T41p IBM ATi 128 Fire GL card question

[kaotic]

Hi, BEfore, the only thing stopping me from buying a t41 notebook was that it did not come with the 128 meg graphics card that i wanted so that if i got the system i would be able to play games. Now i found out that the T41p from ibm does ahve a 128 meg ati fire gl card but what i am wondering is since ive never heard of this card before would it still be compatible with games?

[Brian]

Yes, it will play games just fine.

Editor in Chief http://www.bargainPDA.com and http://www.SPOTstop.com

[kaotic]

Thanks, i was just wondering, what is the point of putting FireGL in the laptop instead of the 9600 pro. Ive heard theyre pretty much the same. Is there any difference between the two?

[wes]

*Bump*[8D]

[arcane]

The FireGL T2 is a workstation-oriented graphics card. As the T41p is aimed at a high-end business machine, it is more attractive to that market as opposed to a "gaming" card.

Generally speaking, the T2 is optimised for OpenGL and windowed rendering, whereas the 9600 is suited more to fullscreen Direct3d. However, those optimisations are generally more specific to the driver, than the core of the card. If I remember right, the workstation cards have certain certifications so as to ensure that images are reproduced properly (for purposes of hardware accelerated rendering). Lastly, you'll find that you can normally get drivers for these cards from specific CAD firms (i.e. 3DSMax, Catia, AutoCad et al).

[wes]

so how *well* will it play games? specifically a game like unreal tornament 2004 (its the only game i would be interested in playing)

TIA

[kiwimeat]

Check out the comparison on the ATI web site

http://www.ati.com/products/brochures/MOBILITY_Product_Line.pdf [978kb]
Essentially the Mobility Fire GL T2 is a Radeon 9600 with optimisations for Open GL. However, it is fully DX9 compatible and should play games pretty well and perform a very similar level to an actual Mobility Radeon 9600.

I believe most of the optimisations are in the software.

My T41p turns up tomorrow so I'll let you know.

IBM T41p (2373GEM)