Graphic card questions

hey ive got a few questions about the new graphic cards. I dont really know how the new ones work. Anyway im wanting to buy a new laptop because my old one is broken. I definately want a gaming laptop which will allow me to play World of Warcraft on maximum or near max graphics. Ive had abit of a look around and found some nice ones but am unsure about the graphic cards.

My first choice has the Geforce GT 130M with 2.10GHz and 4G RAM

Second choice has the Geforce GTX 260M with 2.80GHz and 6G RAM

Now i realise the second choice obviously has a better graphics card, but could both these laptops run WoW on max graphics with FPS to spare?

Lastly could someone maybe link me to a website which explains each graphic card in detail?

Thanks.

 

Yes, both of them will play WOW with maximum settings and some AA and AF (depending on the resolution; I am talking around 1440x990 and lower).
But the first one will be a bit sluggish in areas with many players due to the processor.
My laptop that has 2,5GHz from 60fps will drop to 30fps in crowded places. Which is not a problem, I can play perfectly fine in crowded battlegrounds such as Alterac Valley. Of course your first choice laptop has a much better graphic card than mine so the comparison is not fair.
Also, the GT130M, is it with DDR3 video memory?
Probably it is, but if not, you might not be able to play with all the settings high (especially the shadows) and of course with no AA or AF.

Here you are going to find all the info you need for these two graphic cards and there are some benchmarks as well.

EDIT: I've noticed that there aren't any benchmarks for the 260M but because it's quite similar to 9800M GT if not a bit better, you can check the benchmarks of that card.

 

Basically a 130M is a rebranded 9800M GS while the 260M is a rebranded 9800M GTX.

 

NOOO!, 130m is a slightly faster 9600m GT... it's nowhere near the 9800m GS

You WILL be able to play with higher settings on the second laptop. There have been a few threads here about people not being able to max out WoW on machines with high-end graphics cards. The question is, do you mind spending the extra cash, because if you don't mind, you WILL get better performance.

 

Just a correction on the above poster, a GT130M is a rebranded 9650MGT. It's the GTS160M which is a rebranded 9800M GTS(and by extension a rebranded overclocked 9800M GS). Botha re made on a smaller manufacturing process compared to their predecessors however.

 

I think this is so dumb. Why does nvidia keep using left over cores or parts for newer models instead of starting from scratch with new technology.

 

Well in the case of the newest series to date, Nvidia claimed it was only a name scheme change, so we shouldn't have expected new technology. Everything in that series is a rebrand made on a smaller die, which means it overclocks better and runs cooler in general.

In general however, Nvidia recycles their GPUs with minor variations to push out new series more often, yet usually in their new series, there's maybe half of them which are rebrands.

 

Because it looks like they're pumping out new products to people who don't know anything about computers and it makes them more money with less effort.

Ahh....my mistake....was thinking of the 160M.

 

hmm ok this makes my decision easier. One more laptop i found on dell.com was the XPS M1730 which looks really nice. It has the 9800M GTX SLI. Is that better than my above choices? Could it run WoW on max graphics even in crowded areas?

 

You cannot buy an M1730 with the 9800m GTX SLI anymore; the only option is the 8700m GT SLI. The M1730 is based on the aging Intel Santa Rosa platform, and is being discontinued. I would not buy this model if I were you.

 

Yes its still on offer on the Dell website, i shouldve been more clear though, i live in the UK so its on dell.co.uk. But yeh same questions apply

 

In terms of brute performance, yes the 9800M GTX SLI will best both those options. A single 9800M GTX is roughly of the same power as the GTX260M sooooo

Course as MasterShroom said, the XPS 1730 based off Intel's old platform(soon to be 2 generations ago).