Graphics, shared or not? GMA 900 vs. Radeon 7500?

[Troelz]

Hello.

I am in the market for a Thinkpad Considering a T40 with ATI Radeon 7500 or a T43 with GMA 900. (My reason for only considering between these two is that these are the only models I can afford. They are very cheap here on student discount.) My question is, what do you recommend? I am going to be using it as my only computer.

How much better is the Radeon 7500, compared to GMA 900? I mean, the 7500 is a pretty old model, I understand.

Will all games run poorly on GMA 900 or only the really hardcore ones, like Far Cry or WoW?

How does this choice affect other applications, suchs as Photoshop, Flash Studio, DVD viewing, (Video editing) etc.

Share your thoughts.

Other specs on the two machines can be seen here: (1 and 2 from top)
http://ok1.de/index.php?cPath=56&osCsid ... 9150ed3527


Thank you.
-Troels

[ZaZ]

Not sure about flash, but Photoshop tend to be more CPU and memory intenive. DVD viewing and video editing won't tax your graphics card. Gaming won't be good on either. The nice thing about the 7500 is it is dedicated so it won't take away from your system memory. Personally, I'd opt for the T43 for the better CPU. System memory is cheaper than video memory. Good Luck.

[StarTraveller]

You might want to consider which (if any) wireless needs you have. It seems that the T40 has Bluetooth and 802.11b while the T43 support the 802.11b/g standards, but doesn't have Bluetooth built in. The difference can be evened out by inexpensive accessories, though.

Personally, I agree with FredGarvin. I would probably go for the T43 too.

[dr_st]

I'd go with Fred and Star and suggest that you decide for the T43, simply because overall it's a much newer, more powerful and capable model.

In terms of your question, having a dedicated card is always a plus, but the 7500 isn't much more powerful than the GMA900. In fact, I remember hearing, at least once, when the power of the GMA900 was evaluated that it's pretty on par with old dedicated solutions, and the 7500 was brought as an example.

Some games will run just fine on the integrated graphics. My friend regularly plays Warcraft III and Heroes IV on his laptop, and I think he even has the Intel Extreme Graphics 2, less powerful than the GMA.

How much more expensive is the T43 with X300?

[Troelz]

I forgot to point out that the T43 is of course more expensive. Price is 1295 Euro (1539 USD), where the T40 costs 999 Euro (1187 USD). This has to be taken into consideration as well. 1295 is a little beyond my budget, but I'm willing to spend it if the GMA 900 isn't THAT bad, compared to the 7500. Which it seems it isn't... Thanks for all the fast replies! (keep 'em coming )

-Troels

[simscitizen]

Keep in mind that if you want DVI output from the dock, the GMA 900 won't support it (in the T43 anyway).

[christopher_wolf]

Hmmmm, really depends then on how much you would want DVI then. Though I have used a Laptop with the GMA 900; it was pretty good. Even the Intel Extreme Graphics 2, but that is starting to cut it close when it comes to hi spec rendering.