Mobile Graphics

[Mr. Satans]

I recently purchased my first notebook computer for about $1500.

It is an HP Pavilion ZD8000: P4 HT 2.8GHz, 512MB DDR2 RAM (Two 256MB), X600 Mobility Radeon (PCI Express Slot), WinXP MCE.

My desktop has more graphics & memory muscle (1GB RAM, GeForce 6800 OC) but I only use my desktop for server hosting.

Anyways, I want to upgrade my notebook (memory and graphics) but I would like some advice on mobile technology.

Should I wait?

Right now the best ATI card for mobility is the X800 XT -- By christmas will there be a better card? Will there be a better type of RAM?

 

[Devion]

Upgrading a notebook is NOT adviseble, its alot harder then upgrading a desktop.

I also doubt you will find retail notebook vga's.

 

[Smith|]

Not necessarily harder, just smaller spaces.

Right now the best ATI card for mobility is the X800 XT -- By christmas will there be a better card? Will there be a better type of RAM?

And the best mobile card for nVidia is the 7800GTX Go, so... hm .

 

[imported_Pemalite]

Its incredibly hard to Find an upgrade for graphics... they are usually intergrated into the mobo. And WHY!? did you go a P4 when the Pentium M is a far better processor? - oh well. personal choice. And RAM is easy for a notebook! there is a piece of plastic on the bottom of your Laptop, that you can take off and there should be a stick of SODIMM ram and a spare slot, (They can be 192 or 175 pin ram - could be wrong!). Just whack another in there! And to improve your graphics performance, you might be able to soft-mod that radeon but dont get your hopes up. And then there is the overclocking option, Just download a tool called Rad-overclocker or power-strip. do it in 10mhz increments...

 

[|Overlord|]

Its incredibly hard to Find an upgrade for graphics... they are usually intergrated into the mobo. And WHY!? did you go a P4 when the Pentium M is a far better processor? - oh well. personal choice. And RAM is easy for a notebook! there is a piece of plastic on the bottom of your Laptop, that you can take off and there should be a stick of SODIMM ram and a spare slot, (They can be 192 or 175 pin ram - could be wrong!). Just whack another in there! And to improve your graphics performance, you might be able to soft-mod that radeon but dont get your hopes up. And then there is the overclocking option, Just download a tool called Rad-overclocker or power-strip. do it in 10mhz increments...

Overclocking in a laptop inviroment isn't something you would want to do. The laptop itself will need to use more bettery power & can get very hot.

 

[Ravendust]

And the best mobile card for nVidia is the 7800GTX Go, so... hm

Where can you buy mobile cards from anyway? I've got an ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 64mb and it can only just run Neverwinter Nights on minimum, so i'm looking for an upgrade.

 

[Fire Phoenix]

Well, laptops never were for games. Not that I know of. But anywho. I believe www.newegg.com has them. If not then bestbuy.

 

[Mr. Satans]

Well, laptops never were for games. Not that I know of. But anywho. I believe www.newegg.com has them. If not then bestbuy.

They never were, but that is changing. I like to game wherever I go, but I don't want to lug my desktop around with me like I used to do when going to friends' houses.

 

[imported_Pemalite]

If you go for a high end Geforce GO or Mobility Radeon, it should be fine, but you CANT upgrade as easy, like you can with a desktop. And overclocking in a laptop is fine, Especially considering, the clocks will just drop down once you disconnect the power...

 

[Smith|]

And overclocking in a laptop is fine

If you say so, heh. I definitely wouldn't.

 

[imported_Pemalite]

If you overclock in a laptop, it wont overheat or explode -if- you know what you are doing. All that happens i the fan will kick in continiously or frequently ^.^

 

[Smith|]

Heh, I still wouldn't. Laptops aren't the kind of devices you should be overclocking . If you're only talking about maybe 5-10% overclock, then that's probably well within the limit, but overclocking that actually gives performance increases isn't smart on a laptop.