Solved! What processor for 4650 DDR3 - p7450 or p8700?

daerragh

Distinguished
Dec 6, 2009
1
0
18,510
Hello.
I want to buy Sony Vaio VGN-FW590 with descrete graphics card Mobility Radeon 4650 and I have a couple of questions regarding its hardware.

1. Is p7450 (2.13 GHz, 3 MB) enough to power up 4650 DDR3? Would I get MUCH better results (like 20%) with p8700 (2.53, 3 MB) in modern games?

2. Do I need a 1 GB card for playing games in 1600x900 without AA (but with AF x8) and with textures set to 'Highest'? Or maybe for such a resolution a 512 MB card is enough?

3. Would a DDR2 800 MHz RAM bottleneck a 1066 FSB processor in games? Or would a DDR3 1066 + FSB 1066 configuration be much faster in games?

4. Is a Sony Vaio series laptop a good choice? Is it a strong, durable notebook?

5. Which card is better - 4650 or GT 230M? What about OCing? Does 4650 have a high overclocking potential?
 
Solution
1. Yes, it should be. You'll see a performance increase with the 8700, but not as much as 20%.

2. No. 512MB is fine.

3. Memory speed isn't really a factor in games. DDR2 800 is fast enough.

4. Sony has had a reputation of not exactly being a reliable manufacturer, but I think they've been getting better lately.

5. The 4650 is better than the 230. I wouldn't overclock a notebook unless it was a boutique-manufacturer model, which Sony certainly doesn't fill in.

frozenlead

Distinguished
1. Yes, it should be. You'll see a performance increase with the 8700, but not as much as 20%.

2. No. 512MB is fine.

3. Memory speed isn't really a factor in games. DDR2 800 is fast enough.

4. Sony has had a reputation of not exactly being a reliable manufacturer, but I think they've been getting better lately.

5. The 4650 is better than the 230. I wouldn't overclock a notebook unless it was a boutique-manufacturer model, which Sony certainly doesn't fill in.
 
Solution