PB 64 or 128 gpu for 20inch external lcd.

[carpet]

Can i use the 64 or do i need 128? Will the 64 make expose choppy? Will the 128 card make the display brighter?

 

[Rob587]

thats my same question... im tryin to decide btwn the 12" pb and the 15" because of it.

let me add a little to it if you dont mind.

will the 64 be awful for photoshop and lite gamming aswell?

 

[mcgarry]

I don't know how the VRAM difference will affect the dual display, but as for sheer performance, the Go5200 found in the 12" has a bad reputation among gamers and is generally thought of as inferior to the ATI cards available in the 15" and 17".

The MacSpeedZone comparison might give some idea, it has some fps rates and such that show the 12" lagging.

This is an older review of the card (albeit with only 32MB of VRAM) that is also generally unfavorable in its assessment of the Go5200.

I'm going to guess that the Go5200 is adequate, but not as good as the ATI options in the larger 'books. My 12" rev. C drives a crap 17" CRT with no perceivable problems, but I don't do anything too graphics-intense with it.

 

[ReanimationLP]

Since Tigers' Core Imaging is going to require 64 MB minimum, I'd personally go with the 128 MB. Your gonna want all the VRAM you can get, plus then, dont forget, you CANT upgrade the VRAM. So you might as well drop the extra 100 and get the extra VRAM. Plus, 128MB of VRAM will make Quartz Extreme and Expose run smoothly on a 20" or higher monitor.

 

[Flyinace2000]

Since Tigers' Core Imaging is going to require 64 MB minimum, I'd personally go with the 128 MB. Your gonna want all the VRAM you can get, plus then, dont forget, you CANT upgrade the VRAM. So you might as well drop the extra 100 and get the extra VRAM. Plus, 128MB of VRAM will make Quartz Extreme and Expose run smoothly on a 20" or higher monitor.

I can't wait to have 19" of Samsung Digital goodness on my desktop and 15" on the road.

 

[Jigglelicious]

If you plan to use ONLY the external 20" monitor with your Powerbook, then 64mb will suffice. However, if you plan to operate both the internal 15" screen and the external display at the same time, then that 64mb will be split in half, and 32mb WILL be choppy on the 20" cinema display.

 

[carpet]

If you plan to use ONLY the external 20" monitor with your Powerbook, then 64mb will suffice. However, if you plan to operate both the internal 15" screen and the external display at the same time, then that 64mb will be split in half, and 32mb WILL be choppy on the 20" cinema display.

Just like the Mac mini

 

[jaromski]

i just ordered the 128mb version of the 15" pb. you can drive (2) 20" displays off that bad boy. or the 30". i would spend the extra $100 and get the better video card. especially once tiger comes out, it is gonna work the gpu much harder than panther. but since it is working the gpu the cpu will be freed up for other purposes.

the next thing they'll need is a npu. some intel boards utilize the concept. basically it has a special interface into the system to take the load off the pci bus, which is shared with all the other pci slots in the system. it doesn't make any difference for 100mb, but at 1gb+ the pci bus starts laggin'. i guess pci-x or pci-e would also solve this problem, but anyway i am off in the weeds now so i will stop here.

-jaromski