ATI Mobility 3450 256 MB Graphics Card on Dell Studio 15

[pcfreak101]

Alright, I looked around a bit, and couldn't find anything that matched, so here goes. I am looking to get a budget laptop. I am currently looking at the Studio 15, for $799. This comes with an ATI Mobility 3450 256 MB graphics card. I want to be able to play games from 07 on lowest settings. I will also want to play older games such as COD 1, KOTOR, Republic commando, and battlefield 1942. I would get the 1280*800 resolution monitor, so it wouldn't have to push out high resolutions. I used to have a Nvidia FX 5200 512 MB in my desktop. Will this card be comparable to the FX 5200? Should I get this one, or go for the 3650 and the 1440*900 resolution monitor for $1,025 in the Studio 17? Just so you know, I now have an ATI 4850 in my desktop for high end gaming, so that won't be a problem Thanks

 

[Maziar]

If u can go for HD 3650,its alot better than HD 3450
HD 3650> HD 3450> FX 5200

 

[pcfreak101]

But is it really worth $200 more? As I said, I'm not going to play tons of games on this thing. Does anyone know how performance is on lowest settings for newer games?

 

[invisik]

for 200$ more hell no!

 

[zenmaster]

The 3450 will not game very well at all.
The 3650 is not much better since they use DDR2 for some reason and as a result it performs much worse than other laptops with the 3650 included.

 

[Maziar]

If the HD 3650 is GDDR3 then i say go for it,its alot better than HD 3450,its like comparing a 8400M with 8600MGT

 

[jzsang]

The card will not at all means be amazing, but you know that already. Anyways, from what I have found here, http://www.notebookcheck.net/ATI-Mobility-Radeon-HD-3450.9593.0.html, it actually does not seem THAT bad...

 

[Maziar]

Yeah HD 3650 is a midrange card and will handle games @ medium and some on high(with low res)

 

[nachowarrior]

msi gx610
hd 2600 series graphics

can find under other names at
ibuypower and
buyxg

possibly other places too... but it's inexpensive, and has a nice graphics card and overall good mid-priced setup that will allow you to play some
games.

 

[pcfreak101]

Ok, back to my original question. Will I be able to run games like Half Life 2, Call of Duty 4, Lost Planet, and others of this generation on absolute lowest settings at 1200*800 and at framerates at or above 25 fps? If not, then will it be able to run games like Call of Duty 2, Knights of the Old Republic, and Republic Commando at medium to high settings at 1200*800 and at framerates of 25 fps or above. I am not looking to play crysis here, just want to know if it will be sufficient for light gaming on my notebook, while I save crysis for my desktop.

 

[fugben]

wont run cod 4 at all. mb hl 2 on lowest

 

[pcfreak101]

Alright, anyone know if Trackmania will run? I know that I could run Trackmania on my FX 5200 at medium settings at decent framerates. Does anyone know aproximately how it will compare to FX 5200. If its better, how much, and if its same then great. I would be happy with FX 5200 level on my notebook. I mostly play older games anyways. One last question: If I get this card, is there any chance of being able to upgrade later down the road. I have built many desktops, but am not familiar with notebook workings, and do not know how flexible the components are.

 

[frozenlead]

The card can run any of the games you described playably, at some settings.

My cousin runs a 9600se on his desktop, and that can crank out cod4 on low settings.

The 3650 is a little weaker than the 8600m gt, which can handle almost every game at medium

For most cases, you can forget about upgrading laptop GPU's. Some companies allow it with special designs, most don't.

 

[Maziar]

+1^

 

[pcfreak101]

Alright, thanks everyone for all their help.

 

[yessirsir]

i have the same card ati 3450 hd on my studio 15 and i was wondering how i can overclock it. i tried using ati programs but none worked. is there any1 that would have a way to safely up the performance for this card ?

 

[kalon343]

While someone up there said you CAN run some of those games playably, it is only barely. I have this, and I really cant use it for much. Framerate is terrible, and even older games lag it up something awful. Spore, which isn't really that grphically challenged, looks pretty bad (the "lava" is like rainbow tv static) and even old stuff like Warcraft 3 gets nasty. Strangely, Painkiller runs better on high settings than low, but it's the only thing that does. Halo PC and World of Warcraft are UNPLAYABLE. If you can, get something else if you're a gamer.

 

[drfelip]

Halo PC and World of Warcraft are UNPLAYABLE. If you can, get something else if you're a gamer.

That's strange, I'm taking the WoW trial right now and it plays nicely at 1280x800 and Fair settings (plus High quality textures). A lot of games are quite playable, too:
http://optimitza.cat/news/2009/01/29/ati-mobility-radeon-hd-3450-gaming-benchmarks-call-of-duty-4-crysis-fear-2-sacred-2-red-alert-3-unreal-tournament-3-world-in-conflict-grid-far-cry-half-life-2/