This is the same integrated video chip that Apple is putting into their new Macbooks. They are good for video and business apps but not that great for gaming. I wouldn't expect much out of it. If you want a laptop to play games, you are better off getting a laptop with a Radeon or Geforce video card in it. Anything else is a waste of time.
You should also check Intel's website for the latest (if they offer) and sometimes they do drivers for that chipsets video. Often times there are fixes already in place in their newer drivers.
Also always run the latest Directx from MS. I believe 9.0c is the latest release. As far as gaming is concerned. Not it is not the first pick but you should be able to play the Sims 2 and World of Warcraft without major problems. It is not going to run anything higher than that without some major visual sacrifices to get enough frames per second.
It is not the end of the world and will do for a casual non hard core gamer. The only downfall unfortunately is that it is the only option with that system as you cannot add in the X1400 or similar offering that was a choice with that laptop as it has no dedicate port.
Also note, play a game that is installed on an external drive will work, but the performance will be iffy at times due to latency with read and write seek times. I find that on my USB2.0 7200RPM external it is like night and day with the performance. Slower load times because the drives raw throughput may be as much as 10 to 15MBps slower, let alone the cpu utilization from the USB interface.
Try to run the game off the internal drive if you can.
GuruChaz
35 Posts
0
July 16th, 2006 05:00
donnor
18 Posts
0
July 17th, 2006 14:00
You should also check Intel's website for the latest (if they offer) and sometimes they do drivers for that chipsets video. Often times there are fixes already in place in their newer drivers.
Also always run the latest Directx from MS. I believe 9.0c is the latest release. As far as gaming is concerned. Not it is not the first pick but you should be able to play the Sims 2 and World of Warcraft without major problems. It is not going to run anything higher than that without some major visual sacrifices to get enough frames per second.
It is not the end of the world and will do for a casual non hard core gamer. The only downfall unfortunately is that it is the only option with that system as you cannot add in the X1400 or similar offering that was a choice with that laptop as it has no dedicate port.
Also note, play a game that is installed on an external drive will work, but the performance will be iffy at times due to latency with read and write seek times. I find that on my USB2.0 7200RPM external it is like night and day with the performance. Slower load times because the drives raw throughput may be as much as 10 to 15MBps slower, let alone the cpu utilization from the USB interface.
Try to run the game off the internal drive if you can.
Message Edited by donnor on 07-17-200610:42 AM