is the 12" nvidia card inferior to 15" ati?

d3ctd3ct
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
is the 12" powerbooks graphix card (nvidia) really all that inferior to the 15"'s ati radeon?



where can i see comparisons? or if i was using either one, where and how would i notice a difference? (i do a lot of video and graphic work, incl. all apps.)

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 4
    d3ctd3ct Posts: 56member
    games are not something im going to be doing with it, just in case, but heavy video and photo work including high definition, etc etc
  • Reply 2 of 4
    numarknumark Posts: 5member
    For the most part, I would say no. However, one thing to note is that when Tiger is released, it will include Core Image, which could potentially be very useful in your case. Since Core Image's performance is based mainly on the video card, it might be better to go with the ATI Mobility Radeon over the Geforce Go. You'll also have the bigger screen to work with, which will come very much in handy.
  • Reply 3 of 4
    altivec_2.0altivec_2.0 Posts: 995member
    I don't know, I would say that the nvidia chipset in the 12" is inferior to the 15" 's 9700 Radeon. The 9700 is the better chip for the long run.
  • Reply 4 of 4
    pbpb Posts: 4,255member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by D3ct

    games are not something im going to be doing with it, just in case, but heavy video and photo work including high definition, etc etc



    It is a fact that the graphics processor of a Radeon Mobility 9700 is better than that of a Geforce FX Go5200. But it is a fact too that nVidia is strong in OpenGL, relevant to the the Macintosh platform. If you do want to see how the two chips compare, you can navigate the already in abundance posted Xbench benchmarks for the Powerboooks. For example, see the following, chosen at random:



    Powerbook 12", Geforce FX Go5200; Quartz test: 132.94, OpenGL test: 117.15.



    Powerbook 15", Radeon Mobility 9700; Quartz test: 172.16, OpenGL test: 115.63.



    And an older 12" model:



    Powerbook 12", Geforce4 MX; Quartz test: 100.37, OpenGL test: 91.40.



    It is clear that the superiority of the ATI chip becomes obvious in the Quartz Graphics test, in this benchmark. However, the nVidia FX Go chip, although generally considered a joke among gamers, gives the same, if not slightly better, OpenGL score as the ATI one. Even the old Geforce4 MX is only 20% slower than the ATI chip in OpenGL.



    EDIT: there is also the User Interface test which shows the superiority of the ATI chips.
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