9300M GS or GMA 4500MHD

So I've read the 9300M GS is a better card.. but is it really worth it? I know the 9300M doesn't perform much better than the 4500MHD but it supports more video encoding profiles.. CUDA.. PhysX though. Between several different laptops I have the choice to get either one. How much more would a 9300M GS be worth in your opinions?

 

It depends on the brand and price for me.

 

It depends on what you value. If you're looking for battery life, you should be willing to pay more for the X4500. If you wanna game, you should probably be looking at something better than even the 9300M. For the most part it doesn't really have too well defined a spot on the market, but I wouldn't really pay anything extra for it myself. Having an NVS160M which is effectively a 9300M, I'd rather have the Intel.

 

Yeah it is a NVS 160M technically, but I called it 9300M since I assumed more people would know more about the 9300M. Well actually I'm looking at two equally priced laptops over in the dell outlet. The only thing is one of them is "previously ordered new" (with GMA 4500MHD) and the other is refurbished (with NVS 160M). I figure a "previously ordered new" laptop would be better since no body has ever used it. Unless refurbished laptops are better than they sound (not to change the subject of the thread), but should I worry about getting a refurbished laptop? But I guess the 3 year included warranty should cover any problem I could have with it anyway.

 

The Refurbs are pretty safe bets, especially with the Latitude. Virtually all of the Refurb units are ones returned during the 30-day return window for one reason or another. In theory, these units go through an additional quality check and if any issues were discovered, they've been fixed. I've bought numerous ones from the Dell Business Outlet and never had an issue. All of the Latitude E-Series (except E5400/E5500) have a 3-year warranty, same as a new one!

 

Personally, I look on a dedicated GPU as a liability since it is a source of extra heat, fan noise and battery drain. However, I am not needing the extra 3D graphics processing provided by a dedicated GPU.

Regarding the Dell Outlet question, anything refurbished should be as new. If there is a problem then either get Dell to fix it or take it back. The overshelming majority of Outlet customers are very happy with their purchases.

John

 

The 9300M is only advantageous over the 4500MHD with 1080p h.264 video and low-end gaming. If you like to play games from circa 2000-2002, the 9300M should be a bit faster.

However, if battery life is very important, have minimal 3D work, and watch 720p h.264 (or lower quality) video, the 4500MHD is better.

 

Ya know John,

We should get a commission from Dell Outlet!

 

Thanks for the answers everyone! Okay.. don't all Dell E6400s come with the GM45 chipset? Therefore they all have integrated GMA 4500MHDs. If that's the case then the NVS 160M is dedicated so I could maximize battery life by switching to the Intel graphics somehow, right?

 

E6400s have either the GM45 (integrated graphics) or PM45 (dedicated graphics card). The ones with the nVIDIA Quadro NVS 160M have the PM45. They don't have switchable graphics (where you choose between integrated or discrete graphics).