Toshiba M70-SR6 video card question

I just purchased a Toshiba M70-SR6 at futureshop and when i checked the computer it said that the x700 has 256mb of vid memory. but i checked on their website, it says it has 128mb. maybe I'm making too big of a deal out of this but could there be some kinda mistake about the x700 on my laptop? here's the link to the laptop that i purchased.
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/pr...angid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10068592&catid=22495
oh and one more question. will i be able to play games like f.e.a.r. and other new games on this laptop?

 

Your laptop might have Hypermemory enabled which utilizes the system memory to add more memory to your graphics card over and above its dedicated memory. So in your case the card having 128MB dedicated memory is taking another 128MB from your RAM. To check whether this is true check the amount of RAM displayed in your system information menu. If the Total physical memory is 896MB(1024MB - 128MB), then hypermemory is enabled. If it is 1GB then it might be that the card has 256MB of dedicated memory and there might have been some error in the documentation.

But even with 128/256MB the card is capable of playing FEAR. The X700 is one of the top cards in terms of performance and is right below the X800 which is ATi's top card but as with an tech component newer ones are around the corner which will make the older ones outdated soon.

 

I just bought an M70-SR6 also. First laptop and so far I'm very satisfied. I bought it at Staples myself and I noticed the same thing. Memory is listed as 256 when at least the specs listed at the store and on the website were 128.

Checked total physical memory and I had 1gig... so I guess by that logic it seems that there's been a mistake in mine / our favour.... but is there a utility ot some way to be able to tell fo sure?

 

Lavalys Everest is a good utility to check system specifications. It should also list the amount of memory your graphics card has...
http://www.lavalys.com/products/overview.php?pid=1&lang=en

 

hi tekDragon and match,

I just ordered the Toshiba Satellite M70-SR6, just like the laptop that you both have. I'm really happy since I got the last one left at Best buy and it was on sale with a free epson all-in-one photo printer!

Anyways, can you tell me how you like the laptop? any problems you've noticed or things that you really like? how's battery life? Just curious because no one has ever written a review or posted any comments about it....I'm also really anxious and can't wait to get mine...

thanks..

 

Well, that particular notebook hasn't reached the US, but its got 128MB of ATI X700, which is excellent for gaming and multimedia purposes. You won't be dissapointed

 

--> Tiger

I'm extremely happy with mine but it's my first notebook computer so my opinion isnt much to go on.

 

I bought my M70-SR6 from Staples also... great advice there from the salesguy. The tag with the specs on my laptop said ATI X700 256MB - so I guess these guys got it right (although they pricematched Best Buy's version, stating 128MB). I'm currently playing World of Warcraft - the intro video clip went smooooth! and the game runs really nicely. Just a minor complaint though - when i was installing WOW the DVD drive was crazy loud. are urs like this too or is mine a lemon??

 

The drive might be really loud if the data on the disk is not very sequential as the lense skips back and forth to find files. It might also be loud if the disk is a bit beat up or poor quality as it makes numerous passes having problems reading files.

Mine is very quiet pretty much all the time. I've also not had any problems witing dvds with it, almost went through an entire spool already.

 

thanks tekDragon! mine seems to be back to normal now =)

 

so does this notebook have a 256mb or a 128mb graphics card.

And do those of you that have it think that it is a rival for the Asus Z70Va and Sager 5320

 

It seems to vary.

 

Well if it has 128MB, then its the rival of the Asus. If it has 256MB, then its the rival of the Sager.

 

arnt the asus and sager kind of rivals?

 

I bought the M70-SR6 finally and have been using it for 1.5 weeks.....all I can say is I LOVE IT!

and to confirm, it does have the ATI x700 256 MB, the 128 MB is a misprint......lucky us.....

As for the DVD drive, I only find it loud when you initially put in your disc and it starts reading it, after it settles and there's not much sound...

Other thoughts:
- I'm surprised about such good quality speakers - I turned on the toshiba surround TXT and it's amazing..like your in a theatre!
- fabulous screen - love the shiny screen trubrite
- good touchpad - i like how you can scroll vertical/horizontal by rubbing the touchpad edges.
- originally, I thought I wouldn't like the peacock blue cover, but it's not that bad after all, I walk past my friends with Dell Inspirons (silver with white bumpers) and I laugh..haha..
- wow, the power adapter is very small and lightweight, my friend has a sony vaio and theirs is bulky and heavy
- i wish it came with a 9 cell battery

tekdragon, jimmeh77, other m70 users:
do you use the toshiba power management software or do you use something else? just wondering, not sure if there are any better alternatives.....

 

Not really - I'd say Sagers more against other high-end makers like Voodoo and Alienware. However their notebooks can be had a much reduced cost. As far as Asus - they're not really rivaling anyone - they just make good solid notebooks. Some of their specific models may be rivals with other specific models of other companies, but no, they don't really have any head on competition.

 

After researching numerous laptops, I am ordering the M70-SR6 tomorrow. Discovered last night at FutureShop that their SR6 had 256MB ATI x700 versus Toshiba's website listing the 128MB. Followed up today with both FutureShop and CompuSmart and their laptops all have 256MB. Contacted Toshiba Tech Support and they have also verified that all M70-SR6 now have 256MB ATI x700. Thanks for all your previous comments as it has helped confirm that I am making a good choice.

 

hey guys!

Tiger123 thanx for your likes about the laptop... i didn' even know about the scrolling along the edges of the touchpad. thats sweet!

about the power consumption... i'm going to get myself another battery, either at a local PC shop or ebay - whichever is cheaper =) i'm not going to bother about which power management to use. [also, i travel a lot, so i'm going to need something to boost my usage...it's a must to show off on the plane!]
my previous laptop was the asus A2K with AMD 64 athlon, 128 MB ATI 9700 pro graphix card, 80G HD (5400)... this sat M70-SR6 rocks it!! the fan is quieter, it's lighter (esp the power bar - i agree Tiger 123), and the screen is superb. i made the mistake of ordering the A2K online, not seeing the screen - def no-no.

over and out!

 

Congrats on your new buy! Tell us how it goes!

 

I kind of had the same question in my Satellite M60, it said on Toshiba's website that it had an X600 128MB, but it turns out I have the X600SE with 256MB, but that is with Hypermemory and it is an inferior card when compared to the straight X600 128MB.

Matt

 

Here is the post on X600 vs. X600SE w/Hypermemory

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=19844

 

Yeah, unfortunately the SE version comes with basically everything except that it only has a 64-bit processing capabilities when compared with the regular version. I've heard somewhere that SE stands for Second Edition or something similar. But wouldn't the "second edition" be better than the first????

 

Hi,

First, excuse my bad english. I'm not fluente and I will try to be clear. I found finally the answer of the M70-SR6 video card question amount of memory. For those who have the cumpter, look carefully of this informations.

If you click on the advance button of the Windows display, you will have the ATI windows display. If you click on the card tab, it will show you that the ATI mobility Radeon X700 have 256 MG. Is that thrut? No, maybe. If you click after that the Options tab, the informations of the X700 changes. You will see that the memory is always 256 MB, but the type of memory is HYPERMEMORY! That is the only way to see that informations. Other way, it's confuse. Everest home edition say that the x700 have 256 mo, but Sandra says it's 128 with hypermemory... And the ram of the cumputer is always 1 go!

Over all, I use the M70-SR6 since one month and it's very good for all propuse. I play with the normal config with FarCry very smooth.

By the way, Toshiba has retired the M70-SR6 from the catalog of the french canadien site. And somes stores has do the same and replace it by another model.

I hope that's help you, guys. Have a nice day!

 

Hi,

Excuse-me, I forgot to say that you have to click on the Details button of the Options tab of the ATI windows display to see the property of the X700 card on the M70-SR6.

Excuse-me again for my bad english.

 

I believe that this specific model of the M70 has a 128MB GPU, not a 256. X700's don't come with ATI's Hypermemory Technology - only X600s, X300s, and X200Ms do.

 

Hi,

It's why it's seem so strange. It's the ATI windows driver himself who said that, on the Options tab, when I click on the details button : ATI RADEON Mobility X700, capacity 256 MB; type : Hypermemory!

Only Sandra confirm that. Otherwise, everwhere it's says that the X700 card have 256 mb on board! Even in the Informations windows of Windows XP! Very strange.

 

Hi,

I hope this attachement file help everyone.

 

The card has got to have either a total of 128MB or 256MB on-board memory - the X700 GPU does not have the Hypermemory ability.

 

Ive seen this come up a couple of times in other parts. Strange that it says hyper memory with the x700. Hmm. I'm gonna have to go take a look at ATI's site & see if I can find out anything else.

 

It's most likely some anomaly in the ATI driver - someone else claimed they suddenly had 256MB of dedicated VRAM after saying their card only came with 128MB, so I know it's not possible.