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    Dedicated GPU vs Integrated GPU - Battery life

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by SDYanksFan, Jul 6, 2007.

  1. SDYanksFan

    SDYanksFan Notebook Guru

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    How much more battery life, on average, does an integrated GPU offer over a dedicated card? I'm trying to decide if the dedicated card is worth it.
     
    SDYanksFan, Jul 6, 2007
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  2. Dal

    Dal Notebook Consultant

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    It depends on the card. A 8600M GT is going to drain the battery a lot faster than the 8400 GS, but the integrated card will get the best battery life.

    If you are just surfing the net and doing office/word stuff then the integrated it great. If you plan on gaming though the integrated card just will not cut it.
     
    Dal, Jul 6, 2007
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  3. SDYanksFan

    SDYanksFan Notebook Guru

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    At most I'll play Warcraft 3, which can run on almost anything. I do plan to use it for DVDs, videos and all that good stuff though.
     
    SDYanksFan, Jul 6, 2007
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  4. David

    David NBR Random Reviewer NBR Reviewer

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    All current integrated cards are more than enough to play warcraft 3 and watch dvds. Not sure how much battery life you can exactly save, but you'll definitely have more than with any dedicated gpu.
     
    David, Jul 6, 2007
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  5. masterchef341

    masterchef341 The guy from The Notebook

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    integrated cards are just powerful enough to tough out dvd's pretty much perfectly. the integrated cards supposedly offer better visuals but thats sort of up in the air as far as i know and can tell.

    however, i will say that high definition content (720p, and moreso 1080p) is too intensive for modern processors to handle alone and really benefits from gpu support (low end is fine, 7 series/ x1k series or above)
     
    masterchef341, Jul 6, 2007
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  6. chimpanzee

    chimpanzee Notebook Virtuoso

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    curious to know why modern CPU cannot handle full HD(i.e. 1920x1080). I saw another post about T2500 cannot handle blue-ray comfortably.
     
    chimpanzee, Jul 6, 2007
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  7. Thomas

    Thomas McLovin

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    my setup in my sig can do everything you need get one similair tomit i get 3 hours+ battery wifi on
     
    Thomas, Jul 6, 2007
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  8. Tiger13144

    Tiger13144 Notebook Enthusiast

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    I can't understand how anyone would opt for an integrated card; the low end cards are so cheap, not upgrading could really tie up your processor power unneccessarily.

    Does anyone know whether Vista 64-bit can fully run on an integrated?
     
    Tiger13144, Jul 24, 2007
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  9. DPyro

    DPyro Notebook Enthusiast

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    Supposedly the new nvidia cards should downclock massively when not being used, but I don't know of any review of their power consumption on idle.
     
    DPyro, Jul 24, 2007
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  10. JimmyJ

    JimmyJ Notebook Consultant

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    Does it mean that when not gaming the clock speed will reduce and inturn save some battery :confused:
    And do the Nvidia 8600 has this...If yes am glad ;)
     
    JimmyJ, Jul 25, 2007
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  11. Tiger13144

    Tiger13144 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hey Jimmy, Do you have the 8600m GT, GTS, or the GS?
     
    Tiger13144, Jul 26, 2007
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  12. JimmyJ

    JimmyJ Notebook Consultant

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    I am yet to get my laptop in hand.... My brother is going to buy it for me ..Need to see which one it will have..
     
    JimmyJ, Jul 26, 2007
    #12