Questions regarding dedicated graphics card

[AllenHe]

I am planning to get a HP laptop with 2GB dedicated graphics card, but I heard that laptops with dedicated graphics easily burn down. Is it true, and are there anyways to prevent this from happening? Because I heard that you can switch between integrated and dedicated or something like that. And will the battery lasts for 3 or 4 hours?

Thanks in advance ;D

 

[Routaran]

You will need to keep the notebook computer properly ventilated. A high end graphics card will produce waste heat and this heat will need to be transported away from the system efficiently. If you put the notebook computer on your lap or some other soft surface like a bed, this will tend to close off the air vents on the back of the system and internal temperatures will rise quickly.

These days, there's fail-safes build into the computer so it shuts itself down before it catches on fire per say but high operating temperatures will adversely affect performance and the lifespan of all the components on the system. The degradation is significant. You will need to take extra care like cleaning vents and heat sinks and always using the computer on a hard surface like a table to ensure proper ventilation and maybe even getting a table top usb fan to blow air into the vents from the bottom like this (http://goo.gl/kazg5m)

Performance notebook computers rarely ever have good battery life. Depending on what you're doing, 3-4 hours may be optimistic.

From my own personal experience with Alienware gaming notebook computers, I very strongly recommend that you avoid notebooks for performance. You're better off looking at a desktop build for performance. You will pay less for more performance on a desktop.

 

[AllenHe]

Thanks for your reply. I am thinking of using it for about 2 to 3years, for university studies and gaming, hope it will last that long without any failure. :D

 

[Routaran]

Gaming notebook computers can easily go over the $2,000 mark. You can build a desktop that's better at playing games for a thousand dollars, get a good "work" notebook for 700 bucks, spend the remaining 300 on getting a monitor/keyboard/mouse/headsets and you will have a notebook/desktop which can easily last you 4 years.

I have a Dell XPS13 Ultrabook to carry about and my desktop is coming up on 5 years old. I still play all my games on max graphics as I upgrade my graphics card every 2 years.

I suggest this because it's cheaper and a gaming notebook on battery won't last you a whole day of lectures.

 

[Borek]

Notebook for mobility, desktop for performance. Any "universal" solution means compromises and won't be as effective.