Radeon Mobility 9700

[DaveD]

Is it possible to run newer games on this card on med settings? and if not is it upgradable?

thanks,
dave

 

[GnomeCop]

yes its possible to run games on reduced settings, as for medium.... depends on the game... BF2 runs crappy, and FEAR runs crappy too.
Uogradeability... safe answer is NO, but also depends on your laptop. Most cant be upgraded though./

 

[DaveD]

This is the one I was looking at.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16834224014

thanks

 

[Mingon]

dont expect much, my 9700 seemed really slow in an aopen 1557 and resolutions lower than 1024 look ugly on lcd's which are higher

 

[jevans64]

BTW. That is actually a Uniwill 258KAO barebone laptop that is configured by ABS Computer. I don't think you will be able to upgrade this to a Mobility 9800 or x800 series GPU since the cooling requirements will be different. I also didn't see any upgrade options at the ABS site as well.

I would look at other options like laptops with the mobile x700, x800, or Go 6600 GPUs. A few years ago some laptop manufacturers ( Dell, Sager, Alienware ) flirted with upgradable GPUs but that has disappeared. I guess it wasn't that popular or too much trouble. I have also seen the trend where only 17" laptops have a Go6800/7800 or Mx800, 15" have a x700 or Go6600, 14" have x300 or similar, and the 12" have integrated graphics. Unfortuantely, if you want a gaming laptop, it is going to be a HEAVY and HUGE one.

I have a Dell Inspiron XPS gen 1 ( 3.4 Ghz P4 ). It origionally came with a Mobility 9700. I upgraded it to a Mobility 9800 and got roughly a 40% increase in playability. Even the M9800 is barely adequate for smooth gaming. It would help to get a laptop with the lowest acceptable ( for you ) LCD resolution and keep the eye-candy to a minimum.

If I remember correctly, my 3D Mark03 scores on my XPS were 4200 for the M9700 and 6500 for the M9800. Having the AMD will get you a few more points.

Here is a mobile GPU comparison guide which should help you determine what one you want to go with.

http://www.rojakpot.com/default.aspx?location=3&var1=98&var2=0

 

[bearxor]

You know, I have no problems playing BF2 and CoD2 on my 6000D sporting an X300 (slower than the 9700) at 1280x800 widescreen with details up

 

[Hacp]

Getting a 6600 or x700 is probably better with the 8 pipes....

 

[fbrdphreak]

For that much money you can get an Asus Z71v (check out http://www.geared2play.com) with a GF Go 6600 128MB; MUCH better than MR 9700