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Hi!

i need some help to choose a LAPTOP computer

i want to buy a laptop, but i don't know the specifications of all those new chipsets and technologies

what is the best video chipset on LAPTOP to make and view demos ?

Intel 855GM ?
ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 ?
Intel Extrême Graphics 2 ?
NVidia GeForce FX Go5200 - 64 Mo ?
Intel 852GME / 852GM ?
nVidia GeForce 4 Go 420 ?

i mean video chip wich can be able to :
- use openGL effects correctly
- have pixelshaders v2.0 or if possible v3.0 or v4.0
- compatible directX9
- using smoothly 3DSmax6 or 7

and about the proc' ? what's the best ?
pentium-4 ?
pentium-4M ?
pentium-M ?
Pentium-M Centrino ?
Athlon XP ?
Celeron-M ?

thanx for helping :)

Well, I don't have that much clue, but usually the Pentium M (for mobility) is better than the normal due to less power consumption. As always AMD should be a bit cheaper than Intel, and ATI/nVidia demowise better than Intel. And don't forget to check, whether the graphics RAM is a subset of the main RAM or not. Usually non-ATI/nVidia chipsets use a "shared" RAM.

Even many ATI/nV setups use shared ram too. Avoid it.

i mean video chip wich can be able to :
[...]
- compatible directX9
[...]
added on the 2005-02-02 by Zone

... !

if you have an obscene amount of money they are about too (or are they perhaps already available?) release laptops with Nvidia 6*** pci-express cards. They should be able too play everything you could ever imagine. :-)

I somehow miss the 9700M in your list...
that supposedly should be rather fast as well
and if your amount of money is _really_ obscene:
there are also some fire gl notebooks around :)

the only one that you listed that meets your requirements is the mobility 9600.

AMD Athlon moblie 64s run very cool. my comp teacher has one, and he says that 75% of the time that the fan is off, because it runs so cool.

btw, there are no ps v4.0 cards at the moment. and probably wont be for about another two years, as ps v3.0 just rolled out not quite a year ago.

intel "extreme" is a VAST overstatement.

Gargaj :) i know, rules have changed ;D

Thanx to the others for helping :)

Oh, the intel extreme isn't as slow as I first thought (gotta develop on such a "card" for the last half a year now ;), but if you can afford a Mobility Radeon 9600 or 9700 (or even the 9800 which is actually an X800 in disguise), then go for that one.

the -M thingies should be rather strong.

Why not a G4 with a Radeon 9700?

Maybe because he wants to watch some more demos than only a hand full. ;)

i'll kill you money-dripping yuppies!..












...or should i perhaps get a (non-student) work instead... ;)

the m11 (radeon 9700 mobility) is crap and imo obsolete. its just a modified 9600 mobility and isnt even much faster (in difference to the normal 9700 the name of the m11 is more a less a fake, it has nothing to do with its big-desktop brother). the m18 isnt that bad. i saw benchmarks where it got about the same speed like a 9600 pro desktop card which is quite fast in the mobile market. if you have the money i even would recommend a geforce6xxx go. look out for some benchmarks and you know why. due to alviso/sonoma peg for pentium m is now available; maybe you want to get such a combinaton.

"intel extreme graphics ii" is the best. or at least it is if you plan to develop demos that you want *ME* to watch!

Just a slight inch off topic, but are you interested in working on the road / field / etc with that thing, or are you just looking for an easy-to-carry-to-parties solution?

I still get ridiculed at work for carrying my xpc to parties. "That's what laptops are for, fool" (sigh, yeah whatever).

Shifter: is a computer without case what they call an xpc nowadays? :)

didn't it melt?;-)

shifter : in fact i want a computer for my business work (and xpc shuttle is not enough, i need batteries) and i want to use it to produce and view demos in remplacement of my desktop old GeForce4200ti wich is not able to do pixel shaders v2

and produce demos everywhere outdoor can be cool for inspiration :)

Ati Mobility Radeon 9700 or better and a Pentium-M CPU (or Centrino chipset) is a good choice for now. I'm not sure whether the CPU has SSE2 support - you will hardly ever need it - but it is fast and needs little energy. And the intel chipset is really fast.

Avoid the Centrinos with built in Intel Extreme graphics, and i'd avoid non-intel chipsets (VIA, SIS, ALI) - though i'm not sure whether such thing as a Pentium-M with a non-intel chipset exists at all.

GeForce FX 5200 is to be avoided, but 6200 can be OK - i don't know. I'll wait till it's available and buy a next-generation PCI-X Centrino with 6200 or so.

mnemonix: the XPC came back from germany some time ago, so the "Hungarian Special" I had at Tum is no longer in use (and yes, the latter did indeed melt, hooray for flexible return policies at the local computer store) :)

zone: okay, that's clear then

It all depends on what do you need the laptop for... I'm very very very happy with my P4 HT 3Ghz + radeon 9800 (faster than nVidia on shaders) + 1Gb ram... I use it mainly for after effects, photoshop, cinema 4D, illustrator, quarkxpress, watching demos, gaming a bit ;) etc, and it goes smooth as fuck. However, battery goes down _fast_ (1,5 hrs.) and it's a bit too heavy... If you want a long life battery sacrifying horsepower, get a centrino.

Anyway, yeah, avoid "intel extreme graphics" at all costs! Hope this helps...