Which video card is best for gaming?

I am new to the forum. I have been lurking for several months and I have seen lots of post about the ATi video cards and my question is. Would the ATI FireGL V5250 be a good card for gaming? Even though it is technically a buisness class card, I would think that it would still be able to kick the hell out of the x1400? Or is it a total waste? Surley this card has to have great gaming capabilities regardless of what is is made to do. After all it's all writing pictures to the screen when it comes down to it right? Why is it so imposible to get a great video card in a 14 inch laptop?

 

the best card for gaming you can get in a 14 inch laptop is an x1600, which is streching it. the reason being that powerful cards make WAY too much heat to be put in a small laptop. but an x1600 is pretty powerful.

 

I understand that. I guess my title is a little off. My real question is, can the ATI FireGL 5250 work well as a gaming chip. I would like to get a T60p but I am wondering how well that card will do. I am not a heavy gamer, in fact, I play very few games now, but that is mostly because the hardware I have now won't run a lot of the newer games. I want my next laptop to last as long as possible and if I want to pick up the newest game and play it, I want it to be able to run it reasonably. I was looking at a Asus w3j or a A8js. But, if IBM is going to have their T and Z series in the same price range, (which they are now, in fact, they are a little cheaper) I would prefer the Thinkpad, hands down. I have 3 of them and they seem to just run forever. Also, from what I can see in the documentation, the new Thinkpads are built even BETTER now then they used to be with the rollcage and spillproof keyboards. Is it worth getting the T60p or would I be better off getting the T60 and getting the x1400 option?

 

The v5250 is based on the x1600 if I'm not mistaken, so yes it can game, a lot better than the x1400.

 

The FireGL V5200 is a few times more expensive than a regular gaming card for a reason... If you're not gonna use that card for what it's designed... so it'll be just a waste of money to buy it.

However, the V5200 is based on the X1600 but the BIOS is different (allows prof. drivers). As far as I know, the standard Catalyst drivers can only be installed in a modded version which would make the V5200 perform like X1600. Otherwise, the professional drivers reduce the performance in games and may cause different kind of problems.

 

Why not go for the W3j or one of the other more gaming centered notebooks? Asus's are well built, and although the T60's with the x1400 are competitively priced the T60P will be more expensive than the W3J or several other notebooks that are roughly in that size/weight class and have the x1600.

 

Actually, the T60 with the x1400 is cheaper, even if you get the 15 inch flexview screen. What it comes down to is, I really love Thinkpads. They run forever and are built better then any other laptop I have seen. If it comes out to be the same or cheaper, why not go with the Thinkpad? I have 3 of them and they are all at least 4 years old. They just never seem to die.

 

There isn't a good reason not to get the thinkpad if it is what you are looking for. I have an older T41p that is still running strong and I also love the build quality, they really are just workhorse computers. That said, the Asus's also have good build quality, and unlike the Thinkpads they do have products that are built for gaming instead of business. All I was saying is that if you want a gaming notebook then the asus might be a better choice, since the gaming performance of the workstation chips can be iffy, and requires non-standard drivers to do properly.

 

" However, the V5200 is based on the X1600 but the BIOS is different (allows prof. drivers). As far as I know, the standard Catalyst drivers can only be installed in a modded version which would make the V5200 perform like X1600."

Can you provide more details on using the Catayst drivers with the V5200?

 

8rocks, you may want to pose your question in the forum dedicated to Gaming (Software and Graphics Cards).

 

check here Force the Catalyst drivers to work on a FireGL