1. The Wait Is Over

Until only a few weeks ago , there was indeed just a small number of notebooks with DirectX 9-capable graphics chips offering 3D performance similar to that of a current, high-end desktop system. But little by little, the mobile high-speed 3D movement is gaining momentum, and the first models using the new GPUs are beginning to appear in the market. That means we no longer have to listen to the graphics chip makers' performance promises and raves about design wins. It means that we can get to the interesting part - the real testing.

Our candidate today, the Targa Visionary XP10, is one of the first mobile PCs to use ATi's current flagship mobile graphics processor, the Mobility Radeon 9600, also called the M10. Other companies, such as EuroCom , NEC/ Packard Bell and Voodoo , have also announced products that will use this chip and that should become available within the next few weeks.

Now, at last, the Mobility Radeon 9600 can show the world what it's made of and whether it can beat its direct rival from NVIDIA. As you'll recall, NVIDIA's GeForce FX 5600 made an impressive showing in our previous test (DirectX 9 To Go, Part I: Toshiba Satellite 5205-S705 with nVIDIA's GeForce FX Go 5600 ).