HP dv5t with GMA X4500 vs HP dv5t with NVIDIA GeForce 9200M GS

Wat are the pros and cons of each graphics adapter? Which one should I choose? How will the choice affect the battery life, heat and weight?
btw I want to game occasionally

Also how heavy and cool/hot is it (HP dv5t) compared to a Dell Inspiron 1525?

 

Although you have specific questions you want answered, you might be better of filling out the faq in the "What Notebook Should I Buy?" subforum just in case.

I'll try to answer your questions however. Depending on what games you wish to play, the x4500 might or might not suffice. However, with integrated graphics, you will have better battery life and less heat.
Tell us what games you wish to play, but I can tell you any modern demanding games will not be playable with the x4500.

 

I know this might be going to far...but: GRID, fifa 09, NFS undercover, Sims 2, Half life 2 EP1 EP2, Counter Strike Source, PES 09, COD4, NBA live 08...etc

 

9600m Gt :d

 

To answer your questions...

1) X4500 will produce less heat and will provide better battery life but at the cost of performance.
2) The 9200M will produce more heat and will drain battery quicker but at a performance boost.
3) Weight would not be noticeable either way
4) In comparison, the HP will have the newer platform which is more up to date and will last longer. The HP also uses a more durable hard plastic. The Dell will generally be cheaper, but at a performance hit for being older technology. While the Dell will be lighter, this is due to a cheaper plastic being used for the case in my opinion.
5) Based on the games you have listed, the X4500 may stretch to play Counter Strike, Sim 2, and Half Life 2 depending on settings, however, it won't do anything else. The 9200M may stretch to work some of the other games listed albeit on lower settings. If you want good quality when it comes to performance, you should probably really consider the 9600M high end card offered for that notebook series.

Hope this helps and feel free to ask any other questions you got.

BBGus

 

I have the 9200 which was mandatory with the blu-ray option when I ordered it. I would have to say that the 9200 is marginally better than the 4500. If you do any sort of gaming the 9600 would be way better than either.

 

Thanks guys, what is the weight of the dv5t? So what you guys are saying basically is that the heat/battery life difference between X4500 and the 9200 is negligible...but there is a relatively large performance difference? SO I should just go with the 9200 for $50 more? Its worth it?

 

around 5-6 lbs.

Really, the choices are between X4500 and 9600M GT.

 

I wish I could shed some more light on that as I do have the 9200 GS but do not play any of those games. If you do get the blue-ray option for the drive you may need to have the 9200 or higher

The games I play are older, like Madden 2004 and Battlefront 2. Madden runs smoothly, but haven't tried battlefront 2. I used to play it on a ATI Radeon 9600 XT AIW and it ran ok there so I would presume the 9200 will do more than adequate job

 

Today I checked HP's site and it doesn't have the 50% off dedicated graphics anymore.... SO I'm stuck with the X4500 since I have a tight budget.

 

I would argue that the performance is minor between the X4500 and the 9200.
Maybe the gap would increase when better drivers come out. You can play more games on the 9200 than with the X4500, but if you're into gaming neither will cut, seriously.

 

Well as said, it really depends on the said games and the resolution you'd want on those said games.

For example, the Sims 2 can be run on X4500(or at least I'm told) but the other ones such as Half Life 2 wouldn't be.

Rule of thumb is: if you plan on gaming anything that is less than 3 years old, go mid-range dedicated. Integrated and Low-end cards are for really minor or old games.

Now, that being said, you don't want to overkill either if you're on a budget. If you really want to game that baddly, get a desktop and be done with it lol

Considering you said you only want to game "occasionally". What does that mean for you? To me, it means you're probably not going to use this laptop as your main gaming station if you game somewhat often in general(you might have a desktop or a more powerful laptop for this), but that you'd like to relax and play a game or 2 every now and then(now and then for me means once a week or less).

That being said, if you don't game often or if this isn't your main gaming machine, perhaps the high resolutions and details won't be an issue for you(considering you wouldn't be playing that often) so going for a higher mid-range card such as the 9600M GT might be overkill for your needs(even considering some of your games are somewhat GPU demanding). A 9200M GS is decently good and noticeably better than the X4500 IMO. It could very well fit your needs if you fit the description I listed above. If not and you'd really want the better stuff, perhaps a 8600M GT would work(although I heard they're faulty so idk if they handled that).

 

HPs are always going on sale also, so if you can afford to wait a bit and monitor the NBR website, you may catch a new sale for the Holiday or "Black Friday" coming soon that would allow you to get what you want at a cost you can afford.

Hell, I work at Staples as a PC Technician and we started to put up Christmas stuff the first week of Oct...

*Sigh*

BBGus