Laptop and Video Card Question

[Darth Canis]

Hi all. I was wondering if anyone had experience with laptops running an nVidia GeForce 310M (512 MB dedicated). Is this a decent video card to run SL on? Or would you go for an ATI Radeon HD 4570 (512 MB Dedicated) instead?

I'm not expecting the cards to run SL at 60 FPS or anything but I would like to know if they would run at least ~15 FPS.

Anyone have a "ball park" number for me for FPS on both Low settings (default Low Slider) and perhaps Medium with custom settings (Basic Shaders and Atmospheric on)?

These are my only two choices on video cards provided to me at the store I am looking at.

Any input would be much appreciated =)

[Veritable Quandry]

Both are below what I would recommend, but not impossible to run SecondLife at low framerates.  There is not a lot of difference between the two in theory.  Notebookcheck.com lists the 4570 near the bottom of class 2 and the 310 near the top of class 3, but that's an arbitrary cutoff.  They also show the 310 as having better benchmark scores than the 4570.  The difference between the two will depend on what type of memory the notebook manufacturer used.  The Nvidia 310m can use DDR3 or GDDR3.  The ATI 5470 can use DDR2, DDR3, or GDDR3.  It may be possible to track that down based on the laptop model numbers.  The GDDR3 variants will be faster and use less power than the DDR2/3 versions.  The 310 should use less power overall.

All things being equal, I would tend towards the Nvidia 310m, but would not expect to see much difference in performance.  If you are willing to buy online, and can give your location, budget, and prefered screen size, we might be able to point you towards something with a better GPU (230/330 or above).

[Darth Canis]

Or perhaps, maybe the better question I should ask is... How does the GeForce 310M compare to the GeForce 7150M (either 64 MB or 128 MB dedicated... specs say 64 but my system reports 128 ). I have the 7150M in the laptop I have now and it handles SL decently enough for me (around 12 fps average) on the lowest graphics settings at 1280X800 resolution. I am just looking for a laptop with a graphics card that will at least meet or exceed the 7150M =)

Thanks!

[Ravin Draconia]

I don't know about that particular card, but I do know the problem you will face later on with a laptop in general. The cost of upgrading it. I faced that issue myself recently. I have an Acer Aspire 5100 laptop that is now 5 years old (I now use it for Net surfing while inworld). The card in it is an ATI 1100. I was lucky to get 7 FPS at Low settings. To replace that laptop would have cost me at approzimately CDN$800. And the graphics would still be low quality. Instead, I spent CDN$600 on a desktop tower that came with an nVidia 6150 card and a 19" LCD monitor. Got Med quality graphics at 14-16 FPS. Recently upgraded to an nVidia 9500 for CDN$100 and am now happily running at High graphics and consistently getting 20-25 FPS.

And still saved a hundred dollars! *smiles*

[Veritable Quandry]

It is a much better card.  The 7150m has 2 pipelines and no memory.   The 310m has 16 cores and dedicated memory, as well as being several  generations newer.

[Darth Canis]

Hi thanks for replying =)

This is the laptop I was interested in getting if you would like to take a look at the specs:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+Satellite+Laptop+with+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i7+Processor+-+Quantum+Black/9705203.p?id=1218154377801&skuId=9705203

 

The video card in question is the 310M and it uses GDDR3 memory (512 MB discrete).

I would like to buy locally and am trying to stay around $1000 USD for the laptop I get.

 

Thank you!

[Darth Canis]

I'm not looking for anything stellar performance wise really. Just something that meets or exceeds the laptop I have now =)

[Darth Canis]

Hmm alright. I will keep researching on it before deciding... Maybe I should find something with a 330 instead? Only thing that bothers me about the 310M is that according to the nVidia website , the memory bandwidth is only 64 bit while the 330 is 128 bit. Would that make a noticable difference in performance?

[Veritable Quandry]

For the same price as that Toshiba, Best Buy has an Asus G60 with the Nvidia GTS 360m.  Add $100 and you can get a G72 with the GTX 260m.  Either will outperform the Toshiba.

[Darth Canis]

Oh wow! Thank you for pointing those out to me =) Will check and see if my local store carries that.

[Veritable Quandry]

You're welcome.  I'm  using a G51, and the GTX 260m looks great.  The GTS 360m should be almost as powerful (has less cores and a 128-bit memory bus v. 256 in the GTX card, but uses faster GDDR5 memory) and will run much cooler than the GTX 260m.