Performance difference?

At the moment I have a Dell XPS m1530, I'm going to buy a Macbook Pro 13" base model with a Nvidia 320m. Will the GPU be as good as the 8600m gt, better or worse?

Thanks

Benji

 

depends how your 8600GT is clocked... it can be just as good... to maybe slightly slower in benchmarks... not sure if you'd notice the difference in reality though.

 

Better. More shaders.

Look at this list of GPUs:

Notebookcheck: Mobile Graphics Cards - Benchmark List

 

^If I look at that list the 320M has less shaders than the 8600M GT no? (24 vs 32)

Clocks are higher for the 320M though and it has smaller manufacturing process. I doubt the difference would be particularly substantial though >.>

 

the IGP 320M has 48 shaders

your looking at the GT 320M which is not the same thing

 

Ohhh okies, that makes sense >.>

Notebookcheck always confuses the heck out of me

Anyhow,my opinion still stands. There might be a performance boost but not a huge one judging from the specs.

 

there is be basically no noticeable performance difference. which is nice.. since its smaller, cooler, and uses much less power...

 

Isn't the MBP 320M a crippled version?

 

crippled version of what?

 

There is a lot more to performance than number of shaders. Like, oh, say, framebuffer, memory bandwidth, clock speeds... In fact, number of shaders is pretty meaningless between architectures.

No, it's actually a specially-designed card for the MBP with no relation to its discrete counter-part, the GT320M. Go nVidia numbering schemes...

That said, most benchmarks indicate the 320M in the MBP runs approximately equal to a DDR2 8600M GT running at standard clocks (IE not underclocked). I'm not sure off the top of my head whether or not the XPS M1530's 8600GT is the GDDR3 or DDR2 version, or what clock speeds it runs at, but as doh123 said, performance should be roughly equal in most games. It's certainly plenty for, say, ME2 or TF2. Newer games like DiRT 2 or BC2, not so much.

 

Well it really doesn't matter if the 320m is "as good" as your current GPU. If you don't play any intense games its inherently better as its much more power efficient. If your 8600m is good enough for you, then the 320m is similar enough, however will net you much better battery.

 

Yup, there's also this to consider.

Basically OP, if you want a Mac, can afford it, and don't have specific needs that will be hampered by the IGP or Core 2 or what have you, then get one. It certainly won't be faster than your current machine, but it'll be nearly as fast while being smaller and lighter, providing better battery life, and being arguably better built.

If you have specific needs and haven't necessarily made up your mind about the MBP, perhaps try opening a thread in the "What notebook should I buy?" forum. Be aware that Macs are rarely (if ever) the most cost-effective machines for your needs. Then again, it's like I said - if you can afford it and you really want one, then that's a decision only you can make, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

 

If you will use OS X as your main OS, get a Mac, else don't consider it.

 

Hello there everyone, I was deciding to create a new topic to ask few questions about this machine, But now I decided to write it here, Let me first tell you my machine now,
ASUS G1S
3 GB of Ram, 500GB HD, Intel® Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T7500 @ 2.19 GHz

Also I have another system which is the Lenovo S10e, Which I get dirty cheap from the university,

What I use my laptop mainly for,
-For sure the normal stuff, Browsing the internet, Browsing my files,pictures and a lot of videos.
-Use photoshop,lightroom and video editing. I really want iMovie and Final Cut Express but for now WMM. But I don't really care about the time if the difference is 30%.

Now I have the 2 machines and one time I use my laptop and the other I use my other netbook cause it's light and have a great battery life, taking it with me to the university and that stuff.
Some times I need files in my ASUS but in my Hand is the small Lenovo!
That's really bad situation am running in and I don't have the time to move the files from this to this... Actually my lenovo is always not inside with me at home.

I love photography and I do have Canon 500D which I do edit 15Mp photos and some HD and Full HD video editings.

Do you recommend getting the Macbook Pro 13" with:
* 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
* 250 GB Hard Drive << Can I exchange with my current 500GB? , 8x DVD/CD SuperDrive, 4GB DDR3 RAM
* 13.3 inch LED-backlit display, 1280-by-800 resolution
* NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics processor with 256 MB of shared memory
* Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard Operating System

So after I get this one, It will mainly be my only system, I will do sell the other 2, for the mean time I can afford this. If my ASUS G1s is doing very very good job for me, But it's nothing when talking about a light machine and great battery life.
and what about HDMI, will this macbook connect good to a 24"Full HD Monitor.

By the way I excatly know how OS X work, and I love it!

 

Create your own thread, don't hijack this one.

 

Thanks for your replies, guys. I have ordered the 13" base macbook pro and I can't wait! I wanted to ask what sort of price I would get from my XPS (specs in signature.) Thanks once again for all the fantastic replies!