Question about a laptop's ATI card

C

chrisgeleven

New member
I am very interested in buying a HP Pavilion ze4560us. According to both BestBuy and HP, the video card on the laptop is a "ATI Mobility RADEON 4X AGP and 3D graphics with 64MB shared video DDR SDRAM; S-video TV-out" or is described as a "ATI Mobility RADEON 4X AGP and 3D architecture".

The laptop is $999 after rebates at BestBuy, which is all I can afford.

My question is what is the exact model of this video card? I have been able to find nothing on HP's and BestBuy's web sites.

Also an interesting related questoin is how good is this video card and the drivers for it? Yes I know shared memory isn't the best performance wise, but I am not a hard core gamer and I am not expecting top performance, I just want something alot better then my 8 MB ATI Rage M1 Mobility video card that is in my current laptop.
 
listen, if at ALL possible avoid any solution with shared memory if you plan to game at all.

32mb dedicated would better...
 
second post... any current ATI mobility product will give you Much over the M1 you have now... even integrated. Remeber though, your memory bus is at a premium in any modern pc....dedicated video memory allows the bandwidth to be truly devoted to the CPU and System.

I've seen the difference it makes... sucks from a 3D performance view... rocks as a cheap solution though for 2D and very lite 3D...
 
That system uses a gpu based upon the Ati Radeon Mobility (original), often called the Ati Radeon Mobility 7000 (shared video memory).

It's alright, but as previously stated, I'd personally try to stay away from any system that uses shared video memory.

But yes, it'll easily beat any system with an ati M1 or even an M3. M4.....depends on the app :) The Radeon Mobility that hp has could be considered an M5 (KINDA). it's an M6 with shared video memory, thus M5 would be a decent name, although NOT official by any means.
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Probably should clarify my needs...I'm not expecting top notch 3D performance. I play very few games and those I do play aren't much more graphics intensive then Quake 3. Would this type of card even have problems with Quake 3?
 
It'll play quake3, but don't expect to run at high resolutions too well. (pretty safe at 800x600 though).

Remember when the Ati Radeon (original came out)? That's about when your gpu came out (With dedicated memory). Thus it's been since then that they've developed a shared memory design for it. In all honesty, if you buy it from a store with a return policy, you're on safe grounds. Buy it, and immediately load on your most graphic-intensive apps and give it a go.

For 3dmax, heck no. for autoCAD, highly advise against.
for games, well..you'll be able to wing it for previous generation games, but anything new, don't bet on it.
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Quote:
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ATI Mobility RADEON 9200 with 32 MB dedicated?
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In terms of performance, MUCH better than what you previously listed.
The 9200 is the M9+ gpu. (2 generations newer than the M6 at that!).

If you're considering the Compaq X1000 or HP Zt3000, do keep in mind the video card can be swapped out on that system (it is removable, although will void warantee) so down the road you might want to switch it out with a 64mb 9200.

Currently the best available graphic solution on those systems is the 64mb 9200 (there are rumors of a 9600 to come, but i wouldn't bet on it).

But the 9200 is a Directx 8.1 hardware support gpu (will run directx 9 apps but will be a bit slower).

Definately a MUCH NICER CHOICE. Dedicated V-ram, and MUCHMUCH Faster Gpu and Memory.

If the cost is the same, I'd go for that.
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Unfortunately it is a good $600 more for the Compaq with the 9200 then the HP I first mentioned with the shared memory. My price range is right around $1000, I cannot afford anything more then that since I am in college. My current laptop's LCD is dying, so I need a new laptop ASAP. If you have any better suggestions please offer them!
 
Will post tomorrow with whatever i can see around $1000 with decent mobile gpus.
Wish i could today but office is closing, sorry :(
Gotta jet.
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In my local bestbuy they had an X1050US for 1250 after rebates today. It only had 256 MB of ram but a Radeon 9200 64 MB and a nice hard drive
 
well in terms of your price range, the best bet i can find for a system is as follows:

Dell Inspiron 5100
Intel® Pentium® 4 processor,2.66GHz
14.1 XGA screen
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition
256MB 266MHz 1 DIMM
30GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive
FREE 24X CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive Upgrade! (from DVD)
32MB ATi Mobility™ Radeon™ 7500 (dedicated video memory)
External USB Floppy Drive
96 WHr Lithium Ion 12-Cell Battery
Productivity Pack including WordPerfect® and Money®
Dell Picture Studio, Image Expert® Standard
Dell Jukebox powered by MUSICMATCH
Internal 56K Modem
Integrated Network Card
6 Months Free AOL internet
1 Year Limited Warranty plus 1 Year Mail-In Service

E-Value Code: 6V419 - 5100cs
Cost shown at www.dell4me.com : $1,098
There is a $100 mail-in rebate offered on top of that, so under $1000 after mail-in.
(not showing taxes here).

For $79 more you can switch it out with the 64mb Ati Radeon Mobility 7500 which would be WELL WORTH IT.
Just my 2 cents though. I'd check it out. Seems to offer the most power for the price. It is a larger system though. check their webpage for more info.
Otherwise, for the cheapest compaq/hp notebook with dedicated video, check the ZT3000 Pavilion or the Presario X1000.

Sorry for the delay. Hope this helps.
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rinthos said:
well in terms of your price range, the best bet i can find for a system is as follows:

Dell Inspiron 5100
Intel® Pentium® 4 processor,2.66GHz
14.1 XGA screen
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition
256MB 266MHz 1 DIMM
30GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive
FREE 24X CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive Upgrade! (from DVD)
32MB ATi Mobility™ Radeon™ 7500 (dedicated video memory)
External USB Floppy Drive
96 WHr Lithium Ion 12-Cell Battery
Productivity Pack including WordPerfect® and Money®
Dell Picture Studio, Image Expert® Standard
Dell Jukebox powered by MUSICMATCH
Internal 56K Modem
Integrated Network Card
6 Months Free AOL internet
1 Year Limited Warranty plus 1 Year Mail-In Service

E-Value Code: 6V419 - 5100cs
Cost shown at www.dell4me.com : $1,098
There is a $100 mail-in rebate offered on top of that, so under $1000 after mail-in.
(not showing taxes here).

For $79 more you can switch it out with the 64mb Ati Radeon Mobility 7500 which would be WELL WORTH IT.
Just my 2 cents though. I'd check it out. Seems to offer the most power for the price. It is a larger system though. check their webpage for more info.
Otherwise, for the cheapest compaq/hp notebook with dedicated video, check the ZT3000 Pavilion or the Presario X1000.

Sorry for the delay. Hope this helps.
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Click to expand...

I was just about to say the same thing:

http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx?c=us&cs=19&id=rsf_inspn5100_1&l=en&s=dhs

I bought an inspiron 8200 from dell last year. I was very happy with it.

I personaly hate hp and compaq though :mad: They sold my dad a crapy computer for $2000 that was about 2 years old in technolgy. He bought it in '98 and it was a model from '96 that was originaly made for win95. Compaq had "upgraded" the cpu in it to make it look more modern but everything else was 1996 technolgy. All for $2000! From the time he brought it home it never worked right. It would always lock up and run like crap. I was always getting yeld at cause i used it to browse the internet and my parents always yeld at me saying that i had messed it up and such:mad: My dad was on thier tech support line for like 2 weeks straight trying to get info on how to fix it. Every thing the techs told us to do didnt work and finaly a tech said that compaq was having alot of trouble with that model and that it would never work right:mad: Everything i have ever seen made by hp (cameras, printers,ect.) always breaks real fast:mad: Im not even going to start on my friend's hp computer. Its crappy but him using aol doesnt help :p Speaking of which, aol reminds me of compaq and hp :bleh:

Anyway i would also recommend you look at some inspiron 8000's and 8100's on ebay. If you do buy one from there just be carefull and talk to the previous owner before you buy. In the next few months ima buy an inspiron 8000 off of there. They going for about $600 right now:)

Dell also has some excellent support forums on there site. http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums?category.id=inspiron
You can ask some questions there about the i5100 and get some more info about it plus user feedback:)

edit--

Looks like the video card in the i5100 is removable and interchangable with a mobility 9000 from the i5150 :) http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_video&message.id=98224

Thats another good thing about dell, most of there laptop models have a video card set up that uses a "mini agp" slot. The thing about these upgrades though is that you have to get a "replacement" part from dells part dep. You just call then and tell them a part number that you want to buy but dont tell them that its going to be used as an upgrade part! Although you dont have the money right now, some time in the future upgrading the video card maybe worth your while! Most of these smaller vid cards for laptops go for about $90 shipped from dells part dep. Heres some pics of a video card upgrade in an inspiron 8200:

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportfo...sage.id=88556&highlight=Quadro4+Go+700#M88556
 
Last edited:
311Sam said:
Looks like the video card in the i5100 is removable and interchangable with a mobility 9000 from the i5150 :) http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_video&message.id=98224
Click to expand...

I have a 5100 right now with the 7500 32meg card. It is painfully slow, and this news brings great excitement into my life. Would you happen to know the part number I'd need, or any more information? I'd love to have my laptop become something I want to use, the video card currently sucks too bad for me to use at all with anything other than web browsing.
 
JiNk said:
I have a 5100 right now with the 7500 32meg card. It is painfully slow, and this news brings great excitement into my life. Would you happen to know the part number I'd need, or any more information? I'd love to have my laptop become something I want to use, the video card currently sucks too bad for me to use at all with anything other than web browsing.
Click to expand...

search those dell forums, they know it all :)
 
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