Graphics Notebook Question :D

I just have some questions about notebooks.

First off, my card is a 4850 mobility. I have played with driver 9.6 through 9.11 and they all run about the same to me. I do use proper driver removal and modding with drive sweep and safe mode. I can run most games maxed WITHOUT anti-aliasing. I get 30-40 FPS with AA on, which is a bit too low for me. Games I play are the recent Call of Duty's, and Company of Heroes. Is all this normal? I was hoping to AT LEAST get 4xAA on without a huge FPS hit.

So my question is this. I messed around with the overclock and got it to a point where if I start a game up, the game crashes. My computer runs fine after that. I do check the temps and they are not yet at a dangerous degree when said crash takes place. In fact, due to the game crashing, it does not rise more than a few degrees Celsius above normal. Does this damage my notebook/video card? I did turn down the overclock back to normal.

Secondly, My laptop only has 120w of energy at it's disposal, which I believe is not enough to run an overclocked video card. Is it possible to get a higher wattage power plug/brick to help give more energy? Would that help at all? I don't mean 300w, maybe like 150w or so.

I ask all this because... I heard that the mobility 4850 was very similar if not the same as the desktop 4850. Supposedly the mobility version is only down clocked. True? Does this mean with enough power the mobility could run NEAR the desktop 4850?

Thanks in advance guys. I did try the search, but my questions were just a bit too specific to get much out of it. Thanks again.

 

Sorry, but the Mobility Radeon 4850 would be nowhere near the desktop version. It's probably about equivalent to an 8800 GTS desktop version.

When you overclock, did you get any BSOD's? When it crashed, did you have to do a hard shut down? Unlikely that it would damage your video card, only if it gets really hot is it going to do a lot of damage. Overclocking would probably shorten the overall life, but by the time it fails you'll probably have a new one.

 

The Mobility 4850 is the same architecture and has the same number of shaders as the desktop version. The clocks are about 20% slower, however. While you can overclock the 4850 fairly well, there's no way you're getting it up to desktop levels.

 

Just ease up on the shadow quality and you should be able to play the games perfectly.

 

i play at MW and MW2 on high with 20 FPS+++... its playable so don't cry... 48

 

Yes, the Mobility HD4850 is the same architecture and all as the Desktop version, but it is downclocked and a little bit less efficient. It would require OC to around 750mhz /1000Mhz memory to get it within the desktop stock but still not on the same leve... and most probably your card would fry haha.

30-48fps is more than playable You can always reduce a bit of resolution or perhaps effects like shadows etc.

 

Yea those FPS are fine, it is when the smoke hits, or in a large fire fight that the fps drops. It is jittery at times, both with and without vertical-sync.

Also, if they are the same architect, with the same shaders, is it ONLY the down clock that makes it weaker? I mean everyone says it will never be as good the desktop version, but they only explain the lower clock speeds. What else is missing from the mobility?

No there are no BSoD. The notebook does not crash, it simply exits the game. Nothing happens really, I can down clock and then run the game fine right after.

Edit: What other cards are in the same MxM type as the 4850? I can't find a straight answer...

 

I would definitely try to live without AA if possible, or limit it to 2x or 4x. Personally, I can't tell a difference betwee 2x, 4x, and 16x on my desktop with an 8800GT and 1680x1050 20" display...also, what resolution are you playing at? If it's something really high like 1920x1200 or 1920x1080, try lower that; it's one of the biggest things that impacts performance. If you play at 1920x1200, try lowering to 1680x1050 or 1440x900 to preserve the aspect ratio. If it's 1920x1080, try lowering to 1600x900 or 1366x768.

 

Wow, didn't realise that it was based on the desktop version. A card like that must consume a LOT of power.

 

AFAIK all of ATi's cards are based on their desktop counterparts. I don't know if the lithographic process is any different (substance/chip composition) though alot of power is saved just by downclocking the GPU and purposely creating graphics boards that consume less power and using RAM that consumes less power too. I assume that MXM boards also need less power due to less components on the board itself. All the extra chips, capacitors, transistors, regulators and other components you find on desktop graphics and motherboards don't need to be there in a laptop because the lappy is built around a certain specification which allows the board to be more focused in construction. MXM boards don't need to output video via a port of some kind, it's sent back into the mobo and the mainboard sends it to the monitor itself or to any of the video-outs. The heat ventilation power doesn't come from the MXM board either.