Graphics card question

davemc

Guys ...wondering about graphics ability on laptops. Looking at the XPS range of laptops for a friend who is into the gaming angle. However, to be honest he's looking for a laptop that's capable of playing Oblivion, Age of empires 3 and similiar strategy games. He wants to future proof to a certain extent but is there really a mad difference a 256MB DDR3 nVidia® GeForce™ Go 7900 graphics card in an XPS machine with 1 gig of ram and a 256MB ATI® Mobility™ Radeon® X1400 HyperMemory™ graphics card with 2 gigs of ram in an Inspiron 9400..the price is €1900 versus €1400 approx. I guess what I want to know is if age of empires or Total war was played on both these machines with the above specs would there be such a difference????? with the ram etc...

TerrorFirmer

The 7900GS is literally about 3 times more powerful then the X1400. The X1400 will play those games you've listed without any problems, but to 'future proof' it as much as possible, and to play those games at high settings, you would be wanting the 7900gs.

That said though, you would be needing probably another 512mb or even another gb of ram to go along with that 7900gs which would slightly raise your price - speaking of which, do not pay dell for the upgrade, buy it seperately online - 1gb is sufficent but 1.5 or 2 is the sweet spot these days for most games.

davemc

Thanks for the info. at the moment that 9400 inspiron comes with 2 gigs of ram and there is a graphic card upgrade option for the 7900gs and 160gig HD..all for €1750 approx.....I think this would carry him through the next few years

Buzz_Irl

a year ago i got the 9300 inspiron - i gig ram and geforce 6800 go - it ran oblivion fine as well as bf2142 and recently coh -so i reckon the spec u are looking at is perfect - defo go for 2 gigs ram....and go for the extra battery with longer life !