Dual Graphics Card Query

[stuartb]

I am thinking of buying a laptop with a Dual 256MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 8700M

Question - my understanding is that dual SLI is really 2 graphics cards? Can Sketchup use both of them or is the second one effectively redundant and should I therefore go for 512mb on a single card?

Same question re the Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7500. Does Sketchup only actually use one core?

[Mr S]

I am not an expert so wait for other viewpoints as well.

As I far as I know dual graphic cards are only really of any use for 3D games.
Even then you don't get twice the performance. More like a 20% increase in performance.
They are also useful for working with big monitors (think 30") at high resolutions.
So if these needs don't apply you would be much better off buying the best quality/priced single graphics card. You may want to do a search on these forums for ATI or NVIDIA. I am sure that I have come across posts of people having problems with one or the other. I have used both and have never had any issues.

SketchUp will not use dual (or quad) processors as it is still a single threaded application. So in itself, it won't work any quicker compared to using a single processor.
But by using dual or quad processors you will have a much more stable and efficient computer system. You would be mad not to buy a dual or quad machine. It is the way most computers are supplied now anyway. Hopefully later versions of software will be written that do take advantage of the extra power they can provide.

Good Luck

Regards
Mr S

[remus]

My understanding of dual graphics cards is that when in SLI mode (or crossfire if your using ATI graphics cards) they work as if it was one card. If i had the choice, id probably go for whichever was the cheapest really, as performnce with those cards isnt going to be a particular issue, neither is upgradability as it's a laptop.

Always go for go for a dual/quad core processor. Even if SU doesnt use both some things can, and even then the computer can allocate diffeent programs to different cores making the whole thing faster.

[jasonh1234]

On my PC I have two Nvidia 7900s in SLI. It worked great for SketchUp. Nice and fast. Anti-aliasing could cause problems sometimes (SU's fault) but when it worked it was a thing of beauty. It's the onlt thing I miss about my PC since my current Mac doesn't have ANY 3D acceleration.