what is he best/fastest GPU for 15.4" and under?

Hello,

I am looking to buy a laptop and just doing some research. I am a gamer or at least I will be using my laptop for mostly games and movies. Anyways the question that I ask is ....

What is the best or fastest graphics card on a 15.4" or smaller laptop, that supports DX10, and what model laptops would they be found in? Price is not an issue, but reliablity should always be. Something that will continue to work and perform.

I live in the US an hoping to purchase a new laptop within a monthor two. So future 1 or 2 months release are viable answers as well.

I look forward to hearing your answer and opinions !!! thanks !

 

1. 8600M GT with 256MB GDDR3 @700mhz. AKA Asus G1s
2. 8600M GT with 256MB GDDR3 @630mhz. AKA Macbook pro (bigger one with 2.4ghz and 256MB.
3. 8600M GT with 512MB GDDR2 @400mhz like in the Compal IFL90 and many other laptops.

It is still unknown when the ATI / AMD HD2600xt will come out and how fast it will be.

 

Thanks!

Are there expected release dates for the ATI lines ?

 

I expected it 1-2 months ago... no idea what the delay is now. The desktop cards are available and some laptops with a HD2600 have been anounced but nothing offical yet.

 

Is there a big difference between the 8600M GT 256MB and the 8600M GT 512MB?

 

Memory size doesnt make big diff. You should choose the fastest memory clock as memory size is needed if you run your games at highest resolution. You'd better upgraded your system memory at least 2gb to play your games smoothy.

 

so the 1. 8600M GT with 256MB GDDR3 @700mhz. AKA Asus G1s is faster than the 3. 8600M GT with 512MB GDDR2 @400mhz like in the Compal IFL90 and many other laptops. because of the faster memory clock?

What about upgrading from 2GB of ram to 4GB will it make alot of difference in gaming?

 

Try and get the Asus because of the better card and because its a quality notebook. As for memory, its probably over right now. 2 gigs is sufficient for Vista and games right now, especially with a mid range card like a 8600GT. Spend your money elsewhere.

 

Yes the 1. 2. 3. meant to stand for fastest, 2nd fastests and 3rd.

The 8600M GT with 512Mb GDDR2 @ 400mhz is pretty overclockable and that makes up for the stock speed. At stock the 700mhz memory is about 20% faster. Overclocked the 512Mb GDDR2 version comes close but doesnt overtakes the 256MB @ 700mhz at stock. The Asus G1s overclocked ist the fastest by far. The Macbook pro comes close but i think has less overclocking potential.

Also 3GB of ram have showen pretty good improvement over 2GB.

 

when you talk about 256mb and 512mb ... does that mean the 8600m GT has 2 different setups ? I know each retailer of notebooks can set their own speed of the GPU so you want to get the fastest possible.....

But does 512mb mean that in acuallity it is using 256mb + able to tap into 256mb of mainboard ram per 1 or 2 gigs of mainboard ram .... as in like turbocache? and if so ... does turbo cache come with all 8600m GT models ?

 

512MB and 256MB are both dedicated. And all 8600M GTs can use system memory to expand the video memory but I will not take the system ram into account.

There are 2 main versions of the 8600M GT currently

1. the 8600M GT with 256MB and fast memory. The memory runs at 700mhz (double pumped to 2x700mhz = 1400mhz) this is the fastest one

2. the 8600M GT with 512MB and slow memory. The memory runs at 400mhz (double pumped to 2x400mhz = 800mhz) This is a slower one but it overclocks pretty well.

Then there is also a 8600M GT and 256MB with slow memory. I think an acer and Dell 1520 have this as an option. This is the slowest version of the 8600M Gt.

Then the last version is the 8600M GT with 128Mb and fast memory. this version is only available in the small Macbook pro.

So far there is no 8600M GT with 512MB and fast memory.

 

i thought sager has the 7950gtx in a 15.4"??

 

you can't get a 7950gtx in any notebook smaller than 17".

the 8600m gt is really the only gpu you should even consider in a 15" notebook.

the macbook pro is definitely not for everyone- still, it gets the same performance as the stock asus g1s. however, i agree that its overclocking potential is smaller, because the notebook is much thinner. i can't imagine overclocking a notebook anyway, but it might matter to you.

128 megs of video memory does limit the performance of the macbook pro somewhat. its performance is very close to the 8600m gt with the slower memory, either 256 or 512 megs.

also, even faster cards like the 7950gtx gain no benefit from having more than 256 megs of ram. none.

 

I thought the larger amount of memory shows you improvements for large textures, so in the case that you use high resolutions (is that right?). I'd imagine the 256MB would be enough for the max res of these laptops, but at the 1900x1200 (or whatever) resolution possible in 17" laptops, perhaps more memory would make some kind of difference. You definitely see desktop GPUs with faster/more memory (and otherwise equivalent) perform better at higher resolutions than those with less, even where they perform the same at lower resolutions.

 

Faster memory is a big deal. agreed.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=134267

bear in mind that a desktop 7950gt is equal to a notebook 7950gtx.

 

Ah, good call there - I should have remembered that recently-read thread!

I need to dig around - my impressions came from a whole series of tests I saw on (I think) THG. Those were probably done with desktop 8800s with different amounts of memory. Can't remember them discussing the SPEED of that memory though.

 

well the story might be different with a desktop 8800 series card.

but i will say that a desktop 7950gt and below don't have much of an advantage with more than 256 megs of vram.

 

Yeah I agree. You wont be able to play any games higher then about 1440x900 anyway. Even that resolution is pushing it for newer games. So high resolution tests really dont matter much.