Hey all - Quick question from someone not as adept at modifying computers as some of you. From what I understand on notebookcheck.net, the ATI FireGL v5250 is based off the same architecture as the x1700. I am in the process of buying a new laptop to replace both my current computers ( a desktop and a laptop) and am looking at a Lenovo. I will be doing some gaming on the computer, and an x1700 would work very well for what I'm going for. I've seen a lot of guides on how to convert desktop Radeons into FireGLs, but nothing for the reverse on laptops. If anyone has a guide to doing such, it would give me a lot of piece of mind, and allow me to go ahead and buy the CPU. Otherwise, I may keep looking for a card that matches my needs without the need for modding. Any advice is very welcome! Thank you!
I don't *need* the FireGL per se, but I'm trying to buy a new laptop on a decent budget, and the ones (at least as far as I can tell) with decent gaming graphics cards tend to be more expensive. I can get a Lenovo with the FireGL, Core 2Duo 2.0 GHz, 1GB of RAM (with an open DIMM slot to add some more from newegg) and a decent hard drive and optical drive all for about $1400. If the FireGL can be soft-modded to preform on par with the x1700, I will be in great shape, since the only ones I can find with the x1700 (or comparable) tend to run around $1800-$2000. If I'm completely off base, let me know!
Hmm.. Workstation GPUs like FireGLs are really just standard desktop GPUs with software optimizations for professional 3D applications like Maya, 3D Studio, etc. If you do not use those applications, there's really no need for you to worry about whether it's a FireGL or a Radeon. As far as games are concerned, both FireGL and Radeon should perform the same. To be sure of the performance level, find out what GPU (R580?) the FireGL card is using and look for the Radeon equivalent using the Mobile GPU Comparison Guide.
