Quadro NVS 160 M vs Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD

Thanks for taking the time to reply,

So I should go for NVidia?

My only concern is that the laptop might fail/ cause problems after a year or two.


I am outside U.S. and once I have this notebook, I have no means whatsoever to claim warranty or ask for repair etc.

So I want a perfectly no problematic notebook.

Even if there is a slight chance of GPU failing in NVIDIA or Intel, I would definitely avoid whichever it is.

I need it for study and I can't replace it soon. So I need a solid long life solution. My Latitude D820 was such a plan, but unfortunately NVIDIA failed and as I said, I have no way to claim or repair.

So, any final thoughts? please!

 

There is a chance of problems whichever GPU you get. That's life. If you think you will benefit from the faster Nvidia card, get it.

 

Personally, I would vote for the Intel GPU. It runs cooler, which helps long term reliability, and also it will be a year or two before we can be sure that the current nVidia GPUs don't include any time-bombs.

My Intel GPU does everything I need.

John

 

I agree with HerrKaputt. I also agree with John... except for reliability part, as it is, in my opinion at the same level as Nvidia solution, as cooler temperature doesn't mean it's reliable. If a laser miss cut inside a die, where 2 wires within the GPU are too close and ware the seperation "wall" over time, which could lead to having electrons passing as such speed can break the thin desperation and have the current jump to the other side, could lead to turn your Intel GPU into a less reliable one... my point is that we don't know, eather way, and temperature does not necessarily mean reliable.

That is up to you to see which one best fit your needs.

Any laptop could have a manufacture problem. From a bad screen, to a bad motherboard board, and so on. USUALLY it is said, that most problems appears at the first year of the usage of the system (that is why extended warranties at retail store works so well, and bring million in profits), to both manufactures (as the warranty is shorter), and stores (as you pay for most likely nothing... like getting a volcano insurance in a place where there is no volcano's). If you want to be 100% safe, it would be to get the system in an environment where you can repair it, if anything. If the system you really want is not available, and well, it's life, you can't do anything about it.
So in fact, I recommend to simply not get the laptop form Dell U.S but the Dell of your region, or simply a totally different brand.

I am SURE that Dell was EXTRA careful in getting Nvidia on-board again in it's systems. This laptop follows the system with the bad Geforce 8000 series. Nvidia says that Quadro's are more deeply tested (including it's drivers), and are more reliable with a better more rugged design. I am sure Dell actually passed several Quadro's NVS 160M, under X-ray machines and microscope to ensure that there is no problem, as else it would have been idiot form them to not be careful. Also, if this problem occurs, I am sure that Nvidia would be in deep trouble to a point of even forced out of the laptop GPU market for ever as no OEM would want their GPU's inside their system. In addition to all this, I don't believe in a perfect company... as long humans manages companies, error will arise at some point due to a bad decision. I prefer to have a product from a company that just had such big problem, which means that the issue got resolved with strict company policies and now more deep testing, and then be part of a company that had a perfect history and about to fail at some point and being part of it. I mean the butchered code of Windows Me brought us XP, the rush out Vista brought us Win7, Intel failed attempt of dual core on 1 core (Pentium D) got us Core2Duo's, and so on... That is how I see things, in my personal opinion.

My vote for you, is simply get a OEM system from your region where you can return. It might be more expensive.. but at least you have a warranty you can use.

 

Now and then I see something totally off-the-wall, and feel compelled to respond . Of course, cooler means more reliable! Failure rate is a strong function of temperature. Take that strange example of electrons jumping the wall, for the time being. The higher the temperature, the more likely are the electronics to jump over barriers.

Of course, that's assuming I correctly parse what you were writing. There are typos and whatnot, it is hard to be sure .

Cooler temperatures means the fan does not run as much, and the rest of the motherboard components are not heated up as much. All contributing to superior reliability. Heat is the number one enemy for electronic components. I have a XPS M1330 with a Nvidia 8400M GS chip, and the motherboard was replaced twice. Boy, am I happy that I bought the 3-year extended warranty. The final time I asked them to downgrade to the Intel graphics, and the laptop now runs so much cooler and quieter. Has not failed yet. Check out the XPS forum for many examples like mine.

 

amen chunglau!

 

YES you are right If the processor is overheating, which is not the case. Today’s processors are design to be very stable up to 100 degree Celsius. Security system are put in place to prevent GPU damage by slowing down when it overheats, and even shut-down pass 100-105C (depending on the processor). Of course, all temperature mentioned concerns our CPU and GPU, based on average. I had much warmer GPU’s (75C idle) than the laptop GPU, which lasted me about 4 years from today, and still going strong (GeForce 6600GT for desktop). Idle but full power (GPU power management disabled when plug-in) GPU for the Quadro NVS 160M is 55C, running Win7 with Aero, using Geforce 190 series drivers. It’s, of course, cooler under battery, as the GPU goes at minimal speed (35C I believe, but do not quote me on that).
My point, was saying that doesn't mean that your processor is at 0C that it's guaranty that it will be 100% reliable. I always consider normal conditions when I talk, cause if we go without this, then we are all wrong on anything we say.

Sorry, I'll take more time to spell check what I type. Thanks.

I touched MUCH warmer systems then this laptop, even overclocked, and no issues ever arises within 4+ years, which is usually the life span of a laptop, before you find it soo slow that you will just go buy a new one, and that a simple 300$ netbook will best your old system performance.

It's actually dust, which can block heatsink, and now lead to an overclock and system shutdown. Your processors should not be damaged by this due to security feature placed inside.

As mentioned several times, the Geforce 8000 Mobile chip wear all faulty.

My system is not hot nor is noisy. In fact most of time, the processor that kick start the fan is my Northbridge, due to Flash plug-in that uses software rendering to play the video instead of the GPU like Silverlight 3, or any multimedia player out there. As a Flash developer I know that Flash 64-bit and GPU rendering was coming back when Flash was owned by Macromedia, but since Adobe purchased them, Flash development moved slower than a tomato can.

If I recall correctly, when the XPS M1330 was released with the Nvidia solution, it was a fairly quiet system, but after OEM figured out that something was wrong with the 8000 series Mobile Geforce, which then was reported that yes the GPU was faulty, OEMs released new BIOS update which ran the fan like a nut case, to a point of significantly reduce battery life.

 

Maybe instead of picking up random tidbits from forums and blogs, you should actually do a little studying? Here is an example:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromigration

Electromigration is one of the principal modes of failure in an integrated circuit. Check this out:

The temperature of the conductor appears in the exponent, i.e. it strongly affects the MTTF of the interconnect. For an interconnect to remain reliable in rising temperatures, the maximum tolerable current density of the conductor must necessarily decrease.

It's under the section on Black's Equation.

Dust blocks heat sinks? Thats' a good one .

 

I invite you to re-read my post. Did I, at any point specifically say that this was false? Let me save you the trouble... NO!
My point was clearly stated on my post. It said that it was NOT the only factor, which says if a processor is reliable, or not.

However, I guess you find anything to say Intel is the best GPU in the world. So, ok you are right. Intel makes the world’s best GPU in the world. They so reliable and so fast, that even under if your computer is being melted in a volcano 600 years from now, it will still works perfectly. Oh and let me not start on drivers…

Dust blocks heat sink… yea... Blocking them prevents air flow being pushed by the fan (unless it's a fan-less design, where it uses ambient air to cool off, so no fan required) from passing through the fins of the heat sink to properly cool the fins down which result in cooling down at the end the processor or processors, or well anything you want to cool off actually. Do you need a diagram? I know you need a diagram on my English, but beside that one.
Oh, wait, I am wrong, because I did not specify that the heat sink must be attached to the processor(s) in order to work properly, in the proper way that is. In addition, of course, I also did not specify that you need air to make it work. Did I also require mentioning that the computer would also not work under water that contains minerals, because oh god, we, especially I, is dumb?

 

Even John Ratsey has got his whole systemtemp (ACPI) to 70C (right?) so the Intel version also produces heat. But he's got a point in that its normally cooler.

It is easy to get bitter if you've bad experiences so choose the manufacturer you trust the most. (If its not for a very special reason, there arent much difference between the models.)