Battery Life and GPU's

So I'm in the process of buying/building my first new Laptop....I'm not much of a gamer anymore and I would prefer battery life over performance that I wont need. So my questions are:

1) Which uses less power; Dedicated or shared(intigrated the same thing as shared?)?

2)Can I underclock any card? And does underclocking save power? Maybe I can get a decent card and just change it how i need???

3)I won't need too much gaming power but at the same time I don't want to come up short for movies or other everyday uses that might need some gpu power. Which is a good card to put in my potential new s/z96j?

Thanks in advance!

 

If you aren't much of a gamer anymore, then why are you buying a gaming notebook ? Gaming notebooks usually use a ton of power because of their high end configurations, why not try something else thats built for battery life instead of gaming? I think that is where you will end up saving battery power not by picking the right GPU, anyways just a thought...

 

Any dedicated card by ati or nvidia is fine. Theyve been optimising their mobile chips power usage for years, including realtime clockspeed adjustment so it dosnt clock as high in 2d modes. Infact their desktop cards also do this, they even tie the fan controls in so it can turn the fan down slower while in 2d modes.

 

I've manually underclocked my video card in 2D mode where most of the time it's in, and found almost no battery life gain....

 

just get an integrated chip. you'll be mobile for much longer.

 

Honestly, and I'm sure this is going to ruffle a couple feathers here, I've come to realize that graphics hardware is having less and less of an impact on battery life.

Realistically, given all the other variables of a notebook's design, not the least of which is the battery capacity, I'm not sure people should even be seeking out IGPs for better battery life anymore.

I mean, look at the ASUS A8Jm against the ASUS W7J. The W7J is smaller and has a lower power GPU, yet gets worse battery life than the A8Jm. They both have six cell batteries.

And then, look at the notebooks that run the ultra high end parts, like the Inspiron 9300 and better. Those get exceptional battery life given their components.

And then on the Sony SZ series, which has the switch between the GMA and the Go 7400, the GMA only ever gives it another half hour of battery life at most.

How relevant is the graphics hardware at this point against the battery life? Really?

 

the energy requirement between a gma and 7400 may be small because they both aren't that powerful (granted that the 7400 is still infinatly better then the GMA)

But the difference between a 7400/x1400 power consumption and a 7600/x1600 is a different story. i find the while a dell with an x1400 can have battery life of up to 5+ h any asus with the 7600 or x1600 only has at max (and this is rare) 4h

 

Hmm, interesting...

 

So with integrated graphics I would be stuck with what it comes with? I'm just thinking for upgrades later on, seems that with a dedicated card I can pull it out and switch?

 

yeh my dell with 7900GS only goes like 2,5 - 3 - 3,5 hours

but i don't care for longer... 2,5 hours is fine by me

 

No. Besides a few notebooks such as Dells and MXM notebooks, you cannot upgrade the GPU. Whether it be dedicated or integrated.

 

You cannot upgrade a notebook's GPU unless the GPU is MXM or the manufacturer stated otherwise.

notebook GPUs really don't change battery life too much. but if your looking for every last drop of battery life, get a Core Solo, X1300 notebook.

 

I can get close to 4h with mine (wi-fi on/no bluetooth and just browsing)...really don't understand why so many people complain about battery life on a 17"

 

Well, Dell says you can't swap out the cards, but you can. Dell sees it as losing money because you can buy a whole new system altogether.

Amen to that brother.

 

my notebook can be used for 2,5 hours on battery at normal usage (internet, word, etc).
When i play intensive hardware games i can play games for almost 1,5 hours on and on. (in real 1 hour and 20 minutes)

 

once you start gaming, the difference between a 7900gs's power consumption and a x1400 will be very wide

of course there is minimal difference when all you do is working cause the gpu clocks down.

gaming on the go though, a x1600/7600 and up really kills battery life

 

Can't speak for all notebooks, but my X700 256MB is a battery-life killer. I have an 8-cell battery in my Sager and it gets barely 2.5 hours doing minimal tasks with the GPU underclocked (100:100). Other notebooks, such as the HP dv5000z, with integrated graphics and a 6-cell battery manage nearly 3 hours. I don't care about the battery life, but it is still interesting to note.

 

you can only swap cards if you don't have an integrated graphics card. then, dell has to offer a card for that same model. example; dell's "abc" model notebook comes with 3 different video card options; integrated, medium-power-dedicated, and high-power-dedicated. the only upgrade path you have is from med-power-dedicated to high-power-dedicated. you cannot upgrade from the integrated card.