is intel GMA really that bad?

[KainXS]

heres my situation, I have a laptop but its really old, its a ZV5240, it has

Pentium 4 3Ghz(desktop version)
1Gb DDR 333
radeon 9600 128MB
60GB HDD

and lately its just been bad, like if I look at youtube anything over 480p in unplayable and 720p lags like hell in mpc and everything else and I think the motherboard in is dying

So I was looking at laptops today and there are some GMA4500 laptops that are like 350 bucks at the store, and some Radeon 4200 ones that are 450, I don't wanna spend more than 500, I just want a laptop that can play flash 720p and some blu ray movies, micrsoft word, and some CSS can the GMA4500 do that, do you guys think its slower than the radeon 9600.

also is the 4200 that much better than a GMA.

thx

[[I.R.A]_FBi]

i think only the last series of gma have any worth, ive been outta the fame a while so ill let em guys fill u in

[mdsx1950]

Radeon 4200 is definitely better than the GMA4500. But the GMA4500 should be more than enough for those purposes.

[kurosagi01]

Intel GMA to do microsoft office work=yes but to play CSS= big no because my friend tried playing CSS on his laptop which had GMA and it won't even get 30fps even on lowest setting.
I would reconmend getting a ATI 3200/4200 or Nvidia 8200M if you want best intergrated for the budget you have.

[wolf]

intel GMA is underpowered as hell, heres how they compare roughly. this info was taken from tomshwardware gfx heirarchy chart.

GMA X4500 = 8200M, 9200M GS, 9100, FX 5200 Ultra, FX 5600, FX 5700 LE, 6200 TC, 6600 LE, 7200 GS, 7300 LE

HD 4200 = FX 5900, FX 5900 Ultra, FX 5950 Ultra, 6600 (128-bit), 9700, 9700 PRO, 9800, 9800 PRO, X700, X1300 PRO, X1550, HD 2400 PRO

as you can see from that basic comparison the 4200 definitely has more gaming power, but it is also much better at handling HD playback, should do 1080p no issue whatsoever, and naturally anything underneath.

the tech in the radeon 4200 wipes the floor with GMA X4500.

[sapetto]

Originally Posted by kurosagi01

Intel GMA to do microsoft office work=yes but to play CSS= big no because my friend tried playing CSS on his laptop which had GMA and it won't even get 30fps even on lowest setting.
I would reconmend getting a ATI 3200/4200 or Nvidia 8200M if you want best intergrated for the budget you have.

+1 The intel IGP supports hardware H.264/AVC video acceleration but its not good for playing games

[KainXS]

well then its out of the picture then

what about this one
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/MSI+-+X-...&skuId=1093733

anyone ever used the 4330, is the cpu too slow though

[digibucc]

way too slow cpu , 1.4GHz solo is ... not even useable.... anything in the 4k series of Radeons or above will do what you need.

[KainXS]

athlon II 2.1Ghz any good?

[AltecV1]

all im going to say is that dont cheap out on a laptop,otherwise it will come and bite you in the ass

[digibucc]

athlon ii x2 or 4? better... and above the 2ghz will do your video and CSS fine - but it is def still low power.... but reading through all you want to do, it can handle it (technically)
most of us can't even bring ourselves to browse the web on an older computer but that really has more to do with our mental state than the raw ability of the machine.

if all you want to do is listed in your first post, a 2.1GHz Athlon II X2 or X4 both would do you fine. I agree not to cheap out - but it doesn't sound like this is to be a workhorse. you want to do some basic stuff, and this laptop should be able to handle it.

[KainXS]

this is the one I'm about to buy, anyone know if theres anything wrong with it and know any better choices

Acer Aspire AS7551G-5407 NoteBook AMD Phenom II Tr...

[digibucc]

lol... that's more like it I personally like acer laptops - everything looks good except the 5400rpm HDD (which is still kinda standard for laptops) but a 7200 or ssd would serve you better. what I would do though is buy the laptop and when you can spare one more $100 down the road upgrade the hdd.

I buy acer laptops for work through our reseller - neweggs prices (on whatever they get in stock) are always very close to our partner program prices - which is very good for newegg buyers

[wolf]

PII triple core 2.1ghz awesome, radeon 5650 awesome (thats whats in my laptop)

this should play any media and pretty much any current game at high settings, most with AA+AF!

[KainXS]

just bought it, aaa now I gotta think about what im gonna do with this old one, im gonna miss it . . . . . . . but i hate it sooo much.

[digibucc]

Originally Posted by KainXS

just bought it, aaa now I gotta think about what im gonna do with this old one, im gonna miss it . . . . . . . but i hate it sooo much.

lol i threw mine out a window once. that was the best upgrade of my life

though i don't recommend it if it is at all salvageable - what a waste - also look out below first

[wolf]

attach a weight to it and throw it off a bridge, a fitting end to hardware you never ever want to think about again.

[kurosagi01]

Why didn't you buy shevanel laptop??? $700 and it can do all you want on it.
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=127630

[Mussels]

Originally Posted by KainXS

heres my situation, I have a laptop but its really old, its a ZV5240, it has

Pentium 4 3Ghz(desktop version)
1Gb DDR 333
radeon 9600 128MB
60GB HDD

and lately its just been bad, like if I look at youtube anything over 480p in unplayable and 720p lags like hell in mpc and everything else and I think the motherboard in is dying

So I was looking at laptops today and there are some GMA4500 laptops that are like 350 bucks at the store, and some Radeon 4200 ones that are 450, I don't wanna spend more than 500, I just want a laptop that can play flash 720p and some blu ray movies, micrsoft word, and some CSS can the GMA4500 do that, do you guys think its slower than the radeon 9600.

also is the 4200 that much better than a GMA.

thx

all the GMA are worthless, even if they have enough power to run a game, their drivers are so bad the games look utter shit. black textures, missing shader effects, things like that.

If you intend ANY gaming at all, do not get intel GMA.

[niko084]

I have a GMA4500 on a laptop sitting right by me, can't even watch netflix on it @ 1920x1080 without it stuttering. It's annoying to say the least, IMO it's not even useful for desktop application at that point.

[entropy13]

Originally Posted by Mussels

all the GMA are worthless, even if they have enough power to run a game, their drivers are so bad the games look utter shit. black textures, missing shader effects, things like that.

If you intend ANY gaming at all, do not get intel GMA.

My laptop is 5 years old (bought in 2005), but it can barely play a game made 3 years prior (NBA Live 2003, which was released Oct. 2002).

[KainXS]

well im glad i didn't get GMA then lol

I was about to before I started the thread.

[Mussels]

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=129746


^ OP in that thread just got screwed by getting intel GMA