Help on laptop with 256ATI Mobility Radeon x1400

You all have given me great information in buying a laptop and I need your advice once again. I decided on a Dell but cannot afford the one I wanted. So, I am scaling back a bit to keep the price around $1000. I am looking at an Inspiron 1705, with an Intel Core 2 Duo, 1GB memory, 120GB 5400 rpm drive. My question is if an Intel graphics media accelerator 950 is a good enough graphic card for games. I tried to upgrade to a nvidia 7900 but it wasn't an option. One option is a 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon x1400 HyperMemory. Do you think this is good? Any other suggestions? Thanks for your help.

 

well any things better than the gma950 th ati x1400 is ok its low level mid range graphic card capable of lght gaming it can play the newest games at moderate or low setting whereas the 7900gs that is being offered is one of the best in the market and can play any game on high settings its truly a gaming card the difference between these two is night and day but the 7900 is other worldly compared to the gma 950 m say is if u do light gaming and are on a budget stick to the x1400 if u r a hard core gamer or njoi playin the latest games on the highest settings go for the 7900gs all the best with the choosing

 

The GMA 950 is useless for gaming. The X1400 is actually a decent card, and will play most games out now at medium settings just fine. The 7900 GS is the pinnacle of notebooks graphics in a considerably sleek pacakge. THere are other cards such as the 7900 GTX, and 7950 GTX, but those produce insane amounts of heat.

 

i would just get the e 1505 with the x1400 it will lower your price and its the same card thats in the e 1705

 

Could you post a link to your original FAQ?

Do you really need a 17" system? I'm thinking e1505 as well. Also, what kind of games are you looking to play? That will factor in as well.

Lowering your HD from a 120 GB to an 80 GB would also help you lower cost.

 

I am in about the same situation as you are, but Im trying to stick under $1500. I also started with the basic E1705 and just started seeing what configs I could get without going over my budget but the video card is the only point where Im not sure if theres a big difference (before now anyway, after reading shaheenarshan's reply Im more than convinced in going with the Nvidia 7900GS)

as far as memory, will having 2G instead of 1G be noticeable? I stuck with the 80G HD to keep costs down, for wireless card I went with PRO/wireless 3945a/g. as far as gaming, as much as I'd like to say Im a HARDCORE gamer, im not, but I like to try different types, Im into sim's (silent hunter III, basically any military sim). so as chrisyano said, going with 17" maybe just a waste of cash? I havent tried going with the 1505 and packing more into it...

Edit: checked out the 1505, but doesnt give the Nvidia option at all. stickin with the 1705 so I guess the only questions for me are the 1G vs. 2G

 

yea the e1505 doesnt offer the 7900 so thats really the only reason to get the e1705 but cause the other guy was wanting a x1400 he could just get the e1505 for less money with same specks and 1 gig vs. 2 gig will be a lot of a difference if you play more demanding games.. it also helps alot with the battle field games. 2 gigs will also just increase system proformance.... but depending on the cost i would probably just go with the default amount of ram then buy 2 gigs from newegg.com if its cheaper... plus after you got the 2 gig from newegg you could sell the ram you got with your pc on ebay or just hold on to it incase.

 

Again X1400 will be fine for light moderate gaming,2GB isnt a must if you light game and 1GB is fine for the system e.g. windows but baring mind the X1400 will borrow from that so if you can id get 2GB

 

X1400 will be fine. And dell lowerd there price in ram upgrades so you wont really save any money buy getting it aftermarket. Plus its awaste since it comes with duel chanel ram so you ll have to get rid of the 2 512 s that come with it and get 2 1gb rams if you want after market.

 

I personally think that the Dell Inspiron 9400/E1705 is a good deal only when it's configured with the Go 7900 GS, otherwise, you might think about other options.

 

hey lappy, I have a question for you. If I recall correctly from a month ago, you stated that the GMA 900 was an ideal card for Counter Strike Source. I then replyed in a sarcastic manner because I felt that you lost your mind if you thought that. So, now you are saying that the GMA is useless. So, make up your mind before you post garbage. Thank you.
By the way, I do have the X1400 with 512 memory and this is the ideal graphics card for gaming. I was able to play CSS and many other fps with little problems. After purchasing the card, it is a good idea to get the latest drivers, because this gave me a boost of 20 or so Frames Per Second.



-Cheers

btw, I have the dell 6400 with 2gigs of ram and a centrino duo processor, ample supply for games, programs and applications.

 

I said that the GMA 915 could play CS:S at the lowest possible settings, and is no where ideal for gaming of CS:S, I never recall saying that it is ideal for gaming, that part you just made up. The GMA is useless, I never said that it isn't, just that it can play pre-2004 games at severely reduced settings.