Which Graphics Card is better for the laptop im getting

Should I wait for the Hp dv9500t to have nVidia's 8600 graphics card?

Or should I wait for this july to get the HP HDX 20 inch screen with ATI's 2600 xtx graphics card?


1 question-> are the nvidia 8600 and ati's 2600 xtx graphics cards direct x 10?

 

Yes, they're both DX10, but you have to make a decision as to whether you want a 20.1 inch beast or a (slightly) more portable (but not anything day-to-day) 17 inch Desktop replacement. The 8600m in the dv9500t is a GS model, which only scores about 2500 in 3dmark06, while the 2600 xtx has a far more respectable 4000+ score. However, if you can find a laptop with a 8600m GT, the scores will be similar to the 2600 xtx.

 

like the Asus G1s

 

Yes, exactly. And Clevo is going to be releasing some new laptops in June, including the 901C which is supposedly will have the 8700 GT.

 

Hmm, that's a good point. I guess i'm going with the HP HDX. ^_^

 

Wow... you're seriously getting that 20" behemoth?! O_O Seems like that thing's never gonna leave your desk.

 

Word has it an XBOX 360 hooked up to a large screen LCD is pretty nice for gaming!

 

Oh yeah, except, I'll be leaving my desk a lot, so I need POWERFUL notebook on the go.

And no thanks, I don't like gaming consoles. My aiming sucks on those, and my aiming on PC's are much much better. That's on shooting games of course.

 

@ wdlp65

Too bad my Xbox 360 can't run Windows. But that Xbox 360 laptop mod I saw a few weeks ago was badass! An Xbox 360 can easily kick the asses of any PC when it comes to games. I love playing CoD3 on Xbox Live! Great graphics too, at least better than anything I've seen on the PC right now. And I haven't even mention Gears...

@ Ghost_Recon23

I suggest you just wait. They'll probably be able to put the 2600XT or even better, a Geforce Go 8800 (when it comes out) on a "smaller" 17" laptop. 20" just seems too big to be even considered a laptop. Just curious, what do you need all the power for? Don't tell me it's just for games. O_O

 

Well, At school, I take this video editing class, and we make virtual movies that have huge files, and are pretty cool. I'll share my vid when I get one released. It can be with games, sports, etc.

Oh, and a little gaming here and there... XD

 

I'd strongly agree with the others, you don't want to carry around a 20" machine. I think 15.4" is bordering on the edge of not being portable. Santa Rosa just came out so if you give it some time to mature more notebooks will come out with it.

The Asus C90S or G1S are worthy choices.

 

I thought the Santa rosa came with the hp hdx?

And, I like something big like the Hp Hdx. I like big screens. ^.^

I just don't like laptops that are over 20 pnds.

 

I agree with Chaz. 15.4" is already bordering the limit of portability. I'm using a 15.4" myself and it's already a bother to carry it around since it weighs around 7 lbs and is a little large. And you're taking video editing class right? That won't actually make much of a different if you're using a souped-up video card like a Geforce Go 7950GTX or a weak card like a Geforce Go 7400. I suggest you get a 14-15.4" laptop with the new Geforce Go 8600s or if you can't wait, get one with a 7600/7700/X1600/X1700. I assume your main priority is video editing and gaming being second. Just make sure you get a WSXGA+ screen. WXGA sucks for video editing or any multimedia recreation software such as Photoshop or Premiere Pro. There also might be options for 14-15.4" screens having WUXGA resolutions which is too much for that screen size, unless you'd wanna be squinting at your screen, don't get it. WSXGA+ is just perfect for that screen size. WXGA is only good for 12"-13.3" laptops. WUXGA is only good for those monster 17" and above laptops.

BTW, it's 20 lbs. Not 20 "pnds". And 20 lbs is just too heavy to be even called a portable IMHO.

Why don't you give the ASUS G1S a look?

 

Maby the guy is just so frigging big and strong to carry 20" around. Or does that have anything to do with anything?

 

LOL. Maybe. It's either that or he wants to show off the bling that is the mammoth HP laptop that he has. Then again, it's his choice. I'm quite utilitarian and I'd always go for function first over style... maybe except for the IBM Thinkpad. It's the ugliest laptop ever IMHO. They never changed the design.

And again, for video editing, the GPU doesn't help much. It's the RAM and CPU that counts if we're talking about rendering speed. I'm not saying an integrated video card will actually be as fast as in video editing apps when compared for a 7950 GTX. I'm just saying that it won't help overall since its only useful when using 3D rendering in transitions and some additional horsepower in playback and rendering. What you really need is a good capture card if you're going to upload video into your laptop. It's hard to find a laptop with a good built-in capture card like the ones by Matrox or Canopus. The best you can do is buy a 14-15.4" laptop and a good external capturing hardware. Matrox is more expensive than Canopus but if you ask me, they're at par with each other.

You're in video editing class right? You should know these things. I'm also quite fond of video editing myself. I started around 3 years ago when we needed it for school projects.

 

1.) Weight is not exactly a major issue for me.

2.) @Symphonyx, Yes, I was slacking off a bit. I know its lbs, not "pnds".

3.) I've already looked at Asus.

4.) I'm looking for a laptop that is at least 17 inches. If I change my mind on the HP HDX, I'm going to buy either a Sony AR laptop, or an HP dv9500t with its newest nvidia card.

 

i think 17 inch is very portable. For myself: i use my laptop everywhere

 

I have a 17" laptop and it's too small if you want big screens.

Of course, if you REALLY want a big screen, get a monitor as well... And a 17" instead of 20"... like a dell 24" for $500?

 

hmm, I might take that into consideration...The problem is ,if I take a 24" monitor into my class with my laptop...what a hastle. XD

But yeah, I might go for a 17", or a 20". We'll just wait for this July, new things are coming out anyways.

 

Um, you'd play games on the 24", and bring your 17" laptop to class.

Much better idea then hauling a 20" laptop around.

I'm buffed, and a 17" laptop gets old after hauling it around many times...

Even if you aren't gonna play many games, a 20" screen would be much bigger, but to carry it...

I'd suggest a 24" monitor for anything you can do not in class, and a 17" for in class. Can't you edit files out of class, on the 24"?

 

yeah... But, If I got a 20 incher, then I wouldn't need a monitor.

By the way, will the dv9500t's upcoming nVidia card be better than the HP HDX's ATI Mobility RADEON HD 2600XT?

 

We really don't know because these cards aren't really out...you can find some benches, but I wouldn't put much stock into them until notebooks have been out for at least a few weeks.

 

Ah, Ok, I see. Thanks a lot man, so I'll have to wait to June- July. >.<

 

Umm can someone please tell me WHY the HDX is practical and not a $3000 waste of money???

Realistically, the portability of a 20.1" laptop is zero, and since the dang thing will stay on a table for 98% of its life, why not just get a desktop for half the price?!?!?!?!

Some things I'll never understand..

 

We're actually not even sure if the video card that comes with the dv9500t will be the 8600M GS or 8600M GT. If it's the 8600M GT, it'll give the HD 2600XT a run for the money. If it's the 8600M GS, the HD 2600XT will be faster, and the HD 2600 will probably match it.

CNet says the video card will be the 8600M GS, but I generally don't trust CNet very much. We'll see.

http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/hp-pavilion-dv9500t/4505-3121_7-32432739.html

 

Ah, ok, thank you, i'll keep that in mind.

I might actually get the Macbook Pro. I'm going to wait for the new Leopard OS. It'll come with boot camp, so I can either run vista and Apple if i wanted to. Or, I could buy apple's parallel software and run both vista and apple at hte same time.

 

Based on the stats I've seen it would look like ATI's HD 2600 and HD 2400 cards with more streamers and lower power consumption would be statistically better than the Nvidia's 8400M and 8600M cards.

The ATI HD2600s (both standard and XT versions) have 120 stream processors while the Nvidia 8600s have 16 and 32 (GS and GT respectively).

The ATI HD2400s (once again both versions) have 40 stream processors while the Nvidia 8400s have 8, 16, and 16 (G, GS, and GT respectively).

It looks like the only model Nvidia has with 120 or more stream processors is the 8800 (with 128 streamers), but Nvidia hasn't revealed a mobile 8800 as of yet.

ATI stats:
http://ati.amd.com/products/mobilityradeonhd2600xt/specs.html
http://ati.amd.com/products/mobilityradeonhd2600/specs.html
http://ati.amd.com/products/mobilityradeonhd2400xt/specs.html
http://ati.amd.com/products/mobilityradeonhd2400/specs.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/05/14/r600_finally_dx10_hardware_from_ati/page3.html

Nvidia stats:
http://www.guru3d.com/news.php?cat=&perpage=15&pagenumber=4/
http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_8600M.html
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=392&type=expert (refers to desktop, but the notebook chips are similar in their stream processors per model).

Benchmarks, tests, and reviews should show how significant (if at all) these differences are to preformance and visual quality. ATI looks to have the advantage over Nvidia on paper.

 

Ah, thanks man! that's some good research!

 

I would say the go 8600, just because they had Dx 10 out before ATi did, so they know a little bit more about it. Just my two cents.

 

Just remeber for such a large laptop the battery life may be very little?

 

The way ATI and nVidia define stream processors is a little different. nVidia may have less, but the ones implemented into the 8 series can do many operations. For example, anyone can do a special function or floating point calculation. ATI stream processors are simpler and they can't handle as much as nVidia stream processors. In a group of five R600 stream processors, only one is able to do a special function or floating point calculation. The rest of them do simpler calculations. A direct comparison cannot be drawn from simply comparing numbers of stream processors.

 

For me man<
If Dell XPS M2010 or HP HDX had a
Nvidia 7950 GTX or 8800 GT
and its had 100+ 7200 rpm Hard drives
i would buy it with my eyes closed .
Mobility isnt an issue
Its not like i can Create any content(except writing), nor play any games with it on my lap, since my fist 14" no matter where i movved it from and to when i was really doing something it was up over some kind of table not on my lap or i wasnt standing up with it on my right hand and doing something with the left hand .

I hope i hold my self and wait till somehting like that comes out in 17" or 20" so i can buy it .

 

Check this baby out..

http://www.excaliberpc.com/ASUS_G2S-A1_Intel_Core_2_Duo_T7500/partinfo-id-579729.html