BEST laptop video card?

Hello, I'm looking for the best laptop video card for gaming and everyday tasks. I'm looking for a laptop that is $899 and under. I was thinking about the ATI 5470, 5650 1gb, Nvidia 310m-330m 1gb, Does the size of the video card matter? 512mb vs 1gb? Any suggestions would be helpful. thanks in advance.

 

well the 5650 will run circles around the 310 and 330 ( 5470 is still quicker then the 310 ). VRAM size does matter when you are storing frame buffers for games etc up to a point, right now 1GB is pretty much the sweet spot.

 

5650 > 330m >> 310m = 5470

Try to get the 5650.
It's on par with Nvidia GT435M, which is much more expensive and power-hungry, which says alot.

 

Acer TimelineX 3820tg/4820tg. Both have the 5650, which is the best card of the options you listed. One is 13" and does not have a DVD drive, while the other is 14" and does have one.

 

Get the m11x r1, it is usually $799 at starting configuration but there is a sale and it is limited until early 2011 of January only, you can get an m11x r1 right now at a base configuration of $550 ($200 discount + $50 coupon).

It has a Geforce GT 335m, 6-8 hours battery life (very portable/mobility), it is an alienware

 

There is a Lenovo Ideapad on Sale--> Lenovo Outlet - IdeaPad Y460 Refurbished - Discounted Laptops, Cheap Laptops, Refurbished Laptops, Discounted Desktops, Cheap Desktops, Refurbished Desktops

 

There's nothing wrong with the m11x, but the 11" screen makes it a very niche product, and the OP said he wanted a laptop, not a netbook. Also, the 5650 is more powerful than the 335, and pretty much any regular CPU is faster than the ultra low voltage chip in the m11x.

 

Couple of my own suggestions with laptops using the 5650
Amazon.com: HP Pavilion dv6-3160us
Amazon.com: HP Pavilion dv6-3150us

 

Yep the consensus is to get laptops with ATI HD5650 (or 5730 if possible); NV cards of the same level simply can't compare (less powerful, but run hotter and drains battery faster).

 

I saw the Lenovo Y560 with the ATI 5730 go on sale for some good deals around Thanksgiving, around $700. I'd say aim for something like that.

 

Dang was that in the States? Or in Canada too?

 

I got my Y560 for just under $700, but I had to pay tax on it bringing it up a bit - I ordered on Nov. 30 and it shipped today. It seems like a great option in this price range.

 

Remember, the 5730 is just an overclocked 5650. You can accomplish the same thing yourself without paying extra for it.

 

Not really, the 5730 is binned higher, and runs at a higher voltage (1.1 vs 1.0). I've yet to hear of a 5650 that runs anywhere near the 850/1100 stable clocks that I can get my 5730 up to. Though an overclocked 5650 has a good chance, but not a guarantee, of hitting stock 5730 speeds.

Saying that they are the same chip is like saying that a i5 580 is just an overclocked i5 430. It's technically correct in some ways, but doesn't explain the whole situation.

 

some Canadian retailers are selling the HP laptop with the 5650 in it for mad cheap right now. I think its around the 800-850 range. Although i heard that has some insane heat problems where the temps can get up to 99c or higher.

 

Id say that at this point in time u should wait for boxing day so u can get a good laptop with a good discount?

 

The M11x is not a netbook, it's a laptop. Netbook is atom or amd neo for the most part and integrated graphics or ION.

Although I concur with the Acer 3820/4820TG or Lenovo Y460. Both are great performers for gaming and have decent battery life too, along with a 13" or 14" screen.

3820TG (it's listed as 3820T, but it's the TG with 5650) is $750 at NCIX.

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=56223

 

I think the netbook remark was made about the screen size of the M11x, not its other specs. I'll throw in another vote here for the laptops named in the quote above.

 

the M11x HAS integrated graphics

edit: you may be saying yea and also discrete, but I am pretty sure the discrete 335m is modified by dell to be soldered into the mobo, making it essentially integrated. On any note, the gpu is not replaceable.

 

That's not what integrated graphics are. Almost all discrete gpu's are "integrated" according to your definition. It is not 'modified' by dell, that is just the way it is.

 

Well you are all wrong. Just get a slightly older laptop with GTX 260m for under 700$

Clevo 8662 (Built on Clevo M860TU) - eBay (item 180596347026 end time Dec-14-10 08:26:00 PST)

Asus G60VX-RBBX05,Ga?ming Laptop,Core2Duo?,GTX260M,16" - eBay (item 300499746910 end time Dec-31-10 17:23:14 PST)

etc

 

I thought that integrated meant that it was in the motherboard and discrete meant that it is another thing u can take out if you want to like comes in the M15x and alot of gaming laptops, but the way I hear it, dell took a normal GT 335m chip and somehow modified it so that it is soldered to the motherboard, which would, I thought, make it integrated.

 

Dedicated graphics are typically defined by having their cores on their own board and memory dedicated for the GPU alone. Most dedicated GPUs are soldered into the board and do not allow upgrades. Integrated GPUs will either have their cores directly on the motherboard or more currently with the CPU and share system memory.

 

Ok so then the m11x has discrete. I was mistaken.

 

Yep, it's London Drugs store. They're selling dv6-3090ca for 799$ (which can be pricematched by NCIX, and depending on province / country, save some taxes). Regular price is $1300.

It has Intel Core i7 720QM(1.60GHz) 15.6" 6GB Memory 500GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650.

The i7 probably will probably burn the laptop up in a year or two.

IMO the laptop I ordered (in my sig) will be much more secure, seeing as N930 CPU runs cool as Antarctica compared to similar power Intels.

 

The N930 is nowhere near the same power as the Intel quad-cores. In fact, it scores lower in most benchmarkes than the dual-core i3 and lower in every one compared to an i5. And it has the same TDP as the dual-core Intels.

Saying that an i7 will 'burn the laptop up in a year or two' is just a silly thing to say. As long as the cooling solution in the laptop is adequate, which it is, then it's not going to 'burn up' anything.

 

I retract the statement about i7 overheating lol. It does heat up more because of higher TDP and for the average user without sufficient knowledge of cooling or monitoring the temperature it gets out of hand (not everyone who owns a laptop is on notebookreview forums ).

As for the N930 vs i3/5/7s,
http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...tel-core-i5-430m-vs-amd-phenom-ii-n930-3.html

Last post on page 3 and a few pages after seem to contradict that, and claim that it is a very competitive CPU compared to i3/i5s, stays cooler too.

 

No, for modern graphics cards the vram is unimportant as all recently released graphics have plenty for modern games. 5650 is a great mid range card, easily overclockable as well which is a bonus. Simple rule: buy the best your budget can afford.

 

Case in point?

 

Yeah, but they're both used (though one is "refurbished"), the Clevo has no OS (a copy of Windows will add at least $100 to the price) and has no warranty, and the ASUS has only a 90 day warranty. Normally I'm not big on warranties, but with laptops, that fail quite often, it's something of a necessity. He'd be better off getting a new laptop with a 5650 or similar and a full warranty.

 

You say the TDP is higher but AMD still uses CPU + NB + SB where as intel now has just CPU + NB, so the CPU has taken onboard some of the TDP from the NB chip.

Also the TDP for the dual core I3-I7s include the integrated graphics.

 

This doesn't mean anything at all.

This is true, but remember that TDP =/= power consumption.

 

Interesting, learning new things everyday on NBR

But yeah, I'm basing my choice on subjective and relative experiences of others, which may be somewhat unreliable, but still more reliable than numbers which don't even correlate (since Intel and AMD use such different pathways to get their TDPs, and it is only an estimate anyhow, among other things).

Saw a deal for the same price as my sig. earlier yesterday, $800 ($500 off) for HP dv6-3090ca, which is exact same specs except i7-720QM. Basically every other feedback of people who snatched this deal, is that it runs hot as hell, palmrest burns palms, exhaust fan always 100%, burning up left side of table, etc etc. Not very nice impressions vs feedback I've read about laptops with AMD N930 CPU, how it's exceptionally cool and all, probably cooler on load than an i7 on standby.



edit:

also adding onto that, I've previously owned an Acer 5742G (for a week or so) with i5 460M, it ran ~40 C on standby, and 85~90 C in intense gaming (with cooling pad, and ~22 C room temperature). From several reviews of others who owned the AMD N930 Acer 5553G, the CPU temperature under intense loads WITHOUT cooling pad never reaches 70 C in any of those cases. That's some exceptional subjective evidence for my bias toward the AMD here.

 

Excuse me, means nothing? The power consumption of 2 vs 3 chips means nothing?

35W + 10W + 7W is worse than 40W + 10W.

 

Well jerg by your logic my old acer Ferrari with a Turion 2ghz would always heat up the lap so much it was uncomfortable. Yet my Current laptop (sig) I can play for hours on my lap with no coolers or rests.

 

Just because you have a processor, NB, and SB does not mean that it will consume more power than a processor and NB. For example Nvidia Core 2 chipsets have only a NB. Does this mean that they consume less power than Intel Core 2 chipsets? No, of course not. And when you mention that part of the NB function was sent to the processor with Core i, what is the main part? The memory controller. This has already been part of AMD's processors for the last 7 years. Another part is the graphics core which is integrated into the CPU on Arrandale. When comparing like vs like, the NB integrated AMD graphics core is significantly more powerful, so it could be expected that it would consume more energy. Add to this the fact that just adding up TDP values does not give any sort of reasonable indication of power consumption anyway, and you are just shooting in the dark and assuming too much with your statements.

 

Cool, well they are of two brands, and of two different generations, and possibly two different sizes, so the cooling variation can be gargantuan.

I've had a same-gen Acer i5 laptop last month (returned it) with personal experience of its temperatures (both from HWMonitor, and from external sensations), and compared to other peoples' reviews of the same-gen Acer AMD laptop at the same size (both 15.6'') which I'm expecting, their internal HWMonitor temperatures and described external felt temperatures are all significantly lower.

That's kind of what I'm basing mainly on. Of course the same CPU in a laptop twice the price is most likely going to be cooled better, I'm more interested in those in the same price level (which these two I described above are).

 

ATI's new 6xxx series, a amd 6570 if you can find one in the right size laptop. The 5650 card is the same as the new amd 6550 card, but some of them are being replaced by the 6570 card which is faster then the 5650. lol...

ps. I have a lenovo Y460 for 699.00$, it was part of the blackfriday deals. It comes out to 750 shipped to the door. I have tracking and order numbers if someone wants it. I ordered it with the intensions of buying but Im geting the acer 3820tg so it will cancel on the 13th but I will have 30 days to use the order # after it cancels that came with it and they will price match it. If interested just pm me. sigh... that sounded weired but any who...lol you would just need to give payment deals etc...I have the number of the rep also that said he would do the rebooking as they call it and price match. Its for a new one too not refurb if that matters. Its the one with the i5-460m, theres another one the same except it comes with i5-520m. Think that covers it.

 

Pity the lenovo sale didn't occur in Canada also.

Anyway, I doubt 6xxx series ATI gpus will appear in mainstream ($~800) laptops until next year, so too bad I'm getting the 5650 lol. Next change of laptop for me will probably be when 7xxx series are coming out.

 

Lenovo has some of the best deals in Canada...

 

Nvidia always sucked for power consumption, old designs and old processes.

No Intel know how to make lower power chipsets. The two chip solution will always beat the 3 for power consumption.