Geforce 4 4200 GO VS. Radeon 9000/9600

[Nabby]

I was wondering how well these laptop graphics cards performed. I can get a nice Dell 8500 with Geforce 4 4200 Go or an ECS Laptop with a Radeon 9000 Mobility. I'm selling one of my main computers so I need this laptop to play games at decent rez/detail. I know the 9600 is the best way to go but I don't really think I can afford one, most laptops with that are over $2000, and I'd like to keep it below $2000. Also I would really prefer an SXGA display none of this 1024x768 limit crap.

[ATilaptops]

The Gateway M505 is what you want for sure, now it doesn't have an SXGA screen but at least it's WXGA, and according to them it's "ideal for playing games". The XL model can be had for only $1900 and the regular model is only $1600! And it has a Pentium-M cpu and a 9600 gfx card! When comparing the TI4200 mobile tot he M9 and M10 cards (9000 and 9600) there isn't much, the 4200 performs a little below the 9000, the 9000 is pretty good, and if you are a serious gamer a 9600 beats all else, the 9000 (which was the previous king) doesn't even come close. So if you don't mind playing games wihtout AF/AA on and at super high resolutions then get a Dell with a Ti4200, with the gateway at least you can turn on AF/AA if the screen res. turns out to to be total crap.

[humble-bargain-seeker]

You may be interested in this thread on the cheapest laptops with ATi 9600 graphics

[Nabby]

Originally posted by ATilaptops
The Gateway M505 is what you want for sure, now it doesn't have an SXGA screen but at least it's WXGA, and according to them it's "ideal for playing games". The XL model can be had for only $1900 and the regular model is only $1600! And it has a Pentium-M cpu and a 9600 gfx card! When comparing the TI4200 mobile tot he M9 and M10 cards (9000 and 9600) there isn't much, the 4200 performs a little below the 9000, the 9000 is pretty good, and if you are a serious gamer a 9600 beats all else, the 9000 (which was the previous king) doesn't even come close. So if you don't mind playing games wihtout AF/AA on and at super high resolutions then get a Dell with a Ti4200, with the gateway at least you can turn on AF/AA if the screen res. turns out to to be total crap.

I don't really care about AA/AF on a lappy. I just want good game performance at like 1024x768 with most if not all details turned on. I'd still like my desktop to be at 1280x1024, I'm just really confortable with it. Unfortunately for me the Dell also has a XGA display, bah. I think I may be getting this from a buddy who works at a shop near my house:

ECS something or other
Pentium M 1.5Ghz
Radeon 9000 Mobile 64MB
512MB DDR
60Gig HDD
Wireless B LAN on board
CDRW/DVD combo
WinXP Home
I think he was sellig it to me for like $1300 with 2year warranty.

I don't know though it's an ECS...

EDIT:
SXGA+ display on that one.

[ATilaptops]

That's a good laptop, I'd take it for $1300. It will serve you well. And I believe ECS is a pretty good laptop manufacturer, but ask your friend if he's had any problems with it or anything.

[Nabby]

Originally posted by ATilaptops
That's a good laptop, I'd take it for $1300. It will serve you well. And I believe ECS is a pretty good laptop manufacturer, but ask your friend if he's had any problems with it or anything.

This friend works at a shop that sells laptops and he's offering me this deal because my business brings him a lot of customers . Knowing him he's going to say that he hasn't had any problems with them and I'm going to end up buying it..

[ATilaptops]

i'd listen to him, it's an excellent laptop, not the best, but it'll do what you want, and it has an unbeatable price tag.

[Nabby]

Originally posted by ATilaptops
i'd listen to him, it's an excellent laptop, not the best, but it'll do what you want, and it has an unbeatable price tag.

He sold out of them . He said he is going to get more but it's going to be at a higher price. I knew I should've jumped on the opportunity when I saw the price tag . Anyways, I'm back on the hunt for a laptop.. What do you all think of the FX5200 GO, I know the desktop FX 5200s blow but I'm not sure how they perform in laptops when comparing them to the ATI offerings.

[Daywalker]

Check out the Dell laptop in my sig. The 4200 does well for every game I play: Wolfenstein:ET, WC3, Jedia Academy, BF1942.... I plan to try COD this weekend on it. I play at 1280x1024 or 1600x1200, widescreen aspects if the game allows.

My screen is the WUXGA+, native resolution of 1900x1200. some games support widescreen, otherwise it is distorted like a widescreen TV does. Doesn't bother me.

[Nabby]

Originally posted by Daywalker
Check out the Dell laptop in my sig. The 4200 does well for every game I play: Wolfenstein:ET, WC3, Jedia Academy, BF1942.... I plan to try COD this weekend on it. I play at 1280x1024 or 1600x1200, widescreen aspects if the game allows.

My screen is the WUXGA+, native resolution of 1900x1200. some games support widescreen, otherwise it is distorted like a widescreen TV does. Doesn't bother me.

Can I expect a FX 5200Go to perform on par with that?? I'm looking at the Dell Inspirion 5150 with a 64MB FX 5200Go, for a total price of $1671 including shipping and tax it's not too bad. Heck 3.06Ghz is insane for a laptop . It's a Pentium 4 3.06Ghz with a Geforce FX 5200Go. SXGA+ screen.

Edit:
Or even the Dell Inspirion 8600 with a 1.5Ghz Pentium M and 64MB GeforceTM FX 5200Go for $1779.71 (uncludes shipping/tax). WSXGA+ screen.

Other than those 2 differences both lappy's are almost identical:
512DDR
30 or 40gig HDD
DVD/CDRW combo drive
XP Home
You all know the usual stuff.

[Terry]

The reason that's cheap it's because it's a 3.06Ghz
It's not a CPU made for lappies. Therefore, you are gonna have horrible battery life.

And to answer the original thread, the 4200 is better than 9000 if I remember correctly. I'll try to find the article on Anandtech.

But who cares about 4200 and 9000 when you can get 9600 for cheap now.

And I know a friend who has a 5200... it doesn't do well.

[Nabby]

Originally posted by Terry
The reason that's cheap it's because it's a 3.06Ghz
It's not a CPU made for lappies. Therefore, you are gonna have horrible battery life.

And to answer the original thread, the 4200 is better than 9000 if I remember correctly. I'll try to find the article on Anandtech.

But who cares about 4200 and 9000 when you can get 9600 for cheap now.

And I know a friend who has a 5200... it doesn't do well.

Actually the cheapest laptop that I can get with a 9600 is the MX505 from gateway and after shipping/tax it's $1924.35, which needless to say slightly out of my price range and the monitor is WXGA so max resolution of like 1024x768 or something really low which I don't like.

[Terry]

don't know if you are an AnandTech reader, but they have excellent mobile card comparisons.

ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 and NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5650: Taking on DX9

edit: in the process of finding the article comparing 9000 to 5200

edit 2: ok, can't find it for some reason, but the summary is basically that the 5200Go is a bit faster than 9000 overall. However, from the looks of recent NVidia DirectX9 incompatibilites, I would say get the 9000.

[melee]

I can play BF 42, on my lappy with its m9000 1024x768 max details, 40-50fps. Sure I would get more if I didnt have such a cpu bottleneck.
Oh and I can get 800x600 full details in halo, about 30 fps.

9000 is not a bad card, but 9600 is alot better.

Go with whatever you can afford.

[Nabby]

Originally posted by Terry
don't know if you are an AnandTech reader, but they have excellent mobile card comparisons.

ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 and NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5650: Taking on DX9

edit: in the process of finding the article comparing 9000 to 5200

edit 2: ok, can't find it for some reason, but the summary is basically that the 5200Go is a bit faster than 9000 overall. However, from the looks of recent NVidia DirectX9 incompatibilites, I would say get the 9000.

Damn, if I hadn't heard so many bad things about toshiba laptops I'd jump all over this Satellite 5205-S119