3GB vid card or 1.5GB for a...

[BRO90X]

would a 3.0GB DDR3 NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M using NVIDIA Optimus™ be that much more effective than a 1.5GB vid card for a 14.0" High Def+ (900p/1600x900)? or would it just be a waste of $100

[BicycleMafioso]

Assuming you will not use an external monitor above 1920x1200, the extra VRAM is mostly a complete waste. There are like one-two exceptions where it isn't, and those have other limitations that makes the choice on that particular GPU a moot point.

Go with the 1.5GiB.

EDIT - even gaming in 2560x1440 should be possible on the 1.5GiB VRAM, come to think of it. Assuming the GPU has enough power to provide stable FPS, obviously!

[OhpUldum]

As far as I can tell the 3GB nVidia GeForce GT555M is one of the best video chipsets available right now for laptops. We would need to see the whole laptop spec's to really give you an idea what kind of FPS you could get out of it since most games are as CPU dependent as they are GPU. But based off of GPU alone I would say it is worth the $100 since you would have the potential to play at max settings longer over the course of the next 3 to 4 years.

[BicycleMafioso]

As far as I can tell the 3GB nVidia GeForce GT555M is one of the best video chipsets available right now for laptops. We would need to see the whole laptop spec's to really give you an idea what kind of FPS you could get out of it since most games are as CPU dependent as they are GPU. But based off of GPU alone I would say it is worth the $100 since you would have the potential to play at max settings longer over the course of the next 3 to 4 years.

The GT555 isn't a gaming GPU. You're thinking of the GTX560M.

It's a GPU that handles gaming reasonably, but it's not a gaming GPU. The extra VRAM is a waste.

[OhpUldum]

Maybe my info is outdated but I thought the GT555 was the high end of GPU's in laptops for at least a quarter...Maybe Q4 of 2010.

[BicycleMafioso]

Maybe my info is outdated but I thought the GT555 was the high end of GPU's in laptops for at least a quarter...Maybe Q4 of 2010.

I was gonna list all the GPUs I knew from memory to be better, but it ended up to be a pretty long list.
The GT555 is great, but it's the 62nd best GPU you can get in a laptop as of this time, for gaming.

[BicycleMafioso]

3GB VRAM is only a boost for 1080P Crysis 2 with DX11 and HD Textures, and even then it's not required over a 1.5GB version. Hence, laptop chipsets running on "900p" most certainly don't need it.

That was the one consideration I was thinking of. But then I started doubting that the GT555M would handle it at max settings, even in 1600x900. :x

[Xadion]

You wouldn't get any benefit from having 3GB of RAM on you GFX, you would hit other barriers way before memory. Get a machine with a decent mid-to-high-range card instead. We are talking laptops here?
Don't buy cards with anything less than GDDR5, it is usually a good marker for performance vs. crap.
Nvidia mobile graphics-cards worth owning.
460M
470M
480M
485M
560M
570M
580M

These cards all have around 1/2 to 1/3 of a non-mobile gaming graphics-card. Which is just about as good as it gets for mobile units. The 555M has half the power of the cards I mention above.

[DeltrusDisc]

He did say "GT550M".... typically the M refers to micro versions or mini or whatever, and they're for laptops as I've seen. Oh tetris. :P

[BicycleMafioso]

He did say "GT550M".... typically the M refers to micro versions or mini or whatever, and they're for laptops as I've seen. Oh tetris. :P

Mobile. And no, he said GT555M.
And since there is no GT555 on the desktop market, I get lazy and omit the M. :P

[DeltrusDisc]

550, 555, bleh, I forgot a 5. Sue me. Oh wait, you're from Sweden, you guys don't sue.... :P (At least not like America does!) ^_^

But yeah my point stands.

[Xadion]

Would you two knuckle-draggers please be quiet :P
Just read my post, at least is somewhat constructive.

[BicycleMafioso]

Would you two knuckle-draggers please be quiet :P
Just read my post, at least is somewhat constructive.

But too black/white. The GT555 is a capable card for gaming on laptops. But it isn't a gaming-GPU per se, even though it is better than other gaming-GPUs. Like the HD5650M.

Since the OP is obviously looking at a DELL or Alienware 14x, choosing a GPU beyond what he has is not possible. All we can/should advice him upon, is whether he could enjoy what he wants from it.

[Xadion]

Ugh, just wrote a lot about the GT555M and how I liked you making good posts tetrisgoat, then my stupid finger hit some button and now it's gone.

In short. If you are looking at laptops with the GT555M card. Go with the GF106/116 version, it is a little faster than the GF108 version. I know I adviced about GDDR5 ram in general, but down in this range card don't need superior ram since they are capped by other things.
If you can't get detailed enough specs, look for the amount of ram. The GF106/116 usually has 1,5GB while the slower version has 1GB.
I don't know why nVidia made two versions of this card. The GF106/116 is faster and doesn't use much more power than the GF108. Maybe it's cheaper to produce the GF108.
As for ATI cards, I don't know much. I have never owned one since all of them tend to die when I'm around. Maybe tetrisgoat has some good things to say about ATI mobile graphics-cards and what to get in the range of laptops you are looking at broflexing.

Oh yeah, I also wrote about what you can expect from the GT555M in terms of performance. I took a little look at its specs and it roughly 1/3 of my own card which is a little old. So a quick thought about it. I think you can run most things, but not very well. You will have to settle with low to medium graphic settings in most games. Unless they feature simple graphics or rely alot on CPU, like WoW does.
You will get a very mixed experience, depending on how the different games you play are programmed and how customizable their graphic settings are. Heavy shading and post-processing effects might give you a hard time in some games. The GT555M cant just trumph bad programming and fancy effects with pure power.

[BRO90X]

Since the OP is obviously looking at a DELL or Alienware 14x

hit the nail on the head there lol

---------- Post added 2011-07-16 at 12:14 PM ----------

Ugh, just wrote a lot about the GT555M and how I liked you making good posts tetrisgoat, then my stupid finger hit some button and now it's gone.

In short. If you are looking at laptops with the GT555M card. Go with the GF106/116 version, it is a little faster than the GF108 version. I know I adviced about GDDR5 ram in general, but down in this range card don't need superior ram since they are capped by other things.
If you can't get detailed enough specs, look for the amount of ram. The GF106/116 usually has 1,5GB while the slower version has 1GB.
I don't know why nVidia made two versions of this card. The GF106/116 is faster and doesn't use much more power than the GF108. Maybe it's cheaper to produce the GF108.
As for ATI cards, I don't know much. I have never owned one since all of them tend to die when I'm around. Maybe tetrisgoat has some good things to say about ATI mobile graphics-cards and what to get in the range of laptops you are looking at broflexing.

Oh yeah, I also wrote about what you can expect from the GT555M in terms of performance. I took a little look at its specs and it roughly 1/3 of my own card which is a little old. So a quick thought about it. I think you can run most things, but not very well. You will have to settle with low to medium graphic settings in most games. Unless they feature simple graphics or rely alot on CPU, like WoW does.
You will get a very mixed experience, depending on how the different games you play are programmed and how customizable their graphic settings are. Heavy shading and post-processing effects might give you a hard time in some games. The GT555M cant just trumph bad programming and fancy effects with pure power.

yeah im basically only using this comp for wow and other cpu based games. Crysis 2 and my other fps will stick on my xbox =P

[Xadion]

I think it can manage WoW just fine. So if the only graphics heavy game you're going to run on the laptop is WoW, I would go for mobility and handiness as well.

Quick tip. If you think about connecting your laptop to TVs or monitors with HDMI interfaces and your laptop has a DisplayPort, you might want to get a DisplayPort to HDMI adapter while they are still available. As far as I remember they will be removed from the market soon due to patent issues.

[BRO90X]

Quick tip. If you think about connecting your laptop to TVs or monitors with HDMI interfaces and your laptop has a DisplayPort, you might want to get a DisplayPort to HDMI adapter while they are still available. As far as I remember they will be removed from the market soon due to patent issues.

people reading my mind left and right today lol

and would that be HDMI to HDMI is that the same thing? cuz i dont think they make VGA or HDMI.

[BicycleMafioso]

people reading my mind left and right today lol

and would that be HDMI to HDMI is that the same thing? cuz i dont think they make VGA or HDMI.

No, "DisplayPort" is a separate device, different from HDMI, DVI and VGA for example.

HDMI to HDMI is fine, and you shouldn't need to worry. : )