posted
Alrighty, so I have this laptop. And I am essentially a dunce when it comes to most things computers. I can figure some stuff out, but other stuff ... not so much. One of those things that I can't seem to figure out is what is the deal with a graphics card? Or video card? Or, as my Device Manager puts it, Display Adapter? Are they all the same thing?
My Device Manager lists a "Mobile Intel(R) 915GM/GMS, 910GML Express Chipset Family" .... What the heck is that? Should I get a better ... something? If so, how better? And I'd assume that it would be a bad idea for me to attempt to install it, since I don't even know what it is.
One of the main reasons I'm asking this is because I can't seem to get Medieval: Total War to play on my computer. It works fine until I try to actually play a campaign, at which time it automatically exits out of the program. I don't actually think this is a problem with my ... whatever, as I can play battles in M:TW, and also I can play Warcraft III without a problem, but it got me looking at it and made me realize how clueless I am. So if anyone has any advice on getting that game to play I'd appreciate it too. Posts: 2827 | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
Sounds like a built in graphics chip to me. That means its not a card you can pull out and replace with an upgrade, but it's hardwired in. And the hardwired in chips are cheap and don't have the computing power to run advanced games really well. You've really got to be careful buying laptops. Perhaps there's an expansion slot that you could go buy an ATI graphics card for laptops and put in. I forget which model it is though.
Does your laptop documentation mention any internal slots for adding a video card?
Posts: 1412 | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
How old is the laptop? M:TW isn't exactly a cutting edge game at this point... Unless there is a newer on I don't know about. Laptops in general mean no upgradeability.
posted
I agree about it probably being a built in graphics chip. It can be hard to get a graphics card for a laptop.
A chip is part of the mother board. A card is something you slide into your PCI or AGP slot (I am not sure if you can call the build in graphics chip a card--I do). One thing about built in chips is that you can sometimes assign regular RAM to your graphics card/chip in BIOS.
Hold delete (usually) as your computer boots and navigate to your graphics/display settings. Sometimes it is preset to 8MB and you can change it by taking away from RAM.
It is not as fast as a video card ram, but it does help. You may also want to change the settings on your game so the graphics are poorer--letting you use your current graphics card.
If you go to your Run command, you can type in "dxdiag" and go to the display tab. There it will show you what your card is and how much memory it has.
Posts: 2445 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
Some games will auto adjust their graphics requirements to match your card--maybe Warcraft III (is that WoW?) does that.
Once you know your graphics card (from dxdiag), you should get the latest driver for it. You should also make sure you have directx 9.0c--dxdiag will show you that too.
Posts: 2445 | Registered: Oct 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Bokonon: How old is the laptop? M:TW isn't exactly a cutting edge game at this point... Unless there is a newer on I don't know about. Laptops in general mean no upgradeability.
-Bok
Have you ever built your own Bok? I've seen a few articles on it, 'window' shopped online for components, and want to give it a try. You basically buy the laptop which comes with the motherboard and screen. Then you choose a CPU, RAM, HD, peripherals, video card, etc. I've always built my own computers, but laptops sure seem the way to go. The only problem I've found is that availability of brand new technology lags a month or two behind prebuilt laptops. The price is very comparable to Dell and Toshiba machines, and you can make sure you're not getting gyped on your components (lower RPM hard drivers, slower or inferior RAM, etc).
Posts: 1412 | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
Laptop = you are stuck with the graphics it has (unless you are lucky enough to have purchased a laptop with video upgradeability, which is extremely expensive in pre-built laptops right now). Intel video is the integrated type. You may have some other problem, however. If you can play single battles but not the campaign, seems like there's something other than video issues at work. Try doing what lem suggests. Make sure you have the latest patch for MTW as well.
Bao, only certain types of laptops allow expansion slots for video upgrading. Considering the laptop has Intel integrated video as opposed to ATI or Nvidia integrated, it's extremely unlikely that it is upgradeable.
Posts: 3003 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
Dr. Strangelove, from what you've mentioned, behaviour wise, I'd guess the problem is a software incompatibility, not so much an issue with the video card. You ight look on the developer's web page for a patch to fix bugs in your game; chances are that'll help. Typically if your video card isn't supported by a game it'll be a bit more upfront about telling you.
Posts: 74 | Registered: Aug 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Boris: Bao, only certain types of laptops allow expansion slots for video upgrading. Considering the laptop has Intel integrated video as opposed to ATI or Nvidia integrated, it's extremely unlikely that it is upgradeable.
Agreed, just thought it might be worth checking.
Posts: 1412 | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
Given that you can play battles in M: TW, I am inclined to agree with chevmalfet. (Great name, by the way.) That is to say, it is not totally clear to me that it is a video card hardware problem.
As chevmalfet suggested, check for patches on dev's website. Also make sure you have the most recent drivers. Try from your laptop manufacturer and intel's site.
Posts: 13123 | Registered: Feb 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Storm Saxon: Given that you can play battles in M: TW, I am inclined to agree with chevmalfet. (Great name, by the way.) That is to say, it is not totally clear to me that it is a video card hardware problem.
As chevmalfet suggested, check for patches on dev's website. Also make sure you have the most recent drivers. Try from your laptop manufacturer and intel's site.
Hey! I suggested that too! Posts: 3003 | Registered: Oct 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Dr Strangelove: One of those things that I can't seem to figure out is what is the deal with a graphics card? Or video card? Or, as my Device Manager puts it, Display Adapter? Are they all the same thing?
Since it doesn't look like anyone else has answered this question: yes, they're all the same thing.
Posts: 9945 | Registered: Sep 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Bokonon: How old is the laptop? M:TW isn't exactly a cutting edge game at this point... Unless there is a newer on I don't know about. Laptops in general mean no upgradeability.
-Bok
Have you ever built your own Bok? I've seen a few articles on it, 'window' shopped online for components, and want to give it a try. You basically buy the laptop which comes with the motherboard and screen. Then you choose a CPU, RAM, HD, peripherals, video card, etc. I've always built my own computers, but laptops sure seem the way to go. The only problem I've found is that availability of brand new technology lags a month or two behind prebuilt laptops. The price is very comparable to Dell and Toshiba machines, and you can make sure you're not getting gyped on your components (lower RPM hard drivers, slower or inferior RAM, etc).
It's basically impossible to build your own laptop from scratch. Some of the boutique system sellers have high end laptops with decent boards, and/or the ability to upgrade, but I've never heard of someone making one from scratch (though I'm sure someone has).
I used to make my own systems, now I by from mwave.com (there are others like it), and they assemble the case, psu, cpu, and ram, and then I plug in the rest. They call them "barebone systems". I'm not the best at applying thermal paste to heatsinks and making sure the CPU and heatsink are properly seated, so I'd rather have someone else do it.
posted
Bok, there are step by step instructions on how to 'build' your own laptop out on the net. It's not impossible, just a little pricey.
Posts: 13123 | Registered: Feb 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Bokonon: How old is the laptop? M:TW isn't exactly a cutting edge game at this point... Unless there is a newer on I don't know about. Laptops in general mean no upgradeability.
-Bok
Have you ever built your own Bok? I've seen a few articles on it, 'window' shopped online for components, and want to give it a try. You basically buy the laptop which comes with the motherboard and screen. Then you choose a CPU, RAM, HD, peripherals, video card, etc. I've always built my own computers, but laptops sure seem the way to go. The only problem I've found is that availability of brand new technology lags a month or two behind prebuilt laptops. The price is very comparable to Dell and Toshiba machines, and you can make sure you're not getting gyped on your components (lower RPM hard drivers, slower or inferior RAM, etc).
It's basically impossible to build your own laptop from scratch. Some of the boutique system sellers have high end laptops with decent boards, and/or the ability to upgrade, but I've never heard of someone making one from scratch (though I'm sure someone has).
I used to make my own systems, now I by from mwave.com (there are others like it), and they assemble the case, psu, cpu, and ram, and then I plug in the rest. They call them "barebone systems". I'm not the best at applying thermal paste to heatsinks and making sure the CPU and heatsink are properly seated, so I'd rather have someone else do it.
-Bok
You can order one to your specifications and likings - I did just that with Dell - and it will come with whatever hardware configuration you ask for, but short of memory and hard drive it's not upgradeable. You're stuck with what you initially ordered.
I don't see why they don't make upgrades easier. I mean, for my laptop I had four different graphics options in the same chassis (Inspiron 6400). Why can't I elect to change it at any time is beyond me.
Posts: 3486 | Registered: Sep 2002
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posted
Laptops are crazy beasts. Until recently, all laptops only had integrated video. Changing the video required using a different motherboard. The reason Dell gives 4 video options is that they have 4 different types of motherboard available for a specific chassis. One of the main limiting factors to laptop upgradeability is a lack of standardization. With desktops, you have form factor standards (ATX, MicroATX, BTX, etc.) that manufacturers have to adhere to. The specification covers things like motherboard shape and size, power connections, and expansion slots. It's much harder to develop a standard for laptops because, well, they're freaking tiny. Every ounce of space in a laptop is used for something, and you have to be very cautious of that limited space to make a certain specification work. Different companies do different things to make up for that limitation. So standardization is almost impossible.
And I just realized there is absolutely no need for me to have said all this, but I just wasted several minutes typing it up, so I'm posting it, dang it Posts: 3003 | Registered: Oct 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Dr Strangelove: Well I found it very interesting. Also a quite compelling "buy a desktop" argument.
Well, laptops have the portability trump card. You just can't use a desktop anywhere you want. But you really do have to be aware that a laptop is a "You buy this, you're stuck with it" purchase.
Posts: 3003 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
It's possible to get a laptop with a very nimble graphics card, these days. The difficulty is that it seems like most of the "gaming" laptops have a battery life comparable to the burn time of a birthday candle.
My laptop seems to have been a pretty good compromise; it has a X700 chip with 64 MB of RAM. It's not going to be playing Oblivion, but it runs most of the earlier stuff pretty well.
Though, *my* problem is that my laptop's manufacturer hasn't kept up with video card drivers, and theoretically the laptop shouldn't use the ones on the chipset manufacturer's website. D'oh.
Posts: 3826 | Registered: May 2005
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posted
Aha! But a battery life becomes null and void if you have an adapter that enables you to plug in to a nearby wall power outlet! EH? EHH?? Posts: 1236 | Registered: Mar 2002
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quote:My laptop seems to have been a pretty good compromise; it has a X700 chip with 64 MB of RAM. It's not going to be playing Oblivion, but it runs most of the earlier stuff pretty well.
When my employer asked me to determine the specs for my current laptop, I specifically put one together that CAN run Oblivion... Posts: 3486 | Registered: Sep 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Earendil18: Aha! But a battery life becomes null and void if you have an adapter that enables you to plug in to a nearby wall power outlet! EH? EHH??
At which point, why are you paying somewhere between half again and twice as much for a laptop, rather than getting a comparable desktop? They're making very nice ones in cute li'l portable cases, these days...
Posts: 3826 | Registered: May 2005
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