T60 - ATI x1300 Graphics vs. Intel 950

[Muse]

My T60 has the Intel 950 integrated graphics with the 14.1" 1400 x 1050 screen. I'm looking to buy a used Thinkpad and see some with the same screen but have the ATI x1300 Graphics. How do they compare? Are the ATI x1300 Graphics good and reliable?

[dr_st]

X1300 is somewhat more powerful, nothing that will make a considerable difference in today's world. It doesn't have known reliability issues. It may run slightly hotter and have slightly shorter battery life. Overall you will probably be fine with either of them.

[Muse]

X1300 is somewhat more powerful, nothing that will make a considerable difference in today's world. It doesn't have known reliability issues. It may run slightly hotter and have slightly shorter battery life. Overall you will probably be fine with either of them.

Well, how do the Intel 950 integrated and ATI x1300 compare with the ATI x1400 systems? I'm seeing some T60's with the ATI x1400. I really do use a laptop in "laptop" mode, i.e. lying in bed with the laptop on my lap! Is the T60 with the ATI x1400 going to generate too much heat for that? I must know! Thanks.

[dr_st]

X1400 generates more heat than X1300, which in turn generates more than GMA950. But nothing too terrible. I've used my T60 w/ X1400 on my lap in bed a number of times, and it never felt uncomfortable. Mine is a 15" though, a 14.1" will probably be somewhat hotter.

Why are you looking to buy another one? What's wrong with your current one anyway?

[Muse]

There's nothing wrong with my T60 with T5500 and integrated Intel 950 graphics. But I use this upstairs and need a downstairs laptop because the Acer Aspire I bought 14 months ago just died. I actually would like a spare system at this point, considering that the cost of a used T60 has dropped so much. It will be backup in case of a failure and it will give me more options. In view of the fact that the quality of the machines now seems to be dropping, it might be smart to have a reliable backup machine.

[underclocker]

dr_st is spot on with his comments. My experience has been the same.

I would recommend sticking to the Intel integrated if you can, since it does run the coolest, will meet your needs and produces the longest battery run times.

Since you don't need the graphics power, I wouldn't go above the X1300 in a 14" because the heat and fan noise do increase noticeably with the X1400.

[Muse]

Thanks, underclocker, for those comments. I was close to buying a 14" 1400X1050 with ATI x1400, but I'm not going to now. The seller has lots of them, all the same it seems. I'm in no kind of hurry. It takes time, but I'll keep looking until I find a machine well suited to me. AFAIK, I don't require powerful graphics. I'm not gaming at the present time. I will probably be doing some digital photography processing, but AFAIK that won't require heavy duty graphics. I'm not seeing a lot of GMA 945 machines, more X1300 and mostly x1400. I'm surprised that most of the machines are Core Duo, not that many Core 2 Duo.

[hki]

Intel graphics would be my choice as this eliminates the hottest part in the system. This also means much less fan noise (especially with undervolting the cpu). If you are used to the current level of noise and heat from your machine are you ready to tolerate any more? Usually changes for the worse are difficult to get used to.

[Muse]

Intel graphics would be my choice as this eliminates the hottest part in the system. This also means much less fan noise (especially with undervolting the cpu). If you are used to the current level of noise and heat from your machine are you ready to tolerate any more? Usually changes for the worse are difficult to get used to.

I would have bought a T60 with WXGA+ and Intel integrated graphics but they are uncommon. The machine I bought has x1300 ATI graphics (T60 T2400 1.8GHz Core Duo x1300 ATI, WXGA+ 1400x1050). Don't know how it's going to work out. I would have preferred a machine with integrated Intel graphics, but this one was a good deal, will see how it works out.

I have 3 T6x Thinkpads now (T61 T7700 2.4GHz WSXGA+, T60 T2400 1.8GHz Core Duo x1300 ATI 1400x1050 display, T60 T5500 1.67GHz Core 2 Duo, Intel GMA950, 1400x1050 display), will one day soon engage in a project to cool and quiet them as much as possible with careful application of Arctic Silver 5 wherever possible.

[RealBlackStuff]

Your latest machine has SXGA+ (1400x1050), there is no WXGA+

[lead_org]

i got 2 T60, one with GMA950 and another one is the ATI X1300. I use the former mostly due to the lower heat output and longer battery life. The X1300 is a bit more powerful than the GMA950, but nothing too special given how old the GPU is already.

[sysiphus]

Chalk me up as an X1300 owner who wishes he had either the T60p's FireGL or the Intel chipset...given the age of the video chip, it's really not worth doing unless you want to go all out for the p's card. For general use, the Intel graphics are plenty, and have better Linux drivers, too.

[Muse]

Your latest machine has SXGA+ (1400x1050), there is no WXGA+

Um, right, I was afraid I had that wrong. Thanks for the correction!

Chalk me up as an X1300 owner who wishes he had either the T60p's FireGL or the Intel chipset...given the age of the video chip, it's really not worth doing unless you want to go all out for the p's card. For general use, the Intel graphics are plenty, and have better Linux drivers, too.

Well, if it's too warm or loud I may sell the machine and be patient enough to find a T60 with Core Duo and GMA950 graphics. Will have to see. I have a fair amount of configuring to do including Arctic Silver 5 on the CPU.

Is there an exposed surface on the x1300 ATI GPU to which I can apply Arctic Silver 5 in an effort to quiet and cool the machine? I don't believe there is on my T60 with GMA950 graphics. I did apply Arctic Silver to its north bridge.

[hki]

My machine also came with x1300 but I swapped the motherboard and sold the board with ATI. The intel graphics motherboards are becoming cheaper on ebay, but such a swap may not make sense if you are not obsessed with heat and noise.

[Muse]

I have the T60 with Core Duo T2400 1.8GHz and ATI x1300 graphics now and set up and it's running a little cooler than my T60 with T5500 Core 2 Duo with Intel GMA9500 graphics. The CPU temps are 10-15 C cooler and therefore fan noise is substantially less. I'm not noticing a lot of heat coming from the Core Duo machine, operating it on my lap.

I am wondering what Arctic Silver 5, well applied would do for these machines. Maybe I can cool them considerably, quieting them down. What I'm finding is that the Core Duo machine isn't that much quieter if at all because the HD in it is a lot louder than the one in my Core 2 Duo machine. They are Seagate ST9250827AS 250GB 5400RPM versus a Hitachi 60GB 5400 that came in the Core 2 Duo machine, which is way way quieter. I moved that Seagate 250GB over from my dead Acer laptop. The Core Duo machine came with no HD.