Graphics card and laptops

Discussion in 'Computer Science & Culture' started by The Singularity, Feb 20, 2005.

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  1. The Singularity The last thing you'll ever see Registered Senior Member

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    I am currently in the process of purchasing a laptop and I am just wondering if the laptops with integrated graphics cards (such as Intel Extreme graphics 2 or Intel GM855 card) are suitable to run applications such as Adobe Photoshop and Discreet's 3D Studio Max smoothly.
     
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  3. grazzhoppa yawwn Valued Senior Member

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    For Photoshop, integrated graphics can work fine. I didn't have a laptop, but I had a desktop with integrated SiS651 graphics, which is on par with the Intel Extreme 2 integrated graphics. When using Adobe Illustrator and large files, where I had to drag the canvas and zoom in/out a lot, there was a long annoying delay...but Illustrator uses vector graphics, which has to be "redrawn" everytime you move or zoom the image. I'd imagine Photoshop would be less of a strain on the entire computer because its using bitmaps, and it would work fine.

    For Photoshop / Illustrator type programs, having a lot of system ram, 512MB+, would ensure smooth performance.

    For 3D Studio Max, I think the integrated graphics would be fine except when rendering frames. Again, having a lot of system ram is important. I don't know too much about 3D Studio Max, I only used it briefly a long time ago.
     
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  5. Rick Valued Senior Member

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    i would recommend you go for 1 GB RAM,plus P4 3+ GHZ.It should be able to give you what intend to get out of the system
     
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  7. Rick Valued Senior Member

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    thats because personally speaking while modelling in Maya3D or creating heavy applications you might still feel 512 MB gets a little slow.Think about the brand as well,IBM upgrades are difficult and extremely expensive so beware from buying those ones.I have a Sony Vaio though...
     
  8. The Singularity The last thing you'll ever see Registered Senior Member

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    I appreciate the feedback but I just want to emphasize that I am a student ... i can't really afford to buy a high end laptop ... nor am I'm really willing to be carrying a 10 pound brick with me most of the time.

    I found a nice rounded model with modest specs (ie: Intel Pentium M 715 1.5Ghz, 2MB L2 cache, 400Mhz front side bus, 512MB, 60GB HDD, Intel Extreme Graphics 2) ... it isn't the cheapest model but its certainly not an expensive model either ... not to mention it only weighs about 5-6 pounds. Could either of the aforementioned applications (Photoshop & 3D Studio) run nicely on a laptop with the specs I listed here?

    It doesn't need to run flawlessly, it just needs to be able to handle a moderate use of those programs.
     
  9. Xelios We're setting you adrift idiot Registered Senior Member

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    That should handle both fine, but rendering will take a long time. 3D work isn't very suited to laptops at all, it usually needs over a gig of RAM and a good graphics card otherwise you end up with renders that take literally hours.

    Photoshop should run without any problems though, as long as you don't work with images that are some insane size like 5000x5000.
     
  10. Nuttyfish Guest

    Photoshop runs on anything...it's just that some things run it better than others.
     
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