Thinkpads Forum

Is there a difference in the general display qualities between discreet graphics (128MB NVIDIA) and integrated graphics on T61's?

I'm curious how webpages and photos in general will be displayed on the two Thinkpad monitors based on the video cards.

Lastly, what advantages am I really gaining by going with integrated graphics in battery life. If I get extended battery, how much time will I be saving with int. graphics if say I'm browsing the web only?

Go integrated. You loose 2 freakin hrs of battery by choosing NVS 140M from Invidia. Plus the drivers are screwed up like always. In XP you won't be able to do anything related to apple quicktime.

Display difference is zero. I have 2 other machines with integrated graphics and you can't tell at all.

For web browsing and photos, it won't make a single bit of difference.

If you play 3D/DirectX games, there is a huge difference.

unlike previous integrated cards..the x3100 is a huge improvement and is on par with the ATI graphics...there are no display differencees...only a difference in hardcore gaming

thanks guys..

but what are the games? If I want to play occasional need for speed, will the card make a difference?

Also, if I do pay a little more for the video card, is it really 2 hour difference in battery life or only if I'm gaming?

Sorry if this is a noob question

vk60402 wrote:snip.......I'm curious how webpages and photos in general will be displayed on the two Thinkpad monitors based on the video cards........snip

That depends on lcd screen and not GPU.

vk60402 wrote:snip..........but what are the games? If I want to play occasional need for speed, will the card make a difference? Also, if I do pay a little more for the video card, is it really 2 hour difference in battery life or only if I'm gaming?.......snip

Most games will run without any problem. Choice of more power consumption or better battery life is solely yours. I leave you with the following thread:

Integrated vs discrete graphics on T61?.

I am at the same decision, as I plan to buy a T61 within the next 2 months. The problem is that here in Germany it's very hard to get the high resolution screens with a X3100 chip and then the models are extremely expensive: +200EUROS for X3100 instead of Nvidia BUT with 1GB Ram LESS and 80GB HDD LESS than the Nvidia model! thats ridiculous.

So, is it somehow possible to force the Nvidia to a low frequency state to lower it's powerconsumption as much as possible? I guess it's doing this anyway but probably its possible to control it manually (like with CPUs)? And are there any other tricks like for example undervolting and such?

-Flintz

Hi Guys,

Just FYI I had T61 with X3100 and could not play any of my games,
the only ones I really play are far cry, motocross madness and ATX vs MX. Unplayable with X3100, Intel are suppose to be releasing new drivers to fix some of the issues but when I don't know, I sold t61 with integrated graphics and got t61 with nvidia. I can now play all my games. But yes battery life definitely suffers currently I am getting about 2.5hrs out of t61 nvidia compared to about 3.5 with the integrated.

Cheers
Chris