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i8600 + Games

post #1 of 14
8/28/05 at 11:18pm
Thread Starter 
Hi I'm having some problems with new, 3D games on my 8600.. I'm running the 1.6 with a 128mb GF5650 card on 1 gb ram.


The problem is really bad frame rates in newer 3D games when I use newer drivers, it gets almost too choppy to play. If I use the older drivers, it can't seem to render many of the textures so all I end up seeing are flat, plain walls and such.


Does anyone have a recommendation? Is this machine just not powerful enough for the games or is something going on that I could fix/check?
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post #2 of 14
8/29/05 at 1:37am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ITF
Hi I'm having some problems with new, 3D games on my 8600.. I'm running the 1.6 with a 128mb GF5650 card on 1 gb ram.


The problem is really bad frame rates in newer 3D games when I use newer drivers, it gets almost too choppy to play. If I use the older drivers, it can't seem to render many of the textures so all I end up seeing are flat, plain walls and such.


Does anyone have a recommendation? Is this machine just not powerful enough for the games or is something going on that I could fix/check?
Maybe time to consider going to a 6800-powered notebook? Or stick to older games. You can't expect to be running the new games well. That's why people buying new machines chose the 6800 or the X300 - depending on the gaming needs - 6800 for everything including the cutting edge, X300 for everything but the cutting edge.
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post #3 of 14
8/29/05 at 6:20am
The MR9600 Pro is the best GPU for the i8600, and it is a bit better than the X300 I think. I have the MR9600 and it is nice
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post #4 of 14
8/29/05 at 9:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by MitchellO
The MR9600 Pro is the best GPU for the i8600, and it is a bit better than the X300 I think. I have the MR9600 and it is nice
Second'd What he said.
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post #5 of 14
8/29/05 at 10:30am
Which games in particular?

Certainly my 8600 with 9600 pro turbo was struggling with newer games so there may not be an easy solution.

John
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post #6 of 14
8/29/05 at 4:05pm
My biggest problem with the 8600 /w 9600PT is heat; I'll cook up to 90°C + while playing City of Heroes or KOTOR. Yes, on most games I can't turn the graphics all the way up but everything is easily playable and still very good looking. You are always going to have to balance the performance/quality settings no matter what computer and video card you have.

That said, I'm still very happy with my machine. Serves as a space heater too! (really need to do the heat mod sometime soon).
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post #7 of 14
8/29/05 at 6:22pm
Thread Starter 
To give some examples: I played the Need For Speed Underground series (1 and 2) on this machine, at great detail with no problem. I have played various MMORPGs, like Guild Wars and various other demos... all with no problem too.

If I use Dell provided drivers for Battlefield 2, most of the buildings have no texture but the framerate is EXCELLENT. If I use hacked drivers, I see the textures but the framerate suffers.

The other game I have seen this is Irth online, I recently downloaded the beta of that -- with the Dell drivers it was horribly lagged, and textures were not there. With hacked drivers again I could see all textures but the lag was there. Maybe it's something to do with Direct X? Suggestions?

Or maybe it really is time to scrap this bucket and upgrade (so I'll throw out a second question here): I'm in no rush to sell and would like as high return as possible (in Canada here) -- Inspiron 8600, 1.6 Centrino, Bluetooth, Wireless a/b/g, SXGA screen, 128 mb GF5650 FX, 8x DVD+-RW, 60 GB 7200rpm drive. What can I expect in return value, if I hold out for top dollar?

(and please don't ignore my games question thanks, sorry for making this long)
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post #8 of 14
8/29/05 at 6:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by delphigreg
My biggest problem with the 8600 /w 9600PT is heat; I'll cook up to 90°C +
I know!! Its crazy isn't it. It hasn't caused me a problem, but I have seen it get to 85C. I was amazed I wasn't see sparks

Battlefield 2 looks great though
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post #9 of 14
8/29/05 at 6:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ITF
Or maybe it really is time to scrap this bucket and upgrade (so I'll throw out a second question here): I'm in no rush to sell and would like as high return as possible (in Canada here) -- Inspiron 8600, 1.6 Centrino, Bluetooth, Wireless a/b/g, SXGA screen, 128 mb GF5650 FX, 8x DVD+-RW, 60 GB 7200rpm drive. What can I expect in return value, if I hold out for top dollar?
The i8600 seems to still be a fairly popular machine. I would suggest you look around ebay to get an idea on price. You might be surprised

Quote:
(and please don't ignore my games question thanks, sorry for making this long)
That ain't a long post believe me. I'm not sure about your other question though.
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post #10 of 14
8/29/05 at 8:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by delphigreg
My biggest problem with the 8600 /w 9600PT is heat; I'll cook up to 90°C + while playing City of Heroes or KOTOR. Yes, on most games I can't turn the graphics all the way up but everything is easily playable and still very good looking. You are always going to have to balance the performance/quality settings no matter what computer and video card you have.

That said, I'm still very happy with my machine. Serves as a space heater too! (really need to do the heat mod sometime soon).
The heat mod will work wonders for the 8600 w/r9600pt. it will cut those gpu by 30-40%...i high recommend it!!
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post #11 of 14
8/30/05 at 3:11am
I've thought about it, but don't do enough gaming for me to worry.
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post #12 of 14
8/30/05 at 7:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rstang281
The heat mod will work wonders for the 8600 w/r9600pt. it will cut those gpu by 30-40%...i high recommend it!!


I did that mod, pretty easy, you can do it in a while, great value. I lost 20ºC after doing it at full throttle...


Make you a favor and do it
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post #13 of 14
8/30/05 at 9:29am
How long did it take you to do it, and how much did it cost?
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post #14 of 14
8/30/05 at 9:31am
I would mainly do it so that I could overclock my GPU.
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