Graphics cards?

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mac_noobie

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A friend of mine asked me if he should get a powerbook with a 9700 graphics card or a pc with a pci express x300 card... I did some research and the PCI express X300 seemed quite similar to the 9700, except the 9700 had some .13 micron process thing that the x300 didn't... Which one of these would be faster? the X300 has PCI express 16x data transfer, and is on the lowest end of ati's new pci express cards, and the 9700 is only AGP 4x on the powerbooks, but is on the higest end of ati's AGP cards... Anyone have any HONEST well thought out opinions?

Thank you
 
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Thud

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mac_noobie said:
A friend of mine asked me if he should get a powerbook with a 9700 graphics card or a pc with a pci express x300 card... I did some research and the PCI express X300 seemed quite similar to the 9700, except the 9700 had some .13 micron process thing that the x300 didn't... Which one of these would be faster? the X300 has PCI express 16x data transfer, and is on the lowest end of ati's new pci express cards, and the 9700 is only AGP 4x on the powerbooks, but is on the higest end of ati's AGP cards... Anyone have any HONEST well thought out opinions?

Thank you


Is the notebook going to be primarily used for games?
 
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Assuming everything else the same, I would rather have a 9700 Pro. The X300 is at the lower end of the ATI graphics line, the 9700 Pro was up at the top, it is a little old now, but still very good. If you want a laptop that can do gaming great, you can find PC laptops with GeForce 6800s and Radeon 9800 Pros.
 
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mynameis said:
...If you want a laptop that can do gaming great, you can find PC laptops with GeForce 6800s and Radeon 9800 Pros.

I agree. While I absolutely love my Macs and don't plan on ever getting rid of them, Macs are not the best option for a gaming system. If you are looking for a gaming machine, then you may be better off with a Windows system. Don't get me wrong, the few games I do have for Mac run just fine. However, the selection of games is much better on the Windows platform. Plus, games are usually not ported to the Mac for years in some cases, while they are out for Windows from the get-go.

My opinion has always been this...if your biggest concern about a computer is how will it run games, then get a Windows machine.
If you are looking for a machine that will be stable, versatile and still going strong for years to come, get a Mac.

Bottom line, get the best computer for whatever it is you plan on using it for. :yinyang:
 

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