GeForce FX Go5700

Always go with Nvidia , it is much more SW friendly than ATI

If you stay with Nvidia stay with a Quadro.

Regards, Scott

Unfortunately, a quadro card is not an option with Alienware. Im wondering if this new 5700 card can be soft hacked, or if it will run decently by itself.

Nick the best thing for you to do is by a used Inspiron 8200 and it can use the Quadro card that goes into the Dell M50. The Card runs about $350 and the Inspiron will run you anywhere from $800-$1500 depending on features. This is alot cheaper than buying a alienware high end machines. You can usually find Dells still with full warrantys left on them.

Nick:

Though I haven't used the GeForce 5700, I know many people that have fine luck with the GeForce line in SWX, other than the problems of Multi-Window slowdowns, which you are probably already familiar with.

Personally, I never really see a reason to work on more than 5 files at a time. Yeah, I do it from time to time but I think those that complain about this limitation are the same people that try to run 10 programs at once, which of course can lead to it's own problems.

Not trying to be critical here, just stating that for some people the GeForce cards can work extremely well.

Having said that, I have a Quadro 1000 on this box and it kicks ass in every way. If I could afford a Dell M60, I'd get one but these are pricey little boxes, but they're worth it. But Alienware notebooks are ultra-sweet and have upgradeability in some areas, which is something that you can't get with mainstream notebooks.

Todd

Nick,

Have you looked at these laptops -

Regards, Scott

Nick,

I run the NVIDEA FX 5600 in my desktop machine and discovered that if you load Quadro drivers on it, you have a Quadro. I have turned several others on to this with total success. Perhaps this would work for you. If anyone out there has any experience with this, i would like to hear if it worked for you.

Dennis