What kind of graphics card is just as good as a Nvidia for a lapotp?

Question

I know one can't really compare a Nvidia graphics card to anything else.

Too many of the laptops that have Nvidia are way too expensive.

What of the ATI cards?

I want to play these games:

Sims 2 (3)

Spore

And maybe games somewhere in that graphics range.

Video viewing, also. =)

And I KNOW I should get a desktop for gaming.

I. Am. NOT. Getting. A. Desktop.

Thank you. =)

Answer 1

hi its not so much the graphics card it's more the memory, make sure its dedicated and not shared memory, you pay a bit more, but the performance for gaming is worth it, more below on gaming laptops

Answer 2

wats ur budget?maybe Zepto notebook may help .price is just 100+over 2000

Answer 3

its a common misconception that nvidia cards are better than ati. In actual fact, nvidia is doing a massive recall right now because many of their system boards are faulty. This affects pretty much all of their mobile range.

Theres nothing wrong with ATI chipsets, and right now in the mobile computing market, they are a much safer buy than nvidia because of the recall

A 2600 will run the gamnes you want to play. If you can go higher to a 3850 that would be ideal. A 3870 would be excellent, and if you can afford a machine with a 4850 - it will play any current game easily.

In Nvidia terms, a 2600 is like an 8500, a 3850 is like an 8600gts, a 3870 is like a 9600gt and a 4850 is like a 9800gtx+

Answer 4

I've used Nvidia and ATI... I prefer ATI. There are many reasons, but the main one is that if ATI went under, Nvidia would have no competition and their prices would sky-rocket. As far as performance, in the high range of computer gaming, you are not going to see much of a noticeable difference between the two. I have an older model (ATI Radeon X1650 Pro, 512 mb, PCIEx16) and it plays all my games with the graphics turned all the way up. Some games that I play on high graphics are Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter, F.E.A.R., Oblivion, Supreme Commander, etc. The only problem that you're going to have is that by using a laptop, heat management is going to be a big issue. And, as such, you are not going to get the same performance for the price. And as far as the shared vs. dedicated memory goes, it's important to have dedicated memory, but it's only half of the big picture. The core clock is just as important. If you've got two gigs of ram in your laptop (like me) then you can save a little money getting one that only has like 128 mb of dedicated plus some shared memory, but if you're not going to have a lot of ram, dedicated memory is very important. I built my PC for only $600 and it outperforms my $1,000 laptop any day of the week. So, go ahead and get the laptop with ATI. In my experience with Nvidia, you pay a lot for the brand recognition.