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    Dumb GFX card question ... (mobility Rad.HD3650/Mirror's Edge/PhysX)

    Discussion in 'Gaming (Software and Graphics Cards)' started by HyperionX, Mar 17, 2009.

  1. HyperionX

    HyperionX Notebook Consultant

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    I'm looking to purchase a new laptop but not a high end one, I'm not a perfectionist or someone who's looking to grind out my machine with max detail settings as I don't notice too much, but it'll be nice to be able to play some newer games.

    Got my eyes laid on the Dell Studio 17 which looks quite promising for some reason, mixed in with the price. Plus I can offload it to my family member when something better comes around and i have cash!

    The 256MB ATI Mobility RADEON HD 3650... I'm looking to buy Mirror's Edge, and looking on notebookcheck it's classes as a class 2 card (in the same category as GeForce 9600M GT, for example)... Mirror's Edge uses PhsyX stuff, is that nvidia exclusive or do ATI cards have such things too?

    Thanks in advance for the help.
     
    HyperionX, Mar 17, 2009
    #1
  2. Harleyquin07

    Harleyquin07 エミヤ

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    PhysX is a Nvidia exclusive feature, ATi cards don't support it. It doesn't matter too much since the extra PhysX features aren't worth the noticeable performance hit.
     
    Harleyquin07, Mar 17, 2009
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  3. notyou

    notyou Notebook Deity

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    I think someone hacked the ATI drivers to enable PhysX. It's a cool (albeit useless) technology unless you have a powerful GPU that doesn't need to worry about the overhead that running PhysX causes.
     
    notyou, Mar 17, 2009
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  4. HyperionX

    HyperionX Notebook Consultant

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    Ah

    Thanks both for your info. I appreciate it. You're right, the extra particles/smoke will probably be unnoticable, so mweh. Thanks thanks. I'm too laid back to care much anyway.
     
    HyperionX, Mar 17, 2009
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  5. Samot

    Samot Notebook Evangelist

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    Samot, Mar 17, 2009
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  6. Melody

    Melody How's It Made Addict

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    PhysX does a hell of a hit on performance though for all it's visual goodies >.>

    Isn't really worth it unless you can afford it(i.e. your GPU is already loads more powerful than you need).
     
    Melody, Mar 17, 2009
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  7. HyperionX

    HyperionX Notebook Consultant

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    Thanks for the video Samot. After watching it I concluded I don't really need that stuff. Haha.

    Forever_Melody: Yep I'm thinking the same thing. I don't really demand much in life in general so it doesn't really matter to me at the end of the day.
     
    HyperionX, Mar 17, 2009
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  8. notyou

    notyou Notebook Deity

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    It seems that in the left half of the video, they just turned off all the settings that would have made a difference. ie. glass shards immediately disappear, no banner to be shot at, etc.
     
    notyou, Mar 17, 2009
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  9. mobius1aic

    mobius1aic Notebook Deity NBR Reviewer

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    So far it's not epoch-making and doesn't feel necessary to be really part of the core experience, it can be disabled without taking any real value from the game.
     
    mobius1aic, Mar 17, 2009
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  10. KevInSweden

    KevInSweden Notebook Enthusiast

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    Looking at that video the only effect I remotely liked was the helicopter wake.
     
    KevInSweden, Mar 17, 2009
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  11. nizzy1115

    nizzy1115 Notebook Prophet

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    Man i love the fabric waving in the wind and how it tares. I mess around with it in the game, its fun :) (make sure you watch the vid in HD)
     
    nizzy1115, Mar 17, 2009
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  12. HyperionX

    HyperionX Notebook Consultant

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    Ah well

    I'll make a small plunge for a Studio 17 very soon. Since I'm not moving around as much lately I'm finding my XPS m1210 to be limiting in terms of screen + graphics, haha.
     
    HyperionX, Mar 18, 2009
    #12