Heat from GMA HD vs Mobility Radeon 3650 512MB

I see that the power consumption is actually lower in the 3650 at 30 watts
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 - Notebookcheck
compared to 35 watts in the GMA HD
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD - Notebookcheck

Will this mean less heat?

I'm planning on light gaming... portal, myst, kings quest... and want to limit the heat and fan noise from the graphics. I can get a laptop with the 3650 for less than one with the GMA HD, but I prefer what ever is coolest and can handle slow-paced games.

 

The Intel GPU is on the CPU. As I understand it, the CPU+GPU = 35W TDP.

 

Intel GPU emits virtually no heat as it's integrated, 3650 is a discrete card that requires some power to run, but a 30W card should not release a lot of heat either.

 

I've read some on heat issues causing problems or just requiring heavy fan operation. I figure with the GMA HD there's no way overheat or shorten the life of the laptop, or push the fan.

I just saw another system.. with a 1GB Mobility Radeon HD 5470.. at 13 watts (DDR3), with more than enough in specs for the games I want.

What would 13 watts mean temperature wise? And would 30 watts be about double; linear relationship between watts and heat?

 

You couldn't really say. It depends on the cooling system that the laptop has.

 

Don't get the laptop with the 3650. It's old tech, and there is no point in buying it. Newer cards for the same price will perform similarly, and have much better efficiency, heat production, etc.

OP, I think you're just reading into things a little too much. Each notebook is designed to handle the GPU it comes with. Therefore, each discrete GPU on the market should be around the same in terms of heat, as the notebooks are designed around the core specs accordingly.

 

I'd read both about some GPU's overheating (HP DV7 ones), and about the increased sound from fans for high use GPUs... so that's what I want to avoid.

How about is there an easy way to limit a discrete card? I'm looking at an asus K72 and a lenovo Y730. I figure the asus likely has options in the bios at least.

 

Just get a clevo or sager and you won't have any heat issues.

 

None of the laptops will give you any access in the BIOS. Laptops overheat mainly due to poor contact between the part generating heat and the heat pipes to transfer heat out, it is not a function of the GPU since all laptops cooling systems are tested to be able to dissipate the TDP of the sum of it's components.

 

Okay, so as long as the contacts are good (as long as the laptop is made well), the only possible issue is fan volume.

 

Typically fan speed (and hence noise) is proportional to temperature (or rather how good the cooling system is). I know some older Dell laptops could control these levels via software, but not sure about more recent laptops.

 

I can't find the watt usage for the Mobility Radeon HD 2600 anywhere. That's a trip.

 

Should be about the same as the 3650. They both use the same core, same architecture, just the 3650 is a little higher clocked if I remember correctly.