Print

[PsiFire]

So I'm not the most in touch nowadays with hardware specs and I'm hoping someone in the know (like Deto if he's still out there) can help me decide what kind of graphics chip I want in a new laptop.

I'm still an IBM/Lenovo fanboy so I was perusing the Lenovo site and obviously I ruled out anything with Intel or Integrated Graphics and want something with Dedicated Video and RAM. Here are the choices:

Radeon HD 2600
Radeon FireGL V5700
GeForce 9300M
GeForce Go 8600M GTS
Radeon 3450
Radeon 3470

I was hoping to find a comparison/hierarchy chart similar to this one: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card,2064-7.html but that doesn't seem to have a lot of the chipsets mentioned. Suggestions?

[PsiFire]

Found this which has proved quite handy:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

[AMDinside]

The FireGL is a card mainly for CAD use.  The 3470 is probably the best of that list.

[GenTsoChiken]

what about the 9300m? its a 9 series GeForce card, how bad could that be?

[AMDinside]

True, but I think the 9300 is a bit less than the 3470.  If it were the 9400, then it may be better.

[PsiFire]

Well, according to the second link I posted the 3470 and the 3450 actually ranks 85 and 94 respectively. The Radeon HD2600 ranks as #56, the fireGL as #52 and the Radeon 3650 ranks as #51.  The GeForce Go 8600M GTS is somewhere in the 54-58 range (they didn't list the GTS specifically). The GeForce 9300M ranks about 82 or 83.

So barring any other input I am shooting for the Radeon 3650.  Lenovo IdeaPad Y730 - 405335U specifically. I still have some snopping to do, but thats likely to be my next laptop.

[AMDinside]

The 2600 is better than the 3470?  Didn't expect that.

[PsiFire]

Well look at the numbering scheme they use for the Radeons:

**4** means Budget/Value line.
**6** is part of the Mainstream line.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radeon#Product_naming_scheme