Dell Laptop Video Card Problem

-DuMbGuM-

I own a Dell Inspiron 1300 laptop, the problem is its fitted with an intel video card (128MB) but it seems to be running on shared memory, therefore causing some powerful games to play laggishly. I havent been able to fix the problem in the BIOS either, it wont let me change it. has anyone had this problem or is anyone able to provide a solution? i cant seem to find one Thanks

Ruu_Old

I think the graphics card is onboard so theres not a whole lot you can do with it. I don't think its dedicated to playing games. What games is it lagging on? How much RAM have you got?

-DuMbGuM-

512megs of RAM. it lags on stuff like GTA:San Andreas and counterstrike, and refuses to play battlefield 2 completely:rolleyes:

Ruu_Old

What version of DirectX have you got installed, do you know?

KamiKazi

a guy in my year in college had a very similar problem with his inspiron.

try as he could he wasnt able to fix it, just had to ring dell and put up wit their **** till he got it sorted

-DuMbGuM-

Ruu wrote:

What version of DirectX have you got installed, do you know?

aw crap i dunno, i'll have to check when im using it tomorrow

Ruu_Old

Ok, Battlefield 2 specs tell me you need DirectX 9.0b.

PogMoThoin

Me thinks you are expectin 2 much from onboard graphics. Fraid there's fcuk all ya can do except add more ram. onboard graphics aren't cut for gaming at all. Reduce the settings & resolution.

irlrobins

PMT is right. You're never going to get decent game performance off a onboard graphics card with shared memory. Adding RAM might speed up a lil but not on the graphics side.

And to expect the cheapest laptop out there to be capable of playing decent games was a bit of a dream anyway.

Cuddlesworth

As above, intel onboard graphics cannot deal with current 3d games.

PogMoThoin

irlrobins wrote:

PMT is right. You're never going to get decent game performance off a onboard graphics card with shared memory. Adding RAM might speed up a lil but not on the graphics side.

And to expect the cheapest laptop out there to be capable of playing decent games was a bit of a dream anyway.

:rolleyes: I take offence to being called PMT. Makes me sound like a bit of a c**t. Not that bad really.

irlrobins

It was too early in the morning to type ur name out in full. I never twigged until you pointed it btw.

TerrorFirmer

-DuMbGuM- wrote:

512megs of RAM. it lags on stuff like GTA:San Andreas and counterstrike, and refuses to play battlefield 2 completely:rolleyes:

try as he could he wasnt able to fix it, just had to ring dell and put up wit their **** till he got it sorted

You make it sound like a card fault - its not, its just a crap card, or rather, lack of one. The "card" you speak of is the Intel integrated GMA900 - terrible for Directx 9 games, although is it alright on some dx8 titles like Castle Wolfenstein and Quake III, or GTA III for that matter.

It doesn't even have T&L support, which it emulates in software, which causes alot of the immense slowdown in games that require it.

Regardless of what you do you won't be able to play Counter Strike Source, Battlefield 2 (at all), or San Andreas properly. Stick with the older titles.

Cuddlesworth

PogMoThoin wrote:

:rolleyes: I take offence to being called PMT. Makes me sound like a bit of a c**t. Not that bad really.

I think we have found you a new nickname. All hail the great PMT.

PogMoThoin

Was funny, pissed myself laughin at it 2.

irlrobins

Right back on topic please.

PogMoThoin

What topic? He's in dreamland if he thinks he can run modern games off onboard graphics. These chips are not designed for 3d games. Bought the same lappy for my mam last yr and it really is bottom of the pile.

TempestSabre

-DuMbGuM- wrote:

I own a Dell Inspiron 1300 laptop, the problem is its fitted with an intel video card (128MB) but it seems to be running on shared memory, therefore causing some powerful games to play laggishly. I havent been able to fix the problem in the BIOS either, it wont let me change it. has anyone had this problem or is anyone able to provide a solution? i cant seem to find one Thanks

That laptop is not designed for playing games like that. Otherwise its fine.

TerrorFirmer

PogMoThoin wrote:

What topic? He's in dreamland if he thinks he can run modern games off onboard graphics. These chips are not designed for 3d games. Bought the same lappy for my mam last yr and it really is bottom of the pile.

Its grand for playing older DX8 games though as I mentioned above, at least. The Intel Extreme series could barely run old games let alone new titles, so the GMA 900/950 series is still a big improvement for cheap integrated graphics even if people don't appreciate that fact.

To be fair, a few years ago integrated graphics meant you couldn't play games full stop. The fact you can play Dx8 based and even some newer titles like Half Life 2 on a 400 euro DELL laptop is incredible if you really think about it rationally.

Although things might look up with the new GMA3000 coming out next year. Its the next step up from the GMA950 and apparently is tenfold better and finally with proper T&L support, so it'll probably rival the likes of the Nvidia 6150 and the ATI x1200 etc.

Not that I'd actually recommend any brand of integrated for gaming but if you must...stop complaining about what you don't have and appreciate what you do have, if you spent that little money on a laptop a few years ago you'd barely be able to run minesweeper let alone play proper 3d games (exaggeration but you get the point)

-DuMbGuM-

PogMoThoin wrote:

What topic? He's in dreamland if he thinks he can run modern games off onboard graphics. These chips are not designed for 3d games. Bought the same lappy for my mam last yr and it really is bottom of the pile.

no actually other stuff will run fine like unreal tournement, quake III, the sims etc

in response to the other guy when i turn down the res of counterstrike, and have everything on low it doesnt make a difference

i find it completely sucks that dell advertise it as a 128mb card and fail to openly mention that it runs on shared memory.

heres the machine specs anyways:

Pentium M 1.6ghz

512MB RAM

Graphics card is 128mb intel 915GM/GMS,910GML express chipset

cd/dvd burner

and plenty of storage space, thats about it!

cost about 750 quid

irlrobins

-DuMbGuM- wrote:

no actually other stuff will run fine like unreal tournement, quake III, the sims etc

These are old games. I could run those on my old P3 Win 98 machine no bother.

And as for not telling user it's not shared memory, looking at the tech specs it details the card type and says it uses system RAM.

Caveat Emptor and you should always research the product before buying.

TerrorFirmer

Well, as I said before, the GMA900/950 is actually quite decent given its integrated and most importantly in comparison to Intels older integrated offerings and some of the other competiting offerings (Like the SiS Mirage etc).

Its fine for Dx8 games, don't bother trying to run anything Dx9 on it, some games do work; but none at a very playable level. Also, remember that you'll need at least 768MB ram to play recent-ish titles with the GMA - it can take up to 128mb (or 224Mb if you have the 950), leaving you with only 384MB free ram, which isn't alot for running games on WinXP...

Titles I have personally played on the GMA 900 that were playable i.e above 28 fps during gameplay:

Command and Conquer Generals
Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War and Winter Assault
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Call of Duty
Quake III
Half Life 2 in Dx7 Mode
Swat IV

Obviously older games like Half Life and Unreal Tournament run without a hitch. On the other hand, I have run newer titles like Far Cry and Unreal Tournament 2004 on the GMA 900 - but the playability varies so wildly I wrote them off as "not working correctly" i.e in UT2K4, I was getting 35FPS, and then dropping down to 15fps for no apparent reason, then back to 35 - this was regardless of whether I was in the middle of a fight or simply just standing idle, so it wasn't that the gma was under too much stress, very annoying experience, but if you can handle frequent dips in gameplay, UT2K4 is casually playable on the GMA900 easily. I'd imagine UT2K3, which runs in Dx8 but looks just as pretty, would be a bit more managable. Far Cry was just a mess - 30fps one second, then flying as low as 5fps in some sections....same story with Doom 3, and again with Quake IV. Not that I expected those games to actually work....but worth trying out...

Stick to the 2003-ish FPS games basically...

-DuMbGuM-

it runs swat IV fine also, but ill just have to stick to using the pc for new games haha, anyway thanks to everyone for the input

Pacifico

-DuMbGuM- wrote:

it runs swat IV fine also, but ill just have to stick to using the pc for new games haha, anyway thanks to everyone for the input

All you need is SWAT 4 and a broadband connection, ignore all the newer games!