How does my card compare...

I currently have an ATI mobility Radeon 9600 Pro dedicated card in my 4 year old Dell Inspiron 8600.

If I were to get a new laptop with a ATI Mobility Radeon® HD 2400, 128MB, how much better would the new card be compared to my current?

How does my current card compared to those that are integrated, or 'UMA'?

 

Still better! than most IGP's

 

I believe the HD 2400 will pwn the ATI 9600 totally, i suspect it to be 2 times faster than the old one... ATI 9600 has about the same power as a X1400 or the Nvidia 7400.

 

OK, another question - how would my current radeon 9600 Pro compare to the following card found in some of the current HP laptops:
NVIDIA GeForce Go 6150 (UMA) (e) with up to 559MB Total Available Graphics Memory

 

bump!
The reason I'm asking is I'm really considering a new HP or Toshiba laptop, so I'm trying to verify the the cards that come in their new laptops (not the $2k+ models...) are indeed at least a bit of a step up from my current.

Thanks!

 

Couldn't you upgrade those Dell I8600s to Mobility 9800 and unlock the 9800 to an X800.

 

i am betting the integrated cards are a step down from your aged 9600 pro...

if you are interested in playing games at all, a dedicated card is a pretty basic requirement.

low end solutions like an 8400 or hd 2400 will serve you much better than an igp without adding much in terms of cost.

edit:

that is one of the more ridiculous things i have ever heard. feel free to link me to your source of info.

its certainly possible* that you might be able to upgrade to a 9800, but that is almost certainly NOT cost effective.

to think you could "unlock" a card to a new card with a different architecture, specs, pipes, etc, is preposterous.

 

The reason it's possible to unlock the 9800 Mobility to X800 is because the 9800 is based on the desktop X800 with 8 pipes disabled and a few more things disabled.

http://www.devhardware.com/forums/v...g-26/radeon-9800-mobility-chip-mod-65436.html

http://forums.techpowerup.com/archive/index.php/t-2024.html

Too bad the mod is so old all the sites that showed how to do the BIOS mod/hard mod all have dead links.

The only thing I'm not sure about is if the laptop in question was the i8600. All I remember was it was supposed to be the second XPS laptop Dell created, I think the i8600 was the weaker cousin.

Found the link to do the mod:

http://www.notebookforums.com/thread121549.html

It's for the i9100/XPS.

 

Owning a Mobility Radeon 9700 myself (see sig):

The Mobility Radeon 9700 sits between the Geforce go 7300 and ATi X1300 in terms of performance for games from around 2003-2005. For games newer than 2005 newer cards will perform better as the 9000 series lacks newer features such as shader model 3.

The Mobility Radeon 9600 sits under the X1300 but above the X300, neither of which are very powerful by today's standards.

To have a significant upgrade from your 9600 you'd need a 4 level card, ATi X1400 or HD2400 or Geforce go 7400 or 8400 card.

Comparing your 9600 to current IGPs (integrated graphics processors) it would still be slightly more powerful than the current top IGPs and way more powerful than the basic ones.

The HD2400 should make a good upgrade, especially if you wish to play games released within the last couple of years.

If the HD 2400 is around the same power as an 8400M GS then it would indeed be around twice as powerful.

 

Thanks for the replies. A couple of comments:

1. My reason for getting a new laptop is because my current one is quite beat up, so I'm not interested in performing upgrades on it.

2. I'm frustrated because I love the way the HP's look and feel, but it seems that the only 17 inch models they offer for around the $1600 range don't have a decent video card. And the 15 inch models like the 6565 only come in 1280 resolution (my current has 1680).

I'm not a hard core gamer, but I need the card to be able to handle:
1. FS2004 (I know to handle FS-X I'd probably need the best of the best, so not thinking about it).
2. At least decently handle WoW and Age of Empires, as I wouldn't mind trying them.
3. Have smooth DVD playback and decent processor, as I will be using it with a cycling trainer (indoor bicycle) that uses software to work with the stationary trainer, using the speed of the trainer to run a DVD film from the laptop (imagine virtual cycling).

I suppose one option is to simply buy an HP and return it within 30 days if it doesn't do the trick...

thx

 

thats strange. obviously not all 9800 cards can do that. there was a time when the x800 didn't even exist, and the 9800 was top of the line... they wouldn't just disable 8 pixel pipelines on the top of the line card...

its possible that after the x800 came out, they decided it was cheaper to sell the 9800 as a crippled x800..

 

The MR9800 was released just shortly after the X800 desktop was just released. "Failed" X800 cores were then "optimized" for notebook use.

Not so obsurd now is it? There's still much to learn about the history of video cards. Hardmods, softmods, pipeline unlocks were all the rage back in the day.

 

The 30 day idea will work. lol.

 

ohhh i was not aware of the order of release.

good history lesson thanks.

 

An 8400M-GS would work fine for you. However I don't see any harm in getting something more powerful like an 8600M. Have you completed the FAQ in the What Should I Buy forum yet? Because we can help you decide on a machine if we see that.

 

Yeah, but what sub $2000 HP has the 8400M-GS card, AND is available in Canada?? The 9500t doesn't seem to be available to us Canadians...

 

are you dead set on hp?

maybe consider some other brands. there are really good ones out there.

fill out the FAQ and

you will feel better.