Heat & noise, "cad" GPU vs "gaming GPU"

I'm vaccillating between a few HP business models and the main (only?) difference between two of them seems to be the GPU:

nc8430: ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 & 256MB VRAM

nw8440: ATI Mobility FireGL V5200 & 256MB VRAM

As both would probably be overkill for my needs (photoshop and such, might be interested in working a bit with video-encoding etc), which one has the edge when it comes coolness, and stepping it down (perhaps even underclocking?)?
(I actually use laptops on my lap, so this is an important question.)

I'm assuming the FireGL would be as good with simple playback of video and such as the Radeon.

Another consideration is that the nw8440 is available in a wuxga (1920x1200) version - is that totally a non-starter for a 15.4" machine?
(I have absolutely no problems with 1024x768 on a 12", in fact lately I've sometimes wished it was more than that.)

 

The Mobility X1600 automatically clocks down, as you can set it to do this the Catalyst Control Centre, that should be included with the notebook. The FireGL will also do this, I believe. The tasks you have mentiuoned, are alot more processor dependant, so if you wish to complete them faster, it may be a good idea to go with a processor that is fast.

If you are gaming, then the Mobility X1600 will be better, because it is a card that is made for gaming. The FireGl won't be bad either, but not quite as fast the Mobility X1600. Choosing a screen is mostly personal preference. See if you can go have a look at that resolution in a shop, and then make a decision upon that. Having said that, some people didn't like their resolution of 1920 x 1200 on a 15.4" screen.

 

Thank you.
Whichever model laptop I chose I will be going for T7200 processor (and 2G ram), which I think should be enough to last me a few years.

I see from the thread about "business & pro" GPUs that they are also suited to video-editing and such, I had thought the "gaming" cards would be better for that?

Since my gaming is extremely limited but my threshold for frustration when working with multiple big images and complicated documents is very low perhaps the FireGL cards would be better for me?
Another consideration is the HD speed - this is a really tough choice because 7200rpm vs 5200rpm simply has to add heat and noise, no?

The nw machine with the FireGL card is also available with T7400 and the wuxga for only 250 euros (incl VAT) more - it is somewhat tempting.
But would the same card driving a higher resolution screen have to "work harder", thus generating more heat?

 

The two graphics cards are the same in terms of their power, its just that one is optimised for gaming, and the other for professional work. Video editing is alot more processor intensive, and a faster graphics card won't increase the speed. A faster graphics cards would be useful if you were dealing with workstation applications, which invlove rendering large images together and also 3D applications.

A faster hard disk will be useful. I would advise to go with a 7200 RPM. The heat differences aren't massive, and some 7200 RPM drives are as cool as 5400 RPM ones. The choice on processor is good. The T7200 has the best price to performance ratio, and is generally the one to go for. For €250, the T7400 is also good, and coupled with that screen, it could be an improvment. However, you need to make sure that you can adjust to that resolution. If you go for that, you don't need to worry about the graphics card having to do more work. It can run that reolution fine, and since there is no real load on it, you should have no problems.

 

The Video Encoding/Decoding will get a boost with dedicated GPU's.So a dedicated GPU,say, a 7400 will perform much much better than an integrated GPU.(I have a friend who had a U205 that comes with an integrated GPU, he once tried encoding he said the encoding speed was crawling compared to a dedicated GPU)
But I couldn't find any GPU based encoding benchmarks though.(To find out how much is the performance difference between 7200 and 7400 or 7600 is)
see these :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purevideo#NVIDIA_PureVideo_Technology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVIVO

 

I think you misunderstood my post, mujtaba. The T7200 and T7400 I refer to are the CPUs, core 2 duo models, not the GPUs. Or maybe I'm misunderstanding?

 

No, I'm pointing out that GPU will help out CPU in encoding and decoding.
I suggest at least you take a GeForce Go 7400 or it's equilavent ATI X1400.
While T7200 is 1.5 times more powerful than Core Duo 1.66.
If a dedicated GPU comes to 1.66's aid,it'll become perform better that a T7200 with a GMA.
And I think both of the GPU's (V5200 and X1600 which are based on the same core) will perform equally in regard of encoding/decoding.
(But I did misunderstand it a little)
Get the best CPU you can get your hands on (still the CPU has a vital role in Video encoding and decoding)
Good Ram and at least a 7400 or X1400

 

The FireGL V5200 is based off the X1600 but aimed at CAD and 3D work. I would consider it a waste of money to upgrade from a T7200 to a T7400. The T7200 is the sweet spot for Core 2 Duo's. It's 2Ghz and has 4MB's of Cache. If I were you, I'd spend money on faster RAM, 667Mhz if possible as well as a faster HD, a 7200RPM drive. The 7200RPM drive will eat at the battery a little, and will generate a very slight amount more of heat / noise, but the performance tradeoff is worth it! The only time the 7200RPM HD will eat at your battery is when your truly using it. So if your just browsing the net its not going to make a bit of difference.

 

I'd stay away from both of those cards and go with an NVIDIA one if you're doing CAD work (which is all OpenGL). ATI historically has had horrible OpenGL support, and will not fix their drivers until forced to: http://www.3dnature.com/ati.html

See if you can find a GeForce or Quadro based machine instead, IMHO.

 

I would like to see the test with Catalyst 6.12 or 7 versions.
Since AMD has bought ATI the drivers have improved very much.
But remember, sometimes the "features" used in nVidia cards might not be in OpenGL specifications.nVidia tends to add extensions and such to their GPU's, trying to create a monopoly.

 

Both ATI and NVIDIA support extensions to OpenGL. OpenGL is specified to include extensions, as that's the only way pixel shaders, etc. can be addressed. It's not anticompetitive action on NVIDIA's part. I'm just speaking from the experience of programming 3D applications, and finding that NVIDIA actually supports all the standard calls, whereas ATI would support them only as far as gaming was concerned, they didn't actually support the OpenGL standard. The new catalysts have fixed those specific issues, but ATI's OpenGL performance is still behind that of NVIDIA, and it'll take them a while to earn back my trust. They've broken it too many times with ill-featured drivers, requiring .NET for the control panel, all kinds of other crap.

 

Thanks! The thing is if I chose the machine with the FireGL card it comes with a 7200rpm HD, the model with the Radeon x1600 comes with a 5400rpm HD - and the price (and other specs) is identical!

And after looking at the PPI for a 15.4" wuxga and comparing to what I'm used to I'm scratching the T7400&wuxga model from my list.

I think the model I'm looking at comes with 667Mhz RAM, and I can get more of the same for a reasonable price... This is starting to clarify itself nicely!

And thanks guys for the interesting discussion, unfortunately the nVidia vs Ati discussion is totally moot for me, as the machine's I've narrowed it down to all are with Ati.

 

The FireGL is fine. The FireGL V5200 is based off the X1600, and the FireGL V5250 is based off the X1700, for your reference. They'll perform slightly slower in games, but the difference really isn't that much. People with Thinkpad T60p's with the V5250 report that they have no problems playing games at maxed out settings. Take it from a real world perspective instead of a purely benchmark one

The difference in power between 7200 RPM and 5400 RPM is definitely enough to justify getting the FireGL, IMO. The FireGL is designed specifically for business productivity and consuming smaller amounts of power.

 

I meant these extensions :
From all of these extesnions,you can only see 5-7 of them in ATI GPU's.
GL_NV_blend_square GL_NV_copy_depth_to_color GL_NV_depth_clamp GL_NV_fence GL_NV_float_buffer GL_NV_fog_distance GL_NV_fragment_program GL_NV_fragment_program_option GL_NV_fragment_program2 GL_NV_half_float GL_NV_light_max_exponent GL_NV_multisample_filter_hint GL_NV_occlusion_query GL_NV_packed_depth_stencil GL_NV_pixel_data_range GL_NV_point_sprite GL_NV_primitive_restart GL_NV_register_combiners GL_NV_register_combiners2 GL_NV_texgen_reflection GL_NV_texture_compression_vtc GL_NV_texture_env_combine4 GL_NV_texture_expand_normal GL_NV_texture_rectangle GL_NV_texture_shader GL_NV_texture_shader2 GL_NV_texture_shader3 GL_NV_vertex_array_range GL_NV_vertex_array_range2 GL_NV_vertex_program GL_NV_vertex_program1_1 GL_NV_vertex_program2 GL_NV_vertex_program2_option GL_NV_vertex_program3 GL_NVX_conditional_render

 

a 15.4" at 1920x1200 I think 1920x1200 is sometimes hard to read on a 17". something else to consider, you said you do a lot of work with it in your lap. I would assume you would take it outdoors or at least somewhere there is sunlight then. if so DO NOT get a glossy screen. you will not be able to see the screen at all if your near sunlight.

 

Yeah .
I found a nice PPI calculator and fed it my current small lappy and the various candidates and decided going from ~ 0.24 dot pitch to ~0.17 was just too big a leap...

So 1680x1020 it is.
(Still a greater leap than I had thought, but I think that will be fine. Maybe I'll even get to/have to try out these bigger screenfonts or whatever people are always referring to.)

I haven't had much luck with my previous non-glossy screens wrt outdoor use. Always needed some shade or a parasol or something, and turning the brightness up to max is annoying when you're on battery...
But no fear, the models I'm considering don't come with glossy as an option even.

I'll most likely order my nw8440 today. wohoo!

Edited to add:
Just ordered it (and got a good deal on 1G more memory, an extra battery and a pc-card tv-tuner)!
Thanks for all the help - I'll be back here when/if I get problems with noise/heat from the GPU...

 

You won't.