PCI Express - Memory Bus

I am in the process of buying a laptop and one company advertsie their radeon x1600 as a pci expres and one doesn't. Are all radeon x1600 PCI expresses or is their potentially a difference in card? Secondly 128 vs 64 memory buses! Again with the x1600 I am told that some of the cards have a 64 bit bus and some 128, are the 64 bit ones common?

 

128bit bus is MUCH better than the 64. Stay away from Acer, they use all 64bit.

 

x1600 is PCI express exclusive. And buying a 64bit x1600 is comparable to loaning money to a heroin junky.

 

sorry so you are saying that some are pci expresses and some aren't right? Would it have much effect on performance?

 

No, I`m saying ALL x1600`s are PCI Express.

I`m also saying that if you like to game, you should steer clear of x1600`s with a 64-bit memory bus.

 

No, X1600 is ALWAYS PCI-express. The card is although available with 64bit or 128bit wide memory bus. You want 128bit, because that is a lot faster!

 

cheers guys...finally I don't suppose you know anthing about zoostorm laptops, they are a smallish,newish british company. Ordered one a 46610

Intel Core 2 Duo T7200, 2.0GHz Processor
1GB DDR2 Memory
120GB, SATA Hard Drive
15.4 inch Widescreen, WXGA (1280 x 800) TFT display
256MB ATi X1600 Graphics
DVD+/RW Double Layer Optical Drive
Wireless LAN 802.11g, 54Mbps
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
2.7KG Weight
2.3 Hours Battery Time

Got good reviews and/but cheap only £750. Was very pleased until I read about the 64 bit memory bus posibility. Asked their technicians and they are not sure about the card. 2 questions
1) Would you buy without knowing bus bit?
2) If 128 bus would you say that this machine would play the latest games at full or reduced settings? I am a casual gamer.

 

They say Doom at 28 fps

 

Good deal there, and Zoostorm are good too from what I've heard and read.
It'll play anything you like, my specs are similar.
Doom 3, medium/high settings, 40-60fps, average of about 55.
BF2142, pretty much the same.
I'm not sure about the bus width on that laptop though, if I were you I'd make sure of it before I would buy one.

 

Basically company saying they are not sure of bus width as chasis are shipped in from Taiwan, only giving this as chasis breakdown form a german site

MobS MITAC 8258D Notebook-Grundsystem 15,4" WXGA 1280*800
CPU Core(2)Duo;2*So-DDR2/667 bis
Maximum Memory 2GB;
S-ATA HD;
Graphics ATI M56P X1600 256 MB DDR2 mobil.128 bit unterstützt DirectX 9;
4*USB;1*FiWi;1*S/PDIF;1*S-Video-Out;1*Line IN/Out;1
*Express Card;
CardReader 4in1 (MMC/SD/MS-Pro);
5.1 Sound (Subwoofer ext.) 2 Speaker,1*Mic;
56 k Modem 10/100;
Abmessungen: 359*225*32mm (B*T*H); 2,8 kg;

promising but not conclusive?

Is there anyway you can tell the bus width from the computer once it is on? i.e I can get them to check.....thanks in advance

 

they say around 30fps for doom 3 Calum you really average 50?

 

If you want to play games better (with FSAA, AF, HDR or at the native res) forget about 64bit cards.

 

Yes, but they're probably testing on max settings, I'm on medium and some high, no AA etc. I care more about smoothness than all of the pretty effects, but it still looks great, the quality isn't cut that much.
And from the specs you posted, it's a 128 bit card, which is good.

 

64 bit isn't as bad as everyone is making it sound. I have one and I get 40-90 fps on CS:S and DoD:S with all high settings, no hdr, 2x MSAA, and 2x AF on native resolution.

 

The PCI-E bus has nothing to do with the graphics memory bus.

The GPU is directly connected to it's dedicated graphics memory via it's memory bus. The PCI-E style bus provides the interface for the graphics setup and the rest of the motherboard. It's not a true bus, but an interface created in the same way with same number of electrical lines and capabilities as a real PCI-E bus on a desktop motherboard.

 

I think you can check it from System Information in All Programs, Accessories, System Tools. If not, then you can download and run Lavalys Home Edition on your laptop.

http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/...s_Utilities/Lavalys_EVEREST_Home_Edition.html