Can I expect an HD 2600XT in the C90?

Topic. If so, when?

 

Maybe not XT, but HD2600 is very likely.

 

The drivers for a nvidia 2600 card is already up on the asus site just have to wait for them to announce it. It makes sense that it will be the XT since these are upgrades.

 

So, is it a viable solution to simply get a C90 now and wait?

 

Do you mean without gpu??? It wont boot without gpu so only if youi like to keep a expensive paperweight for a couple of months... If you plan on upgrading as soon as the ati card its released then you better off waiting and buying the c90 with the new card.

 

5 cards will be available for the c90 by January.

 

That is a long wait. I might as well just get one with the cheapest GPU so it'll at least run until then.

 

I have to say, I would love to see the HD2600XT in the C90s, but considering that the driver includes the codename for the regular HD2600, and considering how powerful the HD2600XT is, I don't see it going in the C90s. I hope I'm wrong though.

 

Well the codename is for the whole 2600 series. I mean it would not make sense for it to be regular the 2600 since that is the competitor ro the 8600 gs. The 2600 is the equivalent of the gt (maybe not in terms of performance but in terms of the lineup.) I mean I could be wrong, but no real point to call it upgradeable gpu if the gpu is equivalent or weaker then the 8600 in it. In my opinion it has the to be the xt since alot of people doubt the 8700/8800 for it (which I don't doubt) what else would there be?

 

The 2600 is not the competitor to the 8600M-GS, and never has been, in anything except the name (people expect ATI and nVidia names to indicated similar performance, as they did in the x1xxx and Go7xxx series). The HD2600 is the direct competitor to the 8600M-GT as the high performance card for mainstream 15.4" machines. Why do you think the HD2600XT was only released in the HP HDX? Because it's the direct competitor to the 8700M-GT as the "enthusiast" level DX10 mobile part, to tide people over till a 256-bit card comes out.

And no, ATI has a seperate codename for each of it's cards. It's possible that they merely omitted the XT on that driver name, but I seriously doubt it.

As for being an upgrade, well if it's a GDDR3 HD2600, then it will be an upgrade, as that performs better than the current DDR2 8600M-GT. And there's no rule that says each subsequent release has to be more powerful than the last. It's called "upgradeable" because in a couple years you can stick the latest performance DX11 part in there, and that will be a true "upgrade". However, for cards released in the same generation, there will likely be little performance differences between them.

 

As likely as it is that there is no performance difference, my indiscriminate ATi-fanboy sense is always tingling.

 

Yes, that's absolutely (in my mind) the reason Asus will be releasing the HD2600. Not because of a performance upgrade, but because they want to have different options to appeal to both nVidia and ATI fanboys.

 

ATi needs to start churning out so more MXM.

 

ATi's modular graphics format is called AXIOM, nVidias format is called MXM. Though we have yet to see any AXIOM type units, perhaps they scrapped it and joined the MXM bandwagon.

 

It's true that nVidia supports MXM, however the modular type is really determined by the manufacturer, not nVidia or ATI. There's absolutely no reason why manufacturers can't produce more ATI MXM (as they have in the past).

 

If I'm not mistaken, the highest ATi has seen in MXM is the x1900, no?

 

No its not the comparison is equivalent. 2600 xt=8600 gt 2600=8600 gs 2400=8400 in terms of how the lineup. The xt does not perform very close to 8700 at stock. Though it seems that ati is actually performing a decent amount better those are how the cards stack up against each other. How many notebooks have the ati cards in general? A good amount of notebooks have been announced with the ati series cards recently so the hdx was just an early bird.

No the codename used on asus website is the for the general series much like the codename g80 thats usesd or g84, M_76 is the codename for the 2000 series.

I disagree with you completely about the ugrade. This is marketed as a gaming notebook. The point of any upgrade is to be better then the predecessor so because this is a gaming notebook the point would be to improve performance. This is also why I think Asus went with the ddr2 version for the 8600 because 1. it makes the laptop cheaper and 2. so then people would be enticed by the new gpu offerings since the ddr2 version will be not as good as a performer. Its not like upgrade means efficiency for the c90 since its battery life is already low, its meant to be a performer, thus the overclocking utility and turbo engine.

 

I think they will release it even if its not a real upgrade in performance, because there are alot of people indeed out there that are so stubborn with there brand choices (apple is a key example ) that they wouldnt buy a competing product. Its also more stuff to put into sales marketing.

Instead of just 1 video card avalible it will have two so the notebook starts to look like its supposed too with various gpu choices. The last reason is because they said they will have 5 cards for this thing. They are quite behind so I think they will take what they can get to fill the quota

 

Even though the 5 are expected by January, can't we expect a 2600 module to launch before, say, a mobile 8800?

 

Oh yeah definitely since the drivers are already up on the site we should expect to get it if not hear about it soon. I just meant by 2008 5 cards should be available.

 

Nope, if you look at how ATI advertises, and if you look at performance, the HD2600XT = 8700M-GT. The only thing it has in common with the 8600M-GT is a vague naming similarity, which means absolutely nothing. And yes, if you look at gaming reviews of the HP HDX (which has a stock, or very close to stock, HD2600XT), it performs extremely similarly to things like the Toshiba or Clevo M570RU with the 8700M-GT.

Sorry, no, M76 is not the codename for the 2000 series. The Mobility Radeon HD 2000 series doesn't really have a single codename, except for R600. However each of the four chips have their own codename, which are M72S, M72M, M76M, and M76XT. As I said, it's possible the driver name just left off the XT, but I doubt it.

Okay, but any card released in the same generation is not necessarily an upgrade. Yes the C90s is upgradeable, but that doesn't necessarily mean that in this generation of GPU's, there will be a more powerful one that will fit into the MXM-II envelope. That's not something that Asus really has any control over, I'm sorry. Eventually I agree that performance upgrades will be available, but I doubt that any major performance upgrades will be seen in this GPU generation. However, if they put in a GDDR3 HD2600 that would be an upgrade, as it outperforms the current DDR2 8600M-GT.

 

The 8700 has a decent performance advantage over the 8700. 3dmarks comparison from our very own nbr reviews show the there is a 500 point difference. That is also with the hdx having a t7700 cpu while the x205 has only a t7100. I dont know what you mean by "how ati advertises" because ati has never released any press info about the xt supposedly taking on the 8700.

Again no just like the 8600s and 8700 has the codename g84 the ati 2600s have the codename m76. They all have generic codenames such as the 8400s being g86. My whole point with this was that on tha sus website it says m76 which can refer to either of the the 2600s.

I agree with you somewhat on the last part. Asus like many other companies obviously know nvidias/amds roadmap way ahead of us, I believe they planned the c90 accordingly. It was not like Asus said upgrades yeah (cough cough). I agree though its possible that it won't get a upgrade that will blow us away but consider this what if the the gpu in the c90 was gddr3? Also why do you think it wasn't gddr3?

Also just like to say that I could be wrong, but its unlikely since Asus is a reputable brand that they scrap the c90s upgrades and such.

 

That's in 3dmark06. They perform much more similarly in things like the FEAR and CS:S stress test. And the advertising I was referring to was ATI's claim: "The ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 2600 XT harnesses the power of ultra-fast graphics performance to produce The Ultimate Visual Experience™ for mobile gamers and enthusiasts."
Compare that to their claim for the HD2600:
"The ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 2600 pairs the intensity of a high power graphics processor with ultra-fast dedicated graphics memory; delivering an exceptional, interactive High Definition experience with long battery life. ATI Avivo™ HD video processing and full DirectX® 10 support combine to produce spectacular HD entertainment and gaming on performance thin notebook PCs."

While nVidia uses just one codename per core (G84M, G86M, etc.) ATI has a seperate codename for each card (M72S, M72M, M76M, M76XT).

I guess I'm just skeptical that they'll be able to provide a remarkable upgrade this soon. Otherwise I agree with you on this part.

 

Ah. Eh still don't agree with you on the first part.

2nd part I think I just misunderstood you. We both said the same thing but were talking about in differnet situations. Some places put the exact code like m76xt, I just meant that asus website put m76 which does not specify which card.

3rd part, I think we can agree to just disagree.

P.S. Too lazy to quote.

 

I think you are missing the whole point in the meaning of the "upgradeable" term.... When they say that the GPU in your C90 is upgradeable, they don't mean the cards that will be released in the near future will be better than the one you have. They just mean that you can remove the one you have and put in an other one. Its not like they planed for you to buy it with a 8600 GT ddr2 and then they would release a 2600XT for you to "upgrade" your current rig.

I highly doubt that the c90 will support a gddr3 2600xt. I believe that it will be a 2600 gdd3. Don't get your hopes up. Its also possible that they release a 2600 ddr2, and not even a gddr3.

 

Lol I guess we have different definitions of the world upgrade. Why would it be just so you can switch cards? That makes little sense. Of course they planned it this way. Thats one of the selling points of the c90, to upgrade to more powerful components. WHy would you swap out components for lower performance?

Why would the c90 not support a gddr3 card? The c90's cooling is very efficient and powerful.

 

i think you already have the most efficient and powerful card that the c90 supports... for now (we would have to wait for the nVidia 9k series).... or hopefully the second to best ... Lets wait and see.

 

just a thought :

in the asus website.... i think they were very careful mentioning "upgrade" on the components of the c90. If i remember it right... they mentioned more as " high compatibility " on the GPU's. lol. another thing to ponder upon... guess we just have to wait.

 

- HD2600XT?

- impossible.

- why?

- HD2600XT is MXMIII which consumes too much power and is designed for 17-inch laptops only.

- damn

 

How is that so? Efficiency would be increased with the gddr3 8600m gt.

Not trying to argue with anyone but I guess we have different opinions on this matter. Either of us could be right I guess I am being optimistic. Like I said I could be wrong.

Where is it stated that the 2600 xt is mxm III?

 

ill be pretty happy with a 8600 gt 512 mb ddr3 card though i wiuldnt buy till 2q 2008 since right now my "spend on banal things budget" is totally drained

 

Just wait for the 9600M to come.

 

We should make a bet about the 8800 for the c90. I believe it will be available for the c90. Hmm what should the stakes be?

 

sure as long as its ddr3 (or 4 or 5 or whatever is faster by then)

 

Even if it is ddr2, it will still out perform the 8600gt ddr3 by quite a bit.

 

I am sure you would lose. Same thing as with the HD2600XT:

 

I thought the 8800M was going to be 22W?

 

When the 8700M is already 29W? Don't belive this.

Well, it really says this on Wikipedia, but it is quite impossible.

 

Its difficult to say if nVidia will even release an 8800M this year. Its possible that they may come out with an 8700M GTX, which would probably only be a card based on MXM III and could only be implemented into 17" notebooks.

 

The 8700M GT already is only MXMIII.

 

just the chip not the entire card...

 

No-one has confirmed that the 8800 is mxm III or that the 2600 xt is mxm III.

 

Guys, just because the 8700M-GT is MXM-III, that's no reason that the 8800M can't be 22W. Remember that the 8800M won't come out until after nVidia does a major die shrink, so it's possible that the 8800M could be more efficient and have a lower TDP than the 8700M-GT, similar to what happened in the Go7 series.