FireGL T2 vs MR X300 + IBM's Useless Notebook Finder

I plan to buy a T42p or T43 and I want it to have a good graphic card (for gaming). Upto now, I considered FireGL T2 128MB to be the best available option for me as I dont think I can pay more than around $2900 for the notebook.

However, after doing some searchs I am not sure anymore that FireGL T2 is better than the X300 on T43. Some webpages show that the 64MB MR X300 has higher 3D Mark scores than FireGL T2 128MB and its clock speed and bus are apparently also faster than FireGL. Can anyone tell me which card is better for games such as WoW and Doom III?

I also have another problem. When I use the IBM's Notebook Finder and select almost all the best options, it comes up with some strange models that are not listed in the tabook and are way too cheap to be believable.

For example, it shows several T43p thinkpads with model number 2687NJU (which is neither listed in tabook nor tawbook) costing less than $3000 and having all the best features you can select in the notebook finder (e.g. 15" UXGA, Multi-burner, Fingerprint, Bluetooth, 60 or 80 HDD, FireGL V3200, etc.).

Does anyone know where these models come from and why you cant find anything about them in any other website or the tabook?

Finally, please forgive my poor english and bad writing style. This is one of my first posts on an online forum.

 

I think the models that come up in your search are Express models. Those are generally around 25% or so cheaper than the regular models, with similar specs. I have no idea why this is, as I haven't found a downside to the Express models yet. As for your gaming needs, when do you need the notebook by? Because the Z-series is supposed to come out next month, and is rumored to have at least a MR X600 in its better configurations. If you need it now, though, I would go for the X300, simply because of the price difference. Though the FireGL is powerful, it is not optimized for gaming, or so I've heard.

 

For Doom 3 and WoW you should be fine with either as long as you stay on relatively low settings, but seeing as anything with the FireGL is bound to be absurdly expensive, I would stick with the x300. With the amount of money you save over getting a FireGL equipped model, you can buy a desktop to play games on

Oh and by the way, your writing isn't that bad at all

 

Might want to consider a T42 with ATI 9600 which is better than x300, but not as obscenely expensive as the gl model.

 

I've been doing the same search and just found a T42 with the FireGL on sale for around the same price as the T43 that I had just built with the x300. Now the problem is that I'm debating whether I want to carry around the extra 0.9" of screen. Also, I think I read somewhere else that the FireGL card is going to run hotter and eat up battery life. It's hard to warrant not upgrading to the FireGL though at the same price. I'm actually using the card more for 3D CAD stuff, so if anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.

 

I think I may have just found my answer. From the info on this site:

http://www.rojakpot.com/default.aspx?location=3&var1=98&var2=0

it looks like the x300 is better in all respects. Not sure why AutoDesk gets so excited about the FireGL after seeing this data. Anyway, it'll be a few days to a week or so before I pull the trigger, so everyone let me know what you think still.

Thanks!

 

It's generally accepted that the radeon 9600 has a slight edge over the x300. So if the FireGl has the edge over the 9600, how possibly could the x300 be better than the FireGL?

 

x300 is not better than the firegl.

 

Reviving this thread with the launch of the T61 with NVIDIA QUADRO 140M, is that card faster than the FIREGL T2? What about the GMA X3100.

 

Short answer: NVS 140 >> GMA x3100 >= x300 >> FireGL T2

For all your further mobile graphics card questions, consult http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

(hmmm seems they are having some server issues, its essentially a list of all mobile graphics cards and their 3dmark scores)