Quadro NVS 160 M vs Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD

Hi,

I have Dell Latitude D820 with NVidia Quadro NVS 120M, but its causing failures, probably NVIDIA GPU. There are vertical straight lines on the screen, sometimes it won't boot at all, sometimes it would go dark screen and never start... etc Its been approximately 2 years since Ive had it.


Im planning on buying Dell latitude E6500.

I have the following questions:

1) Most people's reviews about E6500 are very disappointing, is it really true that E6500 is worse than the D820 or D series laptops in terms of build quality and hardware failure problems?
2) Considering Im having trouble with the NVidia GOU (probably) and that some people have witnessed GPU failures in Apple Macbook Pro (which uses 9400M and 9600M GPUs) and E6500 uses 160M (9300M GPU), so its a 9-series GPUs failing. Should I consider having Quadro NVS 160M in E6500 or I should avoid it and get Intel's Graphics card for now?
3) How much performance affect is there if comparing NVS 160 M with Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD ? regarding the basic 3D simulations, such as using Macromedia Director or Studio Max, or games? I mean to ask, is Quadro NVS 160M really worth it?



Thanks!
speedbooster!

 

0) Your D820 should still be under warranty? Why don't you just get the mainboard replaced?

1) Personally I'd say that the durability of the current E-Series lineup is less than that of the D620/D630/D820/D830. Those machines really were tanks. That's not to say that the build quality is necessarily worse, though; the fit and finish is still pretty good, it's just not designed with durability that much in mind. Haven't really heard too much about E6500 hardware failures, but I think there's a lot fewer of those being sold than E6400s.

2) While I don't think it's the same problem as that on the 8400, 8600, 9300, 9400, people have reported heating problems with the NVS 160M, but largely in the E6400 rather than the E6500. I don't think it should be a problem in the E6500 since the GPU isn't connected to its heatsink with a thermal pad, but I'd avoid it nonetheless.

3) Not sure on this one.

 

1) It seems as they have got some bad reviews about build quality, and it is probobly atleast some truth in it. But it is also a major design difference between the models and i think some people just dont like changes...

2)Yes, Nvidia had heat problems with the 8x00 series that fried gpu's. But the 9x00 (160m) series does not seem to have that problem. The e6500 has a separate heatsink for the GPU so the temp is probobly a bit lower than the e6400 but both has some reports of faulty motherboards. Also the intel version seem to have had some problems, with throttling systems and bad drivers. I dont think neither is a bad choice.

3) There are several tests that shows the score between these models, and the Nvidia card is ofcourse more powerful in 3D tests. But it is in no means a powerful gaming machine so it is up to what you prefer.
A cooler laptop with better batterytime or a "hotter" machine capable of a little more demanding work.

 

1) How much cooler?

2) I would like to go with NVidia if it does not fail for atleast 4 years.


3) Im going for E6500 because of 12 cell battery and hence the longer battery time, with the joy of 15.4''

Thanks!

 

Yes it IS under warranty, but would they replace the MB?
By the way Im outside U.S. so I think its not an option, correct? I need to ship the lappy to someone in U.S. then... shipping cost...etc etc

 

AFAIK the dell warranty should be international for notebooks

 

But DELL won't pay for the 500 USD shipment charges one way, would they?

And there is no authrorized DELL center in my country.

 

Whats throttling systems? Is it hardware failure?

New drivers come out sooner or later but hardware failure can't be tackled, so should I go for Intel's GPU then?

Thanks!

 

Not much cooler - the NVS 160M only uses max of 12W - it is a fairly lightweight card. But 12W is still another 50% on top of a P-series cpu. I went for a Lenovo Thinkpad W500, after years of Dells, because I can switch in real time between the Intel integrated gpu for office work to a 35W dedicated gpu for serious graphical work. So I have the best of both worlds.

 

Nvidia Mobile 8000 series GPU's had issues. This was resolved with the 9000 series, and not that Dell and other OEM's offer free GPU (or motherboard if it's soldered in) replacement even out of warranty system, if you have a GPU problem.

Nvidia Mobile 9000 series and newer GPU's doesn't have this issue.
Apple issue, was not due to Nvidia, but Apple miss building the laptop heatsink system to probably manage the system heat. Apple quality have been degrading fast since several years. From exploding batteries in iPods, easy scratch plastic, glass breaking iTouch/iPhones with light pressure (ie: can't be in pocket), yellow'ish and reduce view angle screen on iPhone/iTouch devices, MacBookAir screen hinge, and many many more issues.

Intel GPU solution is presenting itself as an issue in the E6400/6500 for many users, where the system throttles at low temperatures. It is true that very few (1-2) users have reported on this forum got this issues with the Nvidia solution, but I think they are not related, and the main problem is a BIOS configuration from Dell + having the Intel GPU inside the motherboard Northbridge processor to gain some performance with the mixture of a bad chip/motherboard build. But, that is just my personal theory from my observation. Others, have other theories. And it must be noted that it's NOT EVERYONE that has this issue. Dell is apparently working on a fix.

MOST people got their system throttling issue fixed with a motherboard + heat sink replacement or system rebuild.

The Intel GPU solution, is equivalent in performance as a Geforce 7300M.
The Nvidia GPU solution is equivalent in performance as a Geforce 9300M factory overclocked (a bit).

The Nvidia solution will allow you to play all the latest games smoothly at medium-low settings with exception to medium-high for some games.
Compatible software, including Windows 7 (with soon to come drivers, based on this article: http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardware/2009/08/25/nvidia-releases-windows-7-direct-compute-dr/1), can use the GPU instead of the CPU to process information which COULD lead to an increase performance. I said COULD, as this is a low-end GPU we are talking about. Plus, you get to enjoy Nvidia control panel to adjust output colors to your screen.

If you need GPU performance, you can check my signature for the overclock GPU guide using Nvidia system tool for this laptop. However, of course, you have the all the downsides of overclocking and even void of warranty if discovered by Dell.

I do run X-Plane (A professional plane simulator) on my laptop, and it runs fine at medium settings.