[Melanie68]

I'm looking at getting an HP Pavilion Laptop (I know, there goes the plane ticket overseas ) and the graphics card they have with it is a ATI RADEON XPRESS 200M with IGP graphics. It is supposed to have up to 128 MB of VRAM (not sure what the V is for?). I don't play any heavy duty games (like RPGs for instance) that have monster graphic card needs. Most of them will need a card up to 64 MB. Will this particular card have limitations for games like Dreamfall or Keepsake or some of the recently released Adventure Games?

I've looked it up but I can't decipher what they're talking about.

Thanks a bunch.

[Dasilva]

Does anyone know the specs for Dreamfall?

[Aj_]

The V stands for Video. RPGs aren't graphic intensive(well Guild Wars and Everquest are, but.. nevermind). It's not a very powerful GPU, and won't be able to run most new games well, but you should be able to play all Adventures. Dreamfall... well you should be able to play, but it won't be pretty like in the screenshots, and you may have framerate issues. Keepsake should be easy.

[Toefur]

I don't understand this "up to" 128mb. It sounds like, and from the ATI site, that this is a dedicated video card, but if it's 'up to' then it suggests shared video memory.

Well, if it's 128mb dedicated video memory PCI express then you ain't gonna have trouble playing any adventure games anyway, worry not!

[Aj_]

It's dedicated, plus the card does have the ability to share some of the main RAM aswell. The GPU is one of the least powerful from ATI though, VRAM isn't everything (actually it counts for very little if the GPU isn't the best). It's hard to get a decent playable framerate(at 800x600) in the best FPS games with it, and this concerns me because it will likely struggle with Dreamfall at the laptop's native resolution(which is undoubtably higher than 800x600).

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Originally Posted by Melanie68

I'm looking at getting an HP Pavilion Laptop (I know, there goes the plane ticket overseas ) and the graphics card they have with it is a ATI RADEON XPRESS 200M with IGP graphics. It is supposed to have up to 128 MB of VRAM (not sure what the V is for?). I don't play any heavy duty games (like RPGs for instance) that have monster graphic card needs. Most of them will need a card up to 64 MB. Will this particular card have limitations for games like Dreamfall or Keepsake or some of the recently released Adventure Games?

I've looked it up but I can't decipher what they're talking about.

Thanks a bunch.

Are you looking at the v6000? I have the HP Compaq R4000, and it's practically exactly the same guts inside, except a lot less expensive (Pavilion is merely more status oriented and Compaq, less glamorous but still just as good - like Prada vs. Miu Miu). The price difference is $200-400, and with that you can splurge on more memory, faster processor, or better optical drive.

[Melanie68]

Trep,

You've said before you don't like Celeron processors. Why not? I'm just curious because I don't really know what the difference is between a Pentium and a Celeron and some of those notebooks come with a Celeron (with the option of changing to an Athlon or Pentium).

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Aj_ can probably give you more details, but Celeron chips are merely for basic computing tasks (email, browsing, etc.). For gaming and other demanding applications as well as running multiple apps, you don't want Intel Celeron (or AMD's Sempron for that matter, though it's a little better than Celeron). Both Celeron and Sempron chips are for very casual PC users, they're the cheapest quality processors.

AMD also offers the Turion chip, which is the next step up from Sempron and can run media apps like music files and DVD movies, but is still a little too weak for some 3D games and simultaneously running apps.

Pentium 4 and Athlon 64 are the best, heartiest chips for the most demanding apps like real time 3D games, graphics editing programs (Maya, Photoshop, etc.), and running multiple applications. Combine them with lots of RAM and you're set.

HP is great because they specialize in using Athlon processors. I'm glad I didn't go for Dell because Dell systems are for very mainstream users who aren't as discerning with what guts their laptops come with (their systems don't necessarily use the more high quality hardware). Dell seems to use only Intel chips (Celeron, Centrino, Pentium, etc.), which I never really warmed up to anyway. Plus for what you're getting from them, it's ridiculously overpriced .

[Melanie68]

Thanks. All this info helps. I may have to wait until next month and stock pile a little more money to get what I want. What's frustrating is some of the Compaqs only come with the one option (what I originally posted) in the graphics card. I need to play around the site a little more and see what else there is.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Think of HP online store as a kind of RPG thing. You have only so many skill points to spend (money) and you have to invest them wisely in proportion to what suits you best.

Like I said, you should go for what I went for, the HP Compaq R4000. But I imagine you can shell out more money for it than I could, so get the 2.4GHz Athlon chip (it's a little better than a Pentium 4 chip AND it's quieter and cooler when running), the 128MB ATI RADEON XPRESS 200M (btw, this card comes with a 6-in-1 media card reader, an awesome bonus if you have digital camera), and at least 1Ghz of RAM. It's still cheaper than the HP Pavilion v6000 and features the exact same hardware.

If I'm not mistaken, the ATI RADEON XPRESS 200M runs on a PCIe slot so it may be upgradeable later. Don't quote me on that, though. If it seriously is upgradeable I really want to do it.

[Melanie68]

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

Think of HP online store as a kind of RPG thing. You have only so many skill points to spend (money) and you have to invest them wisely in proportion to what suits you best.

Like I said, you should go for what I went for, the HP Compaq R4000. But I imagine you can shell out more money for it than I could, so get the 2.4GHz Athlon chip (it's a little better than a Pentium 4 chip AND it's quieter and cooler when running), the 128MB ATI RADEON XPRESS 200M (btw, this card comes with a 6-in-1 media card reader, an awesome bonus if you have digital camera), and at least 1Ghz of RAM. It's still cheaper than the HP Pavilion v6000 and features the exact same hardware.

If I'm not mistaken, the ATI RADEON XPRESS 200M runs on a PCIe slot so it may be upgradeable later. Don't quote me on that, though. If it seriously is upgradeable I really want to do it.

Have you run games with that video card yet? If so, do they look alright. I'm not a graphics whore. I don't need absolute perfection so if it looks fine, I'm OK with that graphics card and the laptop you have with a better processor, bigger harddrive and more memory. I'll check to see if that video card is upgradable too.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Right now I have Max Payne 2 and No One Lives Forever 2. Both run flawlessly with nearly all the settings maxed out. Make sure you download the latest drivers for the graphics card and grab the latest DirectX (9.0c, I believe).

[Melanie68]

Here are the specs for the graphic card:

http://www.ati.com/products/radeonxpress200m/specs.html

PCI Express Interface

* Compliant with the PCI Express 1.0a Specifications
* Up to (4) x1 PCI Express general purpose links

[Aj_]

Celeron processors are based on Pentium processors, but they usually lack certain complex features and have a lesser cache. The Celeron M really negates the only adventage of the Pentium M over a Athlon based laptop, because the Pentium M has best power consumption/performance, but the Celeron M doesn't.

Pentium M will extend your battery life a lot.

ATI Radeon Xpress 200 is the brand name for a chipset, the notebook version is the Xpress 200M. The Xpress 200M has a GPU(Graphics Processor Unit) built into the chipset, i.e. IGP (Intergrated Graphics Processor). It is therefore not upgradeable, although it is PCIe based, you don't have PCIe slots available on notebooks.

Keep in mind that the Xpress 200M is one of the least powerful GPU ATI makes, and that the now old ATI 9600 Mobility is atleast twice as powerful as it while there are dozens of options for more powerful (more expensive) GPU than the ATI 9600 Mobility. At 1024x768, 4xAA, 8xAF, and maximum settings, Max Payne 2 is going to be playable. With Dreamfall, you're going to have to lower those settings. That's fine with a 1024x768 15" LCD screen, but if you're going to be using an external display with a high resolution then you'll want a better GPU, or if your laptop has a 17" screen.

[RLacey]

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

Right now I have Max Payne 2 and No One Lives Forever 2. Both run flawlessly with nearly all the settings maxed out. Make sure you download the latest drivers for the graphics card and grab the latest DirectX (9.0c, I believe).

I'm not sure how useful No One Lives Forever 2 is as part of this comparison. Being able to play Max Payne 2 shows the computer has some power; being able to play No One Lives Forever 2 tells me that you're able to play 3-and-a-bit-year old budget games .

What Aj_ said looks sound. I have a laptop running a Pentium 4 processor, so the battery life is about ten minutes ...

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Originally Posted by RLacey

I'm not sure how useful No One Lives Forever 2 is as part of this comparison. Being able to play Max Payne 2 shows the computer has some power; being able to play No One Lives Forever 2 tells me that you're able to play 3-and-a-bit-year old budget games .

I wasn't talking to you, dear. For what Melsie needed the info should be adequate. Like me, she's not looking to run F.E.A.R. or Doom 3 on it, so I gave her my approximation on how recent 3D games fare. I haven't installed Beyond Good & Evil yet, but will soon. There shouldn't be any problem at all. Again she and I are not necessarily using our laptops primarily for gaming.

[RLacey]

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

I wasn't talking to you, dear. For what Melsie needed the info should be adequate. Like me, she's not looking to run F.E.A.R. or Doom 3 on it, so I gave her my approximation on how recent 3D games fare. I haven't installed Beyond Good & Evil yet, but will soon. There shouldn't be any problem at all. Again she and I are not necessarily using our laptops primarily for gaming.

What I meant was that the Max Payne 2 comment made the NOLF2 one unnecessary, as MP2 is a far more demanding game . But never mind .

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Yes, never mind.

Robstud

Can't wait to get a 360. That'll be my primary gaming hub for the next few years.

[Toefur]

I dunno, I wouldn't call Max Payne 2 all that demanding, either. I used to play that on my brothers PC with 32mb shared video and it worked like a charm.

Just saying.

[RLacey]

Originally Posted by Toefur

I dunno, I wouldn't call Max Payne 2 all that demanding, either. I used to play that on my brothers PC with 32mb shared video and it worked like a charm.

Just saying.

It may not be hugely demanding, but it's far more so than NOLF2. After all, it uses a physics engine, far more fancy effects and may well use some higher resolution textures (though i can't guarantee it).