older (Postal 2 is 3 years old), but they still have some nice graphics to them. I can honestly say that I have no regrets buying this HP laptop with this Xpress 200M card over the X600. I have tried to play Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Buthcher Bay, but that game would barely even run. The graphics in that game are insane and I never expected it to run to be honest! I have also heard that this computer can play Doom 3 on medium settings and be fine, although I haven't tried it yet. I hope this helps you! This is my first post, I joined to help you out since you are in the same dilemma I was in! Good luck!

 

Welcome to the forums, tanner - thanks for sharing your experience.

The X200M is very respectable from an integrated graphics point of view, can't beat it.

What is also nice abou the X200M is that it will be able to run the Aero Glass interface in Windows Vista just fine.

Cheers,
Chaz

 

Admit it, you're a gamer.