For several years, users who have followed the latest in the world of IT technology, could pay attention to a strange trend. Notebook manufacturers, constantly improving the technical specifications of their devices, install an outdated modification - nVidia Geforce GT 740M as a discrete video adapter. Why is this happening? After all, there are many modern video cards on the market that can handle any game. The reader will learn more from this article. In focus is the most famous video card among laptop owners. Model overview, specifications, customer reviews and experts.
Specifications
You should not expect anything grand from the video adapter. Characteristics are comparable to any analogue of the budget class. The core clock frequency is 810 MHz. The memory bus is 128-bit and runs on DDR3. The amount of video memory is 1-2 GB. On the market you can find several modifications of the Geforce GT 740M, which differ slightly from each other. Some models have a modern DDR5 bus. There are modifications that work on a 64-bit bus, while the core frequency is increased to 980 MHz. To say which of the presented adapters is more powerful is difficult.
The manufacturer balanced all the devices so that in synthetic tests they show almost the same result. But if you follow the logic, then it is better to give preference to the 128-bit bus, because it is able to communicate with the central processor twice as fast . And the core frequency can be raised independently, using a special utility. Regarding the amount of video memory - 1 or 2 GB - the user decides. However, experts say that those games that require a large amount of video memory will still not work on a laptop with a budget video adapter.
Great potential depending on components
The review by experts on the Geforce GT 740M showed quite interesting results. So, for laptops based on different processors, the same adapter produces completely different video acceleration indicators. Moreover, at the time of maximum loads, the video adapter did not overheat. This suggests that the video card has enormous potential, which allows you to use your capacities with weak processors and reveal the maximum capabilities with the latest cores. And if it’s a completely accessible language, then this means that when choosing a laptop for a specific game, you need to take an interest in its requirements for the processor and video adapter. For example, an inexpensive dual-core processor and a discrete 2 GB Geforce GT 740M graphics card will be enough to play World of Tanks. It turns out that it makes no sense for young tankers to overpay for a powerful Core i7 processor. But fans of GTA will really need a powerful processor.
Close competitors in the market
As you know, any product is positioned by the manufacturer on the market next to a similar competitor product. The video card Geforce GT 740M, according to the manufacturer, is in the same niche with the AMD Radeon 8730M adapter. If you compare the characteristics of both cards, you can make sure they are almost identical. However, if you look at the rating of video cards, which are experts in the field of IT, the picture will look very different. In terms of performance, determined using synthetic tests, the closest competitor is AMD Radeon 8770M, and its previous modifications are several dozen positions lower. This fact once again emphasizes the huge potential of the Geforce GT 740M video adapter, regardless of the technical data declared by the manufacturer.
Applied Technology
Laptops with powerful discrete graphics cards are in demand among designers, programmers, video operators. Even an ordinary user always has a desire to watch multimedia in good quality, without interference and slowdowns. If you look at the rating of video cards, you can see the column "technology", which game lovers do not pay attention at all, but in vain. And this:
- Interface PCI Express 3.0x16, providing a huge data transfer rate.
- HDMI 1.4a, support for Blu-ray 3D with GPU acceleration.
- Hardware video decoding acceleration and support for H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p.
If you delve into all the available functions that this video adapter supports, there will be no limit to the user's surprise. A few years later, after the announcement of the video card, it became clear what the manufacturer wanted to achieve, providing his device with all available technologies. The main goal of nVidia was to attract users to its product, and they succeeded.
Home Theater Replacement
Not every video card for a personal computer is capable of supporting the connection of four monitors, each of which can receive a picture with a resolution of 3840x2160 dpi. Not to mention HDMI, which supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD audio transmission. Judging by the numerous customer reviews, a device with this functionality can replace a home theater. It is not in vain that an expert in the store offers to purchase 3D glasses as an addition to a laptop. He has an idea and knows the functionality of the purchase. After all, not every budget-class device has 3D Vision support and is capable of working with 21st-century technology without much effort. And as the test shows, the Geforce GT 740M is not engaged in emulation. This is a full 3D video format.
Intelligent system for increasing productivity
For the nVidia Geforce GT 740M mobile video adapter, the performance rating among competitors will always be in the first place, because installing it in budget class laptops primarily attracts buyers who want to buy a gaming device for little money. NVidia made a difficult step by introducing the GPU Boost 2.0 technology, which is used in expensive gaming chips, into the mobile video adapter. In simple terms, the proprietary utility, detecting the need for the power of a video card, automatically accelerates the adapter in frequency. During acceleration, core temperature is monitored. The limitation of raising the frequency is the limit of 81 degrees Celsius. The task of the intelligent system is to maintain the maximum frequency at which the temperature does not exceed the allowable barrier. Naturally, the cooling system in a laptop should be appropriate.
A good helper in saving battery
Laptops with powerful video adapters are used by owners as a replacement for a desktop personal computer. This applies to devices with Geforce GT 740M chips. Reviews from many owners confirm this fact. Most users did not even print the battery when they bought it, connecting the laptop directly to the network. But there are those owners who use the mobility function of their device. It was for them that the manufacturer introduced a proprietary utility for the video adapter called nVidia Optimus.
It's no secret that a discrete device consumes more electricity than an integrated one. Therefore, the main task of Optimus is to turn off the power of the Geforce GT 740M graphics card when there is no need for it. Graphics processing and image display are given to the integrated video chip. According to the manufacturer, using this function you can achieve battery savings of up to 50%. However, after many tests conducted by experts, it was found that it is impossible to achieve savings with the help of a proprietary utility of more than 30%.
Game assistant
A proprietary utility from nVidia called GeForce Experience is designed to facilitate the user's work in games. According to the developers, the program can determine the optimal graphic settings in games and recommend them to the user, setting them as system ones by default. In addition, the utility searches for drivers, utilities and firmware from nVidia, downloads them and offers to install. Everything is so colorful and comfortable at first glance. However, a review conducted for the Geforce GT 740M showed different results.
- The concept of "optimal graphics settings" for the manufacturer and user is very different. And if for nVidia the task is to display the image on the screen, then the user is more interested in the lack of braking in dynamic scenes.
- Owners of laptops using wireless mobile communications or 3G, quickly get tired of the utility GeForce Experience. Almost every day there are updates that in 99% of cases have nothing to do with the Geforce GT 740M adapter.
If we talk about technology in general
Many potential buyers are interested in non-technical specifications before buying a laptop with a Geforce GT 740M discrete graphics card. Player feedback is what matters before a choice. Naturally, not about the video card, but about the laptop. For games, not only experts, but also buyers identified several worthy models.
- Lenovo IdeaPad Z710A is considered the best gaming laptop in the line of low-cost devices belonging to the budget class. When studying the technical characteristics of the device, it is found that only the price connects it with budget employees, and more expensive laptops can envy the gaming potential.
- HP ENVY 17-j013 is considered an expensive brand, due to its high build quality and well-thought-out ventilation system, it has a huge overclocking potential. In addition to the video card, you can raise the frequency of the core of the central processor, whose multiplier is unlocked.
- ASUS R75 and X75 series have good performance in games. The low price looks very attractive, and the functionality will please any user. But some owners have a negative about the impossibility of overclocking the central processor.
Laptop requirements
Where there is acceleration and heating, there should be cleanliness and decent ventilation. But not all manufacturers for some reason think so. For devices based on nVidia Geforce GT 740M, a laptop test showed that some manufacturers, aiming to make their device as small and compact as possible, did not pay enough attention to cooling. So, Dell and Acer did not care about decent ventilation of air inside the case. If the owner often has to use the device on the couch, then you need to be prepared for quarterly cleaning your laptop from dust in a service center. But HP and MSI have paid great attention to the cooling system. Yes, and a powerful fan built into the case will not leave a chance to a single speck of dust that has got inside. However, all manufacturers except Lenovo hid the cooling system from the user's eyes. Not everyone can clean a laptop on their own. After all, to get to the radiator, you need to completely disassemble it.
Finally
Discrete graphics card Geforce GT 740M is quite popular in the market. Thanks to the good potential and power reserve, she got a lot of fans. And if there is a demand, there will always be a supply. And finding the right laptop in the store will not be difficult. After all, the manufacturer of video adapters positions the laptop as an entry-level gaming device with wide video playback capabilities. And such devices simply must have a huge screen of seventeen inches. In the race for system performance, the user will have to bear the associated costs. The Geforce GT 740M graphics card can be considered the golden mean. After all, if you look at the prices of laptops in which its "older brother" is installed - 750M, which has not gone so far in performance, you will be able to not only save, but also to purchase a very powerful gaming laptop.