The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Integrated vs. Dedicated Graphics

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by danwpc, Jul 31, 2006.

  1. danwpc

    danwpc Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    51
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Hi Everyone,

    I am torn with this question currently :confused: :

    Is it worth it to go with a dedicated vid card (ie. ATI MobilityTM Radeon® X1400 HyperMemory) versus an integrated vid card (ie. Integrated Intel® Media Accelerator 950 Graphics) if I intend on using the laptop for only very infrequent gaming? The main function of the laptop would be for office applications and multimedia (ie. movies/music). A related question I have is that in the near future will I need a dedicated vid card in order to effectively run Vista?

    Thanks in advance for your valued opinions!
     
    danwpc, Jul 31, 2006
    #1
  2. INEEDMONEY

    INEEDMONEY Homicidal Teddy Bear

    Reputations:
    356
    Messages:
    1,419
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Well if you plan to play todays games then yeah you need a dedicated card. Even games a few years old will require the dedicated card. The GMA950 will be able to run Vista
     
    INEEDMONEY, Jul 31, 2006
    #2
  3. Thaenatos

    Thaenatos Zero Cool

    Reputations:
    1,581
    Messages:
    5,346
    Likes Received:
    126
    Trophy Points:
    231
    Thaenatos, Jul 31, 2006
    #3
  4. danwpc

    danwpc Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    51
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Cheers guys
     
    danwpc, Jul 31, 2006
    #4
  5. DoubleHelix

    DoubleHelix Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    1
    Messages:
    132
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    well windows vista is based on the processor that you select not the video card... so yes an integrated card will work with windows vista. But will not work with direct x 10.. however, no video card expect possibily the 7900xt and the x1800 will out of the cards that are out now..

    now, onto your more important question, whether to get a integrated or a dedicated... Well... in my opinion i would go with a very cheap but effective dedicated graphics card, because infrequent or not.. no new games will work with an integrated card.. and even very few old games will... suggestions on some computers.. the hp dv5000series.. can opt to come with a 128 dedicated geforce 7300(i believe) this will be perfect for what you intend on doing.. also many companies you can search based on graphics card.. i would search for a 17inch or 15.4inch widescreen(movies best quality) 128 or even a 64 mb graphics card. believe me you wont be dissappointed and for such a low card it wont cost you much more.

    Now, fact based, you dont need a dedicated card to do what you plan on doing with your laptop.. You at most need a 128 shared memory integrated card. This will suffice for all the things youll be doing, but like i said above. Most games will either play badly or not play at all.

    DoubleHelix out.
     
    DoubleHelix, Jul 31, 2006
    #5