Video card vs. ram for scanning

[rhodie]

This is my first post... I am looking to buy a T43p with a 15 inch screen primarily for basic university work (i.e. essays, etc.) However, I also need it for a lot of demanding scanning projects where the T43 will be connected to an automatic feed scanner running batches of 4000dpi scans (140MB pictures). My R40 with 1.3ghz and 768MB of ram could handle it, sort of, but was almost unusably slow while working with the large files.

So, to keep the machine usable while scanning I was thinking of getting a T43 with the 128MB video card. The only problem is that I'm unsure of UXGA on the 15 inch screen. While some people love it I think it may make everything too small for my more basic university work, even with re-sized icons. I think SXGA+ would be about right in terms of resolution, but that only comes with 64MB video.

If I got a T43 with SXGA+ and the 64MB card but loaded up on ram, say upwards of 2GB would that approximate the performance of 128MB video card and less ram, or do I have it all wrong?!

[sugo]

Unless you are scanning 3D pictures through OpenGL, I don't think the FireGL V3200 will make much difference in performance?

Adding more main memory and a 7200rpm hard drive will probably give you more gains. You can buy them retail instead of paying the premium for the letter "p".

[Technician]

More system RAM will make the most difference, as sugo has explained.

All video cards are pretty equal when it comes to 2D work.

[Cavorite]

Video memory really won't be that important, the only thing it helps for in terms of the 2D end of things outside of a game environment is the desktop resolution ability, but any of the cards will be fine for the laptop displays.

Processor (CPU) power is most critical for the processing of the image, and for how fast the handling of the scanned data is, faster HD's and more memory helps, particularly if you have multiple hard drives and tweak the memory and cache settings to use this better.

-C-

[rhodie]

OK, that clears it up for me. Thanks for the useful info.