Laptop recommendations for G-Force
Moderators: BTT, andy55, b.dwall, juxtiphi
Laptop recommendations for G-Force
I’m currently running the 2.8 commercial version of G-Force on an older 2 GHz P4 tower with a 32MB video card. It works fine on this computer but I want to scale down the amount of stuff I need to lug around. I’m looking to spend as little as possible but want it to run smooth. I’m leaning towards and Dell Inspiron with the P4 3.06GHz, 512MB, 64MB DDR NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5200 AGP 4x Graphics. Does this sound like a good choice? Any recommendations?
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markofkane
- Posts: 346
- Joined: Thu Feb 03, 2005 3:08 pm
Someone said on this forum that G-Force relies on CPU, not the graphics card.
But they sais they was going to change that in a future version.
Do not get a Celeron processor. I made the mistake of getting that on my Inspiron 1100. (It's a long story)
I also have a Dell Dimension 4400, 640mb of RAM, 1,6 GHZ P4 processor.
My video card is not the greatest, it is an 16mb ATI Rage 128 ultra.
G-Force works fine on it. But does have a delay between the changing of the flowfields?? At times.
But they sais they was going to change that in a future version.
Do not get a Celeron processor. I made the mistake of getting that on my Inspiron 1100. (It's a long story)
I also have a Dell Dimension 4400, 640mb of RAM, 1,6 GHZ P4 processor.
My video card is not the greatest, it is an 16mb ATI Rage 128 ultra.
G-Force works fine on it. But does have a delay between the changing of the flowfields?? At times.
You want to just use GF?
I dislike lappies for there poor graphics cards. When VJ'ing I still use desktops or prefer a small shuttle type pc, tiny illuminated keyboard and small flat screen. Although I don't use GF for any VJ stuff as I use other 3d stuff. A small PC like a shuttle will be cheaper tahn a laptop too.
I would not recommend that lappy for when the next version of GF comes out. The FX 5200 is a budget level card and not much cop when it comes to 3d stuff which GF3 will be using.
I dislike lappies for there poor graphics cards. When VJ'ing I still use desktops or prefer a small shuttle type pc, tiny illuminated keyboard and small flat screen. Although I don't use GF for any VJ stuff as I use other 3d stuff. A small PC like a shuttle will be cheaper tahn a laptop too.
I would not recommend that lappy for when the next version of GF comes out. The FX 5200 is a budget level card and not much cop when it comes to 3d stuff which GF3 will be using.
Hi JJack,
I have been running G-Force almost constantly (literally, 12-16 hour/day) for the last year on my 2.2 GHz P4 Inspiron 8500, with 512 MBytes of memory and a NVIDIA GeForce (no relation) 4200 mobil adapter, with 1920x1200 pixel display. According to Andy, processor speed is of primo importance, and G-Force currently uses no high-end video stuff. My G-Force performance, running an 800x600 pixel window is around 17-25 fps, which is usually quite acceptable. Your 3 GHz machine should be a jewel, regardless of other opinions, though I would tend to upgrade to Dell's best video option, just in case future versions of G-Force do start to rely more on video-card power. If you want to go with a laptop, I think you have made a great choice. Although I do also have G-Force installed on a slightly more powerful desktop, I rarely watch it there. It's the laptop 99% of the time.
I have looked at the specs on the Inspiron 8600 and 9200 (I think that's the right models), and they're specs don't actually look as good as the 8500, I think the faster processor will make up for any shortcomings. I would definitely, however, go for the second highest available speed processor (much cheaper than fastest) and the highest resolution screen and best video option that you can afford. I hope this helps!
Take care.
I have been running G-Force almost constantly (literally, 12-16 hour/day) for the last year on my 2.2 GHz P4 Inspiron 8500, with 512 MBytes of memory and a NVIDIA GeForce (no relation) 4200 mobil adapter, with 1920x1200 pixel display. According to Andy, processor speed is of primo importance, and G-Force currently uses no high-end video stuff. My G-Force performance, running an 800x600 pixel window is around 17-25 fps, which is usually quite acceptable. Your 3 GHz machine should be a jewel, regardless of other opinions, though I would tend to upgrade to Dell's best video option, just in case future versions of G-Force do start to rely more on video-card power. If you want to go with a laptop, I think you have made a great choice. Although I do also have G-Force installed on a slightly more powerful desktop, I rarely watch it there. It's the laptop 99% of the time.
I have looked at the specs on the Inspiron 8600 and 9200 (I think that's the right models), and they're specs don't actually look as good as the 8500, I think the faster processor will make up for any shortcomings. I would definitely, however, go for the second highest available speed processor (much cheaper than fastest) and the highest resolution screen and best video option that you can afford. I hope this helps!
Take care.
Ok. They have improved since I last looked a about 6-9 months ago teh best was a FX5600 :/. but nice the gen-2 Expensive but decent exp with an Ultra. Although in teh past I have had horrible problems reported with onboard OEM graphics cards in lappies.Orbstah wrote:I dislike lappies for there poor graphics cards. ?
dell have just released the
Dell Inspiron XPS-Gen-2 with NVIDIA GeForce Go 6800 Ultra.
So i bring up your first point again. hehehehehe you've got such high standards
nvidia all in one driver don't (or didn't) support the cards. So you are stook with the maker of the laptop to make the drivers. And if a fringe product like GF3 does work on them theya re unlikely to support it. If you NEED a machine to run a vis it is a big risk buying it just for that. Something to bear in mind. A something that puts me off buying one as well.