Switchable Graphics ? why not put a honkin huge discrete card in?

I don’t know if there is a logic to this but with something like the T400 or equal (E6400 or Elitebook) why has no company put a bigger graphics card into the machine... why are the fastest cards deligated to only 17" machines.

I tried to wait for the once discussed external graphics cards but they never came.

It seems to me like there would be a market out there for a 14" with a better card in it for desk use (i.e. with a monitor) and use the integrated video when on the road.

just a thought.

So I make a poll... Do you want to see a T400 with a more significant card in it than the 3470

 

The problem is that the more powerful cards require a more powerful cooling system. There simply isn't enough room for a more powerful card while still retaining the same thickness.

 

Yea but seems like if it can fit in a 15" why not a 14"

 

As IAmTheEvilest said, it would require a complete redesign of the system because you have to keep the card cool enough to operate. It is ever more challenging to keep temperatures down when you begin restricting space (since 14" laptops are smaller than comparable 15.4" laptops) and have less room for heat to dissipate. The whole laptop will get hotter as a result of having less surface to dissipate heat and could possibly cause potential problems with the CPU. Also a bigger card is VERY unnecessary because you have a smaller screen with fewer pixels, so having a 9800M GT or even 8600M GT in a 14" laptop is overkill because it has more power than the laptop can represent. That is why I think the HD 3470 is good enough for the laptop and represents the balance (in the company's eyes) between portability and performance for a 14" laptop. I agree completely with the company's decision to use the 3470.

 

Got to keep it cool. Otherwise, I agree completely that it would be nice to have the discrete card be the best, most appropriate card you would use when your use requires a discrete card. For some folks, sure, that would something like the current card. Other folk might wish to dock the box and use an external monitor or two, or do whatever else can take advantage of the rest of the box's components. I love the idea of the switchable graphics because I like the idea of choices (and I LOATHE having to constantly synchronize or transfer files.) It will be nice when there are more choices of notebooks with switchable graphics.

 

Dockable graphics is what we need. I think that the 3470 is plenty adequate for a laptop with a 14" screen, in fact I think that the integrated GMA4500HD is fine. However, when you sit down at your workstation and work with 2+ large external monitors and do graphics oriented work and/or gaming, the 3470 is inadequate.

The ultrabase needs a PCI Express-16 slot so that we can insert the graphics processor of OUR choice. This would allow us to easily use 2 (or even 3 or 4) large monitors when at our home base. We could even upgrade the graphics processor as newer/better models become available. For a lot of tasks it is the graphics processor, more than the CPU, that is the bottleneck.

The inability to drive 3+ monitors and use top quality graphics cards is about the only reason that I cannot use a Thinkpad as my only computer. FYI, I also have a desktop workstation with two 20" LCDs flanking a 17" primary, with 2 identical NVIDIA graphics cards (multi-monitor or SLI at my choosing), 7 hard drives that I use for more powerful work. If I could attach and properly drive those monitors with my Thinkpad, I could ditch my tower and just get a NAS box instead.

I think this solution is far better than having a really big card inside the laptop. AMD/ATI already has a similar solution, although I believe it only works with a proprietary port on some lower quality brand of laptops and is not quite as flexible as the system I am suggesting.

 

Switchable graphics does not change the reason why a larger graphics card can be put in. Even though it is switchable, the laptop must be just as reliable under 100% discrete video card usage.

 

OMG! That sounds wonderful. I really don't even need the discrete card except when docked.