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GeForce 8400 vs. 8600

post #1 of 7
4/3/08 at 2:24pm
Thread Starter 
Hey,

so, my friend asked me what laptop he should get. I like Dell a lot, and I trust it. If you get a laptop, get a Dell.

Now, the prices between the m1330 and m1530 are very alike. The main difference is the Graphics card. I don't know much about the smaller cards, but my guess is that the 8600 would crush the 8400?
However, roughly how good are these cards? Do they support DX10? Will they produce the performance of a 6800 Ultra go, or where do they stand there?

He wants to play assassin's creed. These cards would work for him, right?

And, uh, given the 1330 has a smaller screen, would you get better FPS on a 13" 8400 or 15" 8600? Thanks a bunch guys,

Franz
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post #2 of 7
4/3/08 at 2:49pm
Nvidia, in their infinite desire to confuse everyone, decided to make multiple versions of both of these cards. The 8600M GT is the best of them and is much better than the 8400M G, the 8400M GS, 8400M GT, or 8600M GS. The 8600M GT performance is somewhere between the regular 6800 and the 6800 Ultra. Screen size doesn't matter at all in the performance of the card- screen resolution does. Higher resolutions mean more pixels that the graphics card has to determine.

For Assassin's Creed, your friend will definitely want an 8600M GT graphics card at the minimum. The game also suggests 3GB of memory and a 2.2 Ghz Core 2 Duo processor.
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post #3 of 7
4/3/08 at 3:34pm
The 8600 will definitely outperform the 8400. If performance is the only thing that you are concerned with, then get the M1530 w/8600.

But there's a lot more than just the graphics cards that are different about the laptops. The M1330 has a smaller screen (and therefore lower resolution), and supports LED-backlit screens. And if he travels with his laptop at all, then the M1330 will definitely be much more travel friendly (lighter weight, easier to carry, and is easier to watch movies on in coach class).
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post #4 of 7
4/3/08 at 4:16pm
Thread Starter 
Ah, thx.

Yeah, i indirectly meant smaller resolution with 13" to 15".

I'd advise him to get the smaller resolution, due to performance.

So, given we live in Europe, ill tell him to get a 2.4ghz, 3gb ram, 8600gt, m1530. That get's him to amazing 1100€.

So, the 8600GT is weaker than the 6800 Ultra? Amazing... that's pretty weak. I must admit, I'm surprised. So a m1710 with a 7900GS and the low resolution would outperform it?

P.S.: So, the 13" with the same resolution as the 15" would consume the same power?
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post #5 of 7
4/3/08 at 5:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Master_Axe View Post
So, the 8600GT is weaker than the 6800 Ultra? Amazing... that's pretty weak. I must admit, I'm surprised. So a m1710 with a 7900GS and the low resolution would outperform it?
The 8600M GT has very similar benchmark scores to the 6800 Ultra. It's got virtually the same power, although it scores better on the newer 3DMarks.

and yes, a 7900 GS will outperform an 8600M GT
Quote:
Originally Posted by Master_Axe View Post
P.S.: So, the 13" with the same resolution as the 15" would consume the same power?
no. 2 graphics cards powering two different sized screens with identical resolution would be required to do the same amount of work, and if they were identical graphics cards they would consume the same amount of power. However, the systems are comprised of far more than just the graphics card. The screens themselves can consume different amounts of power, and so can the other parts of each notebook.
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post #6 of 7
4/4/08 at 2:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Djembe View Post
The 8600M GT has very similar benchmark scores to the 6800 Ultra. It's got virtually the same power, although it scores better on the newer 3DMarks.

and yes, a 7900 GS will outperform an 8600M GT
Do you think the 1530 will get the 9600M GT soon ?
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post #7 of 7
4/4/08 at 11:10pm
hey guys,

I have the XPS 1530 with the 8400M and i am returning it for a better video card. The 8400m is choppy in vista with areo turned on.. as for games, its a little choppy even playing wow witch runs good on anything for the most part.
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