New Dell E1505... Should I be dissapointed with vid card? x1400 vs 9800 pro

hey guys,
I just bought the new E1505, its currently being built right now.
itll have a core duo 1.83, 1gb ram, 100gb hd @ 54000, 256 x1400 w/ hypermemory.

So heres the deal. I found this forum shortly after i bought the laptop, and when i was looking at the stickied video card thread, i found that the x1400 was only 1 step up from the low end cards. When i bought the laptop, i figured i was getting a pretty high performance card because it the highest option i could go.

Now im just the occasional gamer, mostly during vacations from school, but when i play, i like it to be at least decent. if it looks good then great, but im usually more for framerates than for all the "Extra" eye candy. But dont get me wrong, if i can get good framerate with all the eyecandy that is ideal.

The only thing i can reference the performance to would be my desktop. i have a p4 2.8, 1gig ram, and 128mb 9800 Pro. How can i expect the x1400 to perform when compared to my 9800 pro? For example i just got Tomb Raider Legend, and it runs pretty solid on my desktop, can i expect about the same from my new notebook.

Also, for those of you with and X1400 and simular system configuration, what games do you recommend or think i should definately not bother with?

Thanks Everyone

 

The X1400 is going to be noticably slower than the 9800PRO. It's a mid-range card, so you can't expect blazing performance. But, it won't be terrible, you should be able to play most games at medium settings & resolution as is written in the guide.

 

I won't say noticeably slower because its a 2 generation later card.

 

Why don't you benchmark your desktop and then your laptop and compare? That should give you a good indication.

I can tell you that with my x300 (worse than a x1400) I can play tomb raider: legend with no problems w/ >30 fps at all times @ 1280x720 resolution (I like true WS 16:9 resolutions), with all highest options in game other than stupid bloom effect which just blurs everything. Although this x300 is highly overclocked...1400 should have no problems.

 

is 30 fps considered normal and good for a notebook?

 

30fps is more like a playable framerate standard. Many games let you get upwards of 300 fps and others cap you at 80, it depends but 30 is acceptable.

lol, you and me both. even though yours is rather the haus.

 

I would. The 9800PRO is far from a new card but still a strong performer and can push frames nicely. The X1400 isn't bad as I said, but lacks the brute strength of the 9800.

30FPS is the minimum playable framerates for most games. If you're getting right around that or under it, you should adjust the settings so you get better performance.

 

I get like 45-60 FPS on Doom 3 with 1200 X 768 Resoltuion with Medium Details. It looks real nice and plays real well. But when a bad guy jumps out of the corner sometimes teh FPS drops to like 24 for like .3-.8 seconds. This does not in any way really hamper me because the monsters are pretty slow and I'm still moving, but it is rather annoying. I'm still trying to figure what I can do so that this wont happen, without having to lower my resolution. I'm wondering if this is what happens playing doom 3, how would it perform playing Oblivion at these settings, not to well I would think.

 

probably see if you can OC a bit, though i think i've seen people asking whether anyone has OCed the X1xx00 series and im not sure if anyone has... but you should find out what normal specs are and compare to dell's... they might underclock that card too, but i dunno ive only seen that the x300 was underclocked. Also, the omega drivers are excellent.

 

You can get a bit of a boost by using the Omega Drivers instead of the Catalyst drivers from ATI. They yield about 100 more points on 3dmark05 and noticable frame rate increases in some games.

 

+140 or so for me.

 

I forgot to mention that I am using the latest omega drivers, and they have helped my 3D mark 05 score, not sure about gameplay though. Also, how do I find out the core clock, mem clock for my ATI card, I have the Omega Drivers and have looked through like every option but dont see them.
Thanks

 

I don't know how much success people have had overclocking the ATI X1400, but you can download ATI Tray Tools to find out your core:mem clocks. PowerStrip by EnTech Taiwan also will show you them.

Chaz

 

I am using Omega Drivers and when I open ATI tray tools, it shows everything as 0 for the Core and Mem clocks. Her is a copy of it:
Clock Information
BIOS VPU 0.00
Current VPU 0.00
BIOS MEM 0.00
Current MEM 0.00

I have heard that ATT does not support overclocking of the X1400, maybe that is why these are o for some reason. IF this is true, should I use powerstip, and if so, do you know of any good tutorials for using it.

 

I've used PowerStrip before; it's very simple, you'll see as soon as you install it.

 

I thought the x1400 was a low end card? It scores lower than an x700 doesn't it? Remember I'm talking about mobile GPUs, not desktop GPUs.

 

It's a midrange card - the Go7300/X1300 are on the low-end. The X1400/Go7400 qualify as mainstream, mid-range cards. They both score slower than the X700 by a good amount.

 

You were right chaz, it is a pretty easy program to use. The only concern now is what do i use to stress test it. I know you use Prime 95 to stress test the undervoltion, (dont even really understand how it works or anything), so what do you use for overclocking GPU. I have heard of artifacts and stuff and how these demonstrate to the user that their is a problem. What program do you recommend.

 

I know that ATI Tray Tools doesn't work for you, but it does have a 3D Renderer that tests for artifacts in the Overclocking part of it. Let me know if that works.

Chaz

 

Where is this 3D renderer on ATI Tray Tools. I right click the icon and I dont see it anywhere under each tab. Could you be specific about its location.

 

Right-Click Icon > Hardware > Overclocking Settings > under Artifact Tester > Show 3D Renderer.

Chaz

 

Unfortunately under the Hardware tab are a couple of options that are faded out in gray. The first one says, "overclocking disabled". Below it says autooverclocking, which when clicked will provide me nothing becasue I have no profiles. Is there any way to make the overclock work so that I may access the 3D renderer?

 

Well, I know that ATI Tray Tools doesn't let you overclock with the X1400 because it isn't supported, but now it appears that it won't work period . .

 

So what program do you recommend other than ATT for checking for artifacts when overclocking my GPU?

 

You could try PowerStrip by EnTech Taiwan, it's simple yet works for most people. I don't remember whether or not it works on an X1400, let us know how you make out.

 

Slight OT - What would you guys say between the 9700 & X1400? TIA

 

Powerstrip has an artifact checker? Where is this located on the program?

 

I actually meant that that's the only other program I know of for overclocking the ATI GPU. It doesn't have an artifact checker. Play some games and see if you can find any.

 

So the only way for me to test if my video card is stable at overclock setting is to play video games and see if I see if there is artifacts. What about if it is overheating, how can I test that for the GPU. I have mobileMeter to check temperature of the hardrive and stuff but not the GPU. How will I know if I have overclocked to much?