Laptop graphics card compared

These are some of the most used graphic-cards in laptops right now. They are listed from worse-better. That means bad cards in the top, better in the bottom.

Integrated cards:
Intel GMA900
Intel GMA950
ATI Radeon Xpress 200M
Nvidia GeForce Go6100/6150
ATI Radeon Xpress 1100/1150
ATI Radeon Xpress 1200/1250

Low performing cards:
Nvidia GeForce Go6200
ATI Mobility Radeon X300
Nvidia GeForce Go7200
Nvidia GeForce Go7300
ATI Mobility Radeon X1300
ATI Mobility Radeon X1350
ATI Mobility Radeon X2300

Medium performing cards:
Nvidia GeForce Go6400
ATI Mobility Radeon X600
Nvidia GeForce Go7400
ATI Mobility Radeon X1400
ATI Mobility Radeon X1450
Nvidia GeForce 8400M-GS

Performing graphic cards:
Nvidia GeForce Go6600
ATI Mobility Radeon X700
Nvidia GeForce 8400M-GT
Nvidia GeForce Go7600
ATI Mobility Radeon X1600
ATI Mobility Radeon X1700
Nvidia GeForce Go7700
Nvidia GeForce 8600M-GS
Nvidia GeForce Go7600GT
Nvidia GeForce 8600M-GT

Top of the line cards:
Nvidia GeForce Go7800
ATI Mobility Radeon X1800
Nvidia GeForce Go7900GS
ATI Mobility Radeon X1900
Nvidia GeForce Go7800GTX
ATI Mobility Radeon X1800XT
Nvidia GeForce Go7900GTX
Nvidia GeForce Go7950GTX

When you buy a graphic card and when you are thinking of whether choosing the one with more memory or the one with the better GPU or the card with more memory. A common thought is that if you have a graphic card that have a memory capacity of 256 mb and another one with 128 mb, the first one has to be better!

This is not right in most cases since the “slow” card will not use all the memory efficient and because of that the faster card but with less memory will perform better.

If you are planning to buy a gaming laptop you have to aim for a performing graphic card and I would rather choose a good graphic card instead of a good CPU. Dual core is not necessarily needed for a computer although it definetly will increase the performance. But if you aim to buy a cheap laptop with gaming performance you have to sort out some of the expensive parts and that includes a dual core processor.