ATI vs. Intel

[alwes]

ATI Radeon Xpress 1100 vs. Intel GMA 3100, which is better and more powerful?

[EXreaction]

They both suck. If you are not gaming it doesn't matter.

[ShyguyXPC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EXreaction

They both suck. If you are not gaming it doesn't matter.

Couldn't of said it better myself.

EX is right, if your not into gaming, grab which ever is the better deal.

otherwise if it is for gaming, I'd probably go with the ATI or even an nVidia solution over the current Intel junk, though the newer X3000/3100 chips are better than previous onboard stuff, but I'd go with ATI or nVidia over Intel if it is for even basic gaming.

But more realistically for gaming, I'd find something with a Dedicated/Discreet solution using ATI or nVidia chips or cards... you didn't mention if this is for a Laptop or Desktop PC?

[alwes]

I'm too into gaming, and I want only laptop for it, I got Acer with ATI Radeon Xpress 1100, I tried running Crysis on it, and guess what, it doesn't even run, lol I know I'm stupid to even try that on a $500 laptop, though older games like Age of Wonders and Empire Earth runs smoothly, set that aside, I'm looking for a new laptop, price range $700-$1000 with the best graphics card for gaming, do you guys know any website I can get the best deals on? I always get my stuff from newegg, but is there any better deals other than those laptops on newegg?

[ShyguyXPC]

aside from Newegg/ABS computer Technologies (ABS was the parent company, that started Newegg 7 years ago), your best bet would be Dell.

yeah, the Xpress 1100 won't run crysis if it does, not even worth it. got a co-worker with that chipset on his laptop & has a tough time playing some aspects of Warhammer 40K RTS games.

but yeah, I'd look at a laptop running at least an ATI or nVidia Dedicated GPU for gaming, as over the years I know many of Intels onboard chips have always had issues running OpenGL based games (you mentioned Empire Earth & I know thats one, since I still play that once in awhile by myself, Mechs stomping cavemen & dropping Nukes on enemy is so fun at times LOL )

for nVidia Chips, nothing less than a Geforce 8400M GS chip at the least, though for $700-1000 range you should be able to find something with a 8600 based GPU...

for ATI, thats a tougher one, since I'm not too familiar with their equivalent chips compared to nVidia ones. all I do know is their referred to as the Mobility Radeon HD series.

any of the HD series or Geforce 8 series should be DirectX 10 compatible, not that the lower chips will be able to run the higher DX10 features effectively, as they're generally too weak to run the high end stuff, unless you get one of the higher end chips. but for those higher end ones, your going to be looking at spending a good $1500-2000 at least.

but I'd also look at Dells Refurb section on their website, you can usually find some sweet deals of pre-configured Refurbished or Open Boxed systems with some nice price cuts... I've found some nice 8600M GT based laptops over the last 6 months for the sub $800-900 range, when I've looked.

these probably won't run crysis very well, but should allow you to run the game on lower settings, depending on what you consider playable graphics settings/levels & framerates...

older games shouldn't have any trouble running on something like a 8600M GT or Radeon HD 2600 or 3650 based Mobility chips.

Have a friend who owns a Dell with an 8400M GS chip & says it runs pretty good, but he mainly plays only one or two games on his laptop when he's doing his welding work on the road (Mainly plays rFactor, Live For Speed & some older Dirt Track Racing games on his laptop, but they run pretty good on it according to him). after constantly nagging me for advice I told him to go for that one or the one with the 8600 in it (he gave me a ton of choices to choose from), & he went with the 8400 one to save a bit on the price.

[alwes]

Thanks shyguy for the long reply, I'm looking into Geforce 9500 GS or 8600 GT now, I think they about equivalent but which one is better though?

[ShyguyXPC]

not sure on the 9500 GS vs 8600GT, but if its anything like the desktop counter parts, 9500GT vs 8600GT/GTS, not much aside from Clock speeds, as those have the same amount of Shaders/stream processors...

but the 9500GS would be the newer one, replacing the 8600's I believe.

Looking at the specs for the 9500GS & the 8600M GT on Wikipedia, looks like they are pretty similar, one might be a smidge better in one spec & the other smidge in the other, but over all as far as specs go, they look the same, which isn't much of a surprise since many of the Geforce 9xxx series, save for maybe the 9600GT, are just slightly enhanced versions of the previous 8xxx Series.

GeForce 9 Series - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

GeForce 8 Series - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


I'd look for the one with the best price then. also compare the other specs, which has the better CPU, more RAM, other features like better screen/display etc...

[alwes]

Newegg.com - ZT Element S1017i-15 NoteBook Intel Core 2 Duo T5850(2.16GHz) 15.4" Wide XGA 4GB Memory DDR2 667 250GB HDD DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT - Laptops / Notebooks

Found this, got 4 gb ram, 8600m gt, 250 gb, a very good bargain at 849, I have never heard of this manufacturer, is it any good?

[EXreaction]

Never heard of them, I would probably not get something from a company I've never heard of. A 2 hour battery life isn't exciting either.

Unless you must have a laptop now, I would wait a bit for the Centrino 2 laptops. I've heard a few are already being sold but haven't looked into it much lately (I did see an ad for Centrino 2 laptops from HP though)

[ShyguyXPC]

have "heard" of them. but only by seeing ads for their products in various publications & online.

though for the price its some pretty good specs, just the battery life is kind of short, but nothing buying another 1 or 2 extra battery's can't solve, & anything beyond a few hours of use, or gaming, the thing should probably be plugged into the wall for anyways.