Video Card Question

MadDog · 09-02-2008, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UltimateBMW

Absolutely none.

However, the likelyhood that it will be worse is slim. And $30?
Get it! That's dirt cheap as long as it is legit and not just a burned copy of a pirated file.
As of right now, the main perk they are showcasing already for Windows 7 is touch screen applications. Of coarse, this function would require a touch screen monitor.

And the 8800's have no trouble running Vista. I'm running Vista 64 with my 8800GT and its absolutely fine. The interface is so much cleaner and polished than previous Windows. It's just a nice change of pace. You'll have to get use to the constant Admin access that it will ask you for pretty much every time you want to install, uninstall applications. And in some instances even when you want to simply just run a application it will prompt you for it. But once you get use to it, it's really no big deal.

The coolest function I've found so far is this little button I've circled in red in this picture below. Its just fun to hit over and over again when you have alot of windows open

Definitely not a pirated copy. That's the Microsoft employee price.

MadDog · 09-09-2008, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadDog

Definitely not a pirated copy. That's the Microsoft employee price.

Oh, and the price for Vista Home Premium is $10, not $30.

UltimateBMW · 09-09-2008, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadDog

Oh, and the price for Vista Home Premium is $10, not $30.

Buy me one?

Damn, buy 20 and sell them on ebay or something.

darkphantom · 09-09-2008, 12:17 PM

My university sells them for that price as well

so what video card did you end up getting?

UltimateBMW · 09-09-2008, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkphantom

My university sells them for that price as well

so what video card did you end up getting?

He got a XFX GeForce 8800GT 512MB Alpha Dog.

You can see the price he bought it for in post #37 near the bottom of page 2 of this thread.

darkphantom · 09-09-2008, 02:03 PM

dude, my co-worker just picked up a LAPTOP with 2x 9700M for $1600!! It's a toshiba gaming laptop....I still can't believe that....

http://explore.toshiba.com/laptops/qosmio/X305

$1,549.99X305-Q701
Read Reviews
Customer rating: 4.40 out of 5 4.40 out of 5
Operating System
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium (SP1, 32-bit)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium (SP1, 64-bit)
Processor
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T7350
Memory
4GB PC3-8500 DDR3 1066MHz SDRAM
Optical Drive
DVD-SuperMulti (+/-R double layer) with Labelflash™ drive
Wireless
Atheros® Wireless LAN (802.11b/g/n)
Bluetooth® V2.1 + EDR
Extras
512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 9700M GTS*
REGZA LINK™ (HDMI-CEC) for 1080p support
Built-in harman/kardon® speakers with subwoofer
Rouge™ Pattern

i'm shocked! I need to sell my 4k paperweight and get me one of these soon!

UltimateBMW · 09-09-2008, 02:22 PM

If your into gaming and you don't travel like every day or every week. I would strongly discourage you from moving from a Desktop to a Laptop. Gaming is the most system heavy consumer function a computer can have. Aside from playful media manipulating. But even then, that is all just compiling work. Gaming is constant processing that needs to happen. So if you are serious about gaming a laptop of price X won't be as useful as a desktop of the same cost. The main limiting factor is heat. Desktop towers are designed now-a-days to have great air flow. Air flow = heat dissipation. Heat Dissipation = better performance from all computer components as a whole. Laptops have very little if any air flow inside that thin casing. Which is why they head up so much. And I've seen many laptops that aren't gaming specific that over heat. Also, when you factor in the dust which all computers collect inside them your air flow becomes even more critical because you loose a % of it. The smaller the space, the greater the % loss is.

Now, this isn't to say that gaming laptops are useless or bad. They server their function. But a gaming laptop compared against a gaming desktop of equal value will always come up second. Not to mention that you have to deal with the battery. If you leave it plugged in all the time your battery will suck itself dry and no longer hold a charge worth anything. But if you unplug it and run the battery you will suffer significant performance decreases. You can take the battery out and run it straight off the cable, but most plugs for the power cables aren't that tight. So it is easy to knock the laptop (its lighter weight anyways) and unplug it. Then your system just shuts off which is annoying.

I haven't even begun to talk about if a component in a laptop fails. That can be an entirely different headache. At least most laptops come with unscrewable hatches and panels you can take apart for easier access. I'd still rather work in a desktop though.

I could go on, but you get the jist of where I'm coming from. If you are a casual gamers however, then perhaps a gaming laptop would suit you just fine.

UltimateBMW · 09-09-2008, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkphantom

dude, my co-worker just picked up a LAPTOP with 2x 9700M for $1600!! It's a toshiba gaming laptop....I still can't believe that....

http://explore.toshiba.com/laptops/qosmio/X305

$1,549.99X305-Q701
Read Reviews
Customer rating: 4.40 out of 5 4.40 out of 5
Operating System
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium (SP1, 32-bit)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium (SP1, 64-bit)
Processor
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T7350
Memory
4GB PC3-8500 DDR3 1066MHz SDRAM
Optical Drive
DVD-SuperMulti (+/-R double layer) with Labelflash™ drive
Wireless
Atheros® Wireless LAN (802.11b/g/n)
Bluetooth® V2.1 + EDR
Extras
512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 9700M GTS*
REGZA LINK™ (HDMI-CEC) for 1080p support
Built-in harman/kardon® speakers with subwoofer
Rouge™ Pattern

i'm shocked! I need to sell my 4k paperweight and get me one of these soon!

It only comes with 1 9700M graphics card. Read the specs again.

Also, that processor is only a 2.0ghz. That is a bit slow in today's terms. Even the low end processors of the latest general core 2 duos and quads are around 2.4 ghz. The only really impressive part of that laptop is the DDR3 ram.

MadDog · 09-09-2008, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UltimateBMW

Buy me one?

Damn, buy 20 and sell them on ebay or something.

I'd think that MS would look at employees kind of strange if they bought 20 copies.

UltimateBMW · 09-09-2008, 06:03 PM

If they question you about it... all you have to say is.

Quote:

One word. "Swordfish" baby!

09-09-2008, 12:17 PM	#48
darkphantom Banned 595 Rep 5,946 Posts Drives: E93 335i Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: The place for Bimmers iTrader: (4)	My university sells them for that price as well so what video card did you end up getting?
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09-09-2008, 02:03 PM	#50
darkphantom Banned 595 Rep 5,946 Posts Drives: E93 335i Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: The place for Bimmers iTrader: (4)	dude, my co-worker just picked up a LAPTOP with 2x 9700M for $1600!! It's a toshiba gaming laptop....I still can't believe that.... http://explore.toshiba.com/laptops/qosmio/X305 $1,549.99X305-Q701 Read Reviews Customer rating: 4.40 out of 5 4.40 out of 5 Operating System Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium (SP1, 32-bit) Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium (SP1, 64-bit) Processor Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T7350 Memory 4GB PC3-8500 DDR3 1066MHz SDRAM Optical Drive DVD-SuperMulti (+/-R double layer) with Labelflash™ drive Wireless Atheros® Wireless LAN (802.11b/g/n) Bluetooth® V2.1 + EDR Extras 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 9700M GTS* REGZA LINK™ (HDMI-CEC) for 1080p support Built-in harman/kardon® speakers with subwoofer Rouge™ Pattern i'm shocked! I need to sell my 4k paperweight and get me one of these soon!
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09-09-2008, 02:22 PM	#51
UltimateBMW Brigadier General 399 Rep 3,288 Posts Drives: MP4 Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: South iTrader: (0)	If your into gaming and you don't travel like every day or every week. I would strongly discourage you from moving from a Desktop to a Laptop. Gaming is the most system heavy consumer function a computer can have. Aside from playful media manipulating. But even then, that is all just compiling work. Gaming is constant processing that needs to happen. So if you are serious about gaming a laptop of price X won't be as useful as a desktop of the same cost. The main limiting factor is heat. Desktop towers are designed now-a-days to have great air flow. Air flow = heat dissipation. Heat Dissipation = better performance from all computer components as a whole. Laptops have very little if any air flow inside that thin casing. Which is why they head up so much. And I've seen many laptops that aren't gaming specific that over heat. Also, when you factor in the dust which all computers collect inside them your air flow becomes even more critical because you loose a % of it. The smaller the space, the greater the % loss is. Now, this isn't to say that gaming laptops are useless or bad. They server their function. But a gaming laptop compared against a gaming desktop of equal value will always come up second. Not to mention that you have to deal with the battery. If you leave it plugged in all the time your battery will suck itself dry and no longer hold a charge worth anything. But if you unplug it and run the battery you will suffer significant performance decreases. You can take the battery out and run it straight off the cable, but most plugs for the power cables aren't that tight. So it is easy to knock the laptop (its lighter weight anyways) and unplug it. Then your system just shuts off which is annoying. I haven't even begun to talk about if a component in a laptop fails. That can be an entirely different headache. At least most laptops come with unscrewable hatches and panels you can take apart for easier access. I'd still rather work in a desktop though. I could go on, but you get the jist of where I'm coming from. If you are a casual gamers however, then perhaps a gaming laptop would suit you just fine. __________________
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