Graphics Card Compatibility

Hi all!!
Tempted by an offer from Dell on a new laptop.
Graphics card is Integrated ATI Radeon® Xpress 1150 HyperMemoryTM.
But not listed in SL as compatible.
Anyone know if this works?
And is Vista still a problem as an OS?
Thanks!

p.s. Posted this in Technical Issues as well!

Vista is officially supported now for SL. Generally SL works just fine under Vista, as long as you've got sufficient hardware, and your drivers are up to date.

As for the integrated graphics card, I sometimes get yelled at by "spend as little as possible, at all costs" crowd when I say this, but seriously, integrated graphics should be avoided like the plague. Manufacturers like to claim that Hypermemory (or nVidia's eqivalent, TurboCache) works better on low end cards that have no dedicated video memory of their own than just plain old shared memory, and it probably does. But that's pretty much like saying a Pinto is better than a Festiva. The truth is they both suck, especially if what you actually need is a race car. Just because one happens to suck a little less than the other doesn't actually make it good.

I've always maintained that people who say "money can't buy happiness" just don't know where to shop, but whether it can or it can't, one thing remains true. IMoney absolutely can buy sadness, anger, and frustration when you "save" it by spending it on things that don't work very well. As a wise old man once told me, "I can't afford to buy cheap tools." I would never buy a machine with integrated graphics, ever. It's just not worth it.


All that said, I've of course never used whatever particular machine you're talking about. I'm just speaking generally. If there's a way for you to try that exact one, maybe at a store or something, give it a whirl. Dell also has a 21-day return policy, so if you don't mind potentially losing a little money on shipping, you could run the thing through the mill for three weeks, and then send it back if you don't like it.

Mention the words Laptop, and I think immediately of the welded graphic chips on the motherboard... neither of which you can swap for anything better, without throwing out the baby with the bath water. You can save money long term.. buy a desktop.

That's not really going to work out for SL. It might "run" but it would be close to minimal.

I know the Dell small business was offering the Vostro 1500 with a Radeon 8600GT card which is pretty decent for a "cheap" laptop chipset.

You would benefit from stepping up to the non integrated graphics card for a little more money.

and something tells me nVidia would be better.

hi guys im post this to see if my lapop go be ok run sl i think it will but want ask u guys about it.



ProcessorIntel® Core(TM)2 Duo MobileProcessor Speed1.67GHzDisplay TypeWXGA high-definition widescreen with BrightView technology (1280 x 800)Screen Size15.4"System Bus667MHzCache Memory2MB on die Level 2System Memory (RAM)3GBSystem Memory (RAM) Expandable To4GBType of Memory (RAM)DDR2Hard Drive TypeSATA (5400 rpm)Hard Drive Size250GBOptical DriveDouble-layer DVD±RW/CD-RWOptical Drive Speeds2.4x DVD+R DL, 4x8x8 DVD+RW, 4x8x8 DVD-RW, 24x16x24 CD-RWDirect-Disc LabelingYesDigital Media Reader or SlotsYes, digital media card readerGraphicsNVIDIA GeForce 8400M GSVideo Memory256MB (dedicated); up to 1535MB total available graphics memory http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8669504&productCategoryId=abcat0502003&type=product&tab=2&id=1196470766824#productdetail


thanks bryan

This is an office graphic cards, really not suited for stuff like SL. I had the desktop version in my new computer and it sucked. Go for a laptop with a 8600M version.

I know people who have been very unhappy with the Best Buy warranty. The systems sounds okay, but some systems with nice sounding specs may be full of junk.

IMO you would get a better deal for same money with a dell laptop, but get the longer warranty.

BTW: Staples Office store, now caries Dells.

Is this 2 graphics cards? ATI/8600GT... or the nVidia 8600GT...

Oops, it's the Nvidia card. 8600M GT. You can configure the Vostro 1500 from Dell small business with one of these and 2 gig of memory for under $800. It's as good a deal as I've ever seen for something with a decent mobile video chipset. Usually you end up with $2k of computer before they'll agree to include any sort of decent 3d "card"

I have just bought this and it works like a dream, on a laptop with wireless connection:

GeForce 8600M GT:
Chipset Model: GeForce 8600M GT
Type: Display
Bus: PCIe
PCIe Lane Width: x16
VRAM (Total): 512 MB
Vendor: NVIDIA (0x10de)

together with:

Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro4,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.5 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 6 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 800 MHz
Boot ROM Version: MBP41.00C1.B00
SMC Version: 1.27f1
Serial Number: W88084PSYJY
Sudden Motion Sensor:
State: Enabled

The quote of VRam is incorrect, VRam is different to system ram, which the vast majority of lightweight Graphic Cards/chips use. VRam=Video Ram. Inheriently, system ram is slower than dedicated Video Ram, clock/core speeds are also different.