Help selecting Graphic Card

What is the best one out there?
what should i be looking for in a Graphic Card?

and what should be my VRAM?

I wanna play heavy games like GTA IV, Merceneries 2 , the saboteur...

right now i wanna rule out the budget pramaeter, for comparision

Need it for a LAPTOP

 

Desktop/Laptop? gaming use? budget for laptop/PC?

Need a little more information tbh.

 

Hi, i've put up some more info.
thanks

 

The current best laptop single GPU on the market is the mobility 5870, its only currently in the Asus G73 or the MSI GX740, bear in mind this is a DX11 GPU.

The big list is here http://www.notebookcheck.net/Comparison-of-Graphic-Cards.130.0.html

GTA4 tends to be more CPU intensive as such will benefit from a quad core laptop.

 

Are you trying to upgrade an existing laptop or are you researching for a future purchase? If it's for an existing laptop please be aware that only a very small percentage have upgradable graphics cards. Most have the graphics soldered onto the motherboard and can't be changed.

 

512 VRAM or higher but not only about the ram, the notebookcheck benchmarks are a good place to start anything tier 2 or higher should be able to at least play those games. I'd recommend an asus notebook with 260m gtx as the bext bang for the buck, used or refurbished they can easily be had for less than $800.

 

It's for a new Laptop.

 

and what features whould i be looking for in it in a new laptop im buying for playing games like GTA IV merc2 and other heavy games?

right now, i'm not introducing the budget parameter, (for comparision with the best)

 

A chipset is defined as "a group of integrated circuits (chips) that are designed to work together". It's basically like a platform that a motherboard is built around and that defines certain aspects of the computer using it.

For instance, the Intel 965-series "Crestline" chipsets (like PM965 and GM965) were limited to using 800MHz-FSB Core 2 Duo processors, and DDR2-667MHz memory (PM vs. GM refers to whether the laptop using the card would have dedicated or integrated graphics, respectively).

At this point, there are really only two major Intel chipsets being used in the vast majority of laptops, including those made for gaming. GM/PM45 is one of them. It's the latest chipset that runs Core 2 Duo and Quad processors, supporting FSB's up to 1066MHz and DDR2 up to 800MHz, and DDR3 up to 1066MHz. The most current chipset is PM55 I believe, which supports Core i3, i5, and i7 processors, along with DDR3 memory.

tl;dr - don't concern yourself with what chipset a laptop is using. If it has the specs you want (i.e. for gaming, a high-end graphics card and powerful processor), then it will have the chipset needed to support it.

 

best performance... Alienware M17x with i7 quad , 8GB RAM , ATI 4870 Corssfire... about $2500-4000...

Best price for perforamnce : Asus G73: i7 quad , 8GB RAM( upgradeable to 16GB!) , ATI 5870 , best mobile card and about 75% as powerful as 4870 crossfire , blue ray - $1600...

Other cheap but great gaming alternatives would be Sager NP8690 or NP8790...

but none will be as cheap and great as asus G73 which beats the sager...

 

The ASUS G73 is going to provide the best performance for the money. The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 as noted is the fastest mobile graphics card and coupled with 8GB of RAM (yes, the G73 has 8GB of RAM) and a Core i7 quad-core CPU, it can handle any game out there on max settings.

I am currently in the process of reviewing one; look for my review in the next week or two. It is definitely one of the best (if not the best) gaming laptops I have tested to date.

 

How is that possible? The video card is a downclocked desktop 5770, and the processor is a quad core i7 at only 1.6Ghz (720QM i presume?). That is solidly middle of the road when it comes to graphics and processor power.

 

You don't need very much processor power for gaming; besides that, the i7 has Turbo Boost and can reach 2.4GHz in dual-core mode.

As for the graphics card, the difference is that you just need to turn down/off AA and AF. So, technically, that's not "max" settings, but the fact is that current midrange desktop graphics cards are easily capable of high-settings 1080p gaming. Crysis is perhaps the only exception here.

 

i'm quite ur u can use AA and AF with 5870... its even more powerful that a sngle 4870 in which u used AA... and should be even more powerful than GTX260M SLI when overclocked... This is the ultimate single card gaming laptop!

 

You should definately purchase one with as much memory as possible! Remember, the higher the better! Good luck!!!

 

Not necessarily true - past a certain amount, the bus width may limit the memory bandwidth, making extra graphics memory next to useless. The only reason why the amount of memory a GPU has is so prominently advertised is because most consumers have a false impression of the correlation between the amount of graphics RAM and performance.

For example, the desktop Nvidia 8600GT was offered in a 1GB graphics RAM version, but its 128-bit bus made that large amount of graphics RAM useless. A GTX 275 with "only" 896MB of GDDR3 RAM would utterly trounce the 8600GT in any graphically-intensive task.

 

It would depend on the game.

 

sometimes dual card may not run well on certain games..
so single card is still your best bet...5870 ..thats it

 

Ok.. introducing the budget parameter

what GPU should i have with 1150$ laptop?

which GPu should i buy with i7 820QM
i7 720QM
i7 620M

What is 'bus'

 

to get an idea what high end these days and whats outdated.

and a bit curious....

 

gta 4
crysis
...

 

think Shattered Horizon would be it. Min reqs are higher than Crysis

 

Flight Simulator X with EVERYTHING maxed out.

 

ARMA2 nuff said. Search the forums. You will find that it is not optimized well and takes a 4850 or higher to play it decently. (I am specifically talking about the single player campaign) The game is good if you can actually play it.

 

2 things:

1. It's what takes you to school every morning.
2. It's a channel that sends information between two electronic components.

 

Mmm, i haven't played ARMA2. Maybe i should, but maybe i shouldn't as my main rig has a busted mobo. If you ask me at this point i'd say GTAIV. It was one poor console port. I liked it tho, and i managed to get 18FPS average on my DV9000. At 1024x600 indeed, but still enjoyable.

Crysis doesn't count anymore, when it came out i finished it all maxed in DX9 on a voltmodded 8600GT. The card was squealing like a helpless rodent but hey, it worked. And Warhead actually lowered the requirements.

 

Funny,

Highest system specs required = Most unoptimized game

 

Highest Published system requirements?, or Highest useful system requirements?

 

The published system requirements are only meant to give you an idea of well it will run. The actual performance differs. For example, I get no lag in Mass Effect 2 maxed out, but I get some in Mass Effect. According to the published requirements it should be the other way around.

 

would you mind explaining that a bit more?
why did that happen?
by performance u mean fps, right (of the gpu?)?

 

Shattered Horizon has the highest GPU "requirement" I've seen so far, though graphics just below the Geforce 8800 run it fine like the Radeon 3850 and 4670. Problem is that the game is VERY Nvidia centric when it comes to performance.

As of note for software requirements, like Shattered Horizon, Just Cause 2 will require a DX10 compliant card, specifically a Radeon 2600 or Geforce 8600.

Metro 2033 will be "requiring" Shader Model 3.0 capable card, in the performance realm of the Geforce 8800/GT220 (take note of the big disparity in performance), but the game clearly will want a much heavier card in capability as the GTX 260 is "recommended" and for "optimum" specs they recommend the unreleased GTX 400 series as well as stating "as much RAM as possible (8 GB+)" though the recommended only states 2 GB, which means there must be some super special LOD mode or something of the likes that needs all that RAM.

 

I agree... so far shattered horizon has had the highest system requirements so far...

 

I have no idea. Maybe it has something to do with optimization or the beta drivers I'm using. But as long as it's playable, I don't care about the fps.

 

reason why GTA4 has high requirements is that its a badly coded port and not a uber gfx game. No game has come close to Crysis in terms of gfx.

Playing Crysis in DX10 ultimate settings is amazing to watch, plus all those mods that make i look even better. No game engine has come close IMO, have you guys seen the Real life sys screens, esp that frog. It looks photo-real.

 

Just Cause 2 is the new champ, I believe.

 

You had Crysis on High with an 8600 GT? What resolution?

 

My question exactly. My brother can't even play it maxed on his Core i7/Nvidia GTX275 desktop at 1920x1080 (maxed defined as all settings to "Very High" and AA on).

 

This. I can't even manage Medium at a nice framerate on my 8600 GTS, 1920 x 1200.

 

Yeah. His settings are with everything on Very High except Shadows, which is on High, AA off.

I feel that if you want to play Crysis maxed, it's still one of, if not the most demanding games out there.

 

metro 2033
Minimum:

■Dual core CPU (any Core 2 Duo or better will do)
■DirectX 9, Shader Model 3 compliant graphics cards (GeForce 8800, GeForce GT220 and above)
■1GB RAM
Recommended:

■Any Quad Core or 3.0+ GHz Dual Core CPU
■DirectX 10 compliant graphics card (GeForce GTX 260 and above)
■2GB RAM
Optimum:

■Core i7 CPU
■NVIDIA DirectX 11 compliant graphics card (GeForce GTX 480 and 470)
■As much RAM as possible (8GB+)
■Fast HDD or SSD
Enabling 3D Vision
Metro 2033 utilizes NVIDIA 3D Vision with compatible cards and hardware. To play in 3D you will require:
■NVIDIA GeForce GTX 275 and above recommended
■A 120Hz (or above) monitor
■NVIDIA 3D Vision kit
■Microsoft Windows Vista or Windows 7

 

so no game till now requires 1 gb of vram?
and when in sys req, it says - intel quad core 2.4 ghz, what do they actually mean?

 

1. thats new. i had NO idea
2. yh... i knew that -_-



thnks

Well, jokes aside,
what should i consider while buying a Graphic Card?
can you suggest a one that will be equal and parallel to the status of i7 720QM.

 

What do you mean what do they mean? Plain and simple they recommend
an Intel Core 2 Quad at 2.4 Ghz, namely, the Q6600.

And GTA IV doesn't require 1GB of VRAM, but to run it with absolute max settings at 1920 x 1200, you'll need about 2GB.

Lol at "optimum". Any game is going to run optimally with the absolute best hardware.

 

1)Is there any game till now which can only be played on a desktop and not on a laptop?

2) is there any game released till now which only works on i7 820QM or i7 92oXM for laptops?

 

2 - Most games are GPU Dependant apart from RTS games which are mainly CPU dependent. So far no game requires a i7 only in laptops.

 

The Saboteur needs Quad Core running at 3.0. there is no quad core which isn't i7, if im correct

 

Specs for Saboteur

CPU: Core 2 Dual Core 2.4GHz or AMD equivalent
RAM: 2GB or more
Video: Nvidia Geforce 7800 GTX with 256MB of VRAM or ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro with 256MB of VRAM

Suggested Configuration:

Processor: Quad Core running at 2.8 GHz or equivalent
Memory : 2 GB RAM (Windows XP) or 3 GB RAM (Windows Vista/7)
GPU: nVidia 8800 GT graphics card
VRAM: 512 MB

It can run on a dual core desktop.
And no first gen Quad laptops were Core 2 Quads same as desktops.

 

2.8 GHZ
4 cores
8 threads
RAM 4GB DDR3
1 GB VRAM DDR3
ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 5470

When will games cross any ONE of these?
i know Sabotuer requires 3.0 ghz, but thats only 1 game, and i couldnt find any other game.

by cross, i mean the games will find that particular spec less that their requirement. when games won't work on that particular spec

 

what do you mean by cross?

 

LOL u just made my dad, i've been really depressed since y'day.
but check this webpage
http://www.game-debate.com/games/index.php?g_id=580&game=The Saboteur

here it says 3.0 ghz

thanks for that info though

by cross, i mean the games will find that particular spec less that their requirement. when games won't work on that particular spec