x1300 (64mb w/ 512 Hyper memory) vs. GMA950

Is the x1300 a lot better than the gma950 integrated chip? I am not talking about hardcore gaming since both cards do horrible in games. I just want to know if the x1300 with 64mb and 512 hyper memory card is substantially better.

I am getting the NC6400 HP business laptop and I have the choice between the 2. The gma950 will be somewhat cheaper so I want to know the performance difference between the two .

I will not be playing new games anyway. If I ever decided to play a game, it would be an old game such as Starcraft, Wc3, or CS1.6 so both cards will work anyway.

I will mostly be using it for internet, programming, and a little bit of multimedia such as photo editing. Will the x1300 make a lot of difference?

 

X1300 has around 1200-1600 3dmark05 points while the 950GM has 500-700. So the X1300 is indeed much better. Especially for CS this card is good, it will not play at highest settings, but it should play fine on lower settings.

The X1300 will surely make the difference. You can also check the sticky above for some info.

Charlie

 

I personally feel that Intel graphics cards are absolutely useless for gaming...unless the game is about 3-5 years old.

 

With the titles you have listed, the GMA950 will be fine. With newer titles, the X1300 will be more beneficial.

Sometimes with the Intel GMA stuff its not necessarily is it powerful enough, but do the drivers actually support the game. Intel's drivers are pretty poor and it can't be guaranteed that games you throw at it will actually run.

The X1300 has AVIVO playback, which enhances image quality when playing DVDs, and it does make a difference when viewing I can vouch for that. But for normal 2d operations I don't think you will notice anything between the two.

I've had laptops with GMA900 and this one with an X1300, and the X1300 i prefer for the DVD playback quality, and just the option to do some gaming when I feel like it. With the GMA 900 I was limited to Quake 3 and Civilization 4, which ran pretty poor I must say. With the X1300 I've been able to play;

FEAR - 1024x600, Low detail
Half Life 2 - 1280x800 Medium Detail
Star Wars Empire at War - 1280x800 Medium Detail
Civ 4 - 1280x800 Medium
Railroad Tycoon 3- 1280x800 Medium (can play at higher detail...but why bother!)
Call Of Duty 2 - 1024x600 DX7 Mode
Sims 2 - 1280x800 Medium Detail
Lego Star Wars 2 - 1280x800 All on but no Anti-Aliasing

 

Thanks. I think I will get the x1300 then

ACTUALLY!.. I was also considering nc8430 as it costs around the same as nc6400 (512 ram which means I'll have to buy aftermarket ram but that's completely okay )

 

Guys, GMA is not worth so much writing about...
so, just forget Gma 950 and go for X1300

Edit:
nc8430 is an excellent notebook with X1600 so..

 

I don't know the numbers, but the X1600 is a LOT more powerful than the X1400 or X1300. If you have the cash to burn...

 

It varies depending on implementation but the MR X1600 can be up to twice as powerful as the MR X1400. If I'm not mistaken, the MR X1600 can get around 4000 on 3dMark05 while the MR X1400 gets around 2200. It can vary a lot based on memory and core clock speeds though.

In regards to the GMA 950 you should have no problems with Starcraft which can run on a DirectX 2 generation card or Warcraft 3 which I believe is DX7. CS is DX6 (?) and so shouldn't be much problem although it is an FPS. Still it's worthwhile to get the MR X1300 if the price difference is small.

 

Actaully nc6400 and nc8340 with similar specs cost the same

i'll probably buy it from CompuSmart as it's the only decent canadian vendor. Unfortunately, they will come with either the 60 or the 80 gig hard drive (5400rpm) which is not that great, but oh well.

 

The thing to remember is that a hard drive or ram can always be upgraded when you get more cash. Granted its never fun to reinstall all of your programs, but its better than being stuck with a card that will barely run the Windows GUI

 

Yes, I could replace the ram. 60 gig hard drive may not be massive, but it works for me as I am not going to load up on movies and games.